Randonautica Cycling One — Shengang and Hemei Township
9th June 2024
I enjoy cycling. There’s something incredibly freeing about being on a bicycle, feeling like a part of the environment you’re passing through, and appreciating the convenience and affordability of travelling on two wheels. After countless hours of exploring my local area, I felt like I had seen all the beautiful spots, bike trails, and tourist attractions. I needed a new edge to keep my adventures interesting. That’s when I came up with the idea of Randonautica Cycling Adventures.
What’s that, I hear you say? Randonautica is an app that generates random coordinates for you within your area. It’s supposed to be based on the law of attraction — you think about something, and then it manifests. While I don’t buy into the mystical aspect, I love the idea of exploring random locations. These are places I would never have thought to visit, showing me sights I would have missed if I kept planning my trips as usual. The thrill of using the app is that I have absolutely no idea where it will take me. That feels like a real adventure.
Have you ever wondered what lies beyond the beaten path? Join me as I cycle to random coordinates and discover the unexpected.
Cycling Adventure One — Shengang and Hemei Township
9th June 2024
I was lying on my bed, feeling rather lazy. The weather forecast threatened rain and issued a heat warning simultaneously — two conditions that don’t exactly inspire a cycling adventure. As I watched the morning slip away, frustration grew. “Ah, screw it,” I muttered, grabbing my phone and opening the Randonautica app. I pulled the radius circle to its maximum on the free account, 10km. That would be more than enough for today.
Within seconds, my coordinates were set. I was heading to Shengang, an agricultural coastal town in the north of Changhua County, Taiwan. I got out of bed, filled my bottle with water, and made sure I had everything I needed for a ride that would last a few hours. Sunscreen was essential, as I had burned myself the day before.
Cycling north from my home, I first headed to what we expats call “Death Junction,” an area where many roads converge into a tunnel. Once through, I decided to visit a famous tourist attraction: the Changhua Roundhouse.
The roundhouse is perhaps the last of its kind in Asia, originally used to turn steam locomotives. Though now a tourist attraction, it’s still in use by the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA). I usually avoid tourist spots, but this one was too intriguing to pass up. The orange engines housed in the building and the historic steam locomotive were fascinating.
The tourism department has focused heavily on the roundhouse, adding a park with stalls selling various items. There’s also an old air-raid shelter, likely from the Japanese era in WWII, open for exploration.
Surrounding the roundhouse are abandoned buildings, once homes for railway workers. Sadly, it seems the local government is tearing them down. While it’s sad to see history erased, I suppose there are better uses for the land.
Leaving the roundhouse, the sun was relentless, intensifying the sting of my old sunburn. Ignoring it, I headed north towards Hemei Township. Google Maps directed me around the town, a more direct route to Shengang, though with fewer sights apart from the main road. I checked the map and found an attraction called “Rainbow House.” Trying to reach it, I was blocked by a temple gathering and had to navigate back roads.
The Rainbow House, while an interesting DIY spot for creating umbrellas, wasn’t much to see. However, the street next to it was decorated with umbrellas hanging above, creating a charming design.
As I cycled towards Shengang, the road now facing northwest, I noticed a looming gray cloud over Dadu Mountain in Taichung County. In Changhua County, however, the sun was blistering.
I stopped at a 7-Eleven before reaching my location, enjoying an orange yogurt to cool down. Inside, a child played a Pokémon game while a man, presumably his father, shouted at him, nearly bringing the child to tears before leaving with a friendly “bye-bye.” Who was that man?
Shengang was much more peaceful compared to Changhua City and Hemei. I saw old structures and endless rice fields. Stopping at a small Buddhist shrine, I admired the quiet, watching birds flit among the rice.
Exploring near the coordinates, I spotted a house with graffiti and assumed it was abandoned. But seeing clothes drying and an electric scooter, I realized someone, likely an elderly person, lived there. I startled a cat, while another basked in the sun, seemingly meditating. I decided not to disturb it.
Cycling further, the winding country roads led me past various old and new buildings. A small breeze tickled my sensitive sunburn as I rode. One traditional house caught my eye; it seemed the road leading to it was no longer there.
After a few wrong turns, I finally reached the coordinates. There wasn’t much to see — another rice field and distant buildings. This adventure was more about the journey than the destination. Listening to the croaking insects and the warm breeze rustling the rice, I decided I wanted another coordinate. I opened the Randonautica app again and pressed the button. This time, it took me back to Hemei, near the Dadu River. “I’ll take it,” I thought.
The trip was quick, and I was pleased to head back towards home instead of making a big loop on this hot day. Navigating the backroads to avoid main roads, I soon found myself on the 61 with Freeway 3 overhead, at least providing some shade.
Carrying my bike up a slope, I was surprised to find a bike path on top. The open view before me was stunning — farm fields next to Dadu River and Dadu Mountain in the distance, the gray cloud now passed. The roar of the traffic above was hardly noticeable as I stood there, admiring the view. This was a much better finish than in Shengang.
