April 10th

April 10, 2024

Second day on Liuqiu

It's 12km around Liuqiu - we stay in the town around the harbour on the island's eastern side

We walk back to the ebike rental place at about the crack of 10:30. The friendly guy tells us the two tandems that we rode yesterday have already been booked, so we look at the alternatives on offer. There are numerous two-seater ebikes and a single mountain bike.

Tweleve-year-old Charlie is too big to sit on the low back of a two-seater, and after a brief discussion, Ruby and I agree he should be OK on the mountain bike and let him go for a test ride up and down the road. He seems to know what he's doing, albeit at a faster speed than we'd like, while dinky Oscar is fine on the back of my machine. The guy says he won't charge us for the mountain bike, which is nice of him.

It's breakfast time so it's straight to nearby 7-Eleven for a bite to eat.

I found this ebike rental place on Google Maps

We cruise around the coast road again and Charlie is panting when we reach the first crest - after a short but stiff incline. Further along, my eyes are peeled for a turning that leads down to Venice Beach, where I saw huge turtles on my previous visit. It'll be on our right somewhere.

When we get to a fork, I take it and we start dropping down a concrete road, then soon veer off onto a rough track. I take it steady and my speed is slow when I hear that unmistable sound of a bike crashing and turn to see Charlie prostrate on the dusty track. He bounces back up and we continue down to the edge of a resort complex where we then inspect the damage.

Charlie (right) with his cut knee and arm after coming off on a rough descent

Charlie has grazed his leg, hand and forearm and the adrenaline rush has now subsided. His face has gone pale and he says he feels faint, so he sits down and Ruby uses a Wetwipe to clean him up, while I decide to give the new-looking mountain bike an inspection.

After using a Wetwipe to get rid of the dust on the handlebars and disc brake levers, it seems the rear brake isn't that great. Charlie obviously slammed on the front and the wheel locked, inevitable causing it to slide out from under him. At least the grazes are not serious. It's his pride that's hurt.

Clearly he's not interested in resuming his ride, so I raise the seat and ride the mountain bike back to the rental place. It's surprising that its power assistance is so limited and I have to walk up a couple of modest inclines. The back tyre could do with some air, too. I explain this to the rental guy, who then gives me a ride back to the resort complex on his motorscooter.

It turns out the resort has a nice cafe, which has a great view of the sea from its cliff-top perch and the four of us sit at a table in the shade and recuperate with cold drinks.

For the rest of the ride, Charlie will be on the back of Ruby's two-seater.

We find Venice Beach further down the road and drop down a road to take a look, but the tide is out and there are no turtles around this time.

A short while later we pause at a temple complex for a few snaps and not long after we reach Black Devil Cave, which we didn't explore yesterday and opt to now. There's a stepped walking path that leads around a series of rocky cliffs and outcrops and the two boys run on ahead while I try to take snaps of them - without much success...

The sign simply says 'Welcome to Liuqui - Have a Nice Trip'

A free sample of 'mulberries and shaved ice cream', which tastes fab

Back on the two-seater ebikes outside the entrance to Black Devil Cave

There's a couple of vendors near teh entrance and we decide to try the ice cream. The menu says 'mulberry' but a photo looks like it's made from blackberries. We also get some shaved ice cream made with chocolate Orioles. My diet has taken a real beating since the boys arrived.

Charlie and Oscar are clearly eager to get back to Secret Beach. That's understanable. It's small and quiet and the water is warm, fairly calm and doesn't get very deep. It's not far now.

There's ara bout a dozen people there and we sit in the same spot on some rocks and Ruby and I watch the boys splash around and look for fish till around four when we decide it's time to ride up the island's east side and get back to the rental place.

We pause for a couple of photos en route and at night go to a Thai place for dinner. This part of the trip is over and we'll head back north by Taiwan's high-speed train in the morning.

Street vendor outside a temple near the harbour and our hotel

Today's ride: 12 km (7 miles)
Total: 3,819 km (2,372 miles)

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Scott AndersonIt’s too bad about the spill, but it’s nice to see you down here with your daughter again. Hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years since you rode up to Lishan and down the Taroko Gorge with her.
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6 months ago

Graham FinchYes, but it could have been worse... it was something Ruby and I felt was inevitable as he was excited to be on his own bike.

I've just said bye to them as they fly home early in the morning, while I fly on Thursday night. I'll be in the UK till early July and Debbie is coming over in June. We'll obviously do some cycling.
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6 months ago