Author: Rob Ainsley

Tim’s run of bad luck with the bike plumbed new depths. The back axle failed a few k outside Hualien, and he had to get a taxi back to a bike shop to sort it. I therefore rode by myself to our hostel down the coast in Zhuwu, and enjoyed a fabulous day of coast…

A lovely day of coastal scenery, lots of mildly scary tunnels, the awesome Taroko Gorge, and the unusual experience of sunburn taking over from trenchfoot as the most likely health hazard. It was all smooth, level cycling along Highway 9 today, the first half alongside lovely ocean views in the sun (pic). Lots of cars…

The biggest climbs of the trip today (1500m in total), along ‘one of the world’s most dangerous roads’, more equipment disasters, plus a statue made of jade, some scary tunnels, and many awesome coastal views. We squelched out of Luodong through heavy rain, weaving between local cyclists who have perfected the art of one-handed riding,…

A day of on-and-off drizzle that wasn’t too bad until the last hour. Then it was bad. But with a friendly tailwind and smooth fast roads all day, it was plain sailing. (Rather too literally in that torrential last hour.) Anyway, the upshot was we got to our hostel in the lively town of Luodong…

The first day of the trip proper involved unseen ospreys, acid-trip molluscs, severe mechanicals, some excellent streetfood, and Taiwan’s northernmost point. We left Taipei along a series of excellent riverside tracks (pic). Yup, this a cycle track, not a road. Even my most ardent campaigning friends might grudgingly admit this is just about wide enough….

A lovely day of cycling along the Xindian River today, on one of Taipei’s many fabulous riverside cycle paths. First though we dropped in on Longshan Temple (pic), a splendid ‘folk temple’ that was busy with worshippers praying in the run-up to Chinese New Year next week, with locals getting meticulous horoscopes cast, and cycle…

We’re in Taipei for the weekend before setting off on the End to End proper on Monday. Our hire bikes are proving useful for exploring the city that the tourist rarely gets to see, such as the tailors that repaired Tim’s trousers and the coin-op that did his laundry. And, indeed, for the five-mile trip…

I rendezvoused with Tim here in Taipei last night, and we picked up our hire bikes today from a branch of Giant Cycles at lunchtime. Or, as my body clock thought it was, 4am. Taipei is a very bike-friendly city. You can cycle on the pavement, and many people do. This seems to cause no…