Day 1: Taipei 台北 > Keelung 基隆 > Toucheng 頭城
Stay: Toucheng Hostel
The night before I'm nervous. I biked back to the house from the rental shop, which was tiring. The two bags are packed -- they're sitting by the door. The bike is downstairs. Just last week there was a typhoon. "Is the road condition good enough to bike?"
No more excuses. The next morning I clip on my panniers (the bike bags attaching to the wheel) and set out. Where I stay is nearby a hill, so the start of my journey begins with a glide down the main street. It's only 08:00 and already hot. I cruise down with the wind in my hair, the city barely awake, and I go.
City traffic is annoying. The lights were designed to go red and green at the speed of cars, not of bikes. There's a lot of stopping and starting. The roads are also hard to navigate. If I miss a turn, I have to double back. While leaving Taipei and entering New Taipei City, I occasionally cycle along some village roads -- hard to believe that that is still here in the city. I eventually make it out onto the Taiwan freeway roads which are a mix between expressway and highway (台路), with little stopping along the way. The sun's already out, so I take out my sunscreen from my pannier and slather it on. Then I pedal.
I told myself today I'd just bike to Keelung. It was my first day, I wasn't sure how much I could handle, so I undershot it to about 30km. When I am about 10km away from Keelung, I am at a stoplight, and a man who is on a road bike with no pannier stops next to me.
"Hey! Which day is it?" He must be able to tell I'm cycling around the island since I've my bags packed.
"First". I say hesitantly
"Wow. First day! First time?"
"Yes" I say shyly.
"You're a fit guy, you got it, no big deal! Look, I'm old (he's around 50), but every weekend I bike from Taipei to Keelung to meet my friends.. and then bike back! Where are you going to today?"
"Well, since it's the first day, I thought just to Keelung."
"Keelung?? At that rate, you will never finish man. You'll be there by noon. You should definitely go further."
I make up some excuse how I've never been to Keelung so I want to see the city a bit. The man kind of laughs and says he thinks I won't really be there that long since there's not much to do.
"I think you can make it to Toucheng today, it's a nice stopping point and you'll get some good mileage. Hmm, let's see." He pulls out his phone. "So, if you want the quick route, take this route". He shows me on his map, the sun beating down. "You'll get there fast. But, if you really want to see the north, go along the sea. Today's great weather!"
I insist on Keelung -- at least stopping by -- and he, without hesitation, says, "OK then! Follow me!"
I follow him. He's on a road bike, and I'm on a heavier bike with two bags so I'm slower. He naturally bikes along the road as if he's been here a hundred times. When we reach Keelung, he says to me, "Here we are. Here's the night market, there might be some things to eat now but it really picks up at four or five. By then, if you bike to Toucheng, it will be too late. Choose wisely, I got to go meet my friends!" He smiles to me and shows me the routes one more time, and then he's on his way.
The first lesson of the road is to just go with it. There'll be a time when I start, and all those fears about starting go away. There'll be people along the way who recommend something, so I stop and take their advice. The road will always be there waiting for me. I head to Toucheng.
The second lesson of the road is get some isotonic drink. In the heat I'm sweating out all my minerals and the sun continues to beat down; the road reflecting the heat. It's hot in the helmet. Along the way, I've noticed some people selling a kind of drink. It's some sort of seaweed, that when prepared in a certain way, has a jello consistency. Since the northern shore is all ocean, I figure it is locally sourced, so at the point of nearly stopping I see an old man who waves at me and I get curious, so I stop in.
He's just as talkative as the previous guy. Asks me what flavors I want. There's some that are unsweetened, sweetened, or sweetened with black sugar. He asks me which one, and how many bottles I want, and I say just one of the unsweetened ones, and he hands me that. I sit down and he just starts chatting.
"You know where this drink comes from?"
I say no. Of course, he proceeds to tell me. It's just from the sea that I'm looking out towards. As he points out to the sea, I see several other people cycling the island (the panniers, I tell you). They are in a group of four in the opposite direction -- counterclockwise, the more common direction people go. The man keeps on telling me how he fishes for the seaweed. He says you have to go deeper into the ocean to get the seaweed since it's fresher further out. I finish the bottle while he's telling me the story, and suddenly I'm even more thirsty. One bottle is 40 Taiwanese Dollars. He says if I buy 3 in total he'll count it for 100. I gladly take him up on that offer and try the two other bottles. We sit there and chat for a while more. The conversation is a mix of him talking about seaweed and him asking about my journey. After about 30 minutes of a rest, I think I'm ready to continue to Toucheng.
Before I go, the man tells me about a shortcut that I can cut across to get to Yilan county faster (where Toucheng is). He says, if I want to, I can take the old train tunnel route. It was built by the Japanese for a shortcut through the mountain range which occupies the north of Taiwan, and is now commercialized into a tourism spot. I go with it.
On the way, I climb my first hill. The only reason I remember it is because once I am near the top, I see another man who is solo cycling in the opposite direction. He sees the sweat on my face as I reach the apex, and I see the look at the delight on his face as he's about to go down the hill. He waves to me and smiles and yells a "加油!!" -- "Add oil!" -- to me. I can barely say anything back as I'm out of breath so I just wave. I make it to the top and he's far behind me. It's just the motivation I needed.
I get to the tunnel, it's pretty commercial, but it is indeed a nice shortcut. It's naturally cooled, being in the mountain, and I get to the other side after about 5 minutes of biking (I'm not sure how many kilometers it is). On my way up the mountain again (there's more to climb), suddenly a group of guys in Taiwan jerseys cycle past me - they must be part of the cycling team or something. There's some young guys and some older guys. They all yell an add oil to me as they fall into line and try to help each other break wind, and they're off.
As I get into Toucheng, I pass by a Wai'Ao (外澳) which is a black sand beach and people are surfing. That sounds nice right about now, jumping into the ocean. But I want to get to Toucheng as it's also getting dark. I take a short break and then head in. It's about 17:30. I've been cycling for a while now. I miss that seaweed drink.
When I get into the hostel, the lady looks at my haggard face and I look back at hers, a calm smile on it. There are two Korean boys who are eating ramen and they smile at me - they are on exchange in Taipei trying to learn Mandarin. I ask them why they want to come to Taiwan to learn and they said they like Taiwan culture and the people. That made me feel good. I take a walk around town - it's a quiet town that's gridded around five streets or so, and there are some gems of restaurants (and a really delicious ice cream place) nearby. Everything tastes so good at this point because I haven't eaten a proper meal since the morning. The town is pretty quiet. I head back and plan my day for tomorrow, mapping my day out. The man on the bike who showed me the way; the seaweed drink guy; and the people who rooted me along the way, they exemplify the spirit of the Road.