40 of us took off from Singapore for a 3-day cycling adventure in Sep 2014.
We were to find out that we got more than what we bargained for.
Organised by Star Cruises, the fly and cruise trip was to cover Taiwan's Taipei as well as Japan's Ishigaki and Naha.
As we arrived in Taipei, most of us learnt about the approaching Typhoon Fung-Wong for the first time. This was to mess up our plans. I admit I wasn't aware of the magnitude of the weather until I stepped out of the airport.
After checking into the hotel, we got to familiarise ourselves with rented bicycles from Giant Adventure - the travel arm of the world's largest bicycle manufacturer, Taiwan's Giant Bicycles.
With the wind howling in the distance, the approaching typhoon was on the back of our minds. Would the ride still be able to go ahead?
Fortunately, the sun came up the next day, and the ride was on! But we had until 12 noon before Typhoon Fung-Wong was scheduled to hit the city.
Day 1's original route was to be a 60km from our hotel at Danshui all the way to Keelung Port.
The weather, however, caused the route to be shortened to 40km.
Still, it involved taking on Taipei's Yangmingshan National Park. An 800+ metre altitude mountain with winding tarmac roads. From our start point, there was 20 km of uphill cycling to be done.
We started off from our hotel with a leisurely paced 5km ride to the foot of Yangmingshan National Park, and from there it was a tough climb up to the top.
Besides the uphill, there were also strong cross winds to deal with. The big green mountains and lovely views made the winding journey up rather worth the effort.
The varying gradients gave most of the cyclists a good workout. I do a bit of cycling on the weekends, and there were moments in the climb that I had to consciously tell my legs to just keep on pedalling.
So I must give credit to the most senior cyclist on the trip, Uncle Tan, a sprightly 73-year-old Chinese gentleman. While he might not be the fastest of the lot, he never gave up and surely but steadily made it to the top. I later found out he cycles everyday.
Not all made it to the top though. Those who did were rewarded with breathtaking scenery.
What followed next was, of course, the exhilarating descend. With the various turns, I imagined myself racing down twisting mountain roads a la Initial D. Not wanting to risk losing control of the bike, I kept within 40-50km/h downhill. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, as I kept pace with a scooter midway down.
When I reached the foot of the mountain, my hands were aching from all the braking I had done and my mouth aching from the big wide grin I had on, and I wasn't the only one.
Day 2 of our cycle adventure was supposed to be in Japan's Naha city, but Typhoon Fung-Wong forced a port closure and delayed our departure. This meant another night on land instead of onboard our cruise ship.
The team from Giant Adventure made sure we got to cycle on day 2, by making quick on the ground adjustments.
So after a sumptuous seafood lunch, off we went on a short 20km ride towards Taiwan's Keelung port.
After Day 1's hill climb, this was a much more relaxed and scenic ride that brought us near the coast, with a great photo stop along the way. Then it was time to board Superstar Aquarius for our final cycling destination - Ishigaki.
The thing about this trip that appealed to me was the that after a day of 'hard' cycling, we had all the comforts of a cruise liner to go back to. On board the Superstar Aquarius, the food, facilities and entertainment aided in our 'recovery' for the next day's ride.
Our arrival on the Japanese island was greeted with clear skies and loads of sunshine.
We had a relatively easy route, allowing us to take in much of the scenery as we cycled through the town and past the coast.
Our group made a short lunch stop at Kabira Bay. This is probably the most-photographed sightseeing spot on Ishigaki. I couldn't resist trying out a double scoop of the 'famed' Blue Seal brand ice cream after lunch.
On the way back, one of our party had a little incident where his saddle fell off. The Giant Adventure's team made short work of that and we were quickly on our way.
Then all too soon, we were on our way back to the ship.
Interestingly, over the past 3 days of cycling, we never once encountered a motorist who honked at us.
This certainly made the rides a whole lot more pleasant.
Most of us were wishing the trip could last a bit longer, but as they say all good things come to an end.
And we can only look forward to the next one.
tayyta@sph.com.sg