Biking Taiwan's East Coast: Hualien to Amazing!

I have been in a bad way for far too long and it was high time I put myself back on the road. My body has been feeling adequate. My bike still works. I have a couple of coins in my pocket. I decided I had spent far too long on the sidelines and deserved to get out and enjoy cycling in Taiwan on my own terms. With a long weekend and an invite from the redoubtable Michael Turton and Jeff Miller. I threw my hat in for a ride down Taiwan's Rift Valley.



After a last minute attempt to get the logistics nailed down to circumvent Taiwan and be back for work on Monday morning, I made a mad dash across Taichung to hop the Ju Guang Train (a.k.a. the slower than shitting molasses train) to Hualien. The weather was already wet when I arrived and it didn't get any better when we pushed off the next morning into a steady drizzle.

There is something about riding a bike and taking an excellent road that makes the puddle sloshing between your heel and your toe a less than unpleasant experience. I was in luck as we would be taking the Route 193 southward.



The Route 193 is the cyclist's friend when biking the Rift Valley, as it is scenic, with little traffic, few difficult bumps, and plenty of places to find provisions.

As we sloshed along the base of the hillside kicking up spray and grit from the roadway, I kept looking out at the opposite bank imagining the mountains that lay obscured by clouds and mist. It was just that kind of day.



There were a few other cyclists out, but not many. Michael was having trouble with a spoke piercing through the rim tape and was slowed by punctures during the first day.


We plodded along past one Amis village after another to the occasional greeting shouted from the shadows of some roadside shelter or another. If Taiwan is regarded as a friendly country, the ester portion has to be the friendliest.

Jeff engaged in conversation with a local over one of the old wells in the area. We were informed that the quality of the wells has deteriorated since tourists started arriving and throwing cigarettes and betel nut into the wells. As we were leaving I noticed the town was busy preparing to accommodate more tourists.



With the weather growing colder and nastier with every turn of the crank, and Michael suffering from mechanical difficulties, we decided to end our day at the farming town on Yuli. I tested my legs for the final 30km, mainly just to keep myself warm, and was quickly waiting for Michael and Jeff on the outskirts of Yuli where we arrived at a hostel that offered showers with the most instantaneously scalding hot showers I have been fortunate enough to witness first hand. I was relieved to be out of the wet and settling in for the night.



It was most fortuitous that we never made it any further than Yuli as the next morning was simply glorious. The rain had cleared, so we decided to head out toward the coast on the Route 23.



As we headed onto the roads the sun was already pushing through holes in the clouds. The valley was simply glowing between light reflecting off the rice fields or passing through filters of various greens. I beg you will forgive my gratuitous selection of pictured from that day that me seem redundant or doing little to advance this narrative, but I am choosing to revel in the sights of that morning as they were being words.



Alas, it was time to say farewell to the Yuli valley and embark on the Route 23, which is one road my friend and fellow cyclist, Nathan Miller, refers to as a road that, "drops right off the edge of the earth."

Nathan isn't too far off the mark. The Route 23 dips down through some tiny farms and then as if passing through some strangle portal in space and time, you are transported directly into the central mountain range.

The area beyond the hole in the rock echoes of a vast wilderness. It feels like you are caught in the gravity of a much larger area.


Before long the road launches skyward. A periodic road sign advertises an imminent village outpost 15, 7, 3, 1 kilometer ahead. Behind every false top you expect to find the elusive village of Donghe.


I took the climb as if I still had the legs to do it. I scrapped and heaved myself upward on my first significant climb since September and my legs knew all about it.

I reached the true peak and let myself fall over the ridge toward Central Donghe, a sight that had just passed overhead.

As I plummeted downward, the kilometers started adding up without anything remotely passing as a "Central Donghe". I wondered if I had been mistaken.



A few buildings here and there. A farm or two beneath an ancient cliff face. No Donghe.


We arrived at a bridge where roaming packs of idiots have been tamed by the local monkeys to deliver food to them.


Finally, after a few more kilometers of pedaling, we arrived at the ocean, where the little town of Donghe bustled with happy tourists.



We pointed our handlebars northward, and with the gentle push of a tailwind, we made a steady pace to Cheng-gong.


The Bikeway took a brief scenic route along the ocean for a wealth of views and photo ops.


On the the third day we were greeted by wind and drizzle to go with our morning coffee. It looked like it might be another rough day. Fortunately, the wind had shifted during the night and we had another tailwind going the other direction to carry us to Taidong.

I looked out into the ocean and saw a solid sheet of rain a few kilometers off shore and decided to go for broke the rest of the way to Taidong.


As I neared our destination, it became clear the rain would remain off shore and I slowed the pace to better enjoy the scenery.

The monstrosity of the Miramar Hotel, the defunct ecological disaster and eyesore, sat decaying along the beach. It serves as a stark warning for what Taiwan's eagerness to court tourism can unleash.


We were in Taidong well before 11:00am and had plenty of time to adjust our train tickets for an early return home.

It is amazing country out there. Just stay off the Highway 9 and eastern Taiwan is an absolute gem.

Biking Taiwan's East Coast: The Glory of Green

Michael Turton over at The View From Taiwan has a wonderful write-up and pictorial spread on his adventures riding Taiwan's East Coast and Green island. It is obvious why the area is ranked the number 2 area in the world for cycle tourism.

Here is one little excerpt on the routes they took and especially on some of the trouble that occurs where the bike meets train. In Taiwan the left and right hands of the civil service are merely the anonymous sperm donors to the same policy.

The next morning, the dawn of a cool, overcast day, we cruised the 193 back to Hualien city, and picked up the 1:02 express back to Fengyuan. It turns out that 193 is much easier and faster done from the south -- I had underestimated the extent to which it is one long uphill slog from Hualien. It's a lovely road, one of the best on the island, never trafficked, and the views over the rift valley are incredible. Highly recommended.

The train proved to be another encounter with the TRA's bike train crapshoot. We bought the tix for the 1:00 pm express in Taitung the day before. There we were informed there were no bike places for our bikes and we would have to bag them --- even though it was a designated bike train with the special car for bike storage without needing to disassemble them and on which bikes could travel for free with a ticket for car 12. The spaces for the bikes were all taken, we were told.

The reality was that, as usual, the TRA staffer was wrong about the policy. In fact, we were able to pay the baggage fee and bring the bikes on the same train as luggage in the same compartment as the free bikes with the bike tickets. In fact, there were no such bikes, for the entire trip ours were the only bikes on the train -- meaning we could have had one of the four free bike spaces. The computer system associates the bikes with a seat in car 12, the car with the luggage facility, meaning that if the seats in car 12 are sold out, then there are no free bike spaces (that's right, bikes do not have priority in that arrangement -- it is impossible to get a free bike shipment if you have to sit in another car, as we did). Someone needs to give the brains of TRA planners are thorough scrubbing. There was absolutely no reason we couldn't have been treated as a free bike shipment and no reason not to reserve seats for cyclists in car 12, since it is a designated bike train. Argh!

Some really lovely photos in this set: HERE

*photos courtesy of Michael Turton

Bike Train

• Tern, the new folding bike company that emerged from the odd family feud from the founders of Dahon, will be advertising heavily in Taipei this week. I would love to know where to actually buy a Tern.

• Taipei Cycle opens today. See what is shaking at the Nangang Exhibition Center.

• The Velocity wins the International Bike Design Competition.

• Formerly on Formosa, David Reid showcases his new bike. This would be ideal for a lot of Taiwan-based riders.

Also:

People laughed at me 4 years ago when I was zipping along roadways with a disc equipped drop bar bicycle. Now, Colnago releases a C-59 Disc roadbike. Vindication is mine!

Blog Posts and Travel Notes

Here are a few interesting travel posts:

• The Cycling Canadian reports on several recent rides.

Personally, I love the highways in the interior: the northern cross-island highway, the central cross-island highway, and the southern cross-island highway (they’re more roads than highways). The scenery along these roads is wonderful, and you can check out places like the Alishan region. The mountains of Taiwan are, in fact, riddled with narrow and fascinating roads that seem to go everywhere and nowhere. My favorite thing by far in Taiwan is just to hop on my scooter and go driving around the mountains. Most of the roads aren’t even on any maps, and you can just pick a road and see where it goes. You end up having all kinds of adventures.

• Ronin on a Bike recently visited from Japan and blogged a bit about the experience.

Dropped off my hardhat then started on my journey south. Could quickly get on to Route 193 towards Hualien. Nice empty coastal road, including through a graveyard the size of a small town, with a strong tailwind and speeds up to nearly 60 kph. Just a couple of busy kilometers through Hualien centre, then a couple of punctures before getting back onto Route 193 alongside the River Siouguluan. Almost no cars on this route on this Sunday, but fairly good road quality and frequent "cycle rest stops" where you can fill up with water and use the bike pumps.

• I never had a chance to link to OzSoapbox and his write-up of the Old Caoling Bikeway near Fulong.

Fulong Station marks the start of the Old Caoling Bikeway and as you can see is quite busy.

On the right there you’ve got lunchbox places to eat at and there are numerous bike rental places scattered throughout the immediate vicinity of the station.

If you are riding down to Fulong Station or come by car down Route number 2 along the coast, this is the intersection you want to stop at to turn right;

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Other Links:

• New Zealand cyclist fight to bring bike on train.
• Super Sprinter Mark Cavendish wins Sportsman of the Year. Winning a lot helped... minimize displays of his notorious sportsmanship.
• Vino paid dearly for a victory? 100,000 Euros!
• Running to become a better cyclist?

• Red Kite Prayer on accumulating equipment.
• VeloNews with a look at the impact Highroad had on cycling. Without Taiwanese sponsor HTC, the team folded at the close of the 2011 season.

Problems Over-Developing A Bicycle Paradise

Map of New Development in the Rift Valley

A couple pieces have caught my eye over at The View From Taiwan, and I thought I could weave cycling into the discussion.

Two articles in particular stand out. The first involves the rapidly expanding development of Taiwan's East Coast. And the other highlights recent criticism of a bill that would critically impinge on the rights of Taiwan's First Peoples.

Michael does such an excellent job with many of the details, so I will simply expand upon the ideas here to better demonstrate how these initiatives impact and will be impacted by cycling and bicycle tourism.

Much of the hoopla surrounding the recent Taiwan Cup and Taiwan's International Bike Festival involved showcasing Taiwan as a cyclist's paradise. Although we each have our own idea of what cycling paradise entails, the thrust of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau's presentation revolved around the amenities and activities specifically constructed to cater to the bicycle tourist. Many of the projects put on display were the result of a tourism building boom that had given the Ma administration plenty to crow about, and moreover, these projects have provided construction and development companies a fertile playground to capitalize on the deliberate transformation of Taiwan from a leader in technology and industry into a tourist Mecca.

Although I support expanding rider support all over Taiwan, the country's penchant for unchecked development, illegal construction, kickbacks , payoffs and creative zoning threatens to not only discourage visitors who are looking to enjoy Taiwan's rugged wildernesses, but it also threatens the collective rights of Taiwan's indigenous inhabitants, many of whom own the lands along the Rift Valley between Hualien and Taidong.

The Taipei Times reports:

Amis representative Konon Panay (古孟巴奈) said the central government did not define and grant Aboriginal lands, but it has been depriving Aborigines of their lands in the name of development.

Under the government of the Republic of China (ROC), the often correlative concepts of "development" and "eco-tourism" can be viewed as demonstrative of Taiwan's problematic postcoloniality.

When the Republic of China (ROC) arrived on Taiwan in 1945, the government instituted a program which located Taiwan's Hakka, Hoklo, Pingpu* and Aboriginal communities as "backward" in need of the modernity the ROC claimed to possess. The authoritarian government of the ROC used development programs in an attempt to "modernize" and transform the people of Taiwan into something subjectively better and "improved". Non-Taiwanese were located closest to the civilizing center and Aborigines at the furthest points.

In many ways the ROC scheme reflected pre-existing beliefs of Qing era transformationalism, or the belief that "savages" could be improved if they could learn to act like "humans", as well as the social darwinism that was popular with Sun Yat-sen and his cohorts. Taiwan's Aborigines were believed to be a degraded people who could be improved through the ROC civilizing program.

Many Aborigines were asked to move from traditional villages into "modern" concrete houses. Not only was the move away from traditional homes an attempt to modernize them, but the act can be viewed through the Confucianist lens as an act of taming; of transporting indigenous people through time to near the present and away from the "wilderness", which has been traditionally viewed by Han people as both savage and degraded. Even during the Qing colonial era, farmers along Taiwan's western plain were implored by official decree to "tame/open the wasteland" through farming. These believes reflect the deep connection between traditional Confucian views and official ROC ideology. Emma Teng's book Taiwan's Imagined Geography provides a great read on how these beliefs manifest themselves in official writing on Taiwan's indigenous peoples.

I think these beliefs can be seen from 2008, when Taiwan's current president and Chinese Nationalist standard bearer Ma Ying-jiu addressed a group of Aborigines.

Ma was quoted as saying:

"I see you as humans and as citizens of this city. I'm going to educate you well and do a good job of providing you with opportunities. That's the place from which the attitude of aborigines needs to be adjusted...now that you've come here, you need to play by the rules here..."

The pejorative distance between city and country, savage and non-savage, degraded and elevated are on full display with Ma clearly envisioning himself in the position of the civilizer.

The moves for development groups to go in and develop the indigenous lands along the Rift Valley while stripping or weakening the rights of indigenes to manage their own development creates a system of patronage, where the indigenous peoples must rely on the development groups and their political benefactors for economic support. Many of Taiwan's development schemes are not only owned by outside investors, but often many of the only jobs created are in service or entertainment where indigenous people are requited to perform quasi-traditional performances for the pleasure of tourists thus becoming the exotic object of desire on their own ancestral land while most of the profits go elsewhere. I recall "Aboriginal dancing" being one of the "highlights" promoted to visiting journalists for the Taiwan International Bike Festival.

The prospect of cycling tourism has become one of the driving forces behind much of this development; development that is neither sustainable, tenable, ethical or just.

For these reasons I would recommend cyclists ask for cycling development in Taiwan with a lighter touch to best enjoy Taiwan. I hope those people who arrive in Taiwan on a government paid junket or for cycling tourism can covey the belief that often less is more and we care about more than simply bike trails or hot springs. We care about the entire cycling environment including how the land was acquired and how much local involvement goes into planning cycling infrastructure. For now many of the decisions on bicycle infrastructure and development are made by politicians, developers and their corporate backers.

* Pingpu existed under the Japanese, but were incorporated into Hakka and Hoklo groups under the ROC by 1953.

ADDED:

Food For Thought: Two thoughtful articles about tourism from Ryan at Savage Minds. Article 1 and Article 2

Frozen Fates of the Far East: Cycling The Rift Valley

The Frozen Fate blog has a wonderful write up of biking Taiwan's East Coast. Lots of valuable information regarding renting bikes and riding in Taiwan from a visitor.

There are multiple cross-mountain roads connecting the two highways at various places along the length, so one can either do one or combinations of both. Also of note is that, Route 193 that runs parallel to Highway 9 from Yuli into Hualien City is highly recommended over Highway 9 at that stretch due to much less traffic, and the rolling terrains combined with the countryside sceneries makes for a more exciting ride, compared to Highway 9 which has many big trucks passing through.

This is a favorite route for cycling tourism and it has been heavily promoted by the tourism industry for the level of infrastructure available for cyclists.

Also:

• Taichung Bike Week is well underway and several of the big players are in town to show their wares. Campagnolo has been keen to demonstrate their electronic shifting. ProLite and Token are looking to raise brand awareness with booth presence as well.

• The 2012 edition of the Tour de Taiwan is looking for qualified English/Chinese interpreters to assist riders, teams and journalists during the event. Qualified interpreters must hold a TOEIC certification. Details HERE.

• Taiwan's big 3 brands are in fat city.

• Todd from the Daily Bubble Tea takes the Super Sampler Cycling.

Biking Eastern Taiwan: The Beauty of the Route 193

I receive a lot of requests for information regarding the best routes for traveling Taiwan's Rift Valley. The biggest mistake riders make is in sticking to the Highway 9 and Highway 11. The real secret to biking eastern Taiwan may be the Routes 193 and 197. I had to decline the invitation to ride the route this weekend. Our baby is at 35 weeks and it is just a bridge too far for a ride like that.

So, here is the beautiful picture post and ride report from Michael Turton at The View From Taiwan. Lots of great and useful information here. I am sure he took many of these pictures to hit me in my jealously nerve.

Enjoy!

LINK

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The Honeymoon Is Over: Taiwanese pair finish their two-year world tour.

Circling Taiwan By Bike: An Awesome Guest Post

Although I wish I could be a part of every great ride, with work and responsibilities I miss out on a lot of them. That is why I have to bike vicariously through friends and other riders as they go out have make life happen.

I am happy to share with my readers these exploits of friends and readers around Taiwan so we can all take a moment to daydream of doing the same.

I am always happy to offer space for a guest post if there are any rides out there worth posting... and Domenic Alonge had provided just that.

Enjoy his post and his ride.

Thanks for sharing, Dom!

A.

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Hello, I'm Dom, a friend of Andrew, who was turned on again to cycling in no small part by this very blog and so I feel honored and happy to share my thoughts on biking and on my trip around Taiwan with his many loyal readers.

That impulse that drove me to ride around Taiwan was born long ago. You see I've always loved to explore new places, even when I was young. I hope you will indulge me in a quick anecdote- If you're interested int pictures and names of places, you can scroll down.

I remember my first bike well. My father and I picked it out from a Sears Department Store-I was the proud owner of a Kent Ambush (which they still make today) at age 6. It had a chrome finish. It had a foam tube that wrapped around the top tube. The foam had a nylon cover that fastened with velcro and had a checked flag design. It looked cool, even with training wheels. It was cool. I learned to ride on it, learned to explore.

After ditching the training wheels, I got together with the other kids on my street and we rode up and down our street, maybe a quarter of mile each way, but boy, were we tired at the finish. We raced. We looked for uneven sections of sidewalk and curb to imagine as ramps and tried to 'jump.' We managed mere fractions of seconds off the ground, but to such young minds, this was flying!

The slippery spots where leaky engines left giant oil stains- we turned them into skidpads, leaving huge trails of rubber in the street, much to the dismay of our parents, who we guilted into replacing the tires.

We sought out huge puddles to race through and watched the wakes our tires made ripple about, and stared in wonder at the splashes our wheel could make.

We did eventually, as kids do, get bored of our short little suburban street.

We knew its ins and outs.

We wanted to explore.

Our parents set our boundaries for us then. We were limited to our own street. That was it. To go beyond was to risk 'being told on' by a less courageous, but more obedient companion. A tattletale. If you got caught, that was it. You had your wheels taken away for a long time. A long time. No more exploring for you!

But one day, that stands still in my mind, we went past our boundaries.

I don't know what it was that drove us to turn the corner and head around the block to uncharted territory. Probably the rumor of a giant sprinkler on a hot day or word of an awesome section of sidewalk, who knows, we were 7 or 8. It was likely we just grew bored.

Well, a group 7 or 8 of us took off around the block one afternoon, racing as fast as we could to avoid detection. It was a thrill, new road, new faces, new patches of pavement to launch ourselves into the sky!

We got caught. A neighbor saw us in their car and duly reported us to our parents. I got punished, I don't know, for a month. My father literally took the wheels from my bike. I nearly forgot what that feeling was like…of exploring new places on a bicycle...I rediscovered that feeling on my ride around our lovely island.

A year ago, I didn't even have a bike.

Were it not for Taiwan in Cycles, I would not only have been clueless about where to find a bike to suit my needs, I wouldn't even know what kind of bike would suit me on Taiwan's roads. I strongly encourage anyone interested in picking up a bike to refer to Drew's shop directory and post on finding a Taiwan Bike.

I contacted Andrew and thanked him for making such information available and told him I'd love to ride with him sometime. We did a few rides together and through him I met another blogger and enthusiast, Michael Turton. We've have some great rides together since then, and they helped me grow to love the sport, get to know the roads, and of course, as their readers well know, their enthusiasm is contagious.

At some point in the last few months, I decided that, while local rides were great, I wanted to explore some more. Like my childish self, I wanted to explore. “Ride around Taiwan. Why not? It's been done many times by many people. It's almost a rite of passage. I can do it, too.” So went my thinking.

My vacation from teaching lasts all of August, so I knew my trip would be a tough one. Typhoons and high temperatures and thunderstorms would be a constant threat, but I was mentally prepared to end my trip at the drop of a hat because foul weather or injury or worse.

I made the idealistic and foolhardy decision to camp part of the way. I wanted to be surrounded by nature. If it were about 5 degrees cooler it would've been fine, but the nights I camped were sweat-filled fits of tossing and turning and not much in the way of sleep.

I left August 1^st, cycling north from Taichung with my packs of gear, which weighed in at about 21kg.

Looking only to cover some distance with my fresh legs, I camped at Beipu Township the first night. On account of the heat and the KTV in the campground, I didn't sleep well, but I did make an early morning dip in the cold spring there, which helped raise my spirits.

I headed north and east into the mountains on Day 2 along Highway 3. My destination was Siao Wu Lai. It was a beautiful but draining ascent into Fuxing Township, and when I arrived, I didn't even think about camping.

I needed a shower and bed. Fast. I found a nice little hotel with a friendly staff. They cooked me a special dinner, and I met a nice family, and two outgoing Taiwanese teachers while wandering the streets that evening.

I wandered around, snapping photos and exploring Little Wu Lai around sunset. Lots of natural beauty and very friendly folks.

I rose the next day with the sun for a wonderful ascent into the Sanxia area on 7乙. I think the whole descent I may have had to turn the pedals half dozen times.

Finding the campground I planned staying at closed, I cut through Taipei at morning rush hour.

Looking for another night of sound sleep and relaxation, I settled into a Beitou hot spring hotel to help me soak my fatigued body. Rejuvenated, I strolled around lovely little Danshui.

I slept deeply, renewed for my quick dash to Jioufen on day 3.

Passing through Keelung, I made a stop for lunch on Heping Dao, at Drew's suggestion. What a wonderful little spot.

The climb into Jioufen awaited me, and with that ahead of me, I found it hard to linger too long in Keelung. I had a delicious lunch and zoomed up to Jioufen with the help of a generous tailwind.

The Descent out of Jioufen down to the coast is worth doing again and again, especially in the quiet morning hours.

Stopping the next night to camp in Fulong, I finally began heading south to Suao on day 5.

I decided to stop there because it has a famous cold spring and I wanted to gather my wits and my strength before striking south on the notorious Su Hua Highway. I also heard good things about the cold spring there. They turned out to be true.

The ride from Su Ao south was my least favorite part of the trip. Camping again left me tired in the morning and though I got an early start, I wasn't ready for the rude climb out of Suao port. An hour into the ride I felt exhausted and overheated, and I had only covered 6 k or so. It was only 7 a.m.

Rolling down after that initial ascent, I rounded a sharp, blind curve at a reasonable velocity, surprised to find that the last third of the turn was wet concrete. I instinctively tried to eat some speed, braking lightly, but alas with all that gear on the back of the bike, the rear wheel shot out from under me. My bike and I skidded across the choppy concrete to a painful halt in the middle of the road.

Thankfully, there wasn't any traffic coming in either direction.

Checking my bike and my body and laughing with joy to find only a pair of scrapes on my hip and knee, and a big bruise on my hip, I continued south towards Hualien slowly, cautiously, a bit unnerved and sore that my handlebar was bent.

In spite of being on edge the whole time, especially in those long dark roughly paved tunnels, I made to to Hualien without incident, stopping to take only a few pictures.

After such a harrowing experience, I decided to take a rest day and feast day in Hualien- no riding for a day and few square meals. They also have a Carrefour there, so there was a chance to get a replacement gas tank for my stove.

I ate my way through Hualien and found a new favorite: Coconut Muagi.

I headed south with fresher legs. I took the ride easy. There was a light headwind, but I had plenty of time to make it to my next stop, Shitiping Campground in time to set up camp.

The road south from Hualien is really where the east coast starts to charm. The imposing shoulders of the moutains eases away from the coast and the Island seems more like a tropical paradise.

Shitiping Campsite a gem of a spot. Beautiful location, covered tent area with power supply. Perfect. Well worth a visit, during the cooler months. For me, it was another night of short rest and an early start.

Though encouraged by meeting another group of riders from Hong Kong heading North to Taipei, I found the ride from Shitiping to Taitung to be brutal. It was hot, and though the road was flat, each kilometer felt like 5 under that strain- the heat and the weight. I came then to the conclusion that it was foolish to try to camp on a trip like this at this time of year, but, at that moment there was nothing I could do but take it 1 day at time, one 'k' at a time, if needs be.

It was that afternoon in Taitung that I got a call from Michael T., of the View from Taiwan, asking me if I wanted to meet up with him to ride around Kending. He knows the roads to ride in that area, and I thought of all things I could do with, some company would be the best.

My bike and I boarded a train to cross the mountains from Taitung to the west coast, the port city of Fangliao.

I was buoyed the next morning knowing that I would spend the day riding with no gear whatsoever. I could leave it in the hotel. Needless to say it felt like my bike had wings that day.

I met Michael and his friend Jeff ready to ride south to Kenting. We were to spend two nights and two days there, taking it easy and riding the gorgeous roads of the Hengchun Peninsula. I'd heard a lot about these roads and was really looking forward to the part of the trip.

We rolled steadily into a headwind that afternoon arriving in time to enjoy a leisurely meal, find a place to stay and unwind a bit.

The next day proved a gem. All within the span of a hundred K or so, the views along 199, 199 甲 and 200 were beyond description.

Here the varied landscapes of Taiwan are in full flourish, as valleys, plains, and hills are interwoven, the road the thread that binds them all together.

And here we were, us three, sweating in the heat, for sure, but smiling all the way. We were exhausted, but in a very satisfying way.

So much did I enjoy this little circuit that we made that I decided right then and there to end my trip around Taiwan. At that point, I felt that I had seen so many beautiful places and had so much fun, that going on would just dilute them in my memory. I was also really tired of living out of 7-11's. I didn't actually want to complete the task of circling the island anymore. It wasn't my goal to add another notch to a belt of accomplishments, though there is something to be said for that kind of thing. I just wanted to have fun. This place, this evening, was how I'd like to remember my trip: A day spent in the sun amid a world of green, with grinning faces, racing up the hills and flying down.

I felt then, like a kid again; but how mature of me, to know I've reached the point when enough is enough. What a great ride.

So I boarded the train in Kaohshiung and shipped my bike north the last 350 k without any regrets.

Thanks Michael, and Jeff for showing me a really beautiful side of Taiwan.

Thanks Andrew for indulging me in this post, and Thanks for reading!

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Also:

Be sure to check out Michael Turton's post from the Kenting leg as well.