Cycling Island Taiwan
Taiwan is often described as an island that invented the bicycle.
It is home to global brands such as Giant and Merida.
Many high-end bicycles sold in Europe and North America are made here.
Yet for a long time, bicycles were rarely seen in Taiwanese cities.
They were produced, but not ridden.
This gap marks the starting point of a change.
Film as First Spark, 2007
In 2007, the film Island Etude was released.
It follows a young man with hearing loss who travels around Taiwan with a guitar on his back.
The dialogue is sparse.
The tone is restrained.
One line stayed with many viewers.
Some things, if you do not do them now, you will never do them.
That sentence moved people.
Young riders began to circle the island.
Huan-dao cycling, a full loop of Taiwan, became a trend.
At that stage, it was still a youth culture.
A Seventy-Three-Year-Old on the Road
In the same year, King Liu, the founder of Giant, began his own ride.
He was seventy-three.
He completed the loop in fifteen days.
Nine hundred twenty-seven kilometers.
Heat on the west coast.
Rain on the east.
He rode without spectacle.
In Taiwan, there is a saying.
When an older person rides, it becomes culture.
Cycling moved beyond the young.
It became something shared across generations.
After stepping down from management, Liu continued to ride.
Beijing to Shanghai.
Another loop around Taiwan.
Talks in regional cities.
He no longer sold bicycles.
He carried the idea of cycling itself.
A Blue Line on the Road
After the film and the elderly rider drew attention, the government acted.
Infrastructure followed.
The symbol is Cycling Route No. 1.
A route of roughly nine hundred sixty-eight kilometers that circles the island.
On the road, a thin blue line appears.
It does not impress.
But it connects.
Curbs were lowered.
Coastal roads gained cycling lanes.
Rest areas are limited, but Taiwan compensates in another way.
Police Stations as Water Stops
On long rides, two needs repeat.
Water and restrooms.
In Taiwan, police stations provide both.
Many display a small sign marking them as bicycle stations.
Water is free.
Air pumps are available.
A place to sit is offered.
Toilets are open.
Spaces once associated with authority became shelters for travelers.
This shift feels characteristic of the island.
An Island Turned into a Course
Every November, the atmosphere changes.
Formosa 900 brings teams from across Taiwan.
Nine days.
Nine hundred kilometers.
The KOM Challenge climbs from sea level to over three thousand meters.
From Taroko Gorge to Wuling Pass.
European professionals join.
These events cut through mountains and along the sea.
They also send bicycles made in Taiwan back into the world.
From Making to Riding
For decades, Taiwan was an island that made bicycles.
It has become an island that rides them.
A quiet line from a film.
A seventy-three-year-old on the road.
A blue stripe on asphalt.
Water at a police station.
Bicycles from Giant and Merida.
No single cause explains the result.
Together, they were enough.
Few countries circle themselves by bicycle.
Taiwan does.
