A Day to Remember

Taiwan Stage 3 – Miaoli to Taichung 65 Km (Tue 13 Nov 2018)

Weather: 16⁰C min – 26⁰C max, clear and sunny

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“Four wheels move your body, two wheels move your soul” ~ Nicola Miller

The first thing I noticed when I entered the dining room for breakfast was a Fuji steel-frame touring bike leaning against my bike. Its owner turned out to be a friendly solo tourer from Hawaii who is also riding around the island, so we enjoyed chatting together over breakfast.

If you enjoy riding on fabulous bikepaths, through dedicated bicycle tunnels, as well as on good quality, paved, traffic free, country roads, through lovely green countryside, then my route today is recommended for you. Throw in a glorious warm sunny day like today, lots of interesting sights, and you have a perfect day of bicycle touring, a day to remember.

On my way out of town I came to Miaoli’s marketplace which I had heard was special, so I decided to wheel my bike from one end to the other, right through the crowd of people. At first I felt uneasy about squeezing through with a pannier-laden bike, but when I saw a couple of motor scooters whizzing through the crowd I didn’t feel so bad! What an incredible place though, with such a variety of fruit, vegetables, poultry, fish and other interesting produce.

Because of the peak hour traffic, the first couple of Km was a bit hairy, until I turned into a quiet back road that soon carried me through fertile river flats full of market gardens and crops of lush green plants with ears full of grains. I realise now the crop was rice, which I saw a lot more of before the day was finished.

At the 40 Km mark I turned onto the unbelievable, 4.5 kilometer long, Hou-Feng Bikepath built along the old Mountain Railway Line. It passes through beautiful scenery, including an iron bridge over the Dajia River, and goes through a superb, 2 Km long, old railway tunnel.

About 7 Km further along I joined the Dongfeng Bikepath, which took me the final 12 Km into Taichung. This was the first bikeway to be made from a disused railway line in Taiwan. Tree planting along the bikeway has made it a green corridor that perfectly complements the Dajia River that runs beside it.

One thing I have observed since arriving in the country last Friday is that Taiwan is one of the safest and friendliest countries in the world to travel. People go out of their way to make you feel welcome, and cheer you or give you thumbs up when they realise you are riding around the island. Yesterday when I asked another cyclist to keep an eye on my bike while I went into a 7-11 shop he explained that it wasn’t necessary in Taiwan because Taiwanese are so honest. Somebody else told me they have no concerns about leaving a laptop unattended for a few minutes.

Taiwan is a small country but there are so many interesting things to see. Most of the roads are safe for cyclists too, as motorists are used to the presence of cyclists in the country. Now you can see why I have fallen in love with this island!