The initial section heading out of Taipei was pretty comfortable. It was a Saturday so there were plenty of joggers and cyclists on the track, but it was wide enough that I never felt bottlenecked. We also saw plenty of places to grab a drink or bite along the way, though we held off on stopping reached Duchantou, where all the food stalls along the harbour just ended up being too enticing to resist.

Not long after that, the dedicated cycle and pedestrian paths ended, and we started riding on a shared road that ran alongside (but was separated from) the highway. We'd originally plotted a route that would veer off Cycle Route 1 and instead follow some of the quieter trails like the Taoyuan Coastal Trail and Hsinchu Coastal Trail, but we had mixed success with that as many sections of road were closed (possibly following the earthquake, but possibly also for routine maintenance). That meant we reverted to Cycle Route 1 as often as not.

Our real troubles started around the 40km mark, when Bruno's rental bike ran a flat tyre and had part of its front fender come off. We pulled by the roadside to see what we could do, and a local eventually wandered over to take a look, before beckoning us over to his workshed and lending us some tools. (Plus a zip tie. I now understand why bikepackers swear by zip ties, and they are firmly on my packing list for the future.) The man was gruff but kind and helpful, and it was hilarious seeing him shoo away Bruno's hand when Bruno tried to do something "wrong" - some things really can transcend language barriers, which was good because we had very little language in common.

The fix for the fender held, but unfortunately, the tyre was a bit too far gone. We soon made a second stop to pump air into it, only to watch the air come right back out. Since we'd been under the impression that it was a tubeless setup (incorrectly and due to a misunderstanding, as it turned out) and had neither the experience nor the gear to fix tubeless issues, we beelined for the closest local bike shop a few kilometres away. Bruno had to walk his bike; I went ahead on mine to get some food and water, as we were both pretty hungry by that point.

I'll skip the parts of the story that involved a lot of walking back and forth in Guanyin while hauling heavy, unwieldy loads and avoiding the cockroaches that scuttled around our feet. Suffice to say, the first local bike store wasn't able to help with the tyre, and nor was the second bike shop - but at the latter, the helpful owner called us a taxi that would fit Bruno and his bike so they could head to Hsinchu and the Giant Adventures store there. It definitely wouldn't have fit both of us, so I continued on by myself for the 40km or so that remained, crossing my fingers that I wouldn't get lost.

Most of the ride was similar to what we'd experienced up until then, zigzagging between Cycle Route 1 and the quieter coastal trails that invariably ended at a closure somewhere. I had to lift the bike a few times when I found myself on the wrong side of a barrier - in that I'd wandered onto a road that was nominally closed, but then couldn't get back out onto the open section without lifting a heavy loaded bike over the fences. My arms are definitely feeling it now.

At one point, I ran into a group of around 30 local cyclists on folding bikes. One of the group invited me to join them, both to get to Hsinchu and to grab dinner afterwards. I tagged along for a while but they were taking their time and I wanted to make it into town before dark, so after a friendly chat, we waved goodbye. I enjoyed some pretty shoreline sections in the late afternoon light, veered off route for a bit to chase down some fun-looking trail sections, and eventually met up with Bruno again - now with a fixed bike - just as I was about to turn into the city. That was handy, because I much prefer following his lead when it comes to city navigation.

So that was the adventure of the day. We had plenty of fumbling local interactions, got moderately sunburnt, and still made it to our hotel safely. It was fun in a "yay, we made it, and now let's sign up for more bike maintenance courses" kind of way.

Looking back, I'm also quite happy with myself for riding solo in a foreign country and making it to where I needed to go. That may not sound like a big deal, but as someone who has never been particularly fit or good at navigating, it's been good to push my own boundaries a little bit at a time. In the past year, I've tried a lot of new routes both by myself and with people I didn't necessarily know well, slowly extending my distance over time - and it's boosted my confidence to be able to fend for myself today, while also knowing that there is a lot more room to learn and grow.