February 26, 2022
February 26th
down the coast with Ralph and g
The strict lockdown rules here continue, but for how much longer? The government appears to be about to cut the compulsory hotel quarantine for arrivals from aboard from 14 days down to 10 and while it's only residents who are actually allowed to come, there's talk of letting in foreign business-people soon, and then it'll be tourists. The regulations stating that masks must be worn at all times will also change and exclude anyone doing exercise - like cycling - due to local rates of infection remaining in single digits. There's some welcome light at the end of what has been a long, Covid-19 tunnel.
This weekend is a national holiday, which people simply know as 228 - pronounced two-two-eight - which is the date in 1947 when the Chinese Nationalist military dictatorship killed Taiwanese citizens. It's officially called 228 Peace Memorial Day, but is referred to as the 228 Massacre and led to the White Terror era, during which many thousands here were killed.
Ralph, g and myself don't have classes and we've opted to get out for a ride - overdue, what with the rain having been so persistent - and agree to meet up near g's place, then ride out to the island's west coast. There's a bike path most of the way there, running along what used to be a railway track. We don't know about a final destination, but it's likely to be somewhere down the coast. We'll just see how it goes.
While having breakfast, I'm in two minds about the ride, as sleep was abysmal. It was about 4:00 when I eventually got some shuteye and there's serious self-doubt about being up to it when I wheel my bike outside at just gone 7:30. It's just too late to back out and my rendezvous with Ralph is at our local strain station for a 10-minute train journey north to where g lives.
My ride to the station gets the blood pumping. The air feels chilly at this hour and I use my biggest gear and arrive just before Ralph and buy two tickets, but don't notice the clerk has sold me ones for the 7:51 departure, not the 8:15 as we'd planned. It's only when we get an elevator down to Platform 1 and see a train standing there that we twig. It's a bit of luck.
We've agreed to meet g in a Louisa cafe and he's already sat inside when we roll up early at about 8:30. I need caffeine and order some and it's about 30 minutes later that we decide it's about time this show got on the road.
A couple of blocks away is the bike path and g guides us there. I've cycled along some of it with him before, but not west to the coast. There'll be a bit of novelty.
The cycle path is a mixture of wooden planks and sections of concrete. The old train rails have been incorporated into it for the most part and I think they used to transport goods from the coast into Taoyuan City, but the line got closed once the local road network improved. I guess the Japanese built it, before losing Taiwan in 1945, but maybe the Nationalists built it when they took over soon after. Clearly the local government has spent some serious cash transforming it all, but I've not found any online info' promoting it.
We pass people cycling and walking their dogs and I wish there was something similar near my home. The sun is trying to come out, which is nice and my arm-warmers come off.
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2 years ago
The number of people soon becomes less and we cross over small intersections and cruise beside industrial buildings before reaching soggy farmland that reminds us it's still winter.
At one intersection the path abruptly ends and a work crew with a digger is in the process of constructing what looks like it'll be another section ahead. Maybe in a few months it'll be done.
We turn and ride on a lane that bends this way and that, and signs say it's a national cycle route. The high-speed train station is on the route and benches made of concrete line the roadside but it's hard to fathom anyone ever using them.
We reach huge factories close to the coast that must employ lots of people, but there's nobody around. Smoke billows from tall chimneys and I'm grateful not to be working in such toxic-looking places.
Airplanes are taking off at regular intervals from the international airport nearby and fly low overhead, looking to be going as slow as a car and somehow defying gravity. Their engines tell us they're there and I wonder if any passengers are looking out the windows and can see the three of us on bikes. It's possible.
The industrial area ends at a bridge that arcs over what I assume is an estuary. Its metal has been painted primary red, as many are in Taiwan. Red is an auspicious colour in Chinese culture, so maybe that's why.
It's a gentle climb to its apex, which gives us a view of the open sea on our right, with some fishermen stood in low waves that are lapping onto a bar of rock-strewn shoreline. A couple of freighters are far out to sea and a subtle haze is diffusing their features. We cruise down and immediately enter the fishing port of Zhuwei.
There's a Hi-Life store where we get cappuccinos and the cups go in our bottle cages and we ride over to a nearby pier where we can sit and take in the view of a long, mostly empty beach.
The coffee content is disappointingly minimal and the drinks taste more like watered-down lattes. We talk about the cappuccinos in 7-Eleven and another local convenience store chain called Family Mart making half decent brews, but concur Hi-Life coffees are crap.
While there are a few people on the grey, damp sand, nobody is swimming. I'm not sure how cold the sea is, but its steely tone doesn't look very inviting. A family of four is close to the water's edge and Dad is busy with a spade, while the two children and their mother seem to have their own agenda and simply watch on or gaze at the distance.
There are dunes at the top and we can see a car parked, so assume there must be a track or road that we can ride on to get south. We eventually head off to find it.
The track is non-existent. We find this out by riding around wasting a bit of time looking for it before heading to Highway 61, which has a concrete bicycle path running directly below it.
Unfortunately the path ends and we have to ride on the lower section of the road, with the main one with fast traffic being elevated. Cars and container trucks still zip by and it's a lousy ride for quite a while. A gentle wind is at our backs and we get close to the airport and see signs for Guanyin, a small town which has places for lunch.
It's noon when we roll into its small core, where a big temple stands on a traffic island. Ralph consults Google Maps and we head to the street where the cafes are located and go in one on a corner that g and I dined in a while ago. It sells various dumplings and we all select a finger-length fried type called guotie - 'pot-sticker' in English. We have 10 spicy ones each that hit the spot.
Our energy levels replenished, we ponder our next move as the TV mounted on the wall shows news of Ukraine. We could ride back home from here, but decide to keep going south, then get a train north.
A sign at the junction points to the lighthouse, obviously located near the coast, and we head there and find a small road running south, but after five minutes there's a construction zone and a man wearing a high-viz vest waves to indicate that we can't continue. It's only when Ralph rides right up to him to make sure that his repetitive 'No-no-no' is what it means that his stature becomes apparent. He's very short.
After doubling back we veer down a side road, but that too is closed off and there's no choice but to head to the main road - the 61.
It's not long before we get off it again and ride along a service road through an industrial area, where the factories seem idle - unsurprising what with it being a holiday weekend. Huge power generating wind turbines loom above us, with the silently rotating blades going slowly round.
There's more time wasted cycling down another dead-end and it's just as well we have all day - what's left of it.
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A wide-topped sea defense wall provides an easy route to follow, with generous views of the never-ending beach and the grey water on our right. It all looks a bit forlorn, with the sun now gone and rain looking a distinct possibility. We're exposed here.
There is a small crowd of tourists in the small harbour of Yonghan, which is a spot Ralph knows well and he leads us to a popular cycle route which veers through woods. We overtake day-trippers who are out in force riding four-wheeled pedal machines that are travelling along in a low gear.
After enjoying the diffused light of the Green Tunnel, we find visitors fizzle out at a certain point and we have the route to ourselves as we ride further south towards Zhubei.
The dark clouds have swept away, but it remains overcast and a back-wind makes progress easy. Heading north would be tiring.
The final kilometers riding south are on the main road, because there's a wide estuary to get across and only the 61 has a long bridge spanning it. Once on the south side, we get onto a cycle path beside the river and Ralph says his computer is saying we've done 90km so far. It's about five more to get to the station.
It's hard to say where we are when we get to a smaller river, but there'a cycle path beside it and that's what we ride on for a while. When we stop to check Google Maps, a couple of people offer directions, but it's not very far to ride now and once at the ticket office, there's only about a 25-minute wait for the northbound 5:27 departure. There's enough time for us to get a drumstick from a convenience store. My stomach is empty and I know I'll sleep well tonight.
Today's ride: 97 km (60 miles)
Total: 1,486 km (923 miles)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 6 |
2 years ago
Sounds like Taiwan lockdown has been pretty intense! I'm glad to hear there may be light at the end of the tunnel. I'd dearly love to go and cycle there some day!
Cheers,
LJ
2 years ago
2 years ago
The weather was quite decent and it made a nice change from the rain that fell for a few of weeks here. It's actually felt chilly for a couple of months and I suggest September as a good time to visit.
2 years ago
2 years ago