June 18, 2023
June 18th
out for a spin with Debbie
Debbie wants to go to a Uniqlo outlet to get a jacket she's ordered online. The outlet is practicaly next to the Starbucks that Ralph and I stopped at yesterday, so today's an action replay or sorts - we'll simply follow the bicycle path running beside the river.
For some reason we're both up very early and could have left home at gone 7-ish, but there's no point because Uniqlo doesn't open till 11 o'clock and it'll take less than an hour to get there. We hang around and watch the sun pop out then disappear behind clouds. It's not going to rain as it did yesterday, but our worry is it might get uncomfortably hot as the day progresses. It's just gone 10 when we set off, me with sun cream on my arms.
It's a case of weaving our way down back streets to get on the bike path, which takes us about 15 minutes. It's not what you would call exciting and there's not much to photograph. The only sight are two plastic chairs outside one of the various steel-clad units...
There's a stiff wind blowing in our faces, which makes riding seem like hard work... maybe I'm just a bit tired from waking up so early. We're riding upstream, but the path's incline is so gradual that it's not visible. After going past rice fields, the path morphs into a series of farm lanes while the river itself is still flowing quite high from the recent rain.
Yesterday, Ralph and I passed an old house set back from the route that's being demolished and as we have time, we opt to pause and have a look. It would have always been hidden by a dense bamboo grove, but that's all been chopped down, giving it the appearance of an ecological disaster. The single-floor, red-brick dwelling is also a real mess, with rubble and roofing material strewn around. It's as though a bomb has gone off. No doubt the owners didn't consider renovation to be worth it and likely intend to build something bigger with decent bathrooms. As much as I like their appearance, these old homes are quite poky and dark.
The narrow lane kicks up a steep escarpment and we then make our way along some side streets to get to the big junction in Yangmei where Starbucks sits. There are only a few customers in today, which surprises me.
Debbie is not a fan of Starbucks and opts to skip having anything. She says she'll get something to eat later, while I scoff something that resembles a pizza slice.
Uniqlo is about 10 meters away. It's not as big as I imagined and once Debbie has her pre-ordered jacket - one which she could have just bought here and now - we mooch around for a few minutes. There's a denim engineer's jacket I like, but I pass after trying it on. The children's t-shirts are expensive compared to other items and we leave to find a place where Debbie can get a bite.
It's now hot. My seat has become warm in the sunshine. A couple of blocks away is a 7-Eleven. You don't have to go far here to find one. The AC inside is always nice and while I thought she would want something more traditional, we pop in and find a table (most here are now like cafes). Next to us is a teenager who is asleep, slumped over a table. Debbie gets what I call a rice triangle. It's a bit of a Japanese thing, with seaweed enveloping a thick three-sides wedge of compressed rice that has a filing inside - usualy fish or meat.
We retrace our wheel tracks and get to where the bicycle begins and see a couple standing knee-deep in the river. It's all quite shallow, even after the rain. It's cIear to us that they're not Taiwanese, as nobody here would fish with a net - these two are catching fish to eat, something locals would not consider as the water is heavily polluted. They see me with my camera, so I gesture if the fish are big or small and the one with the net pulls it out the water to show a lot of fish that are about a foot long. My guess is the pair are from Vietnam.
We're now riding with the flow of water and with the wind at our backs, so it's much easier and our speed is higher. The cloud from this morning has disipated and it feels hot, especially when I stop to take a snap. That's not something I do much as we are obviously passing the same sights as an hour or so ago.
I take one shot of Debbie from a footbridge, then race to catch her up. It's a surprise to find her waiting on a bend, but she's agitated and speaks very fast. She's braked just here as there was a long, fat snake stretched across the path - she tells me it was well over a meter in length and as thick as her arm. She asks if I heard her scream.
The heat is here now and it makes me wonder if there'll be any more chances to get out on the bike for more than 15 minutes or so. Next weekend is Dragon Boat Festival, which traditionally marks a point where everyone here knows that continuous hot weather will make it hard and dangerous to be outside. I can't help but think about my trip to the east coast and regret not going.
Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 3,111 km (1,932 miles)
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