Distance: 41.63 miles

Time: 5:19

Elevation Gain: 1,430 feet

The buffet breakfast in the hotel wasn’t the most exciting, but it did introduce me to the concept of Congee, or rice porridge, usually eaten with savoury toppings I’d imagine, that’s certainly what crossed my mind as I tasted it with the sweet dried fruits I’d added at the breakfast station.

I was soon underway and bouncing along the textured decorative tiling that was standing in for a bike path along this part of the route.

Thankfully, as soon as I left Tamsui, the cycle path ended and I was merged onto the main road, Highway 2, with the riding becoming much more interesting, dancing down the edge of the road between the trucks and the mopeds on one side, and the street seller’s carts on the other, it was dusty and humid, and approaching 29°C.

Soon the road joined Taiwan’s west coast, and I took the opportunity to enjoy the sea views in Houcou, where a decorative park had been constructed, alongside a handy toilet block.

When the road veered inland towards Shanzi District, the cycle path took the Feng Zhi Men bikeway, along the coast, on an elevated boardwalk with fine views.

I was back on a segregated cycleway beside the highway by the time I reached Fuji village, and took a quick snap of the ‘Shimen Wedding Plaza’, before stopping off for lunch at Pizza Olmo.

The next port of call was the Yehliu Geopark, and I was keen to get there before sunset, which I did, just about, though it was getting dark by the time I picked up a few things from the shop afterwards.

Yehliu seemed like a lovely little harbour town, but I was keen to make it around to Keelung, for the night. For one thing there would be a lot more choice of hotels there, and for another it would be another 10 miles racked up for the day.

After arriving in the large port city, some time later, I sat by the harbour, trying to decide where to stay, by looking at photos of hotels online to determine whether they were likely to have somewhere suitable to store my bike or not. In the end, I picked somewhere that didn’t look that suitable, but turned out to be ideal, when the receptionist didn’t hesitate before telling me I could take the bike to the room.

Looking for somewhere late opening for dinner again, I noticed a ‘hot pot’ restaurant, ‘Yimei’, nearby. Provided with my own personal hot pot at a table, it did seem like this might be more appropriate for groups of people. But the staff were very helpful, letting me select the ingredients to add in, then frying some squid and beef first, before removing them to be added later, then adding the vegetables, then the broth. Next I was shown to a stand, where I could select curry paste, chilli and garlic amongst other flavourings.

I amended to taste and after my second trip to pick up some seasonings, I was very happy with my concoction. It took me some time to have dinner, definitely not aided by the fact that the bowl for serving into was tiny, presumably so that you were always eating it hot. The gas canister must have been on for an hour by the time I left, luckily the rise in gas prices didn’t appear to have affected prices much.