Mountains await after completion of stage 8

Stage 8 complete. Ruisui → Xincheng, Hualien. 87km. 393m of climbing.

For the first time on this trip, the rain arrived. Not a passing drizzle, enough to require a stop, rain gear on, pannier covers fitted, then back on the road. A brief reminder that Taiwan doesn’t owe us perfect weather, even if it has largely provided it.

Shortly after rain proofing, in typical fashion, the rain stopped, however the mountains did not.
All day, the peaks have been closing in. The scenery through Hualien county kept building, lush, dramatic, the mountains shifting from backdrop to something altogether more present. They aren’t quite overhead yet but tomorrow they will be.

One 7-Eleven stop at 9:30am, on schedule and non-negotiable as always. Otherwise a clean, efficient ride, 17.2km/h overall average, 21.6km/h moving, 80% moving time across 87km. Total time: 5.03 and finished before noon.

This left time for Xincheng Old Street. A gentle stroll, some local food, and a peanut wheel cake that did not last long from a street cart. A calm, unhurried afternoon, exactly the right way to spend the hours before Stage 9.

Tomorrow is stage 9, Xincheng → Yilan, estimated 99km with 2,145m of climbing and the (in)famous Suhua Highway. The biggest climbing day of the entire trip.

The mountains stop being scenery tomorrow. We’ve been watching them for days, it will be time to ride through them.








Alex & Adam 
Rusty Rhinos

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