Video: Deep in the Forests of Taiwan With Gaspi

We arrived in Taiwan full of expectations. It’s a land with the biggest and most advanced bicycle industry in the world, but it’s also an island that only a few know about. The most important goal for Gaspi was to test some brand new FUNN products and to film a short commercial with the local crew. It meant we had to get to the mountains and the trails, which turned out to be one of the most exciting cycling experiences of my life.


Directly from the capital city Taipei, we got a shuttle to the start of the trail by truck with room for twenty bikes. The local bikers joined our film crew and showed us around the unfamiliar terrain. The weather was rather dull and foggy, but it wasn’t cold. We were surrounded by lush forests full of humidity.



I’ve only seen places like this in movies like Platoon, but thankfully there’s no war and no enemies in Taiwan - just an awesome jungle full of trees and the secrets which lurk in the shadows. I found myself deep in the jungle with a lot of natural dangers - slippery roots, lianas hanging from the branches and bamboo stems very close to the trail. Everything was an obstacle, which could lead to serious injury if you were not careful.

Every cyclist has to watch out around bamboo, especially with their handlebars! If you have to bail, which is common when you are riding jungle trails, you may very easily meet Buddha thanks to the volume of sacred statues scattered all over the forest. Thankfully I always landed on the ground, which was heavily covered in leaves and somewhat softened my fall. The most exotic part about riding in the jungle are the sounds of countless unseen birds singing in the tree canopy - it was the first experience this kind in my life.


We were guided by photo journalist and all-around bike legend, Lee Trumpore. A US citizen from Denver, Colorado, who has lived here with his wife for a couple of years now and knows all the trails - "the spiders in the jungle grow to the size of an adult’s palm" said Lee as we took a short break in the middle of the trail. I wish I hadn’t known that...

By now the humidity was getting to me and I was sweating like hell, especially with all of my photo gear in my bag. This trail was far from easy and quite steep, with lots of rocky steps and roots in the way. I wished I had woken up in better shape, forgetting my knee pads in the hotel room. Whoops!


The jungles here are unique as our friend Bobby Chen told us, “it’s quite an interesting story - about thirty years ago the government prohibited logging. That meant there was no need to maintain the forest roads and trails anymore. Most of them were still in rideable condition for many years. However, 12 years ago a massive earthquake hit the area" said Bobby.


“Many people lost their lives and it also destroyed the landscape of central Taiwan. Most of the trails almost disappeared.” Since then mounting biking is slowly dying out in Taiwan, which is pretty absurd because the island is considered to be one of the biggest producers and exporters of bike components in the world. Hopefully, people like Bobby and his friends will keep the mountain biking spirit alive. Whenever they have time, they go out and build or repair biking trails in the forest.

The biking trip was arranged by Bobby Chen, the sales manager of the FUNN Company based in Taichung, the third biggest city on Taiwan. It took us about five hours to get to the next point of our trip. During lunch in the small family restaurant, we discussed the current mountain biking situation here on the island.


The next day we set out to a trail built in a secret spot very close to the military base, with its own shooting range. If Gaspi was a panda bear, he’d be very pleased because there were fresh bamboo stems growing everywhere we looked. After heavy rains, the soil of the local trails had changed into muddy glue, but it didn’t matter to anyone. Most of the time we spent riding through some of the fresh berms shaped by the local trail builder nicknamed ’Flower’. Two things made our cameraman, Dantol Peng, happy - nice shots and the fact he did not crash his drone in the dense jungle. As soon as the work was done, we drank a toast at the FUNN headquarters using the local cheering word “Hototo!”

While it was just a short visit to this great island, I hope to come back pretty soon to explore more hidden parts of their beautiful landscape - Adam Marsal.

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