Hike looks great. I’ll have to get out there one day.
Rode through Wulai today and on to Fushan Village. Similar weather to Tuesday until after lunch when I got caught in a heavy downpour coming back. This is the elevation profile starting from the west side of the Bitan bridge. The ‘dip’ at about 20km is obviously a mistake. Fairly easy riding but some great scenery.
Finally made my first (metric) century! Huzzah!
I did Luoma Road and most of the county road to Neiwan. But as it was getting close to lunch time and I pushed myself fairly hard on Luoma Road (I didnt even take a break between Fuxing OK-Mart and the county line) I just didn’t have enough gas to get up that steep and rough road over the ridge into Neiwan. So I turned around and took another county road back to Guanxi where I made the obligatory stop at the 7-11 there (if you have a road bike or big motorcycle you must stop there and look cool, preferably drinking a coffee and smoking a cigarette) for lunch. Then I climbed against a gale-force headwind up the big slow hill to Longtan. I never realized how thirsty one can get due to wind blowing straight into the mouth.
From Shimen Dam I took the bike paths all the way back to Yingge. You cant even begin to imagine how happy I was not to have to take the boring ass Highway 3 back through Longtan and Daxi. I love that bike path so much that I want to marry it and make little bike path babies. I’m going to use it every time I come back from Hsinchu county.
Now I really want to go back and conquer that road from Yushan Village to Neiwan. But next time I’m going to take the bike paths and the Candyass Highway (3) down to Guanxi instead of doing the 7-B, 7 and Luoma Road first.
Great ride, Paddy B. 
When you ride the road from Yushan village to Neiwan, watch out for leaf litter, mud from slides and debris especially at the sides. It’s a great road, but you need to go slow, so plan for a longer day. I much prefered it before it was paved. It was fun on a mountain bike.
There also may be a couple of slides on it now. I rode the lower road (#30) this morning and there were three slide areas that are under repair. One was backfilled with construction trash with shards of broken ceramic tiles just waiting to slash my tires–I obviously walked through.
I left the poseurs at the 7-11 at about nine a.m., so we missed each other by a few hours.
[quote=“Wookiee”]Great ride, Paddy B.
When you ride the road from Yushan village to Neiwan, watch out for leaf litter, mud from slides and debris especially at the sides. It’s a great road, but you need to go slow, so plan for a longer day. I much prefered it before it was paved. It was fun on a mountain bike.
There also may be a couple of slides on it now. I rode the lower road (#30) this morning and there were three slide areas that are under repair. One was backfilled with construction trash with shards of broken ceramic tiles just waiting to slash my tires–I obviously walked through.
I left the poseurs at the 7-11 at about nine a.m., so we missed each other by a few hours.[/quote]
Haha, yeah I rode over those shards twice. But I have touring tires so I think I’m OK (famous last words, I’ll check my tires when I wake up tomorrow). I rode up maybe a kilometer past where the orange groves end and the road gets really steep and rough. Anyway, that’s always been one of my favorite motorcycle roads, but it’s always been paved (in the loosest sense of the word) in the four years I’ve known about it. It is really rough now though. I did the whole road on my motorcycle about a month ago and noticed that its been logged quite a bit - there used to be some huge camphor trees up there that made it a very magical place but they all seem to be gone now 
And the small and medium size camphor trees that are left seem to be hanging on by a thread. Bad slides all over now. I was nervous riding through there on my hog of a motorcycle. But that’s what logging, even selective logging, seems to do. What a shame. Still a beautiful, secluded road though. Can’t wait to go back.
this is the third time in a row that I have had a flat after one or two rides on a brand new frikken tire…
$80 per tire gets expensive after a while.
I’m almost tempted to go back to clinchers, except they suck and I would have to shell out another thousand for new wheels.
bugger.
[quote=“antarcticbeech”]Hike looks great. I’ll have to get out there one day.
Rode through Wulai today and on to Fushan Village. Similar weather to Tuesday until after lunch when I got caught in a heavy downpour coming back. This is the elevation profile starting from the west side of the Bitan bridge. The ‘dip’ at about 20km is obviously a mistake. Fairly easy riding but some great scenery.[/quote]
I love that road! I don’t recall it being that easy, though–the round trip is 80 km for me, and it wears me out. I wanted to do it this month because I had a great ride up there last September, but I guess I’ll be doing it in October this year. Last time I was there, the sun was shining and butterflies were flying all over the place. Can’t wait to go back.
[quote=“PaddyB”]Finally made my first (metric) century! Huzzah!
I did Luoma Road and most of the county road to Neiwan. But as it was getting close to lunch time and I pushed myself fairly hard on Luoma Road (I didnt even take a break between Fuxing OK-Mart and the county line) I just didn’t have enough gas to get up that steep and rough road over the ridge into Neiwan. So I turned around and took another county road back to Guanxi where I made the obligatory stop at the 7-11 there (if you have a road bike or big motorcycle you must stop there and look cool, preferably drinking a coffee and smoking a cigarette) for lunch. Then I climbed against a gale-force headwind up the big slow hill to Longtan. I never realized how thirsty one can get due to wind blowing straight into the mouth.
From Shimen Dam I took the bike paths all the way back to Yingge. You cant even begin to imagine how happy I was not to have to take the boring ass Highway 3 back through Longtan and Daxi. I love that bike path so much that I want to marry it and make little bike path babies. I’m going to use it every time I come back from Hsinchu county.
Now I really want to go back and conquer that road from Yushan Village to Neiwan. But next time I’m going to take the bike paths and the Candyass Highway (3) down to Guanxi instead of doing the 7-B, 7 and Luoma Road first.[/quote]
Congratulations on what sounds like a kickass ride! Not an easy 100 km by any means.
[quote=“urodacus”]this is the third time in a row that I have had a flat after one or two rides on a brand new frikken tire…
$80 per tire gets expensive after a while.[/quote]
I hear you, man. I had to replace my front and rear tubes after running over some broken glass on Friday. When I had the rear tube replaced today, I replaced the tire as well after the guy at the shop pointed out all the little cuts it had accumulated. Total cost of the weekend’s tire repairs: NT$1315. Damn.
Rode up to Huafan University this afternoon. About two-thirds of the way up, I stopped to rest and drink some water, and I suddenly felt all woozy and lightheaded. It was a bit like the way I felt in college once when I went to a weight training class the day after donating blood: like I didn’t have enough oxygen getting to my head. Very unsettling. I have no idea what was wrong–I mean, sure, I probably should have eaten a bigger lunch and drunk more water earlier in the ride, but it wasn’t hot, I was only like 300 meters above sea level, and I’ve done lots of rides on an empty stomach without getting lightheaded. Whatever it was, I felt better after a ten-minute rest, and I made it the rest of the way up without stopping again.
I hope nothing like that happens to me again anytime soon!
I was down on the East Coast this weekend riding from Hualien to Taidong with a couple of crossovers.
I crossed from Mizhan on the 193 to Shuilian on the 11 for the first time. Great little road. It’s paved all the way but probably too rough for road bikes. There are some other ideas on the route for those who want to get off the beaten track a bit.
I also found better access to Jinzun beach. You can ride down to the southern end about 1km south by taking the road from the Qili Bridge.
I’m so envious of you guys. My neck is in awful shape these days and even short rides on the riverpaths are out.
I’m finally back on the bike after months out with knee issues. Yesterday I ambushed a 170 k sportif that was heading thru Pingxi and jumped on the back of one of the front groups. Was fun to ride with a big group after so long out even if I blew up badly on the hills.
Not really “today” anymore now that it’s after midnight, but PaddyB and I did a fantastic 90-km ride today on the rural roads of Miaoli County, with a little bit of Hsinchu toward the end. Some of our favorite roads were the 苗5 and 苗17 by Yongheshan Reservoir, the road by Mingde Reservoir (where we had a delicious Hakka lunch), and the 竹41 from Nanzhuang up into Emei. That last one started off with a nasty spirit-crushing climb but ended with a glorious descent into Emei through forests and secluded valleys. Oh yeah–I almost forgot the best road of all, a little bike path we happened upon while heading north on the 3. It took us through a little village called Tunying (屯營) and some lovely rural scenery before depositing us on the 苗20 just before it merges with the 124 on the way to Nanzhuang.
I think Hsinchu and Miaoli are very underrated as cycling destinations. There are so many country roads to explore! We wore ourselves out today climbing up and down endless hills, and we barely scratched the surface of what that area has to offer.
Pics, man! And good call not turning back on the 竹41. My sunglasses were giving me Doom-O-Vision in the gathering dusk.
I rode to work (25 km) in a 50km/h headwind, and rode home later that evening much much faster.
Scary as hell some times with the gusts swirling around and pushing me sideways two feet at a time.
and my legs are a wee bit tired now. and it rained.
but it’s all good.
Pics, man! And good call not turning back on the 竹41. My sunglasses were giving me Doom-O-Vision in the gathering dusk.[/quote]
That’s an awesome road. I remember driving it once and seeing a local guy hitching with a load of veggies. I pulled over and offered him a ride. He paused for a moment then got in and proceeded to speak Taiwanese the whole time. Eventually I gave in an started the ung, ung, huh, huh, si, si, that can pass for a conversation in most places around this island.
Pics, man! And good call not turning back on the 竹41. My sunglasses were giving me Doom-O-Vision in the gathering dusk.[/quote]
Nothing too exciting, but here’s what I got.
Yongheshan Reservoir
Hakka food for lunch at Mingde Reservoir
The tiny path to Nanzhuang
It’s too bad we didn’t take more pictures, but I feel like we needed the time to finish the ride. I’d like to go back there on another nice day, ideally in the early morning or late evening, and just shoot photos.
Here are a couple of classic rides in Miaoli and Hsinchu.
Miaoli: goo.gl/maps/zxS1Q
Hsinchu: goo.gl/maps/Y1tvW
There are some soul-stirring climbs on both of these and many variants.
[quote=“Feiren”]Here are a couple of classic rides in Miaoli and Hsinchu.
Miaoli: goo.gl/maps/zxS1Q
Hsinchu: goo.gl/maps/Y1tvW
There are some soul-stirring climbs on both of these and many variants.[/quote]
Those rides look great. I haven’t explored the Dongshih/Taian area much but it’s pretty high on my list.
As for the Hsinchu route, I’ve planned to do the very route you just posted (ship my bike to Zhudong, ride home to Sanxia via Jianshi, Sanguang and Baling). I’ve been on all those roads at various times on my motorcycle but never cycled them (other than the North Cross). Did you do it in one day?
No two days. Most people are exhausted by the time they get to Yulao. I’ve made it to Baling a few time on the north cross, but anything beyond that would be very early indeed.
Can you ship a bike to Zhudong? That’s a spur Don’t think the baggage train goes there
dp