train

🚴: Strava 🎧: Coulou
Taiwan is the land of trains. Railway abbreviations weave their way into your vocabulary: MRT for trips within Taipei, TR and HSR for the cities beyond. But it’s also an island of mountain peaks the trains can’t reach. Resting on its way to Taichung, my bike doesn’t know what’s coming. But I do. The highest paved road on the island…
Not. So. Fast. Cow. Boy. Ten minutes into the ride, my water bottle bounces into the bushes. I hop off my bike to look for it and find I’ve got a flat, too.
A few minutes later, a local cyclist I’d bumped into at the train station hands me my water bottle. “Man, I don’t know you, but you look a bit underprepared to go out alone at night. It’s cold up there. No gloves? Your hands will freeze. You won’t be able to brake on the way down. I got a car. Let me take you to Puli. It’s a better starting point.”

wuling

I slide the wheel back into the rear dropouts, insert the skewer, tighten the lever, and glance at my phone: 1 AM. This whole thing is starting to feel forced. I dragged myself out of bed, took two trains, circled the station struggling to find a way out, and now I’m fixing a flat with my hands all greasy. I agree, slightly deflated.
Jokes aside, a big shout-out to Jason for saving the day! 🙌

puli_night

Next thing I know I’m in Puli, a small town at the foot of a mountain range. It’s dead quiet at 3 AM. This is my new start. Yeehaw!
Not. So. Fast. Cow. Boy. Gotta wash my hands first. That out of the way, ahead of me is a sloooooooooow grind: 25 miles with a 6.5% average grade. Takes me five hours to reach Wuling Pass. But here it is: the sea of clouds (雲海). And the frost on the handrail. Frost in Taiwan… Who would’ve thought?

sea_of_clouds frost

3275

Concerned about turning into a popsicle on the way down, I pull two pairs of plastic food-handling gloves from my pocket. I got them at 7-Eleven, along with two rubber bands to keep the cold air out. I was warned, so, I prepped a bit to Roll Safe, or warm, at least.
Climbing is fun. Rolling downhill for 70 miles? Terrifying. It is too steep and cold to have my phone out. Such a shame I don’t have my GoPro with me either, because the 30-mile ride down to Puli is a visual journey.
Back in Puli, safe, I peel off my windbreaker. The air is warmer, the ground flatter. Feels strange to be back. It was a different world just a few hours ago. The final 40 miles are a slight downhill to Taichung. A gradual return to civilization. More lights, more traffic, and trains… again.

hsr

I hop on the HSR, and I’m back in Taipei. The main station is hella busy in the evening. The subway cars are packed. A bit surprised but understanding, people make space for my bike, and the red MRT line takes me all the way up to Zhongyi, where my journey began. It’s a long ride, some 14 stops. Somehow it feels even longer than the climb. But this is it: I step out of the station and reassemble my bike for the last mile back to my Airbnb. Goodbye trains. Goodbye, Taiwan.
Goodbye for now.

mrt

airbnb

.
.