November 26, 2014
Tamsui
Fighting our way up the coast
Leaving Hsinchu City was much easier than our arrival the night before had been. Our hotel was on the northern edge of town, and within a few blocks we were outside the core and racing downriver back toward the coast. At the old port town of Nanlio we turned north; and soon we came to the beginning of the Hsinchu Coastal Bikeway. We followed this for 10 miles or so to it's northern end, enjoying some of the best cycling of the tour.
This is really an excellent bikeway. It traces the coastline, alternating between stretches right beside the Straight that gave us clear views out and over the water and ones that veered inland a bit and passed through mangrove thickets and dense coastal forest. The road surface also alternated, between paved stretches and wooden, rattling slat boards. Rising above us was the steady procession of wind generators rhythmically throbbing as their giant blades rotated in the modest headwind we cycled into.
We dawdled the morning away along this stretch, taking our time to soak in the wonderful blend of sights and sounds that engulfed us. By midday I was mentally comparing today's ride against earlier favorite parts of our tour and rated it the best of them all.
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As it developed though, today included only the best half day of the tour. Soon after leaving the bikeway and returning to highway 61, the wonderful ambience was replaced by open road that left us exposed to a steadily amplifying headwind. Our next 25 miles were spent mostly heads down, fighting our way into a 15-20 mph direct headwind that turned our legs to rubber. We were relieved to finally come to a 7-11 so we could take a breather and recover a bit, but soon we were back in the wind tunnel and rapidly running out of daylight hours and energy. We were grateful when the road finally bent eastward and into the wide mouth of the Tamsui river, and more than ready to ride the ferry across rather than cycle upriver several miles to the first bridge.
Tamsui makes a fine first impression when seen from across the river, with Yangmingshan (Yangming mountain) looming up behind it. Upon arrival we carefully pushed our bikes off the boat on its narrow ramp, surrounded by jostling, impatient fellow passengers. Once on land again we found ourselves in a congested, chaotic crowd and set off to find our hotel, several blocks uphill and on the opposite side of Tamsui's famous old street. We pushed our loaded bikes through this warren of capillary-thin alleys jammed with shoppers and hawkers, finally emerging on the other side on the Main Street through town - dense with rush hour traffic - abruptly we found ourselves back in Scooter Hell again.
Finally though we made our way to our room (devilishly hard to find - probably the most obscure lodging location of the tour), settled in, and them set out to find a meal. Rachael had done some fine research in this and targeted the Red 3 Cafe - a fine place once we found it (no easy feat either), and one we enjoyed enough that we were to eat there both nights of our stay in Tamsui. It's on the third floor of the Red Castle (hence the Red 3), a restored historic British building surviving from colonial days. The cafe has a covered open air balcony overlooking the lower town , the river and far shore. This is a wonderfully atmospheric spot to enjoy a meal, basking in the sights and the warm evening air.
I'd have to say that Tamsui is my favorite spot in Taiwan. After enjoying our meals we went back down to stroll along the waterfront promenade along with others enjoying the perfect evening. It felt for all the world like an early fall evening in Italy or southern France. Wonderful.
Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 902 miles (1,452 km)
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