A Fall

A long smooth downhill stretch of road had me coasting along at 40km/h.  Then the sensible half of my brain (yes; apparently I have one) quietly mentioned the potential consequences to this old body if the bike and I parted.  I slowed to 30km/h.

But that's not when I fell of the bike.  I'd taken a wrong turn and stopped before attempting to back the bike whilst still on it.  The rear wheel went up a rise and suddenly my feet couldn't touch the ground. I gracefully fell off in slow motion. 

My greatest concern was the bike.  It's heavy; had it incurred any damage.  Checking it over I couldn't see any issues.  But when I started riding I could hear a "clunk" sound.  It wasn't the gears and by a process of elimination established the sound was coming from the back of the bike.  Eventually I discovered the folding pump handle had loosened during the fall and was banging against the rear tyre.

I then realised the bike speedo wasn't working.  The issue with this is without the speedo the motor controller cuts out.  Fortunately I had previously experienced the issue and realised in the fall the magnet attached to one of the spokes on the rear wheel had moved out of alignment and wasn't passing the speed sensor.

However that identified another problem.  I don't have the right sized hex key to fit the head of the screw that secures the magnet to the spoke.  The pliers on my Leatherman multitool did the trick.

All good to go again.

Last night in Puli I went looking for food and found a small kebab stall where I selected three different small kebabs on skewers.  A beef, pork and chicken.  The lady operating the stall cooked them for me whilst I waited.  She dusted my chicken kebab with several spices and I found it particularly tasty.

The entrance to my hotel in Puli. 

 They let me take my bike to my room on the third floor.  It just fitted into the lift!

Walking around Puli at night

I took advantage of the late check out (11AM) the following morning.  I'd washed my cycling clothes on arrival at the hotel and wanted to give them time to dry.  It also gave my body some additional recovery time after yesterday's exertions.  Today I would be going to Shuishe on the shore of Sun Moon Lake.  Only a 90 minute ride according to Google Maps.

For some reason I decided to give Google Maps another chance and elected to follow Google's navigation instructions.

Almost immediately I was directed through the Puli fresh food market area.

Then onto a wide an smooth road. 

I think this is a house

But this definitely was not!

Then Google let me down.  I found myself riding down an increasing narrow lane going up a valley whose sides started to close in.

Another steep climb to the top of the ridge at the head of the valley.  It was yet another time when I had to dismount and push the bike.

Eventually I reached the top and ignored Google, electing to cycle to the town of Yuchi where I stopped at the 7-Eleven for a strawberry flavoured container of milk. 

 

Sun moon Lake is 400 metres higher than Puli which meant I was climbing most of the day.

I plan on spending two nights at Shuishe with the intention of cycling around the lake.  Then I'll cycle back to Puli before attempting to cross to the east coast of Taiwan via Wuling Pass.