November 2, 2021
November 2nd
Coffee with g
Ralph and I talked about going for a ride today while enjoying a couple of beers in a local bar last night, but we didn't agree a time and this morning the cable guys arrived here and were taking a long time installing new stuff through the embedded conduit in the floors and walls, so I couldn't email him.
Instead I texted g and said I'd get the train over to his neck of the woods and have a coffee with him. My plan was to plot a nice bike route back home on Google Maps, but with no Internet, that wasn't possible.
It's been one of those mornings.
It's about 11:00 and I finally get out the door, leaving the cable guys in the hands of Debbie. It takes me 10 minutes or so to ride to the local train station.
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The sky is overcast, but I feel warm enough in shorts and short-sleeve top.
There are plenty of trains heading north and it's only a wait of less than 20 minutes after getting a ticket. Fares in Taiwan are cheap compared to the UK and the short journey is only NT$23, including half-fare for my bike.
The end carriage is for bikes and it's empty and the train is a new with hangers for three bikes. The older trains have useless straps that you're supposed to wrap around the front wheel and I usually just sit and hold the bike in front of me.
The hanger makes the journey hands-free and pleasant, but I notice my rear wheel is only just an inch or so clear of the carriage floor. My bike's a bit of a monster.
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The coffee shop where I meet g is about a 15-minute ride from Taoyuan station and it's all seriously urban and busy with not a hell of a lot to see.
The only photo I take is one of some text on an awning where a new housing project is being built that I spot while waiting at a red light: 'Inside The Wave' seems a strange one, as we're a long way from the coast. Maybe in Chinese it sounds OK, but I have to question the developer's thinking.
The apartment block being built right next to mine is called 'Twin Lakes Manoir'. We live adjacent to a concrete-lined pond.
Although we agreed to meet at 1:00, g is already sat with his coffee and sandwich when I get to Louisa over 20 minutes early.
He's kindly brought along a selection of leather key holders he made because the ones he gave me a couple of years ago disintegrated and I now get the two similar keys that open the front gate and door of my apartment block mixed up. He's used different coloured leather.
Today's turning out to be a lucky one, as g's also brought me a few cans of IPA. He knows which convenience stores stock it - the few near my place don't.
We hang out in Louisa for an hour or more and have a second cup before I decide to ride back home.
My plan is to initially take a riverside bike path and then hopefully following a service road below a freeway. It should get me to the outskirts of town.
Getting on the bike path is a piece of cake and it takes me roughly west towards the coast - it follows a river. I once cycled along it with g a while back and it's unlikely to ever be crowded, but it's very quiet today.
There's not much to see or photograph along the path. It goes past new apartment blocks that lack character and more new ones under construction. Older, low-ride homes that would be more photogenic are likely hiding somewhere around here, but exploring the side streets and alleys would no doubt result in me getting lost pretty quick.
After about 15 minutes the path gets to where the elevated freeway cuts across and it's a case of riding on to a road bridge, then making a U-turn to double back on the opposite side of the river to find the service road that traces it.
Its route goes in the general direction of home and it seems easier to just follow it for a while rather than heading on a series of intricate lanes, because most either end at a farm house or sooner or later connect to a busy road. These routes are pretty crap for cycling - they're always busy - and this is why I invariably take a train to see g and return home the same way. Even the bike path ends a long way from the west coast.
The service road is boring, but relatively safe. There's noise coming from the freeway traffic high above my head and the views are mundane. The grey sky doesn't help.
I take a snap of myself using the camera's timer and my tripod, then ride to a junction just ahead only to find the service road is blocked off due to construction work, so I make a left and go under the freeway.
This is clearly going to get complicated now. I'll just use my compass and keep my fingers crossed. My direction should be southwest.
I take a right turn down a small street, but it comes to a dead end and I then find a track that goes past some allotments but then comes out onto a street which leads to a wider one.
I keep riding with traffic and see a sign for Bade, where g used to live for a while. It's a town that's grown rapidly in the past decade and basically merges with others to form one mass of housing.
This area is new to me. It's actually new. I head for tall buildings that look like they might be ones I know, but they're not and eventually I ask a guy which direction to take for Zhongli and he tells me it's a long way, but to head right.
After a bit of riding, the street connects to a wide road and it begins to look familiar. After a few minutes I pass buildig s I know and I'm not sure if I have veered a long way off course or not.
This is Route 1 - the main road that kind of follows the railway line between Zhongli and Taoyuan. It's crap for cycling, but I know there's not much choice for a while.
Familar buldings like Ikea and a hospital appear and I stop when I get t a bike shop I've called in before. They sell mainly cheap stuff, but have items others don't stock. I end up buying a handful of things, including a plastic holder that bolts to the crown of a front fork, allowing a light to be fixed, and a couple of round things which can replace the 'nut' on a QR skewer. These can also hold a front or rear light. They're cheap bits.
The most expensive item is a rear light that comes with a mounting bracket for a rear rack. The Cateye I have at the moment takes batteries, but this one is a rechargeable and no doubt pumps out more lumen. The brand is unfamiliar - it's spelled Gaciron and Gacirom on the box - but the things looks decent quality. Time will tell.
My stimulus vouchers have basically all gone.
Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 727 km (451 miles)
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