In January 2025 my partner and I rode 707 miles around Taiwan, starting and finishing in the capital Taipei and completing the full lap in 13 days. Winter turned out to be the perfect time to go. The weather was ideal for cycling with only a single day of rain whilst climbing into the hills from the East Coast.

The roads were a revelation. The surfaces felt as though they’d been resurfaced the day before we arrived, and for vast stretches we had them almost entirely to ourselves. The West Coast was big, flat, open and quiet, a landscape that rewards you with small villages, space and silence. On the East, the mountains tumble down to meet the sea, leaving room for little more than the road and a scattering of small towns.

Whilst crossing from West to East at the bottom of the country,  the main road disappears into a tunnel whilst we took the old road over the mountain: a long, slow, beautiful climb with hardly another vehicle in sight.

Add the harbours, shrines, temples, food and the night markets along the way, and it was a journey that kept spoiling us from the first mile to the last.