Sunday..... my proposed 120 mile bike ride was a disaster ... i arrived in Taitung from where I was going to start by train from Tainan ... wonderful journey of 4 hours at a cost of about 12 euros .. train and stations scrupulously clean ... landscape fascinating especially when we reached the south and started to follow the coast ... sun was shining and the sea was literally aquamarine ... however as we began to slow down and draw into Taitung I began to notice that the trees .. hedges ... flowers etc although very beautiful and exotic were moving! ... and of course it began to dawn on me that being close to the sea there would be a breeze ... still "I'm sure it wil be light and intermittent" I said to myself but .... after collecting the bike and setting out it was very breezy and anything but light and worst of all it was against me ... i struggled on for about 10 miles literally getting blown about on the road with dust blowing up into my face especially when crossing a bridge and the crunch came when going down a fairly steep and long hill without either of the brakes on i realised that I was going slower down than another cyclist who was going up the hill on the other side .... when I got to the bottom it was then really blowing and even though I changed down to the lowest of the 21 gears I came to complete standstill. It was at that point that I realised there was no way I could cope with another 110 miles and I would have to give up .. with some despondency I turned round and headed back but as i was getting blown up the hill the humour of it all struck me and I literally burst out laughing. On the way back I decided i would hang on to the bike and stay to look round Taitung for a couple of days which has turned out to be really good decision as there is an excellent bike trail folowing a disused train route which goes through sheltered countryside .. a forest ... two parks and interesting parts of the town so I've had a very enjoyable 2 days. Needless to say I'm disappointed on one level but i always said to myself as well as others that this was going to be a learning experience to see if i could cope with long distance cycling ...I think I might have made it if the wind hadn't been so strong and maybe I will have another go at another time but there's part of me which has concluded that maybe I'm the sort of cyclist who just likes potteringabout!
Update .... While sitting in a 7-11 convenience store on Tuesday I got onto conversation with two women who were guides for a holiday group and during our conversation I told them of my unsuccessful attempts at long distance cycling and they pointed out that Taiwan has been experiencing the tail end of another mini hurricane and they had to cancel one of their day trips on that day as well !!
Wednesday ... Had another marvellous train journey today through the east rift valley from Taitung to Hualien ... the valley is about half a mile wide ... dead flat with high mountains either side.. and mile upon mile of rice fields ... total cost for the two and a half hour journey was about 8 euros ... hostel is very good ... 3 lots of bed bunks ... I'm sharing with one local male and a Swedish female training to be a doctor .... have been out thus afternoon on a free bike for about 4 hours whizzing through the traffic .. what a hoot ....and along the coast on a designated bike path .... a friendly local came and cycled alongside me ... retired architectural teacher and he showed me a spot where the view was good ... really nice chap we talked for about an hour .... then his cousin came along so i continued on my way ... on the way back I tried some steamed meat balls which are very popular over here ... very good they were too .... weather is still t shirt and shorts although some of the locals have anoraks when on their scooters. I will be here until Friday when I take the train to Taipei .... another hostel for 2 nights and then I fly out to Australia to see my sister .... after that .... well ... Laos looks interesting!
TAITUNG BIKE TRAIL
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