![[ Wind Turbines & HSR ] West Miaoli Shore Ride Part 1](http://modernblackhand.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/west-miaoli-shore-ride-1.jpg "[ Wind Turbines & HSR ] West Miaoli Shore Ride Part 1")
- West Miaoli Shore Ride Summary
- Background
- Start: YuanLi
- TongXiao & toward Shore
- VIDEO: Wide Lone Road
- VIDEO: Seawall Bike Path Ride
- Continue to Part 2!
- Also Recommended:
- Taiwan Bike Routes Map
- [ Battle with the Wind! ] West Coast Highway Challenge 100K 輪霸西濱 (Event)
- [Strawberries and Broken Bridge ] Great South Miaoli Loop 環南苗栗水果斷橋騎
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West Miaoli Shore Ride Summary
- Self Ride
- Starting/ending Location: Near 7-11, YuanLi Township, Miaoli 苗栗苑裡7-11
- Bike Length: ~ 103 km. Elevation gain: ~ 500 m.
- Hill profile: Rolling small hills.
- Good for: base training.
- Route Highlights:
- Wind turbines. Lots of them.
- Painted rice fields (not in season) 彩繪稻田
- TongXiao Shinto Shrine 通霄神社
- On seawall bike path.
- Haowangjiao 後龍好望角
- Giant Mazu statue 媽祖石雕
- JioHuaShan 九華山
- TongLuo Skywalk 銅鑼天空步道
Background
I’ve always wanted to do a Taiwan west coastal self ride. It’s a nice change of scenery from all the mountain rides I did before.
I did a west coastal ride through an event, on Express Way 61, but for riding alone I didn’t feel comfortable.
Yet after countless hours pouring into route planning I still couldn’t find a good one. The coastal routes were either segmented by big rivers, or they went through big towns with heavy traffic.
Around 2018 Lunar New Year I had luck to come up one near Miaoli. Thus I quickly set a day to do this West Miaoli Shore Ride.
Start: YuanLi
For this West Miaoli Shore Ride I began at a 7-11 near YuanLi 苑裡, a quiet area mostly with fields.
Rice processing plant.
In February rice fields were already harvested.
Some random bike path here.
Sunflower fields!
There was a painted rice field point of interest here. Sadly I forgot the season was not here yet 🙁
…. so what were you supposed to be?
Cool 7-11 exterior.
Though the route we passed through an elementary school (ShanJiao Elementary). The school had a group of old Japanese era dormitories, which was pretty cool.
Entrance.
Dormitories on two sides were built in different era and thus had slightly different designs.
Another cool thing I later found out about this West Miaoli Shore Ride route was it passed through many times Taiwan’s high speed train rail, either from above or through below.
Rail 2nd pass.
Rail 3rd pass.
Some cool art with old stuff.
Some sort of oil/gas storage fields.
Passing through National Highway #3.
Entering TongXiao
TongXiao & toward Shore
After passing National Highway #3 our West Miaoli Shore Ride entered TongXiao, a cool near-shore town featuring a beach …. right next to a coal fired power plant. LOL.
The coal fired power plant.
Town temple. The golden dog was for this year’s (2018) zodiac animal.
A locally famous stuffed pan-fried bread (煎包).
Near the northern end of TongXiao was a small hill where a Shinto Shrine was located.
At the entrance was the town’s junior high.
Hi doggy.
A pretty cool shinto shrine.
Further up the hill was some war monuments.
TongXiao town view.
Bike & battery!
Having enough of the hill view, we went down and passed through TongXiao train station, ready to head onto near shore road.
Entrance of the beach. LOL.
TongXiao Harbor.
Near the TongXiao Harbor was a wide new road without any traffic. I was curious where it ended so I took a detour on it.
A nicely built, nobody uses road for some sprinting practices!
VIDEO: Wide Lone Road
Calm down bro.
End of the road.
Looking back.
Back onto the normal country road.
At one point the road connected onto a seawall bike path. Time to enjoy some views!
Old seawall monument.
The old lady was making some dried veggies!
VIDEO: Seawall Bike Path Ride
End of this seawall segment. More to come!
Play basketball near the shore?
Someone was smart about old trains.
