Day 8: ZhiBen to Hualien

Hualien: 175Km

Let's start this post with a math equation. 180km + 13hours + mountains + darkness = The worst day of my life. This was the exact formula that made the ride from Zhiben to Hualien my darkest day yet. I awoke at 9:30 in the morning to drizzling and grey skies. I was in no mood to be riding in the rain, but wasn't totally stoked about staying in this no nothing town either. I was axious to get going, but waited for the rain to stop. I sat and turned on the TV. I happened upon the Superbowl. After not watching a single game the entire season, I flip to the Superbowl in the middle of my trip around Taiwan. I sat and watched the first half while I packed and prepared for my inevitable journey. The rain slowed and stopped so I mentally got myself together and headed on the road. It was about 11:00AM; I knew it was going to be a long trip, but for some odd reason, I thought it would be easy.

A sunflower valley

The first half was easy. Flat and gradual rolling hills made it a pleasant ride. The weather was sunny but not hot. I'd stop and rest. I wasn't totally sure where I would be staying that night, so I called Kai, a friends former girlfriend and a friend to me, to see about hotels. Again, I was offered to stay at her place, which was really cool of her. I told her I would call her again as I neared Hualien. I called my parents to tell them I was okay and was in the middle of a long day. It was comforting to talk to them. I pressed on, thinking, "How much longer is it?"

A landmark restaurant

At about 5 or 6PM the sun faded to a dull glow near the horizon. The temperature dropped, but I was continually moving and so didn't feel it much. I was riding along cliffs that dropped off 50 or more feet into water or onto sand and rocks. Sometimes there was little to prevent a devastating fall except a few concrete blocks and will. Cars would drive by slowly, almost sensing my nerves.
It got dark fast, and really dark. I had a headlamp that I fastened to the back of my bike to alert cars that I existed, and I had a front light that dimly lit the way. For what I thought were the most dangerous parts, there were no lights, pure blackness. I kept on telling myself, "Just keep going. If you stop, you won't get there."
I was fatigued, hungry, beginning to get cold, and feared the mysteries of the dark. The road never ended.
At about 9PM I stopped at a 7-11 to gather myself and eat. Dinner consisted of two hot dogs, an ovaltine, and bread. I see a sign that says Hualien is about 50km away. I rested for 30 minutes and as I was readying to go, a car stops. A guy gets out and starts to talk about riding and tells me that he also has ridden around the island. I ask him if it is much further from this point to Hualien. He laughs and says I should get a room here. "But I have a friend waiting for me in Hualien," I say. I then ask him if the road is mountainous. Again he laughs. "How do you measure this?" he says. His friend says it flattens out after about 30km.
These 30km would turn out to be the worst of the entire trip, and were gyrated into my memory forever.
Up until this point, I haven't needed to go to the smallest gear on my 27-speed bike. For many parts of this last leg, I was spinning on this smallest of gears, moving my legs fast, but barely moving at all laterally. Uphills so steep I thought I would fall backwards in blinding darkness. Fortunately the moon, in her shining glory, aided my trek. My cognition was beginning to become blurry, no longer able to think clearly, but knowing to just follow the road. I thought to myself, "This is the greatest challenge I have ever faced, and with no end in sight, I must keep on going."
At about 11:30PM I stopped at a Police station to ask where I was. they told me I wasn't too far from Hualien and the remaining road was fairly flat. I called Kai to get directions to her place, and it didn't seem to hard to find. I got back on the road and looked for the landmarks she mentioned. Ocean Park: check. Long bridge: check. Turn left at Smile gas station: check. Go until I get to a 7-11: check. Look for ZhongZheng road: ? Where is it? I spent a good hour asking for directions and finally talking to a wise man that could direct me where to go. I should have known that in Kai's directions, turn left actually meant turn right. Silly me. So after the longest day of my life and getting lost, I finally met up with Kai, at 1AM. Thats 13hrs on the road. I was in such a supernatural state that although I knew I was tired, I couldn't sleep. I called Taurus and he told me that I should take a walk to ease the transition of exercise to rest. Shortly after, I passed out.

Day 7: Hengchen to Zhiben

The wind blew hard, pushing me back as I started out at 10AM from Max's house. Every crank of the pedals took great effort, to combat the gusty onslaught. "It's gonna be another long day," I thought. Nothing to do, but keep going. The ride, I knew, was going to be a hard one. I had gotten advice from Max about which route to take. I had two options: long route with hills, or short route with hills. Wasn't too hard a decision.
The journey up to Chechang was mainly flat, but with the aforementioned headwinds, made my pace much slower. Once on the 199, however, the breeze slacked off, but I was now in hilly terrain. Crossing the mountainous terrain was fun at times, exhausting at others, but overall, it was scenic and cool. I passed quite a few other fellow "trekkers" along the way. We exchanged the now common nod or wave.
The shade was a welcome break from the beating sun, the wind no longer a adverse factor. Riding through the mountains was a beautiful experience. The serenity of moving on bike, climbing and cruising, in and out of shadows, past forests and fields made this area quite magical. When the 199 turned into the 9, I took a break at what appeared to be a common meeting place. I saw other riders, and a building that people signed to say, "I was here." From there, it was downhill, some of the best I've ever ridden. Coasting, passing cars, such a thrilling ride after a grueling morning and early afternoon. It flattened out after about 30 minutes and then I was riding along the eastern shore of Taiwan. This part was a bit depressing. No buildings, just a long lonely road, a vast grey ocean adjacent. No where to go but forward, I pedaled on in hopes of getting somewhere soon. My plan was to make it to Taidong, which at this point was still 4 hours away.
Then I ran into more of what the east is famous for, mountains. Slow going, it was looking more and more like I wasn't making it to Taidong. Somewhere in a no name town, I ran into a group of college students making their way on bikes also. There was about 10 of them, one on moped in back. We played leap frog for a bit, me passing them, then they passing me as I rested. I finally stopped with them and talked to them for a while. They had started that morning at 7AM from Pingdong and were also heading around the island. They told me they were going to stop at Zhiben, for some hot spring action. I said that sounded nice. I wanted to get into a hot spring, and felt I would deserve it that night. It began getting dark, which always give me a sense of urgency and nacent fear welling up inside, causing me to pedal faster. I don't like riding up (or down) in the dark. I finally got to Zhiben at about 8 or 9PM and haggled a room for USD$15. It was a decent sized room, brightly lit, with a nice bath to soak my strangely un aching body. After bathing, I decided to walk about and see what this town had to offer. Not much I found, and ended up buying some stuff from ubiquitous 7-11, and some fried chicken from a street vendor. I headed back home, ate and watched a bit of TV. I headed to bed, in the expectation of another long early day.

Day 5 &6: Kending (HengChun)

I left GaoXiung at a fairly early 11AM, this being due to the fact that I had no company and was able to move unadulterated. Once again I was blessed with sunny weather, sparsely-trafficked roads, and long stretches of flat land. The weather would hold out, but the flat part turned hilly as I got closer to HengChun. I am always stupidly deceived by maps. The map always shows the road as being flat, but I as I found many a time, was far from. Even if I had a contour map, it wouldn’t have properly displayed the magnitude of riding up the smallest mountain or hill. Then again, accompanying every up is a down, which is rewarding but never seems long or fulfilling enough as the uphill part would make you believe. "Georgia","serif";">I was headed to my friend Max’s place, the Ipanema Beach House. I had stayed at his place two years ago while hitchhiking around the island. I had met up with a friend George on that trip and we had met some of his friends and stayed at the beach house. It is in HengChun, often confused (also by myself) with KenDing. Max was a surfer who had lived in Brazil and other places before he decided to settle down in HengChun and open a bed and breakfast (they are called so in Taiwan, but there is no breakfast). He had long dread-like locks and spoke with the energy of the waves he rides, playful and full of joy. Upon returning this time, he had a military cut, and an expecting wife, along with his surf-inspired personality. He said with the recent release of the movie, Cape No. 7, a Taiwanese film shot in the vicinity, business has been good. This area had been popular with the beach going crowds and surfers looking to get away from the smog-filled cities. The movie opened the area to many other kinds of people wanting to see some of the places in the movie.
My plan was to stay in HengChun for two days, this being the most southern part and a marker as the half-way point of my trip. I also wanted time for rest and relaxation on my trip. As I mentioned before, during this trip, I always felt rushed to get somewhere, meet someone, stay out of the dark, or get started. Now would be the time to forget about the schedule for a while and just chill on the beach. It was so nice to have a break. A whole day of rest was all, but it was enough.