March 31, 2023
March 31st
Zhubei to Zhunan
By the time I'd cycled home from the train station on Saturday night, I was pretty soaked, which is no big deal on a 15-minute ride, but it was clear my rear mudguard is no longer keeping my back from getting sprayed with that gritty mess that forms a grimy wet topcoat on city streets. This because a few inches got hacksawed off the damaged plastic and I reckon adding a mudflap was an obvious solution.
Looking around the house, the plastic cover of an old CD folder looked suitable to fashion one with, what with it being quite stiff, but not rigid and brittle. It only took a few minutes to trim it into shape, drill a hole and screw it in place. A strip of reflective tape got added. Bingo!
Admittedly, it doesn't look very sexy, but hopefully it'll do the trick and may well get road tested today, with the forecast saying there's a 30 percent chance of rain. An old Goretex jacket is in my saddlebag.
My plan is to get a train south to Zhubei and I've plotted a meandering route that wiggles southeast to the town of Beipu before going roughly west to Zhubei, where I can catch a train back north.
My intention had been to get a train south at 8:59, but I fail to wake up in time, so have to settle on the next departure at 9:54. That's an hour lost.
The bike carriage on the commuter train is one of the older types that has four small, pretty much useless, spaces and while I'm attempting to slot mine in place, a women grabs the adjacent seat. It's then a case of standing for the 35 minutes it takes to travel south to Zhubei, but it gives me time to get through quite a few pages of a novel about China back in the 19th century. It's not a great read and in fact it'll be nice when it's done.
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The sky is overcast as I make my way through Zhubei down towards the river. Shops line the road and I pass a Louisa Coffee, but my sights are set on an independent cafe called Mr Moon that's close to a historic landmark called New Tile House. It's a place I've intended to visit for a while.
From the riverside cycle path, overlooked by tall apartment blocks all built in the past decade or so, I head back north for a couple of blocks towards the New Tile House and spot an old dwelling. It's a single-storey building that has the familiar low-pitched, pantiled roof and white walls that stand on a foundation layer of neatly laid, head-sized pebbles. I ride onto the yard in front and lean my bike near a wooden door that's ajar.
It appears OK to take a look inside. The layout is more or less the same as other houses from the 1800s, with small, dark rooms and enclosed open areas where washing would have been done, plus sheltered courtyards.
Adjacent is a house that looks more ornate and appears to have actually been rebuilt, as the bricks are unweathered and the stone paving is unworn.
Sandwiched in between the two homes is what's left of another dwelling, with its roof having collapsed, the wooden windows long gone and mudbrick walls that have mostly disintegrated. Before getting back on my bike, I take one final snap of a piece of its wall, where rice husks are visible in the rendering, having been used as a bonding agent over a century ago.
New Tile House is just a couple of blocks away.
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I'm not sure what to expect, as I didn't do any research - it's just a place marked on Google Maps that has always tempted me - and standing outside it's unclear what New Tile House is used for as its closed, but right next door is a gallery that's open, so I push the glass door and venture inside. There's a recepton area displaying a psychedelic painting and a large sliding door that I open to take a look inside. There are a couple of large rooms hung with more paintings and as I wander around, a man in his 30s appears from a door connecting a back office area.
He confirms photography is not allowed and answers some other questions. The work is for sale, with prices averaging NT$25,000 - roughly US$800. He says there are not many buyers.
Time is slipping by and I need a coffee: no prob' - Mr Moon is nearby.
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On the way to Mr Moon I ride past a Starbucks. This whole area is quite wealthy, with many locals working in high-paying tech jobs at the local science park.
The coffee shop has an empty feel to it and the furniture is nothing special. The menu is mostly brunch items and as I don't feel like eating much, settle on a waffle. It takes over 20 minutes to arrive and it's quite a mountain of cream and chocolate. I only just manage to conquor it.
It's getting on for one o'clock when I make my way back to the river. Where the time has gone is baffling and I've only covered about a kilometre or two so far. The sky is still gloomy.
There's a track leading off the cycle path through greenery and I follow my nose and drop down a muddy route that feeds allotments and get to the wide but shallow Touqian. Sure enough, there are eight rows of square concrete blocks stretching across to the other side, each over three-feet by three-feet. They've been eroded by the flow of water, but the level is low today and it's safe to walk across them.
There's a gap of almost a foot between the concrete chunks, which means it's not possible to simply wheel the bike. I can see on the far side there's a concrete ramp and my hope is there's a path from there leading over to a tarmac lane. Google Maps didn't have details and it now strikes me that I could be the first to travel this way with a bike.
I glance upstream towards a road bridge that offers a more conventional way across the river. It looks further away than expected and it occurs to me this is the wrong set of blocks - there's another one which people tend to visit known as Tofu Rocks. We'll see.
After getting up the ramp, the path is very narrow and winds through shrubs and grass. It's a case of pushing my way through and it takes a while to reach a gravel path and then ride towards the bridge. After a while I reach the series of blocks I should have crossed. Maybe next time.
From the Tofu Rocks it's a case turning off onto a winding lane to reach a narrow river, one which has a road running down both sides, each just wide enough for one vehicle. Eventually it brings me out onto route 122, which is a wide, pretty busy artery, but one I'm only on for a minute or two before turning right onto a back lane that takes me further south.
It veers through farmland and climbs a little before dipping under Highway 3 and leads me to a narrow lane that climbs through a forest. There are no vehicles but towrds the end the incline is steep and drops of rain start to fall. Luckily, there a small covered shelter that gives me somewhere to stay dry once I get to a junction at the top.
Across the road is a simple open-fronted shop and there are half a dozen elderly peole sat inside. Their laughter and banter drifts across as I sit under the shelter cooling down after the exersion of the climb, picking teh seedling that have stuck to my socks and shorts from trekking through the shrubs near the river. The temperatue might not be very high, but the humidity is.
The road drops me down towards a reservoir and I get to a spot where a path leads to a suspension bridge.
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https://www.123rf.com/photo_145595179_close-up-shot-of-oxalis-rubra-blosssom-at-taipei-taiwan.html
1 year ago
1 year ago
Like the concrete blocks to cross over the river, this bridge adds a bit of adventure to the day. Thankfully there's nobody else around, as the bridge is just wide enough for me on the bike and I pedal across and start cycling up a path on the opposite bank just as raindrops begin falling.
There's a large shelter with wooden seating where I pause for a few minutes, with the clouds soon drifting over without dropping much rain. The path up is very steep - over 20 percent - and is made of poured concrete. It's a case of pushing for a few minutes.
The road drops me to a dam and it's then not far and mostly downhill to Beipu.
The plan had been to take a while to leisurely explore historic Beipu, but as it's already mid-afternoon my visit is made a brief one. There are various old buildings to see and I just visit a couple on the town's Old Street before heading back the way I came and taking a sharp turn onto route 45, which goes through flat countryside harbouring small rice fields, but a road I soon torn off to ride along an anonymous back lane that takes me west and eventualy spits me on to Route 3.
This is a wide road and one that is not conductive to exciting cycling and is happily one I get off after a few minutes. Then tranquil route 49 takes me further west. It climbs here and drops there and is steep in parts, so much so that I have to stop to wipe sweat off my face and cool down.
The afternoon is getting on and when the 49 inevitably connects into the main 124 in Toufen, I decide it's time to get a bite to eat and a cool drink, so pop into a 7-Eleven and buy two bananas and a bottle of green tea.
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While the 124 is busy, it's not too manic and it nicely drops down for quite a while and my speed is high. It drifts indistinctly from Toufen into Zhubei without really blinking and eventually at one red light I ask a police office where the train station is, but he doesn't speak English, so I keep riding west thinking the north-south train tracks will appear at some point.
They don't and the road is much wider than Google Maps showed and goes through an industrial area rather than town, so it seems best to stop at a gas station and I ask a women in a BMW who consults Google Maps and shows me that this road has taken me south of town and that I need to make a right just ahead.
It's strange when I make a turn up an alley, as there's a strong sense of déjà vu, but this is acual because I soon realise where I am. It was just a couple of months ago that I visted this old area with its badly painted repro' movie posters and brightly decorated old homes, meaning it's pretty easy for me to navigate my way north to the train station.
There's just a 30-minute wait for a train, but the carriages are full with people heading off for the five-day Tomb Sweeping break and it's a case of standing for the 90-minute journey, one spent getting through more pages of the novel before giving up and zoning out, wondering about where I can have dinner on the way home.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 2,664 km (1,654 miles)
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1 year ago