7 reasons why bicycle commuting doesn’t work in Taiwan

One of my most proud lifestyle choices back in Australia was the fact that I was a near fulltime bicycle commuter. My Surly Long Haul Trucker wasn’t just a toy, it was a fully equipped day to day workhorse that was used for shopping, getting around, travelling to and from work, weekend leisure rides and anything else I threw at it.

So proud was I of the fact that I’d managed to delegate the car to just ‘going out at night’ trips on the weekend or getting around with a girlfriend, that I decided to bring my bicycle with me to Taiwan.

The aim of course being to replicate my self reliance and lack of dependency on petrol to get around.

For the first few months of living in Taiwan this idea worked well. I cycled around everywhere and had little reliance on public transport or having to buy petrol.

Fast forward a few months later and I’ve delegated the Trucker to the sole purpose of fitness runs during the week and bought myself a scooter. Not only that but I’ve come to the conclusion that bicycle commuting in Taiwan by and large just doesn’t work.

Here’s why. 

1. The heat

Whilst most of the world is under the illusion that Australian’s are used to living in the middle of the desert, the reality is those of us down south are most accustomed to cooler weather.

That’s not to say of course that some of us Melbournians don’t like the warmer weather. I myself love it and living in a warmer climate was one of the main things I was looking forward to when moving to Taiwan.

This past week alone the weather has topped 30 degrees daily and overnight hasn’t dropped below 25. It’s been this way for what feels like months now.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love the weather and sunny lifestyle it brings but for bicycle commuting it’s entirely way too hot. There’s nothing less motivating then stepping outside your apartment to jump on the bicycle to go somewhere in 30 degree heat.

Not to mention the sweat accumulated by attempting to cycle in day to day clothes as any regular commuter does. I myself don’t sweat that much but even I found it impossible to cycle from A to B without working up a ridiculous sweat. Even travelling painfully slow at around 15km/h didn’t help!

2. Unsafe roads

Back in the day the bicycle ruled supreme in Taiwan, but those days are long over. These days it’s the scooter who’s king of the road in the cities and trucks who rule everywhere else.

The bicycle has well and truly been delegated to weekend fitness toy in Taiwan and as such has absolutely no road presence whatsoever.

For me this wasn’t so much a big deal but I can see it being a massive turn off for those without road confidence. Years of driving my mini and commuting by bicycle in Melbourne mean there’s not too much I’m worried about when out on the road. I’m comfortable tackling trucks on the highways and flowing with massively congested urban city traffic.

For someone not accustomed to this though you’re probably going to want to forget bicycle commuting altogether. Bicycle lanes don’t exist here and for the most part you’re sharing with scooters who’ll rip past you from all directions. Other times you’re simply sharing wide lanes with whoever else decides to use the lane… and to them you don’t exist.

I love the chaos of Taiwan’s roads but you really don’t appreciate the order we have back home on Australian roads until you’ve experienced something completely different firsthand.

With the abundance of scooters everywhere on the island and their use seen as economic progression, I don’t think the Taiwanese government is going to start building bike lanes for commuters anytime soon.

3. Rain and humidity

Along with the hot days comes soaking humidity and the all to frequent rain. Tolerable on a scooter due to the lack of movement needed to ride one, riding through torrential tropical rain and humidity fast deters you from relying too heavily on your bicycle to get around.

Also there’s none of the 10 minute Melbourne rain either, when it rains in Taiwan it rains hard and can go on for a few days.

I’ve made a few trips holding an umbrella just to test out how effective it is. Whilst I stayed dry the combination of having to change arms due to numbness and only having one hand on the bars trying to navigate Taiwan’s traffic is enough for me not to recommend it.

4. Complete lack of parking areas

One thing that’s sorely missing in Taiwan are street poles to lock your bicycle to. Outside of Taipei City bicycle parking facilities are virtually non existant. Meanwhile the bicycle parking facilities in Taipei usually consist of open parking spaces where you’re more of then then not just locking your bicycle to itself.

This of course means you’re going to constantly be worried about your bicycle being stolen if you ride anything more upmarket then a discarded shopping trolley around.

Not much point having a big beefy U-lock if someone can just walk off with your bike hey.

5. No shower facilities

This is more of a work commuting problem where more often then not it’s quite feasible to slap on some bicycle clothing, cycle to work and then have a quick shower and change.

Not so in Taiwan.

For the Taiwanese by and large the time to shower is in the evening, thus the need for shower facilities at work is practically non existent.

Coupled with the heat, humidity and more often then not rain… getting to work sweat or water soaked and having to change without a shower is massively prohibitive.

I couldn’t think of anything worse then changing straight into my clean shirt and slacks after a sweaty cycle commute into work.

6. The cheapness of petrol

Petrol in Taiwan is like stepping back into the 80′s in Australia. Remember when petrol was consistently less then $1 a litre?

Welcome to modern day Taiwan.

My scooter has a 5L tank and currently I’m getting about 1.5-2 weeks out of it using it fulltime to get around. This equates to roughly $5 AUD every 10-14 days or so. Unbelievably cheap and unbelievable hard to justify cycling around in sweat everywhere you want to go.

There’s a reason the scooter reigns supreme in Taiwan, it’s just so damn convenient – even a once proud bicycle commuter such as myself can admit it.

7. You can’t carry a girl around on a bicycle

This for me was something I learnt very quickly. If you want to get around fast in Taiwan with a girl you need to have a scooter. No ifs and buts.

Back home I relied on the mini for this task but owning a car in Taiwan seems kind of pointless when zipping around on a scooter is so much faster and convenient.

There’s something about having a pair of long silky smooth bare legs sitting up close behind you as you ride around on a scooter… something that sadly can’t be achieved on a bicycle.

All in all I was initially disappointed that I couldn’t replicate my bicycle commuter lifestyle back home here in Taiwan but I’ve since learnt to live with it. I still get out there a few times a week for fitness but by and large the bicycle is useless for getting around on a fulltime basis.

It’s a shame really as this is the exact task my Long Haul Trucker has been purposefully customised towards over the years. Ah well, I guess there’s always touring…

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My comments...

This pampered Aussie whinced like a baby...  He should realise that the good earth is getting warmer by the day and soon petrol will run out !  What about us living here in Malaysia?  heat? sweat? humidity? dangerous traffic?  We have it all !!  Make us think that our place is not humanly habitable !!