Sunday morning came early again with another 5 AM start. With such an early start, only a few folks were wondering around in Baling-巴陵 at that time in the morning, us 5 guys. After a bit of getting our gear together, we rode literally up highway 7 again towards Yilan-宜蘭 past the rock fall warning sign.
With such an early morning start and being a bit in the hills, the air was cool being in the shade for a large part of the ride. The only sunlight seen was that on the opposite valley wall at higher elevations. Despite this, there were some amazing valley views to behold while we rode from 600 meters elevation to 1,140 meters through 10 kilometers.
Once you’ve made it to first peak though, it’s pretty casual up and down riding for the next 18 kilometers or so before beginning a quite rapid drop into Yilan’s river valley. While the east-bound climb up 7 is long, it’s climbs are multiple shorts. However, the west-bound climb is essentially a single, long steep climb.
This East to West route would be a true test of biking ability, determination and endurance. Hmm… I think this reverse trip route is in order later in the year.
With 3 of our riding crew needing to head back to Taipei for work Monday via the Luodong-羅東 train station, Michael T and I stayed on highway 7 towards Yilan for lunch of beef noodle soup around 1 PM.
As Michael and I were feeling pretty good still, but it was still early in the afternoon, we figured we’d catch up on email in Jiaoxi-礁溪 for an hour and then head onto Tucheng to find a place to stay for the night.
Did you know there’s no hostels in Tucheng? You’ve got to head north 3 kilometers to Waiao-外澳. So, heading north Michael and I went. At the first hostel sign in Waiao, we turned down an alley to nowhere. However, with a little creative riding through a few house paths, we ended up on a beach access road.
Hallelujah! From the newly found sights, Michael and I knew we found heaven for the night. Check out the beach photos below to see why.
We spent Sunday night at Surfer Inn. A great local place with hot water under pressure, full size fluffy towels and real bottles of shampoo. On top of these great attributes was a quiet room and clean bed. Even better, downstairs you could grab a beer, a surf board and walk a few minutes to the beachfront for surfing lessons. Like I wrote, heaven…
Overall, Sunday’s first 30 kilometers of riding entailed continuous hill climbing, but the remaining 63 kilometers were fast downhills or flat. I heartily recommend this trip for seeing a good variety of Taiwan’s mountain and coastal life.
Bike route Baling-巴陵 to Waiao-外澳 via 7, 9, 2
Baling-巴陵 to Waiao-外澳 Photos
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Peichi’s man, adventurous water rat & operations guy who’s living simply, roaming about & smiling more.
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This post, Biking Taiwan: Baling-巴陵 to Waiao-外澳 via highway 7, 9, 2 was added to Biking on June 30, 2009.
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Great pics –
Sounds like you had an amazing trip. I might up for the ride to Waiao that you mentioned on Facebook. Will touch base with you for a ride this weekend – if you are free.
Twitter ID: @comprock
Nathan,
Thank you for the compliments. I’m up for riding most weekends, but this weekend is with the local Giant group riders. I’m not sure where we’re going, but I’ll try to let you know by Friday.
For the Linkou to Waiao ride, that’s pending for July 11-13. Ride over Saturday, surf Sunday, ride home via Keelung Monday. Michael T and hopefully kids will join us on that trip.
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