Day 3 - We had a start under clear and blue sky for the first time since we started. Taipei on day 1 was chilly cold, and as we went south, we finally got to see some sunshine. Later today, there was cold wind coming again, but for now in the morning, we were off to Chinyi for another 100 km. 

When going to bike ride for long distance, where to take break is always an issue. When I go for ride in Japan, it is easy. Almost anywhere in Japan, there is convenience store with toilets. I know there are Seven Eleven and Family Mart in any region of Taiwan so I think I could do this bike ride by myself, but those convenience stores normally do not have many toilets that could effectively support a large team like us. Our excellent support team has the solution - temple. Same as yesterday, we had several breaks at temples. One of them, 順澤宮 is known for triathletes. The temple gained fame when a Norwegian ironman triathlon winner wore a hat from it in competition. I just said hi to pray for everyone's success on this tour. Hope that works :-) 

Another fun place for today - the railway station! Before we left Taichung, we swung by 

Chenggong Station (成功車站). and in Chinyi, there is Chinyi station of Alisan Forest Railway. Chinyi station is in the middle of the renovation so that I could not see it. Alternatively, I went to see the railway which takes the train towards Alisan.

 

In the evening in Chinyi, I just walked through the night market and quickly went to a bit quieter area where I found a small bakery - Baron Scones. Young women seem to operate the shop and they are serving great taste of scones. I bought three scones and they put whipped cream on one of them which was so good. If you have a chance to come to Chinyi, skip the night market, go find the Baron.

Tomorrow we are going to ride 120 km to Kaohsiung (高雄). We have two more days to travel in west side of Taiwan, then go to east side for hill climb. Hope we have another clear weather tomorrow.