Day 1 of hopefully a hong dao. Started flat on Dahan river and after Daxi started on a pretty up and down road into mountain towns as sun came out and it warmed up. Second half definitely harder than first but it’s all been so beautiful. Favorite part was ride along river before Daxi. Missed the first 10 minutes of recording by accident, so distance according to bike computer was 107.8 km / 66.98 miles
Incredibly difficult but really beautiful. All going through mountain towns meaning a lot of climbing and descending. Last 2 climbs were brutal. Should’ve started a bit earlier as I was a bit stressed getting into Puli before sunset but it all worked out. Bike computer is solar powered so missed the last bit.
Was supposed to be a really easy day but got a flat on the way and got into Sun Moon Lake 2 hrs later than anticipated. Still got to do a loop around the lake but on a different bike, bike shop opens tomorrow so will hope to fix touring bike tomorrow.
Got a new tire in the morning and headed out. Wish I could have left earlier and made it to Tainan a day earlier but we’re here. Not as scenic of a ride for most of the day, it was super hazy and seemed more industrial rather than the lush mountains I’ve been used to. Mostly flat or descending so was a super easy ride.
Completely forgot to stop Strava so a bit extra from walking around city lol. Bike computer clocked it at just over 100km. Started on route 1 but didn’t like the lights and traffic so diverted to the west to ride along coast and super happy I did as it was quieter and felt like more of an adventure. Can’t believe tomorrow is the last day, was super sad when it dawned on me. This was supposed to be a way shorter day but the riding is awesome so took a bunch of detours and tomorrow probably will again. A bunch of Giant shops are closed after new year to March so I don’t think I’ll be able to do the East coast next week 😞 legitimately sad it could be over tomorrow but still one more day of adventure!
And so it ends. A bit bummed that I won’t make the east side return next week but super happy with the experience, it’s starting to kick in that we crossed a whole island by bike. Took a lot of detours today and it was beautiful and super quiet compared to main road. Will be back one day to go Kaohsiung -> Taipei via the east coast!!