Day 04 Thu 4/10 - Taipei to North Coast Shimen

Total Distance : 63.6 km
Today's Temp : 23 - 33c
Average Speed : 15.0 km  max: 46
Time On Bike : 4 hr  14 min
Average Climb : 3%  max: 16%
Total Altitude :  340 m   max: 87 m
Today's Spending : NTD 170
Total Spending Todate : NTD 2132

We started our full loaded ride today after staying 3 nights in Rod's apartment,but haven;t really meet him in person.We are very grateful to him to provide us a very comfortable and cosy place to prepare our tour.We plan to meet him on our return leg hopefully to personally thank him. The roti canai was really nice,so we went back the same store for breakfast.To make thing easier,we follow on the same riverside road on day 2 without much stopping for taking pictures. The real photo taking only started after the Yenping Riverside Park.The bike paths were even more beautiful than day 2.Soon we reached Guandu ,where we stop at the Guandu Temple for taking pictures,and i pray that we will have a smooth and wonderful ride today.The next town is Tamshui and the bike lane running along the esplanade,there is a jetty with ferry service to Taipei,Bali and Fisherman Wharf where we will be heading to next.By noon we arrived at the Fisherman Wharf and spent quite sometime there,there is a 5 star hotel ,a beautiful Lover's Bridge and many hi-end fishing boats,most likely the tourists are paying them to upgrade.We stop for lunch at one eating shop popular with construction workers as this section of the road is still quite bad and  bike lanes are non-existence.Nevertheless,we managed to find our way back to the coast after some rolling hills to climb,at one of the steep hills,my rear cassette started to overshoot whenever i engaged the biggest 34T ring,and also making irritating sound due to misalignment of the chain to the rear cassettes.I had to climb harder in the middle range, suspected the rear derailleur was bent when blown by strong wind at 101 building and fell.Shimen is famous for dumpling ( bak chang) as we rode passed many shops advertising the same thing.At one section of the bike lane was temporary closed for repair,we tried to carry our bikes over hopping that there is no one to stop us,we were eventually turned back as the real contruction of replacing the old plank being carried out,and was told too risky to let us pass.By 4, we were both feeling tired and  started looking for nice place to camp, we noticed a building up a small hill from a junction with signboard showing evacuation road ,we both decided to check it out, it's a community hall and Mr Lim is kind to let us put up our tents at the back with a view of the sea. Overall a good ride for the 1st day.

Family photo of Rod Lin - Thank you so much for 3 nights stay in your apartment

Ready for our 1st full loaded ride

Breakfast of Roti canai for the 2nd time

Ready flip roti canai on the hot plate

My breakfast with chicken topping NTD 65

Filling up my MSR fuel bottle for NTD 26

Beautifully decorated toilet of petrol station

Toilet at petrol station

Pushing our bikes down to the bike lane

Cycling for all

Crossing to the other side of the bridge

A bit of a hassle trying to get out of the city

Bike lanes everywhere but sometimes need to carry over from one end to the other

Riding under the flyover

Scenery getting better 

Guandu jetty

Bicycle friendly 

Once in the blue moon situation

Most of the time road surface is smooth and well maintain

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Wooden plank bike path

And rows of flower to greet you

Tamshui Fisherman's Wharf

Stretching  my tired legs

Lover;s Bridge at the Wharf

Tony has 10 sec for a self timer shot

Tamshui in love

Smiling whale

Lunch time 

A section of the bike lane that was closed temporary under repair

This must be a very precious tree to hire one whole crank truck to move

Anyone planning to tie the knot?

Four faces Buddha

Our first night camp at the back of a community hall

Tony enjoying his instant noodle

My kitchen for dinner - scramble eggs and beef curry