December 11,2023 - Taichung - Puli - 61kms - Puli Town B&B December 12, 2023 - Puli - Renai - Puli - 56 kms - Puli Own B&B Gordon: “You know,” Larry said, “I’m the thoroughbred in the Bike Friday stable. Grandma Friday has fat tires, a heavy frame and some sort of weird geriatric handlebar arrangement. I’m lightly built, with racing handlebars and 28 ...
December 8, 2023 - Hulong Village - Taichung - 74km - DLINN Hotel When something is labelled “Made in Taiwan ,” it is very likely it was made in or around Taichung, the Taiwanese capital of light industry. The city is also the birthplace of Giant bikes and bubble tea. (Coincidentally, our first stop in the city was a Giant bike store where I bought ...
December 6 - Shimen to Hsinchu - 38 kms - H & M Hotel December 7 - Hsinchu to Hudong - 45 kms - Pomelo Homestay Gordon: A sign on the coastal bike trail told us that we were on The Smile Seaside and we were inclined to agree. After six days of cloud and rain we finally saw the sun this morning. And the ...
December 5, 2023 - Taipei to Shimen Reservoir - 50kms - One Plus One Motel As we pulled up to the motel they were proudly advertising their three hour rate . Hummm, could this be a love hotel? This is a luxurious version by contrast to the ones we have seen in Thailand. Unlike the shower curtains to hide your car in Thailand, we ...
Our hotel is located right in central Taipei near the Taipei Main train station. I’m amazed at how quiet it is here. Like Japan, the cars and scooters are much quieter than their North American cousins. On the small roads and lanes life is relaxed and friendly. We watched with our mouths hanging open as a woman passed taking her large tortoise for a walk. ...
Starting the sketchbook! We leave Victoria on Wednesday and by some time traveling magic we skip Thursday and arrive in Taipei on Friday. That’s not completely true. When we leave Vancouver it will be the wee hours of Thursday morning, but when we arrive it will be Friday. We have seven weeks to explore Taiwan by bike. Grandma Friday and Larry Friday (our folding bikes) ...
Tomorrow I climb up to the pass at Monginevro and say good bye to Italy as we cross into France. I do want to point out that although the Tour de France also climbs up and over the same pass, the cyclists take the less steep direction and let their sag wagons carry their suitcases. Grandma Friday and I have also heard that some of ...
Not long after Turin everything begins to change as we wind up and into the Susa valley. The riding is only a gentle climb at the entrance to the valley, but we have clearly arrived in the Alps. The mountains rise up on either side of the valley, jagged and majestic. The treeless alpine areas are just above us. Yesterday Gord mentioned that it’s like ...
We have spent the last two weeks moving slowly across Italy on and off the Via Postumia. Our best days are always the ones Andrea Vitiello has carefully planned on either the cycling or walking Via Postumia . For reasons of time and availability of affordable accommodation, however, we are sometimes cutting corners and taking more direct routes. These straighter routes are more efficient, but ...
There are few things more annoying than reading endless blogs about beautiful towns and villages. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to read for once that we arrived in a cesspool of a place that smelled like sewer gas and looked like a dollar store exploded in the central square. Sorry, no such luck. As far as I can tell Italian towns smell like jasmine and roses, ...