Monday, 22nd January
A picturesque and challenging day on the East Coast which ended in rain, wind, darkness, despair, then relief.
I’d camped at the start of the climb up route 199 which would be the focus of my early morning. I woke before sunrise to get packed up and tackle it before the day got too hot or too far long – I was aiming for around 70 miles and take make it past Taitung City to camp.
As it turned out I’d probably stopped prematurely, if I had carried on another 5 mins I would have found the centre of the small township of Mudan, a hot spring, a few more camping options. If i’d carried on another 10 miles there would have been opportunities to camp in the wild – something I hadn’t felt the confidence to do in a while.
I made my way up 10 miles of hairpin bends to the first summit, then, following a brief downhill section, a final climb up to the pinnacle at Shouka.
The road was quiet and peaceful, with just the noise of crickets and the occasional monkey. Brief glimpses of the sea through the surrounding mountains.
I managed to refill on water from a small village part way through. Away from 7-11’s you’re still not totally disconnected from convenience as many of these smaller places have shops tucked away under rustic awnings with out much in the way of signs at all, but well stocked fridges all the same.
At the Shouka junction – the pinnacle of highway 199 – there was a rest station with toilets, water, and electricity. I took a short break and stretched, saying hi to two local cyclists, before continuing down toward the towns of Daren and Dawu. It was a steep and fun downhill after that which took a lot of focus as the traffic built up and the turns were tight and slippery.
From there things became a bit of a slog for the rest of the afternoon. There were dramatic views of the sea which were what I hoped for, but the road conditions were less than ideal. There were roadworks for extended sections, where it looked like the road was being widened or an entirely new section was being built. This meant that in the short term a lot of traffic was being squashed on to too small a surface area, and I had to share it too.
The weather was also closing in – a persistent light rain – so I put on my hi-viz for the first time, kept my head down, and kept pedalling. Eventually the roadworks seemed to end, a shoulder appeared, and a long downhill led me back to sea level.
Around this time I passed a restaurant and spotted David and Hugo inside. I stopped briefly and said hi but was at a bit of a low ebb and decided to carry on. They caught me up at a traffic light soon after, and we stopped at a roadside fruit market which sold sugar-apples – a green fruit which looks something like an artichoke crossed with a mango. It was broken open for me and I was handed a miniature plastic spoon to eat the gooey middle of it. There was a large pink bucket outside to spit the seeds into. It was interesting.
David and Hugo split off to head to a hot spring just short of Taitung. Around this time I decided that I would definitely take the coastal road (11), instead of the East Rift Valley road (9) inland slightly. The converged at Hualien where i’m sure our paths would cross again. There was something I liked about cycling beside the sea. No matter how bad the road is there is always a horizon to look out on. The valley road was less of an unknown, but I was drawn to the sea.
I did, almost, regret this decision immediately when I found myself sitting in the window of another 7-11 burning my mouth on spicy chicken instant ramen for the second time in a day. What had happened between then and when I took the coastal road was a puncture – just 4 miles from the campsite. This was not such a big deal in itself but it happened at a critical point, since by the time a new tube was in all light had faded, the rain had become heavy, and the wind was now blowing in my face stronger than it had all day. I have never felt so strongly on a cycle trip or perhaps anywhere, the feeling of wanting to stop and give up and do anything else, anywhere but where I was.
The 7-11 offered a chance to gather my thoughts. I looked at hotels, but pressed ahead in the darkness and rain for a campsite. Eventually locating the entrance, I cycled in circles trying to find someone to pay for a spot. I went into an office which was open but empty. At that point I decided to throw caution to the wind and set up camp anyway. Each camp spot had a raised pagoda style stage for settling a tent on. This was covered by a roof. In these conditions you couldn’t hope for much more. I put my tent up and spent some time organising my damp possessions, locating and fixing the puncture in the damaged tube, and generally hoping that no one would find me.
With some distance now from the scramble at the end of the day I could relax, and made plans to escape in the morning.
Map