Day #1 and 2 - Taipei to Gongliao District

 We're in Taiwan!!

We're lucky that Lily Rose (The Bean) is such a good flyer otherwise the entire trip would have been ruined.

Holly and I arrived on Saturday evening, the 30th. We took the train from the airport to the bike shop with our luggage and trailer (that I featured in my previous post) where we're renting our bicycles for the next few weeks. Along the way we met up with my college buddy, Jamison Jones, who we affectionately call Meatsticks. He'll be accompanying us during the trip!

Assembling our gear and trailer on the bicycle rentals.

And we're finally off! 10:30PM and riding through the streets of Taipei. And a blurry pic in true, terrible Gen Z fashion.

First campsite!

We biked 4.56 km (2.78 miles) today!

We rode a few kilometers up a really steep hill to get to this church that appeared to be half under construction. Even late at night the traffic was constant and very loud with noisy mopeds and motorcycles passing by. It also kept the bean up which in turn kept me up resulting in a horrible night's sleep. 

She's the sweetest, though.

Mutual adoration.

The next morning on the 31st, we rode through the city along a really nice bike path by the river. Taiwan has many great bike paths, although with our huge double-wide trailer it can be tricky fitting it on to said bike path. So far we've been able to manage. 🤞 

See that? Tricky Ricky.

We found a church on the 9th floor to worship the Almighty.

Bean made some friends!

Lots of members doted on her, too.

This nice lady particularly liked holding the bean while we had a quick lunch and used the facilities.

The rest of the day we spent trying to get as far as possible due to late start and taking many breathers. It rained a tad but wasn't miserable. We did find a neat waterfall towards the end and a delicious place to eat!

Look at Bean Pie's eyes 😍

Look at the sky and you can see the lanterns they let off for the impending New Year.

Shifen Waterfall.

Beef bowls. That brown kimchee stuff in the metal bowl along with the red chili was so spicy. I had heartburn for about an hour after, especially going up the hills.

The tent is great for having Lily Rose stretch out her legs and crawl around after being in the trailer for hours.

"Goodnight Neverland!!!!"

I realized this trip is going to be tricky. The weight of the bean and trailer really slow us down plus having to make more stops for feedings and changing diapers. We'll be lucky if we get 50-60 miles a day (normally I log more during these adventures). Also, this is my first time doing a tour in the winter so we have limited daylight (about 11 hours) despite being closer to the Equator. So time is of the essence. But we're loving it and all of us are in good spirits. 

We biked 72.94 km (45.19 miles) today! To quote Michael Scott, "Ladies, not your best effort." I hummed and hawed all day about the decisions that were made today.

New Bike Trailer!

Holly and I are +1 since our last cycling trip in Iceland. We've had to invest in a trailer to carry our bean. And invest we did. It cost more than our car! (Which isn't saying much because cars are cheap AF in Japan but you get the point.)

After months of research we went with Thule because 1) it easily converts into a good stroller 2) the seats recline for long hours of riding 3) it has suspension, also good for long hours of riding and 4) lots of storage. We got the dual seater in hopes of someday filling that with a sleeping dragon. 🤞💤🐉

The bean can look out at the passing landscape with the side windows.

She likes to eat the straps.

And when she's not eating the straps she's clutching it while sleeping. 

Lots of space for her to stretch out those pinchy legs of hers.

We bought the attachment for Holly's bike, too, so she can take the bean for a spin as well.

We did an overnighter up north to prep for our Taiwan trip.

Such a good bean pie! This gave us a boost of confidence for next week's adventure.

She loves it!!

 

Placeholder: Iceland/Taiwan Tours

 

I like having these scrolling memes as a bookmark or placeholder between biking adventures. I find them at the exact opportune moment I need them. Love our meme culture. I used the Balrog in between the America trip and Japan. I used the knight resting by the fire gif in between Japan and Iceland. And now I'm using this anime thing in between Iceland and Taiwan. 

So take a break, grab your お茶 (ocha), and get ready for another fun adventure on bicycles with us. This time we have the bean and special guest Meatsticks.