Ruisui to Guanfu via the coast

January 20, 2025

Road 64, then the 11 north

Last night Ralph and I cooked up a plan over Guinness from a can. I used a cup, but Ralph didn't bother.

We found there's a train that leaves Haulien at 7:52 in the morning. It calls at Ruisui and from there we can cycle over route 64 to the coast where we'll turn north. The station is just a minute or so away and we know that the hotel receptionist should be at the front desk at 7:30. Hopefully she's not late, as our bikes are locked in storage. The next train is hours later.

We're sat waiting for her and she's not late. She looks either confused or pissed off or maybe both when she sees us. It doesn't take long for us to get our bikes out, cruise along the road to the station and buy tickets. The journey takes an hour and 20 minutes and is dirt cheap - roughly US$5 with a bike. There's a Starbucks at the station, but not enough time to get any coffee.

It's very sunny.

Once off in Ruisui, we head over to a Family Mart and I buy a coffee and a blueberry bagel for breakfast. The seats inside have been commandeered and there's a pile of various packaged products for Chinese New Year, like cookies, so we both stand outside on the corner and regret not going into the 7-Eleven across the road. I didn't see it. I walk over and buy a bottle of cold drink for the ride.

On the 7:52 going south from Haulien City to the small town of Ruisui

Breakfast from a Family Mart opposite the train station in Ruisui

It must be about 15 years since Debbie and I cycled over the 64. That's the only time I've cycled this route. Back then, before Google Maps and whatnot, I thought it'd be a piece of cake, as the maps showed it tracing a river to the coast. It does, but only loosely and the bending route climbs for quite a number of kilometres. Ralph has also only cycled the road once, and like me that was many years ago. He did it from the coast in the dark, so didn't see anything. It's all a blur and we're not really sure what to expect.

Despite searching around, Ralph can't find the army hat that he's religiously worn on the bike for over 10 years and resorts to wearing a wool beany. He worries that his scalp could get burnt today and I offer him my cotton cycling cap, but he declines. It's too hot for me to wear under the helmet.

We pedal out of Ruisui's half a dozen blocks and soon find a long, narrow bridge that's an elevated strip of route 193, which we cycled down yesterday, further north. There's a right turn at the end of the bridge and the 64 then runs flat near the river that must have a name, but I don't know what it is. It's pretty shallow, but is famous nationally for whitewater rafting. There's nobody doing that today by the look of it. It could be busy next week when people are off work.

The road starts bending and we climb and climb and there are vistas of the wide valley. Ranges run along to the east and west, with clouds like whipped cream on top of the distant one to our right.

Looking down at the river that we roughly follow to the east coast

One of the handful of cars that we see on the 64

It's getting quite sweaty in this bright sunshine, pedalling uphill.

Like yesterday on the 193, there is virtually zero traffic as drivers simply stick to either Highway 9 or 11. This zigzagging route also doesn't have any proper villages along it and ends at a what is just a compound for the whitewater rafting people. The road is little used, but for the most part is fairly wide and the surface is nice.

Some sections have been damaged by rockfalls and landslides and mud covers the road, or what's left of it. In a couple of places maintenance crews are busy securing the rockface with wire netting to help prevent more carnage, or clearing away debris.

The route isn't one that simply climbs and then drops - it crosses various small rivers and each time it involves whizzing down to then slowly pedal up again. It's possible to sometimes see the route ahead across a valley where there's a line cut across the green landscape. It's scenic but sobering.

We pass through one very small village where there are some water buffalo grazing, but the villagers must be hiding somewhere. Fortunately we're not feeling very hungry as there's ziltch to buy or eat along this remote road. We'll have to ride north up Highway 11 for a while before finding a place to get some lunch.

We have more climbing to do after a winding drop

We have liquids and cereal bars that keep us going and after a nice drop to the coast and meeting Highway 11, we confirm that we should turn north. Ralph has been understandably hesitant, because there's usually a decent wind blowing from that direction, but the good thing is we will have the ocean on our right and today the forecast is for gusts of 14km/hr max, which is no big deal. It's just a gentle sea breeze, albeit in our faces. You couldn't get more perfect conditions than today's. Our luck is in.

We see a few cyclists coming the other way. First is a young couple with the man leading the way. He totally ignores us, while his partner gives us a smile and a wave. A bit later there's a cyclist heading down this ocean-side of the highway, but we watch him cross over and he acknowldges us as we pass. Ralph thinks he's on an ebike. It's hard to tell.

There are a few places with panoramic platforms replete with adjacent toilets and we pause a few times to take photos. It's hard to get ones that truely capture the whole splendor of this highway though, with the ocean looking incredibly blue today and enhanced by a rare, cloudless sky. I reckon it'd take a drone to do it justice.

There are one or two seafood restuarants that Ralph finds thanks to Google, but some don't open till later and we reckon we can keep riding to a place called Jingpu, where Ralph says there's a 7-Eleven. It's gone one when we get there.

We ride north up the coast along Highway 11

Today the headwind is only slight - it invariably blows from the north

A man across the road from a 7-Eleven, where we have lunch, in a small place called Jingpu

We're ready to eat and I have a microwaved pasta and drink a cold bottle of something called Fin. It's a bit like Gatorade.

There are two options. We can continue riding north up Highway 11 all the way back to Haulien, or turn inland on a branch that will take us to Guanfu, where we got a train from yesterday. The coastal route involves a steady climb inland and I reckon it'll be quite a long ride, so we agree to head west and pedal back over the range of mountains we did this morning on a road I haven't cycled before.

The turning for the 11A is only a minute from the 7-Eleven, just after crossing over a small river. I think it's about 20km to Guanfu. Maybe half of that will be up and the other half down. We'll see.

From Jingpu, we soon leave this coastal highway and ride west to Guanfu

It's a steady climb up this inland section of the 11, which is also named Guangfeng Road

It's a steady climb and lasts about 12km I reckon. We then freewheel down and meet the junction where we were yesterday on the 193. From here it's a flat few kilometres to the train station in Guanfu. Off the top of my head, we've climbed about double to our descent. Perhaps Guanfu is much higher than the coast. That's all I can think of.

It's the same train service heading north as yesterday and it gets to Haulien at just gone six. We get the bikes locked up at the hotel, take a shower and Ralph finds a place on Google that sounds tempting. It's a longer walk than last night, but my legs don't feel so heavy tonight. It's hard to say why.

The restaurant is American in style and is likely owned by an expat. They have an interesting menu and a range of decent micro-brews and we satiate ourselves to the point of overdoing it.

We get a train back north to Hualien City from Guanfu at gone 5:00

Beer in a restaurant in Hualien City called Salt Lick Steakhouse & Grill

Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 153 km (95 miles)

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