How I met the cycling community in Taipei (and how you can too) - Taiwan Ep. 2

Rapha Social Ride (Open, no membership required)
Wednesday 6:00am
Meet here goo.gl/maps/9c...
Strava Activity strava.app.lin...
Feed Zone Cafe Training Ride (Open)
Friday 5:30am
Meet here goo.gl/maps/vA...
Strava Activity strava.app.lin...
Liv Women's Ride (Women Only)
Saturday 5:30am
Strava Activity strava.app.lin...
Rapha Cycling Club Coffee Ride (RCC Members Only)
You can join RCC in person at Rapha Taipei (2700 NTD)
goo.gl/maps/fM...
Once a member you can download an app that has a calendar of all the rides
Strava Activity strava.app.lin...
🌐 FIND ME
Instagram: @johnny_z_lee
Strava: / strava

[@蔡語潔-h3t]

Thank you for showing the world how enjoyable it is to ride in Taipei🎉

[@samtan6966]

Oh yes.. the people there are really awesome!!! Been there on my army training during my army daze & i made a few friends but those yrs dont have handphone or website for easy communication.. i really miss the place & the people there.. thanks bro for sharing your awesome videos.. ride safe. 🚴🙏👍🏽😁

[@nomnoomz]

Great video, awesome people and great views.

[@stevent5050]

New subscriber, and absolutely loving your videos, Johnny. Your Thai videos have put Thailand in the #2 spot of my bucket list destinations (Norway is #1). Which brings me to this: With your cycling ability and your native (I assume) English, you would make an excellent guide for folks on cycling vacations. Anyway, keep up the really great work!

[@hesersu]

Last time I went to Taipei I did a Early Bird ride. So good! See you next time!

[@kaptajnsejersen6303]

10:43 where is that eatery Win Win located? I actually went to Feed Zone Cafe because of this video.. The owner Hans was very friendly and helped me find the best route to Yilan.

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

I just followed everyone to the cafe that day 🙂

[@MFQuinnCyclist]

Two more weeks and I’ll be there. I’ll be glad to leave Bangkok and ride some mountains. Thanks for all the info

[@adamgriss2025]

Enjoyed the video. Keep the great content coming.

[@markw6193]

Keep enjoying your rides, Johnny. Glad to see you having a good time. From Jakarta, Taipei looks like great cycling location.

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Thank you! Taipei is one of the best 👌 How is Jakarta?

[@reneaivey]

Great video! Makes me want to hope on a flight and go to Taipei. The riding there looks amazing. Looking forward to your next video!!

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Thank you. Hope you can make it happen.

[@Airith0]

Loving your channel mate, thanks for the great videos. I've been using it as my motivator to get back on the trainer, hopefully I can join a ride like this one day!

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Thank you! Best of luck!

[@woolfel]

didn't know there was such a cool cycling cafe in Taipei. now I'm thinking it would be sweet to plan a route that starts with a nice Bao and coffee and end with a hot bowl of beef noodle soup. Then maybe finish out the evening with a night market. That rapha ride sounds awesome. Climb some hills and then eat good food.

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

That’s a great itinerary! Go for it! 😃

[@joeszeto310]

Soooooo happy I'd discovered your channel. I'm Cantonese and do also speak Mandarin. When I went to Taiwan for my business trips, I always wanted to find out more about their cycling culture and community. Only thing I know is that it's quite a popular sport. Watching your videos just make me want to go back even more, and this time as a tourist to have fun on the bike. Maybe even doing a Circumnavigate Taiwan by bike. So is Taiwan your home base or are you just passing through. I'd love to pick your brains about Taiwan! Look forward to seeing more of your videos!!

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

I highly recommend visiting with your bike. I was also thinking of doing a trip around the island. I’m currently based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Feel free to ask whatever is on your mind. I will do my best to answer 😊

[@joeszeto310]

@@JohnnyZeeLee That's the plan. I know traveling with a bike box is a royal pain in the ass, but i would love to ride all over Asia!! And since I do have friends in Taiwan, I'd figured that's a good place to start. Plus I speak the language so that makes it a bit easier as well. And thanks for the offer... I will most definitely pick your brain. BTW, in your video, when you were talking to them and they were struggling with English... I was like.. hey Johnny... i could have translated for you!! LOL

[@Wang.Jonathan]

You can also consider renting a road bike in Taiwan instead of flying them in. We have some good collection for rent, can be done with your friend before you come.

[@joeszeto310]

@@Wang.Jonathan That awesome!! Could you provide some further info on those bike shops?

[@Wang.Jonathan]

@@joeszeto310 you can check with SYB, renting from them, and get the bike from their dealer network all over Taiwan

[@TaipeiEats]

Very interesting👍 Glad to have accidentally bumped into this channel… 👍👍👍

[@TaipeiEats]

Just wondering if it’s possible to know more about your gears details…

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Sure. Can you be more specific about what you’d like to know?

[@TaipeiEats]

@@JohnnyZeeLee Wow, early bird, huh?👍 I think more on the bike side… As my son recently got his BDay gift from his GrandPa(my 93 year-old dad), a 2nd hand Giant TCR Advanced SL which is something, me as a dad totally can not afford…, he’s been talking about joining some kind of team or club, I was thinking if I can not afford the main course, maybe I can add on some side dishes to make this party…still as successful as possible or at least something I can do…😂 By the way, I know zero about road bikes…, or any bikes…, hope it’s not too late to learn…

[@mintzgirlcyclist]

So amazing!!!

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Thank you 😊

[@william2582]

I push subscribe your channel. I love your riding style and I want to see you to ride some country someday.

[@rkshox]

Great vids and welcome to Taipei! If you're still around, hit me up! So much more amazing riding to unlock and I'd love to play tour guide.

[@therealsugarking]

great vlogs brother

[@karlschleifenbaum5793]

Hello, do you know the Taiwanese manufacturer "Karbona"? I bought a used bike complete with parts from them and the quality seems to be amazing. Thanks

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

I have not heard of this brand. I’ll keep an eye out for it the next time I’m in Taiwan.

[@johncarlolacson3420]

the way you said "checkout" tells me you're from canada. may somewhere west coast. maybe i'm assuming wrong but i grew up in bay area and lived in surrey bc before. you sound west coast. anyway love your vids. !!!!liking and subbed

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Thank you 🙏 …and you’re so close 😀 I’m Canadian but grew up in Toronto

[@headoftimpohon]

Hi John, nice video. May I know what is your camera setup? looks wonderful🥰

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

I use a combination of GoPro 11, iPhone 14 pro and Sony zv e1

[@ChrisHsu]

Going to be visiting Taiwan for a few days w/ the fam next Feb so looking for ways to get in a ride while I'm there. Thanks for posting some social rides that I could potentially join. Any tips on renting road bikes?

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Hey! I brought my own bike so I don’t have any personal experience renting a bike but the first place I would contact is Giant. There are many Giant shops in Taipei so maybe try one of the bigger ones.

[@ChrisHsu]

@@JohnnyZeeLee Another thing. Is that right for the Wednesday 6am starting point, less than a mile into it they just start climbing? If so, wow need to get your warmup in before the meetup!

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

@@ChrisHsu yes the climbing starts immediately 😄 Still gotta ride to the start point though.

[@ChrisHsu]

@@JohnnyZeeLee hah that is true but...oof...making me having second thoughts trying to join this one :-P. Is this a drop ride or do they have regroup points?

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

@@ChrisHsu they have regroup points. This ride is actually called a social ride. To be honest, it’s kind of a hammer fest but everyone waits at the top. It’s definitely worth doing. The view at the top is amazing

[@sitoudien9816]

I'm glad you found your tribe. I'm from Toronto as well. It's either me or I'm with the wrong group. The vibes aren't good. Cycling isn't really a team sport. I rode with 2 groups. It just happens to ride the exact route. It's noncompetitive and no drop rule. But in reality it's start together and ride alone. They are either too fast, unfriendly to newbies and woman, resting is for losers, or obsessed with their $10 000 bike. I'm at the edge of the GTA and there's not much out here to support a community. No rest stops, washrooms, snack bars, cool bike friendly shops, etc. Tim's, McD, and gas stations is it.

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

That’s terrible. I’m sorry to hear your experiences with cycling have not been pleasant. I rode with a club called Dark Horse Flyers when I lived in Toronto. I recommend giving them a try. They’re super friendly and they offer rides for riders of different fitness levels. Good luck.

[@sitoudien9816]

@@JohnnyZeeLee Thank for the reply. I thought of starting my own club, but I'm not a social butterfly. My buds are busy or schedule conflicts. I even jokingly considered opening a snack bar for cyclists. I envy the cycling infrastructure in Korea. Long bike paths, convience stores everywhere, cheap bnb, cheap eats.

[@BurgerTime7441]

Looks beautiful. I want to go to Taiwan for a few months this winter 😀 Hey - Your music is too loud. Please reduce the volume. It should not be any louder than the maximum volume of your voice. I have the volume loud enough to hear everyone speaking but then the music comes on and it's TOO LOUD

[@JohnnyZeeLee]

Thank you. Going forward, I will keep the music a bit lower in the mix. Keep in mind, Taiwan gets a lot of rain during the winter months. It can rain anytime of the year (I cancelled my trip to Wuling because of a typhoon) but from what I understand, the winter months get the most rain.

[@bctvanw]

Taiwan is too hot in summer. I don’t recommend people to come during summer. It rains a lot only in Northern Taiwan in winter. It does not rain much in Central and Southern Taiwan in winter.

[@Jan-x6c]

I saw a documentary on tv once about Tuanaman Square in China and this Chinese male cyclist riding a drop handled bicycle came into view of the camera . I just couldn't believe the bum on him !