‘I cried tears of joy because I actually did it.’
So says Riley Yen, a novice cyclist who completed a 625-mile (1,006km) bike ride – the equivalent of almost 24 marathons – around Taiwan.
Despite never owning a bike or cycling longer than 30 minutes at a time before, it took him just 12 days in total, with one of those being a ‘rest’ day.
The 21-year-old, from California, U.S, charted his journey with posts on his Instagram account @rileyyen, taking his 47,600 followers along with him.
He told MailOnline Travel: ‘I just went in with the mindset that no matter what happens, I will figure it out.’
Riley Yen (above) completed a 625-mile (1,006km) bike journey around Taiwan – without any preparation
Riley cycled for 11 days and took just one day off to rest. He had never owned a bike or cycled for longer than 30 minutes at a time before starting his journey
Before embarking on his two-wheel adventure, Riley had just graduated from the University of Southern California, with a healthcare consulting job in New York lined up later in the year.
After graduating early, he decided to use the extra time – and money he had left – to travel around Asia.
‘I had completed everything I “should do”, from going to college to getting a job and getting healthy,’ he said. ‘I wanted to do something not because I should, but because I’m curious about it. Satisfying the child-like curiosity.’
Riley had reached Japan when the idea struck him to cycle around Taiwan.
He then travelled to the island and bought a bike for $130 (£103) and set off on the Taiwan Cycling Route No.1 in February.
The route starts and finishes in the capital city of Taipei and circles the island, with some parts passing along the coast.
Riley completed it in an impressive 12 days by spending up to 12 hours biking every day, taking just one day off on day nine of the journey, and staying in hotels along the way.
When asked if he ever veered off course, he said: ‘Yes. For the most part, I followed it but I did go off to Tainan, which is off route.’
Riley said he wanted to complete the journey to ‘satisfy a childlike curiosity’
Riley said: ‘I just went in with the mindset that no matter what happens, I will figure it out.’ Breaking past the physical pain was one of the toughest parts for the novice cyclist
The 21-year-old, from California , charted his journey with posts on his Instagram account @rileyyen, taking his 47,600 followers along with him. Before embarking on his two-wheel adventure, Riley had just graduated from the University of Southern California
Riley said breaking past the ‘physical pain’ was a tough part of the journey.
‘The most painful parts were my hands and my bottom because my bike did not have handle variations and was not fitted correctly,’ he added. ‘I also had a bag on my back rather than tied to the bike.
‘My hands were constantly numb, and I couldn’t use chopsticks for a week after.’
He also had a run-in with Mother Nature on day eight, which he described as the hardest day.
‘I encountered a storm with almost no energy and four more hours to go as I approached the night,’ he said.
And the hardest psychological part, he said, was posting ‘well-edited videos and interacting with my viewers – not just one day but every single day’.
Riley revealed that during the ride his hands were ‘constantly numb’ and that afterwards, he ‘couldn’t use chopsticks for a week’
Did he ever get close to giving up? ‘Every day,’ he said. Why didn’t he? He explained: ‘I said I would complete it, so I must do it.’
And he claimed he doesn’t have any regrets.
For the most part, Riley said, Taiwan is very cycle-friendly. But he explained he had to skip two small sections in the east of the island and take a train because it was either ‘illegal for bikes or too dangerous due to large trucks and falling rocks from the mountainside’.
Some of the best sights he saw were farmlands in eastern Taiwan, including Taichung and Hualien, and beaches in Kaohsiung and Checheng, in southern Taiwan.
LEFT: Riley’s bike is pictured next to Xiluo Bridge in Changhua County. RIGHT: The cyclist said some of the best sights he saw were farmlands on the east side of Taiwan
What’s next for Riley? He said: ‘I’m running 30-mile runs now and scaling my clothing brand, Kaede Gardens.’
While he said he would ‘love to’ continue cycling, Riley doesn’t have any more long journeys planned.
However, he said Japan ‘would be very nice’ to cycle around, as well as the Taiwanese mountains.
For more from Riley, visit him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/rileyyen/, YouTube at www.youtube.com/@rileyyen and TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@rileyyen.
