The last day was also blessed with fine weather. We had a leisurely breakfast at the inn's café space. I feel different from the previous mornings, not really feeling it, but deeply moved, thinking that today is finally the end of our round-trip of Taiwan.

While thinking that each task is "the last today," my eyes suddenly focused on the smallest details. On the last day of the trip, however, I was completely used to packing in the morning, and my hands moved naturally without thinking too much about it. I attached the bag to the bike, thankful for it to have carried 100kg of luggage and weight all the way here.

The Suhua Highway (National Highway No. 9, part of Provincial Highway No. 9), which runs along the coast of Hualien County, is narrow and is frequented by trucks, so the train will warp us approximately 100km from Hualien Station to Jiaoxi Station. The ride will begin with a 70km ride to Hualien Station, where we'll board the train.

Day 9's goal was Songshan Station in Taipei City, where we started. First, we headed north on National Highway 2 toward Fulong, a town in the northeast corner of Taiwan that Sam and I visited in May. Route 2 along the coast is scenic, but there were many trucks and other large vehicles, so we had to be careful.

A restroom break was taken at "Beiguan Tidal Park," about 17km after starting from the inn.
I did the turtle pose with Gueishan Island (Turtle Island) in the background, which we were able to see even closer than on our previous trip.
The island was highlighted by the clouds floating just above it.

After taking a break, we continued north on National Highway 9. Taiwan Railways trains pass by on the tracks that run parallel to the national highway.
It was interesting to see trains that we don't see in Japan. The train we had taken the previous day was also running.

Arrived at the old Caoling Tunnel. This is the first bicycle path (2,167 meters long) in northern Taiwan that was renovated from an abandoned tunnel. The inside of the tunnel was cool and comfortable. On weekends, the area is crowded with tourists who come here to rent bicycles. This time, we rode in the opposite direction from our previous visit, from the Yilan County side toward Fulong.

Check location on map

When we arrived in Fulong, we went to the Chinese restaurant "福粤楼 fú yuè lóu" in the Fullon Grand Hotel where we stayed the last time we were in Fulong. This is the same restaurant we visited for dinner on our trip to the northeast coast. We ordered the unforgettably delicious "Fried Vegetables and Sausage with XO Sauce" and "Fried Rice with Seafood," among other dishes. We enjoyed our last lunch of the trip as much as we could.

Check location on map

After lunch, which I had been looking forward to since this morning, we headed toward Taipei City on National Highway 2. We had seen the "Island Ring Route 1" sign many times along the way, but we felt a sense of regret when we realized that today would be the last time we would see it.
Even without a map, following this sign would take me all the way around Taiwan. Taiwan is truly bicycle-friendly.

After completing the mountain road from Fulong, we took a break at a cafe in Keelung City. Once in Keelung, all that remained was to ride along the riverside bike route toward Taipei City, so I felt quite at ease.

Check location on map

The last cafe offerings were tiramisu, tarts, and cheesecake. All of these sweets went well with coffee. We stayed longer in a relaxed mode unintentionally, as if we had already reached our goal in terms of mood.

We were determined to make it to the goal, Songshan Station, with 26km to go. Since there is a lot of traffic in Taipei City and it was time to go home, we left the café and took National Highway 5 for a short distance before entering a cycling route along the Keelung River.

Barricades are set up halfway along the cycling route to prevent entry except by bicycles.
Only the upper part where the body passes through is narrow, and the lower part where the derailleur passes through is free of any parts that may come into contact with it, making it easy to pass through.
In Japan, the entry control system is often installed close to the ground, but this system allows various types of bicycles to pass through without damaging the body of the bicycle.
It is a small device, but it is impressive that it was designed with an understanding of bicycles.

Soon it will be about 1km to Songshan Station.
Taipei 101, the landmark of Taipei, came into view in the distance.
The wind that had been blowing along with our journey for the past nine days suddenly stopped, and we were enveloped in silence.
The setting sun lit up the route as if to congratulate us on completing the round-trip tour of Taiwan, and the three of us slowly rode along the bike route as if we were on a parade run.

It is 5:00 in the evening. We finally arrived at Songshan Station, the goal of this trip.
Sam's family and friends welcomed us with congratulatory garland.
The sense of accomplishment when we cycled 1,000km around Shikoku was wonderful, but the sense of accomplishment and the feeling of freedom after completing the trip around Taiwan this time was even greater because the tension of being in a foreign country was always uninterrupted.

I could not thank Sam enough for safely guiding me around Taiwan until today, and to my surprise, he presented me with a round-taiwan certificate issued by the Taiwan Bike Association.
The certificate of completion is a massive item with a thick binding and foil stamping, and I felt a renewed sense of pride when I held it in my hands.
Tsucchi and I were touched by Sam's thoughtfulness in making the application in advance.
Furthermore, because we completed both a round-trip tour of Taiwan and Shikoku we were awarded an original jersey with the words "Around Shikoku, Around Taiwan" written on it.