Day 4 – From mountain to the sea @ Hualien.

Pic - CW

Pic - Roland

100km today to Hualien City - Pic CW

Our hotel at the peak   Pic - CW

My dear friend Joshua - Pic TW

Yes, thats ice! Pic - CW

Pic - Esther

Pic - CW

The beautiful sea at Hua Lien  Pic - Joeel

I didn’t know how some of the gang could get up so early to catch the sunrise this morning. They were amply rewarded for their effort. However, I was out like a light from yesterday’s climb. Felt bad that I was a bit late too for the piping hot Taiwanese porridge buffet breakkie that was most appropriate for a freezing cold morning.

Pic - CW

We were dressed like Arab Bedouins, all covered up from head to toe, when we gathered for the ultimate 100km downhill descend at the hotel carpark.

Pic - Esther

This was necessary due to the wind chill from the high speeds expected. Our hearts were pounding with excitement from anticipation and from the 6c cold. This was the day Chris has been waiting and dreaming for 6 months. In fact, many of us too.

Pic - TW

George was adamant about safety and downhill techniques because mistakes on the road today can have horrific consequences. Downhill speeds can hit 70kmh easily and hair-pin curves were aplenty. Joeel could not be more serious about today when he showed up in a full face helmet ready to do battle!

Pic - Esther

The plan was to stop every 5 kms at least for the first part as the inclines are seriously steep and the brakes needed to be cooled down. Leaving our hotel, I was expecting a downhill rush but instead, we had to face a 500m uphill to get ourselves warmed up.  Somehow, my legs struggled and I wasn’t the only one judging from the grumbles behind me. Many were disheartened and pushed with long faces, perhaps weary from yesterday. But good old Desmond, always the positive one managed a brave smile!

Pic - Esther

I will never forget the feeling when we crested the hill and took off like a rocket. It was like jumping off a ski ramp only we did it with our foldies. What a difference from crawling at 6km/h to flying at 60km/h! I could not believe how the road sign markers just swished by.

Pic - TW

This was the generous reward for all our hard work the last 2 days. I particularly enjoyed carving the corners and straightening them, a skill I picked up during my motorbike days.

It was disappointing that all too soon I was waved down by George to pull over, and felt like I was caught by the police for excessive speeding. It was to re-group to make sure everyone cleared the first part ok and thank God everyone did.

Pic - Esther

We then continued on again and the high speed made even the smallest road bump into a huge one. Kimi’s water bottle caged cracked and my water bottle flew off as our bikes impacted hard on the road. These are times that the rigidity of a folding bike frame is put to maximum stress and I appreciated the one piece design of the Bike Friday frame. It felt so secure, confident and stable!

Understandably, not many photos could be taken as we were all giving our 110% concentration flying down. Kudos to Taiwoon for trying!

Pic - TW

This was a pity because the scenery was breathtaking and thank goodness, some of us managed to capture some pics during our break stops. It was also interesting to ride under a rock terrace but warnings abound about falling rocks.

Pic - CW

At our second stop, Kimi’s 16” wheel Tikit suffered a puncture due to an overheated rear rim! Derrick gave her a hand followed by too many of us.

Pic - Esther

Those with disk brakes fared much better but they too were subjected to high stresses. Papa Mike squirted some water on his disk brakes on the Raleigh Sojourn and it sizzled loudly with steam. That left all of us gasping with “ooohs” and “aaahs”! Fortunately, this did not damage the disk brakes.

Our next tea break was at the Bilyu sacred ancient tree and we met the bus there. Celia decided to join in the downhill fun and I switched to the Pocket Sport as the Expedition is more stable downhill with its thick tires and better for Celia. The drop bars were really enjoyable especially when taking sharp corners.

Pic - Nick

While descents are largely a barrel of fun, there were scary moments too especially when we had to enter these cold, dark tunnels. Normally, the other end is lighted and you just aim for that and all should be well.

TW actually enjoys these.... I don't!  Pic TW

However, there was one tunnel that had a curve inside it thus, you could say there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It didn’t help that we had no headlights and were riding absolutely blind. I stopped my bike and screamed to Celia that I was stopping. She screamed back and said, “I’m just behind you!” and lost her balance in making a sudden stop. Fortunately, nothing serious and we felt our way to the right side of the cave and inched our way out with hearts relieved. It was good to come out alive.

Pic - CW

If there was a lack of visibility, there was the direct opposite aurally. Any truck or car coming into the tunnel sounded like a column of Nazi Panther Tanks, and because of the echo, it was hard to tell which direction the vehicle was coming from! It’s by God’s grace that we all came out unscathed, even Nick who had a minor fall in a tunnel. A story that needs to be told involved a motorbike who saw Nick fell and the rider turned around to render aid and light. Such is the warmth of the Taiwanese we met so far, and we couldn’t say enough of their kindness. I'm very grateful that Nick only suffered a very small nick on his knee and was still bouncy!

Pic - Nick

We regrouped again at an old French built bridge coloured bright red aka 1954 and to shed our clothes as we had by then descended 2000m and could feel the temperature becoming significantly warmer.

Pic - CW

Coming down so quickly actually popped my ears like in an aeroplane! Perched high on the red, steel bridge was George who looked like an orange Alpha male leader waiting for his colourful troop of monkeys to gather. It was certainly interesting to hear all sorts of exciting chatter about the thrill we just experienced and our small wheels truly gave us the best fun of our lives!

Pic - TW

I had a “life flash by before me” moment during the downhill journey to Tien Hsiang. While I was leaning low into a sharp corner, a car suddenly appeared and encroached into my lane. I had to jam my rear brakes to get a tighter line and applied a controlled manual ABS technique that locked up the rear intermittently of the Pocket Sport. With a good dose of God’s favour, I overcame the situation safely and lived to tell the tale! Papa Mike following behind me was sufficiently entertained and regretted not having a Go Pro camera to record the Initial-D drift moment. Needless to say, I had the highest respect for my Bike Friday’s amazing handling.

Lunch was taken at a restaurant in the beautiful small town of Tien Hsiang, 470m high, marking the gateway of the amazing Taroko Gorge. But I strangely was not that hungry as I had more than my fill, visually. We were privileged to be riding through such beautiful country and I felt a sense of spiritual connection as I marveled at the cloudy mountains and lush valleys, covered in green fauna, breathing the freshest of air and feeling that all these were created for us to enjoy.

The ancient Chinese Philosopher Motze (400bc) wrote, 


“Heaven sent down snow, frost, rain, and dew to grow the five grains and flax and silk so that the people could use and enjoy them. Heaven established the hills and river, ravines and valleys, and arranged many things to minister to man’s good...’


King David in Psalms 98 also echoed the majesty of "Heaven's" creation - 


Let the rivers clap their hands, 
Let the mountains sing together for joy
Let them sing before the LORD

I was very glad that the tunnels from here on were civilized, nicely paved with bright lights as traffic was certainly much thicker from this stretch all the way down to sea level.

Pic - TW

We wanted to stop at a tourist attraction, Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto), but with 50 busloads of noisy tourists from Mainland China descending upon the place, we vamoosed asap. Their arrival caused a major traffic jam on the roads but being on bikes, we could squeezed through the nicks and crannies and cleared the thick traffic in no time.

Pic - CW

We gathered at the famous red entrance gate of the Taroko National Park for a group photo before cycling another 20km to our hotel in Hualien. It was so sad to be leaving the beautiful mountain ranges and to exchange it for the coast somehow.

Pic - TW

For some reason, we were all feeling extremely spritely and our troop cruised on the flat roads at 30kmh effortlessly. I have forgotten how easy it was to cycle normally after all those punishing hills.

When the sea appeared before our eyes, it was like we have moved into another beautiful zone of Taiwan. I have forgotten that Taiwan is actually a rather small island (at least compared to Australia) about the size of Malaysia and is blessed with miles of scenic coastline. We arrived at Hualien in no time and it was starting to drizzle a little, but that didn’t bother us one bit. Our little bikes were actually faster than the Mothership bus because of the traffic jam.

Pic - CW

Just before arriving at our hotel, we passed by an Air Force base with F16 jets fully armed flying in and out. What fascinated was that it was open for all to see like a public zoo, something that I was unaccustomed to.

Once again, Taiwanese hospitality kicked in at the Bayview Hotel. The staff came out to greet us and ushered our bicycles to a most secure parking – its basement that can only be reached by a private elevator!

This very pleasant hotel was built with a Mediterranean Greece theme and was extremely charming. We were blown away at the designer rooms!

Pic - CW

Enough of cycling, we all piled into the bus to have dinner in town and for a spot of shopping. It was nice to be in civilization once more and we settled in a restaurant famous for Xiow Long Pau.

This was just beside a street lined with dozens of food stalls and needless to say, we had to try everything! I enjoyed particularly the wonderful fruit juices that went for a song.

Back at the hotel, I looked back at the vast distance we did on our foldies today. We started at 3150m, rode nearly 100km and ended up at sea level elevation 0m. This could very well been one of the best days of my life and if this was my last day on earth, I would have been very satisfied indeed to meet my Maker and to thank Him for the beauty I saw today.

Pic - CW

As usual, the morning birds invited me to catch the sunrise. Meeting time - 530am at the lobby. I politely passed and drifted effortlessly into dreamland, still playing out the high speed corners fresh in my mind. Doing it together with such a wonderful bunch of friends, life doesn't get any better than this for a cyclist!