Cycling Route 1 through the flooded rice fields of Hualien.
Photographer: Brad Torchia for Bloomberg Businessweek
Adventure
The Best Way to See Taiwan’s Rugged Coast Is Slowly—and on a Bike
Our writer tackled 150 miles in four days, with just two wheels and almost zero Mandarin.
There comes a moment during every great endurance adventure when, no matter how fit you are, no matter how experienced, a simple, penetrating question arises: Why?
During a 150-mile bike trip up the rugged east coast of Taiwan, there are times when this question becomes my mantra, hummed under my breath like a Zen koan. The four-day journey takes me from rocky beaches to lush mountaintops, from lazy hills to vertical slogs, all in temperatures that, at their predawn lowest, barely dip below 80F.