What the heck was that?
Our old foe the wind had plans for trying to ruin our departure cycle from Tainan so we outfoxed it got up at 5:45 to get on the road by sunrise. It’s actually not a bad plan for cities to leave them that early as the traffic is always much less, especially on a Sunday and we got to see the sun come up.I know, anyone who knows us won’t believe that bit, but the thought of another day slogging into the wind can work wonders on your desire to get out of bed early. We left Tainan quickly and stuck to the tiny back roads, winding our way through fields of rice and corn with hardly a...
Read MoreOnwards to the Tropics…
After our couple of wonder days we woke to a gloomy and cool day as we headed to the Tropic of Cancer Marker on the coast. The park this was housed in was a bit dilapidated but not at all helped by it still being winter and the many splash pools were empty of water and children. It would probably be a completely different place in the summer sun. The monument itself has the names and flags of all the countries that border the Tropic on a path leading to a statue. The information plaque, like so much of Taiwanese culture was about hope, love and friendship, a theme you see repeated again and...
Read MoreWow!
Leaving the glitzy second city behind, (slowly) we had my front bag support snap off the handlebar on one of the numerous bumps. And that dear reader is why you bring tonnes of elastic cables and cable ties with you! A few minutes later we had some cable ties and the elastic cable holding the mount and my front bag securely in place and proceeded southwards towards the Tropics . The few days cycling from Taichung was some of the most stunningly beautiful we have ever done. Not for the scenery, but just for the things we saw along the way. The temples are exquisite and we pass on average 1...
Read MoreNational Cycle route 1
The national cycle route 1 goes all the way around the island. There appear to be variations of it as we have been on the 1, the 1-1, 1-2, 1-5 and the 1-16 and we tend to follow it where it is flat. It does head up into the mountains but we will let it and plot our own way through the fields and villages instead. We hate hills.The route follows the coast for much of the way down the west side and has huge sections that have been made dedicated cycle paths through Mangrove swamps, along the sea wall and through forests. It’s a gorgeous ride and even the bits where the cycle path ends...
Read MoreWell that was easy…
We retraced our steps out of Taipei toward the airport and had a coffee break at the Old Cermaic Street tourist attraction en route. We seem to be more of an attraction than the pottery to the tourists but sat in the sun enjoying a coffee and watching the world look at the bike, point at us and wave. I can’t see why Harry and Megan got fed up with this celebrity lark….As you will all probably know I’m a fussy one with caffeine and sugar and the Taiwanese love both so decaf Coffee doesn’t exist and sugar free stuff is in its infancy. You can get Coke Zero with added...
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