I quite seriously considered staying in Taichung for an extra night. The hotel had vacancies and I had a slight headache. Hey, I could spend a day sightseeing and catch the High Speed Rail to Tainan and cruise into Kaohsiung. Thankfully I did not weaken and give into temptation.
Not that the ride was a great ride. It was all on Highway 17 and this stretch, if I am to be honest, is quite dull. The northwesterlies were blowing up dust from dry river beds and there were no coastal views today. In fact I hardly took any photos today. The riding itself was easy and my cycling legs were feeling quite good. Highway 17 is flat and has a great surface. But it didn't compare too the previous three days. Today was one of those days you do because you have gotta get somewhere else. I was riding quite quickly, averaging around 25 kms an hour without really trying. I quickly worked out that if I did not slow down I would get to Mailiao about 2 PM.
Around 9 kms I had to cross the Peach River. The bridge is about 3 kms long and has no real shoulder. I felt a bit exposed and thought I have to get across this fast. So I stuck the bike in the big chain ring and sped up to 35 kms an hour. At the other side I dropped back to the chain ring of choice, the middle ring, and down to 25 kms an hour. After nearly 30 kms I chanced upon a town called Lukang. Here I stopped for a cool drink, a banana and a sandwich.This turned out to be my lunch.
A local young guy came up to me and asked if I needed help. I managed to convince him I was okay. He also said he wanted to welcome me to Lukang, his home town. Gee the Taiwanese people are genuinely friendly.
Lukang actually looked an interesting town. The Longshan Temple is a real draw card. I rode past it and neglected to take a proper photo. I snapped a shot looking back through the Main Street but it doesn't do justice to the beauty of the temple. I also rode though a very bustling market. Here are some poor quality photos of Lukang.
My bike in Lukang
If you look carefully you can just make out the temple
After Lukang I rejoined Hwy 17. It was a rather dreary ride until I came across this monument. I will have to ask Linhui what it means when I return to Taipei.
Further up the road I caught up to Keith. He was out for a ride and lived down the road in a town called Erlin. I snapped this photo at his turn off.
After I left Keith I just continued my trek down Hwy 17. I arrived in Mialiao just before 3 PM and set about looking for my motel which Linhui had booked for me. This took me about 15 minutes. So here I am in Mialiao. Mialiao looks quite a tourist town. There were quite a few tour buses outside a temple as I rode into town.
Tomorrow it's a 95-100 km ride to Tainan. I think I will start early just to get some riding in before the heat kicks in.
Summary for today - 76 kms at 23.4 kms on the bike. While the riding was easy it was a bit dull. So I did stop quite a bit to just have a break and watch the world go by.
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