I didn't wake up as early as I had planned. I was on the road after packing up and eating around 9:30a.m. It rained off and on the entire day, which didn't help dry the laundry I had done the night before. It was a little boring for the first hour of the trip trying to keep a pace and constantly taking pictures. I quit stopping for photos after a couple hours and just tried to make good time. The coast is amazing. I was looking forward to taking pictures of the beach, but the real beauty was on my left. There were huge mountains, gorges and waterfalls for the entire trip. The roads became extremely hilly a few hours south of Hualien. I was only going 6km at some climbs. I eventually realized that when I walked the bike I was going the same speed. The downhill portions were very rewarding. At times I would be coasting downhill on open roads at 60 km an hour which is like 40mpr. The views were unbelievable.
The first day a portion of the trip was through tunnels. At this point your bike lane disappears and it gets scary. Your not only coming extremely close to cars, but the tunnels are so long that you can't get any oxygen. I almost felt like vomiting outside of the first long tunnel. I stopped to eat at a street stall right on the side of the highway. An aborigine family had just slaughtered a pig and were cooking amazing sausages. I also bought some bananas that they cut straight off the tree for me. When I started to eat one, they gave me some older fruit that was ready to eat and told me to wait until tomorrow to eat the bananas. I was full of sausages and fruit and it only cost me like 2$ usd.
I found a rhythm and rarely stopped. Every hour or so someone in a car would honk and give a thumbs up or yell some mandarin encouragement to me. Every time a cyclist would pass me going the other direction they would yell out and give me a thumbs up. There seemed to be a lot of camaraderie and respect between the bikers, although I only saw about ten other people cycling in 2 days and I couldn't speak English to any of them.
The sun started to set so I started searching for a hotel. It seemed like everything was booked. It got completely dark and I started getting worried and assumed I would be sleeping on the beach or in a police station. I found a police station and they told me that there were hotels about 20 minutes south. They gave me a decent deal on a room with a garage, where I could store my bike. I was happy to have found something. I had passed through countless towns where the population was less than 200 and this place was no different. With everyone heading south for the New Year, I was lucky to find a vacancy. I could barely sit down and I was walking with a limp because my ass hurt so bad. i bought a couple of tall boys and fell asleep watching the NBA All Star game despite the constant popping and screaming outside my window. In a country where fireworks were illegal, I couldn't believe how many were being set off. I doubt that there was an hour that passed without a crackle or bang of a firework in the distance.
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