Formosa on two wheels 雙輪環遊福爾摩沙: August 23 2013: Cycling around Taiwan part 2: Su'ao

Day 2 – August 23: Is he crazy? Cycling Su-hua Gonglu?

Why was I so anxious on making it tu Su-ao last night? Why couldn’t I just take the stop at Yilan like the traveling guide advises tourists? The answer is very simple: because unlike other tourists, I am not taking the train to Hualien. I am going to cycle Su-hua 蘇花公路. Su-Hua is the most dangerous road of Taiwan. It is small, steep and dark. It is full of long and dark tunnels and it is populated by numerous heavy trucks. And when there has been a tyfoon, it gets even worse with mudslides and falling rocks. Why would someone want to cycle that road in the first place? Two reasons pop up: 1) I am circumnavigating the island and if I don’t cycle this section, it cannot really be considered as cycling around Taiwan 2) There is one thing you should know about Taiwanese people: good-hearted, kind and caring as they are, they tend to be afraid of difficult situations and they always picture stuff a lot worse than it actually is. I remember asking a few people if a certain mountain road was steep, and they said it was impossible to do it by bike. I went and did it without even touching heartbeat 160. My point is, I wanna see for myself if Su-Hua is really that bad. I heard some people saying it is so beautiful and the views are eye-caressing. So I just have to cycle this, at least once in my life! And today is that day…

However, I am not a complete lunatic and I did take safety precautions. For starters, I headed out really early to be ahead of a great deal of the heavy traffic. I found myself on the road before 5 am. Another thing: I prepared my Lezyne front and rear light that will protect me with their 300 lumen LED light. Apart from that I also covered myself, my backpack and my bike in reflective clothing. All of the sudden 亮麗的反射王 (king in reflective outfit) is very applicable to me haha. All these precautions made me feel very safe. I also left my Ipod off and kept my eyes on the road, making sure I always listen to the traffic and keep right.

So off he went, to face the most dangerous road of Taiwan. The trip for today is relatively short with 120km but I don’t wanna rush anything. I wanna enjoy Su-Hua and relax while I’m cycling. When I left my car wash hostel and head out to the big street, another wild dog chased me. I’ve noticed it is only the black dogs who do it. At Zumba we would call them bad dogs J Again, I chased it away by yelling very aggressively at it. Actually I am good at scaring dogs (don’t know if that is a good thing though). The destination of today is Hualien, the flower garden of Taiwan. The reason the road is called Su-Hua is because it goes from Su-ao to Hualien. This is route 9 and is actually the extension of the route 9 from Xindian in Taipei to Toucheng in Yilan. However, the first section of that road does not embrace the Pacific Ocean, but it plows through Formosan forests and desolate townships.

I just started cycling and up she went literally. There were a few very steep and difficult ascents along this road. Although it was only around six am, it was getting sizzling hot already. The first 20km of the trip were nothing but climbing and got me good. The genious I am forgot to take breakfast this morning and I was actually suffering at the first part. After the first 20km I noticed there was a sudden descent. It was like riding a roller coaster with twists and turns at a high speed. I touched the magical Formoson Fifty quite a few times. Formosan Fifty is when you go 50km or more an hour on Taiwanese soil. It is a shame you have to work so hard to climb up that hill and when you are racing down, the fun is over in just a few minutes. At the foot of the next big ascent I arrived in a little village called Dong-Ao 東澳, I felt like a lost traveler finding an oasis in the desert: I saw a 7-11 convencience store. 7-11 is basically everywhere in Taiwan and they sell everything you need, from foods and drinks to toilet paper, shampoo, magazines, etc. I stopped for a good breakfast and I took a few bottles of FIN Sportdrink (a competitor of Sportorders J) with me for the trip.

After that wonderful pit stop, the scene repeated itself: a very tough ascent for a dozen or more km and then another wonderful ascent. One thing is true about Su-Hua: it is absolutely beautiful. I found myself passing a bridge with nothing than mountains and enticing sceneries all around me. Maybe it was the early morning and the sunrise that gave it that extra little touch, but this is definitely one of the most beautiful spots I have ever seen. Another frequent sight is that of the Great Pacific. It is such an astonishing deep blue vast and immense ocean that never seems to stop. At the horizon I can see a few little Islets. I am wondering if this would be the Ryukyu islands from Japan, where Okinawa lies…

By 10am it had already gotten extremely hot, around 30 degrees. By this time I had reached a small place called Heping 和平, Chinese for peace, and after another ascent and descent I thought it was a goot time to come to peace. That is why I made a stop at another 7-11 and had a drink and a power bar. From this point it was only 40km to Hualien, but it would also be the most dangerous part. This is the part with the big long and dark tunnels. When I read other cyclists’ blogs, they would write the scariest things about these tunnels. They would say how they could not see a thing in these pitch-black holes and how the trucks would ram them off the road. I don’t know if this is typical exaggeration or just a very dangerous road, but it did sharpen my awareness.

From Heping it did not take long for the first tunnel to completely inhale me. I had put on my lights before entering the tunnel and I had activated the brightest position so I would be very visible. One this is true: the tunnels are very, very long. In Taipei and New Taipei City the tunnels are about 1 km long. These tunnels were probably about 4 to 6 km. The dangerous part is that there is only one lane for the vehicles in each direction, although at some points there is a small incision on the right that gives you the possibility to let traffic behind you pass. I had to use one of these road incisions to let a few hunking trucks pass by. Inside this first tunnel I immediately heard a heavy truck approaching at high speed. It even hunked at me, so I knew it saw me. In Taiwan hunking once means: watch out! Hunking several times means: get the F out of the way cause I'm coming through. Since he only hunked once, I was not stressed. I think I took adequate preparations for this monster trip. A few trucks soared past me and after 15minutes of cycling at full speed, I was welcomed by bright rays of sun. But less than one minute after that, I got sucked into another dark jar of oblivion. I don’t think I need to explain why I did not stop for pictures for this one. But I have a lot of footage though. Gonna post it on youtube to show people how to tackle the Su-Hua issue.

If you’re reading this, you already know I made it out of the tunnels alive J. There were seven large tunnels of each a few km in the last 40km. When I came out of the last tunnel, I saw a sign saying: Welcome to Hualien! Unfortunately it was referring to the region of Hualien and not to the city of Hualien. That would take me another 23km, but the road for that was clear and safe. It even had a lane for scooters and cyclists. I cycled past the Taroko Gorge, which could be called Taiwan’s Grand Canyon. I think it is Taiwan’s absolute number one tourist attraction. I remember traveling to Hualien in 2011, renting a scooter and checking out Taroku gorge. Now that I mention it, I even did that trip twice! So it is the third time I am trespassing the mysterious depths (and hights) of this mysterious place. However, with my heavy backpack and my itinerary I did not enter the Taroko Gorge. Instead I resumed the road to Hualien City. After another hour of cycling I finally reached it. Obviously no one can pass through Hualien and miss the writing Tzu Chih Hospital or Tzu Chih University. 慈濟 Tzu Chih is a Buddhist term which means graceful, willing to give to others. Hualien has a Buddhist university and hospital. I arrived in Hualien around noon. It may seem early to call it a day, but I had to get up early to make it through Su-Hua alive. What is my personal comment about Su-Hua? It is a very dangerous road indeed, but if you prepare well and you go early, and you don’t go there after tyfoons and if you are careful and keep your head at it, you should be fine. I am not saying I would pick this road for my Sunday afternoon cycling trips, but once every so many months, it is doable. But hey, that’s just me! Feel free to disagree on me! But I'll tell you one thing: Having done this one makes me feel very good about myself. It is like doing one of these things you have to do before you leave this world.

I promised Liang Yachen and Nita Lin that I would visit them during my trip in Hualien, but they were only there during the late afternoon and evening. For the time being I went to the local Giant store for a tire pressure refill (the only thing I did not bring was a frame pump, since it weighs over 2kg). I bought a sleeveless cycling shirt and a reflective collar, which could be useful later on. After that I had a good lunch in the city. Then the road went on to Yanchen’s hostel: the Formosan Backpacker Hotel. I had stayed there twice in 2011 and it hadn’t changed a bit. I was even surprised to completely memorize the road from the train station over there. Good stuff boy! I visited her and had a very long chat with her about CCR (Cross-Cultural Romances) and intercultural marriages. Let’s say she is the opposite version of me: she has a UK boyfriend and they are thinking on getting married. Apparently for the UK, the Taiwanese person has to get a marriage VISA which costs a 1000 pounds and they might even refure that! What a rip off! Better to get that done in Taiwan and have your marriage certificate legalized in the UK. Will save you a lot of trouble and money. That is what I told her and she was thankful for the advice.

In the late evening I visited Nita Lin. She had opened her own hostel, not far from the Hualien City Center. She complemented me on my wonderful looks haha. She did not look bad herself! We had a nice chat about everything I had been doing the last two years, about my own situation, my trip around the island, about Zumba, about everything! Before heading home, I dropped by the Hualien Night Market – which was packed like always – for a meal. I had a mango drink and some small sushi dishes. After that I went back to my hostel for a good night rest. Tomorrow I would do 200km!, yes that is two hundred kilometers on my bicycle!