So me and my girlfriend are off this weekend to Sail Boat Rock - hotel has been booked for a month; weather forecast is for lots of rain, thunder and lightning....Bring it on - I'll drive the bike right through every second of that and consider myself lucky to be alive to do such things.
Beethoven's 7th symphony - 2nd movement....
I recall a trip from two years ago. I tried to make the drive from Kenting up to Hualien on the blue bike. Storm. Flat tire. Stuck in the mountains pouring with rain and shivering in the cold. After getting the tire fixed it was a horrible, shivering drive in constant downpour along the tortuous mountain road until re-emerging upon the east coast. That was only a brief respite before re-engaging the edge of the precipice with articulated lorries and cocky gangsters in shiny new Mercs up my backside for the best part of an hour. No mistakes. The second return to the coast out of and down from the mountains brings you onto a half-mile long, steep downward stretch of highway with magnificent views of the ocean to your right, mountains to your left and the city of Taitung out in the distance. Before getting to this part of the journey I had pulled into a lay-by to remove my helmet during a brief lull in the rain, and had still not put it on again by the time I hit that half-mile slope. Torrential downpour and vicious wind in my face. Lorries up my backside. No separate lane for bikes. No safety margin. No food or drink for about five or six hours. No mistakes: total determination.
"For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is - to live dangerously."
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