Bicycle Adventures Taps Expertise of Taiwan-Asia Specialist Joshua Samuel Brown to Lead Bike Tours of Taiwan

Bicycle Adventures, an award-winning Pacific Northwest-based active travel company specializing in two-wheel tours in North America and abroad, announces that Joshua Samuel Brown, a lifelong cyclist, accomplished travel writer and tourism expert with a deep background in the language and culture of China and Taiwan, will guide their in-depth bicycle tours of Taiwan.

Brown will also guide Bicycle Adventures’ new Southern California Tour and Southern California Frugal Tour, programs created for a travel company that specializes in inbound Chinese cycling groups.

Bicycle Adventures (http://bicycleadventures.com/) launches its new Taiwan Bike Tour in 2015 with two scheduled 11-day trip departures: Oct. 24 and Nov. 7.  The nearly all-inclusive rate per person, based on double occupancy, is $4,850. Bicycle rental and most meals are included. In 2014 Bicycle Adventures became the first international bike company providing guided tours by bicycle of Taiwan, an island nation little known outside of Asia.

As a specialist in this region, Brown has authored, among others, Vignettes of Taiwan (Things Asian Press) and co-authored (Lonely Planet / BBC): Taiwan (7th & 8th edition). He has worked on projects for the Taiwan Tourism Bureau and the Taiwan Trade Association.

“As a lifelong cyclist, I see Taiwan as a premier yet unknown cycling destination,” Brown underscored. He is fully fluent in Mandarin and can chat in Taiwanese. “I have an intimacy with the culture and landscape that astounds most locals.”

Brown goes on to say, “Taiwan's unique brand of friendliness is something I've written about extensively. I'm looking forward to acting as interpreter between our guests and our hosts, not to mention the hundreds of amazingly cool Taiwanese people we'll encounter on our rides. A conduit for kindness…what more could a guide and interpreter ask for?”

“For the past several years, Taiwan has made a commitment to become the bicycling capital of the world,” said Todd Starnes, Bicycle Adventures’ President and Owner. He explained that this commitment came about when the now-retired Chairman and Founder of Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd., one of the world’s largest makers of bicycles, decided that he would start cycling as a retirement activity.

“He jumped on a bike and rode around the island of Taiwan, only to realize that there existed little infrastructure for cycling. He then began giving both his time and his money to support local and national government agencies along with the Taiwan Tourism Bureau to create a cycling-friendly country. This was accomplished through the creation of bike lanes and bike paths, including the 60km Danshui River Bike Path. Now they have designated bike paths veering off in all directions, even through rice paddies,” said Starnes.

Taiwan has begun to embrace health and wellness as a cultural ideal, with new fitness-oriented facilities springing up in urban areas. More people can be seen outdoors walking and running for fitness.  Several cities have even begun bike-share programs, according to Starnes.

The easy-to-access and, for the most part, easy-to-bike routes were designed with showcasing the island in mind.  The tour itinerary Bicycle Adventures crafted includes stops at culturally significant sites, including the National Center for Traditional Arts and the Lanyang Museum that was created when a Chinese cultural leader was exiled some years ago to Taiwan. Following in his wake came a collection of Chinese artifacts more impressive than any in China or anywhere else in the world.

“This is a very proud and progressive country,” Starnes said. “They are proud of what they’re doing in technology and manufacturing. Their tourist accommodations reflect their vision for the future, all offering excellent service.”

The gateway city is Taipei where guests are met at the airport. After some fun acclimatizing rides locally a high-speed train to Kaohsiung City brings cyclists to the southern end of the island to begin the tour northbound.

On the itinerary that averages about 74 kilometers a day of biking, guests pause in aboriginal villages where people still live as they did hundreds of years ago. These are descendants of Austronesians who first settled on Taiwan.

Traversing the ups and downs and in-betweens of some of the island’s five vertical mountain ranges is part of the fun. This includes rides up to and through two national parks that reveal stunning canopies in near-rainforest settings of up to 8,000 feet. One of the biggest challenges will be an uphill ride in the Taroko Gorge, promised Starnes. “Our guests are welcome to try to ride all the way to the top. I didn’t make it.”