It'd be great to start this journal with something impressively profound or witty, but I'll just say that the plan is to ride around Taiwan for a bit with my Canadian namesake - who I call g. 

October is a good time to tour here as the brutal summer heat has dissipated and it's about as dry as it gets.

Introductions don't get much more succinct than that.

The thing is the pair of us have opted to extend our Double Ten break, an annual day off in Taiwan to celebrate the National Day of the Republic of China, which refers back to an uprising in China (not Taiwan) that took place on October 10th, 1911, cementing the ROC's formation. At that time, Taiwan was a Japanese colony, so it's not too surprising that many Taiwanese, especially the younger generation, don't care two hoots about this, while in China it's long been erased from the annals of history: the Chinese celebrate October 1st, which is the date that Mao Zedong made his famous announcement in Beijing in 1949.

Our trip will start with a morning train journey south to Dounan, a small town in the central county of Yunlin. One thing that's a given is this won't be a flat ride, but we're up for a bit of adventure.