October 19th

October 19, 2021

east-ish to Danan

The online news says the mask ban is being eased today for anyone exercising outdoors. I thought it'd actually already taken effect.

I forgot all about my sandals being broken.

On Friday I fired off an email, but Exustar haven't replied as yet and it might be that some of my NT$5,000 stimulus vouchers gets blown on a new pair. Maybe I'll go for Shimano ones this time.

There's some superglue in a drawer and I apply some to the two straps and squeeze them to the rubber soles, knowing it's all a bit futile and the clock tells me it's 15 minutes past 11 o'clock by the time I go to wheel my bike outside into an overcast day.

The coffee in 7-Eleven was OK a bit earlier, but a second, better one in Louisa appeals and today I opt to ride towards Bade, heading roughly east.

There's a charity shop there that I haven't been to for a while. It's always worth a look. You never know what be on the rack.

The temperature dropped a lot over the weekend and my warm slippers got fished out of the shoe box and right now wearing shorts seems a bit macho. Still, that's what I've gone with.

It's a case of cycling along the 114. It's a busy artery and the road is narrow and lined with all kinds of small businesses and shops, none of which makes me want to stop. The only time I do is when I spot an open-fronted butchers which has lumps of meat hanging from hooks for drivers to spot as they cruise past.

A little bit further along the 114 a squat -three-storey building with crazed and sun-bleached cream paintwork gets my eye and I zoom in on a couple of windows with metal canopies and take a quick snap.

My left turn is just up ahead.

A traditional butchers five minutes' from home

The left turn is also a busy road but I turn off it after a minute and drop down a lane. Suddenly it's countryside.

Clearly visible just across the fields of vegetables and rows of polytunnels are high-rises and the juxtaposition is remarkable. A few women are crouched down in one field of what looks to me to be grass - no doubt clearing away weeds or whatever. They have wide-brimmed hats on, but the sun only briefly appears for a few seconds every five minutes or so.

The lane winds left and right and I see a turning that has a bike path sign. I decide to see where it goes.

It's concrete and has more polytunnels down one side, with a concrete fence on the other, sort of blocking blocking access to the small farms and yet more polytunnels to the north. Workers are here and there and the sound of music comes floating across from someone's radio.

The path narrows and weeds encroach it and it seems like not many people venture this far. It leads to a lane and I keep going but when I get to a small junction I see a scooter go right and decide that's where I'll ride and after a few minutes I get my bearings as it's taken me to near the riverside lane I usually cycle on.

There's a temple just across the river and a concrete bridge gives access to it. I've thought the must be a path leading to it from the other direction but after circling the place it is just surrounded by fields, so I get back on the lane and head towards the main road into Danan.

The road is similar to the 114. There are businesses and warehouses and various shops - again none of which look interesting, but some old wheels fixed to the side of one metal-clad structure are worth a snap (above). I ride past a couple of Hi-Life convenience stores and make a mental note to call in on the way back to see if they have any cans of IPA in again. My own stock is running low.

It's less than 10 minutes of riding on the main road before I'm in Danan and making a turn to get into the narrow, busy streets of the traditional market area. I ponder stopping to take a few photos, but nothing grabs me and I just ride to the small charity shop and spend 10 minutes rummaging through a long rack of men's clothing.

There are three items that I opt to buy - a red baseball cap that's new and bears some embroidered Chinese characters - likely a political slogan - plus a new-looking, red T-shirt also with Chinese text on (the back), and an orange/blue cycling top that still has the tags on. The top is M and will hopefully fit a friend of mine - g. The three bits only cost a total of five US dollars.

Louisa is just around the corner and I get a large cappuccino and a muffin and sit in the window looking out at my bike. There's a lemon tart as a treat. It's nice watching the world go by for a bit.

The ride home retraces the route, which is flat. My sandals feel strange as the glue didn't work.

The two Hi-Lifes don't have any IPA.

On the road running beside the river I notice a tree outside a warehouse that must have had a couple of car tyres placed on it when planted. It has since enveloped the rubber circle and only half is now visible.

The rice has grown and looks about ready to harvest and I decide to take a snap because my camera hasn't been used very much so far today.

The tripod goes on a mud path between the paddies and I ride past after setting the timer to 30 seconds.

The last time I was this way I bought a fern and call in to see if the boss is around, but he's not. A young guy says he'll be here on Thursday, so maybe I'll come back then. I'm not working that day this week, but will see my friend g and plan to give him the cycling top.

Today's ride: 22 km (14 miles)
Total: 675 km (419 miles)

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