CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
172 km one way from Hualien City - plan on about 3 h 31 of riding. On the way it passes Ruisui and Chishang. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,550 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 54 km this is East Coast Highway 11, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Hualien lies on Taiwan's wild east coast, squeezed between the Pacific and a wall of mountains that rise to over three thousand metres within a few dozen kilometres of the sea. The city is relaxed, with a lively night market, sea-view cafes and the slightly weathered air of a place that is regularly shaken by earthquakes and typhoons. It is also the gateway to Taroko Gorge, where the Liwu river has cut a deep canyon through marble.
Read the complete Hualien write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hualien is where the day begins. Next is Ruisui.
Ruisui lies in the East Rift Valley, the long, narrow trench of farmland that runs down the east side of Taiwan between two parallel mountain ranges. The Central Range stands on one side, high and dark with forest, and the lower Coastal Range on the other, and the valley floor between them is a patchwork of rice paddies, pineapple fields and fruit orchards. It is quieter and slower than the busy west coast, and Ruisui is a small township where the pace suits the scenery.
Read the complete Ruisui write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ruisui comes up about 67 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chishang.
Chishang is famous for rice. The township lies in the southern part of the East Rift Valley, in Taitung county, where the plain is flat and wide and the mountains stand back on either side, and its paddies are some of the most photographed in Taiwan. The rice grown here has a reputation across the island for its taste, which locals put down to the clean water from the mountains, the cool nights and the rich soil. In summer the fields glow a vivid green, and at harvest they turn gold, with the Central Range rising blue behind them.
Read the complete Chishang write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach Chishang. Next is Taitung.
Taitung is a quiet, easy-going city on Taiwan's south-eastern coast, with about a hundred and ten thousand people, a long Pacific shoreline, and a pace of life noticeably slower than the busy west coast. Behind it, the Coastal Range runs north to south on one side and the Central Mountain Range on the other, with the long East Rift Valley in between, a flat strip of farmland that follows the line where two tectonic plates meet. For a rider who has spent the day on the road, it is an easy and friendly place to end.
Read the complete Taitung write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Taitung closes the day.
Hualien → Ruisui is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ruisui → Chishang is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chishang → Taitung is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.