2/6 Hualien to Luodong
A day of nightmare.
Seriously, I thought that the mountain to Shouka was the worst, indeed, it was steep and that day was still the most terrible. (Having rode for 100 kms, and what followed next was the climb)
Today, I challenged Suhua Road. My dad reviewed again and again about the situation of Suhua road with me last night, since we stayed in the same accommodation. He said that many bikers forfeit or choose to take train instead when they encounter Suhua. No one would feel shame about me if I decided to pick any of the above methods, but I stuck to my original option: to face it. My destination would be Luodong, 107 kms apart from Hualien.
What made it scary wasn't the distance, but the three mountains that stood in the way, and many long tunnels to come. The tunnels aren't the worst, it's the big trucks and tour buses that made the situation devastating. For many trucks traveled on this route and the roads were pretty narrow, with only one lane. For your information, the size of a truck itself took up one lane.
I dozed off at 11 and got up feeling all tired at 7. I love my new biological clock, but the accumulated exhaustion just won't go away and it's torturing me. After having some amazing breakfast, I took off into the wild. The roads were smooth in the first couple minutes and I followed a cyclist on the way, then there came the climb. I felt energetic somehow, even the sore had stopped bothering me while I was on my bike. I took over the cyclist in front of me and started climbing.
First challenge: tunnel number 1. My dad told me to wait for the cars behind me to pass, then enter, but the streaming vehicles seemed to be endless. Eventually the biker who was in front of me caught up with me and gave me a thumb up, then he dodged into the narrow tunnel.
It was my virgin exploration of tunnels on Suhua and I was cautious, I kept my pace and tried to stick to the furthest right, almost grazing the rocky wall. Trucks were passing me and the sound of their engine rumbled in my ears. I tried to focus on my path and kept riding, then I saw the sunlight and within a few seconds, I was free from the monster!
I took some rest by the side with relief, happiness growing in my heart, it was a mixture of glory and confidence. I can do this! One down and still many to go haha. I left the roadside and kept on with my climb. It wasn't long before I reached the second tunnel, and it was a long one with a mark of 1460ms labelled on the entrance.
What!?
Over a kilometer of journey inside the freaking dark and dangerous tunnel? My head was blank. I had no choice but to venture inside, I charged up for a 3-6 gear and pumped my legs, I still have strength, and I want it over quick. I was very fast inside the tunnel, yet cars still whiz past by my side. I truly hope that the two tail-lights that I turned on were enough to make the other vehicles see me bright and clear. The tour of the second tunnel seemed to have last ages and my legs were getting tired, I had no choice but to slow down. Eventually I made my way out safely and sighed with relief.
The third tunnel felt like sandstorm. It was so blurry inside with all the sand flying around and right at your face. It was difficult to breathe and a total disaster. I tried to pass it as fast as I could.
Riding fast inside tunnels could be both good and bad. The good thing was that you shorten the time of danger; and the disadvantage was that you enhance the chance of danger. There were many rubble and bugles on the surfaces inside tunnels, and if you ride fast, you're prone to lose balance easily, or even go right into a pit and flipped, or fell, while the big cars behind could easily run you over.
So it still gave me cold sweat memorizing the periods. After encountering several tunnels, I was at the end of the first mountain and started to go down slope. The slope was steep and my bike went fast, the max speed was 42 (I reached 48 once but was unable to re-create the miracle)
Many cars were still over taking me, even when I'm going pretty fast and it's still a two lane road (one for each side) So basically I kept my hands on the brakes all the time, just to be caution.
Just when the combination of danger and fun subsided, I reached Nan-ao and began to climb the second mountain, without taking any break. It seemed to be a smaller mountain but the upward slope became extremely painful for I had used up most of my strength. (I covered 40kms and many tunnels in the first two hours, but gradually slowed down to a painful speed)
My head was full of ideas about quitting and resting and delicious foods, it was crazy inside. The slopes seemed to be endless and I was going upward and further upward,
there were many turns that gave me hope: it would be a down slope after the turn, c'mon! But they all failed my expectation.
At last I made to the peak and after passing one last tunnel, slopes going downward greeted me I was back to freaking fast speed. However, it was really dangerous since I hadn't eaten anything or take a decent break for a long time, the sudden speed really took me by surprise, my hands were shaky from the long ride but I still tried my best to hold my vehicle still.
It felt just like racing, with death and with your life, luckily I arrived at the bottom of he mountain in one piece and reached Dong-ao.
I bought a bowl of cold noodles and a bottle of coke (as a prize) and some chocolates to replenish strength. I started my journey toward one more mountain after finishing my meal. I should have rest for a while after dining before going on, it's better for the body. But I felt in a hurry to have all this nightmare done with.
The beginning of the third mountain felt like s**t. Please don't mind the coarse language, for that was the truth. I was deceived by the surface of my legs: powerful and back to its original state after having a good lunch. The truth was that, it became just as weak after a few rounds of paddling.
I heard that the third mountain was the steepest, and it was not far from the truth. I felt weak and soft like a rabbit, I wanted to stop so bad, I wanted that auto bike of the old man, I wanted to lie on a bed and sleep... and what I received was more paddling and yet more rocky up-roads to come. (My route was by the cliff, still felt scary even with the fences on)
A biker caught up with me from behind and shouted cheers to me. I waved back, exhausted. Then it's my turn to catch up with him, even with the speed of snails, since he was taking a break. I rode with him, sometimes with me in the lead and sometimes him the leader. It was good to have a companion, we forced each other to keep riding and dug deeper into the muscles for more strength.
We rode, and rest, and more riding. Finally, we overcame the mountain. And what to come was the sweet road going down. We bid goodbye and I charged to the 3-9 gear for fastest speed, after reaching Su-ao.
I was only 10 kms from my destination and was longing for the sweet accommodation. After one last tunnel, I started out for Luodong and rode fast. I ignored the pain and every bad aspects about my body. And I saw the relieved smile and the waving arms of my parents by 3 o'clock, not too shabby for a 107 ride with three mountains.
I was in the shower lately and the water sprayed upon me.
My legs were in such sudden pain that I whined. Then I discovered that they were covered by so many small cuts and wounds. They must have come from the small pebbles that jutted up during the mountain ride.
Awesome...
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