Test Ride

Damned neuralgia.  A broken night of sleep as there was a small man inside my skull with a ice pick intermittently chipping away at the left side.  You wouldn't think there was room in there for him….. Or maybe you do!

The bun for breakfast was 80% hollow with the remaining 20% being custard.  It tasted quite nice!

I had a re-think about the brake hoses and wiring realising it might be possible to fit the handlebar bag on the rider's side of the bar.  This would prevent the bag from pressing against the hoses and wiring.

 

The new position works.  The bag doesn't interfere with my knees when pedalling and it's actually easier to reach the cameras in the bag.  The other plastic holder at the upper left in the above photo is the waterproof holder for the phone which I've previously used when riding in the rain.  Currently I've been using it to hold the power bank for the phone. I've now realised I can place the power bank in the handlebar bag in its new position.  At the top right is the 4K video camera holder.  This has proven to be a failure.  The bike bounces around too much for the camera to take stable video footage.  I need to reconsider how to use the camera.

Today's plan was to test the bike brakes by cycling to Liyu Lake which was about 90 minutes from Hualien.

The lake is supposedly quite scenic nestled between the mountains to the west and a range of hills to the east.

I stopped at one of the numerous local shrines to check my route on the phone.

There must be a story in the carving below?  A giant squid trying to capture a lady whilst the male runs away?   Probably not!

   

My planned route took me through some very rural lanes.  I've seen this type of timber fencing in other places.  However previously it was bamboo.

When you examine it more closely you realise it's actually steel which has been cast to look like timber.  Very clever.

The road became a narrow lane and then very steep.

Before suddenly terminating at a major road beside Liyu Lake.

The two main attractions here appear to be either hiring a paddle boat or renting a bike and cycling around the lake

Adelaide city has its bronze pigs and Birmingham has its bull.  Liyu Lake has its owls positioned around the shoreline.

I cycled the bike path around the lake and then cycled further south over the eastern ranges to reach the main road back to Hualien.

The bike performed well during the test ride and I'm now quite confident about taking it further south.