How was your ride today?

Recreation Cycling
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[quote=“Ibis2k12”][quote=“jesus80”]
Last Sunday, Xinzhuang > JiaoXi by number 9:
[/quote]

How’s the #9 for riding? When I’m with my wife we never go past Wufenqi because she cannot take going uphill. I’ve never been on that road by myself because when I want some hills I usually head in direction of Taiping mountain, but I’d be curious to try the #9, maybe stopping in Pinlin then come back home.[/quote]
It’s a great road in the sense that it’s got lots of twisties and it’s in the mountain, so you have nice views and a more biker-friendly temperature. However, some people race it with motorcycles and scooters, and there’s also a lot of assholes who got their driving license yesterday and don’t really get what a double yellow line means. It’s easier to climb from Taipei than from your side, but if you are a keen climber, it should be very doable from Yilan.

As for the road and asphalt, there are segments under construction every now and then, but it’s getting better.

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:s I’ll give it a try next time I have a few hours to spare. I’m not a really a climber, but every now and then I like to go uphill rather than just flatflatflat. Did you ride it with the road bike or the Mtb?
If I’ll find it too tough, ride back downhill and have an ice cream in Jiaoxi. I like my plan xD
This morning I went to the beach in Toucheng. It’s 20kms from home, so when traffic and traffic lights are reasonable I can get there in less than 1 hour, change clothes, jump in the water for a while, get dry, change clothes again and head back home. The whole thing usually takes me less than 3 hours, depending on how long I stay in the water, but in this period riding after 10:30/11am is really painful. On the other hand, I don’t want to wake up too early just to head to the beach…life is tough.

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Um, yes. A lot easier from Taipei than Yilan indeed! All the climbing in Yilan is within around 8 km, from Taipei its over 20 or so. Pinglin is about the same both ways.

try climbing it after doing the North Cross from Taoyuan. OMFG.

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You make me want to give up before even trying xD
Glad I have a triple on my Defy!

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http://imgur.com/a/9Mvsy

I did back to back rides this weekend. Something I never thought I would be able to do a year ago.

The above pick is from my Saturday ride in which I actually overslept and tried to catch up with the group. I was half way up the mountain when I saw a friend come down the mountain. We were both in awe because he didn’t see the group going up and I didn’t either.

Turns out the group knew we were late, so they took a longer route up the mountain to to meet us at the top. That’s the last time I oversleep.

Hoping for weather to continue to be good in the next few weeks.

166

So I was back in Taiwan last week specifically just to go bike riding. I got some fantastic weather during the week. Did up Taroko to Hehuenshan and return.

You lot living in Taipei are lucky – this is my favourite ride on the planet and you lot can easily arrange it over the weekend. You just need your bike set up and then wait for forecast of perfect weather… you get weekends like this often enough so you can just go sometime Mar-Jun or Sep-Nov. Just wait for a weekend forecast for sunny, dry weather of about 25-30C at sea level, book travel and accommodation and go.

For reference this is what I took, all of which was used:

  • A bike with low enough gearing (50/34 + 11-32).
  • 2 sets of shorts, 2 short-sleeve jerseys, 2 sets of socks, 1 set of cycling gloves
  • 1 long sleeve jersey, 1 long sleeve leggings/track suit bottoms
  • 1 very light pair of hiking trousers
  • MTB shoes and cleats (for walking around as well as cycling)
  • 1 waterproof (used on high descents)
  • 1 bike carrier bag for the train (cheapest and lightest I could find)
  • Spare tube, patches, pump, spare brake pads, hex keys, multi-tool, 2 water bottles
  • Phone and charger, toiletries, sun screen
  • 1 handlebar bag, 1 rack + 1 pannier (if you don’t have rack fittings then I would recommend using a cheap bikepacking saddlebag instead – bought one for NT1,000 from a Giant store in Taipei)

Fitness:

  • As a gauge to how fit you need to be, it takes me about 30-35 mins to go up FGZ (from Wanli Bridge to top), or about 14 minutes to do the Graveyard climb up FDK
  • Took me 7 hours from Xincheng to GuanYuin, and 6.5 hours the next day from GuanYuin up to top and back down to Xincheng

Logistics:

  • Get off at Xincheng, one stop before Hualien. Loads of express trains available with bike-in-a-bag between Songshan and Xincheng, was NT489 each way. Took one about 7pm on Monday night, stayed over the hostel in Xincheng (just outside Taroko park gate). On the way back I just turned up at Xincheng station for the at 3pm return on Wednesday
  • I recommend staying overnight at the hostel in Xincheng (http://liwu.hoseo.tw/) and then setting off first light (6am) so you get through to Tianxiang for breakfast, thereby missing the tour buses along Taroko.
  • Book a stay at GuanYun Youth Hostel. Only dorm rooms available but they’re comfy (500/night). I did Xincheng to GuanYun on day 1 and then GuanYun to top and then back to Xincheng on day two. If you’re strong you can do Xincheng to top and back to GuanYun on day 1.
  • The main food stops are the 7-11 in Xincheng (carbo load on microwave food), the 7-11 and/or food stalls in Tianxiang. Book dinner ahead at the GuanYun. The hostel will also sell packet noodles if you need extra food.
  • There isn’t much for food in the 50km climb between Tianxiang and GuanYun – I only saw three cafe’s/noodle stalls and all were closed when I went passed. I sustained myself with about 6 packets of gummy bears on the way up.

The only thing I might have done differently is taken some lights for the tunnels and put in some fresh brake pads before setting off.

Honestly - this is some of the best bike riding possible in the world.

1 Like
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Nice write up. Nice ride.

I’ve never gone up that way, always down. (after the iron-butt vent from Puli). How were the road surface conditions?

Years ago I found lots of cracks in the corners, just wide enough to swallow your wheel mid-descent. watch out when descending!

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Great write up @greenmark it seems you get really lucky with conditions! I am going to quote this into the Taroko/Wuling thread since it’s so helpful!

Very glad you had zero issues with bike in bag on the train.

Took me a few seconds to realize that you were referring to the FGZ Strava segment, not the road from Wanli to FGZ.

Side note: This segment name on Strava is the most accurate in terms of start and end point, but who came up with the segment name? Yes, you’re going towards Wanli, but you’re still in Shilin and the bridge is called Fung Lin Bridge. Lastly, what does “TAS” have anything to do with it? /rant

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I didn’t notice any big gaps in the road surface. Mind you I did go through the tunnels without any lights.

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I once again participated in the year end challenge race named, Yangjing Golden 3 Peaks. A grueling 89KM distance with 2200m total elevation gain (pay no attention to the Strava stats below). We went from high mountain down to the coast and back up the mountain.

The race starts in Tianmu and takes you all the way up Yang De Blvd and up to the Er Zi Ping Parking lot at the foot of Datun. You roll down into Sanzhi and ride through the Sakura routes only to have to climb back up to Qing Shan waterfall. You soar down to Shi Men and wrap around the coast towards the last climb up Yangjing Rd.

Compared to last year’s non-stop torrential rain, we had awesome weather. High 24C and around 18-10C in the mountain and mostly cloudy. The roads were wet from the previous evening’s precipitation which resulted in lots of participants slipping and sliding. Luckily, I finished unscathed and also didn’t hear of any major injuries.

I’m very happy with my results and glad I could ride with my friends.

Until next year!

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So I’ve been sick for almost 3 weeks. And I also needed a “long” ride for thinking about my things… because today it could rain, I decided to ride… my bicycle, finally. When a man has to ride, he has to ride! for one or another reason I haven’t done shit lately and I feel bad about it.

I woke up very early (9?), made sure that my bike was in optimum riding conditions (I inflated the tyres, 90/100), and prepared the best energy drink ever, which recipe I can’t disclose because i would need to kill you all. OK, I will kill you all later:

  1. mineral water
  2. ginger concentrate
  3. honey
  4. brown sugar
  5. salt
  6. topped off with a bottle of beer that had been over my desk the whole weekend (opened)

I was ready for it! rode through Taipei to 2 ping (or whatever), and went up YMS. Damn it, every time it’s the same: when I climb I think that SUPPOSEDLY I ride because I enjoy it, but the thing is that I do not enjoy it at all… it’s all pain and suffering!!!

Not many riders on the road. Some people fleeing home, terrified by the clouds. Taipei sometimes feels like if she were trying to keep you home “please don’t leave me!! OK, I will make rain and you will stay at home!!!”. Indeed, it started to rain during the climb, but when I made it to Jinshan there was no rain at all…

A lot of fog around the highest part of the road, to the point that I hoped that all the crazy motherfuckers who plague the road by night would be at home with a terrible hangover, and not racing the road.

Downhill. Finally. But… I couldn’t go too fast… everything is wet!!!

Jinshan. Crappy burger and hot dog at 7/11. Refill half of my bottle with another isotonic/sports drink. The beer in my mix made me burp weirdly.

Ride along the coast… not all that bad. My cold/flu/whatever had actually improved a lot exposing myself to the clean air of the mountains and sea. Go figure!

Somewhere in the north, several “rescue” teams where taking out of the water some big boat (the one that sank during the summer?). Stop, pictures, go.

Sanzhi… instead of keeping on number 2, I decide to take 101. Actually that was the original plan, but my legs are a bit sore already, and it’s only half the way home!!

101 is a nice road. i enjoy it a lot on the motorcycle. On the bicycle, the 300 meters climb feels like I chose the wrong sport. However, I said that I would do this, and my balls brought me here. Cia Io!

101 downhill: this is why I ride bicycle.

Dansuei: I make the mistake of avoiding the up and down of the road and go by the coast… through the 100,000,000 Chinese meandring in a confusing way. I hate this country already. I escape from the crowds, hating the people, and the people hatnig me (probably).

Ride, ride, ride… there’s a bike lane that goes from Bali to Sanchung/Hsinchuang, passing by many parks, that always has this HORRIBLE head wind. The wheel feels like if it were 2 tons heavy, and covered in mud. Finally I reach the final road going home, and pick up some speed. The smoke brings my lungs annoyance back and I feel destroyed when I park the bike at home. My whole body is sore… I shouldn’t make over 100 kms rides without training at all during weeks…

But it somehow feels good…

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Did you fly? Or some kind of witchcraft?

I really want to learn the skill of how you went up Yang Ming Shan in Taipei and descended into Jiao Xi in Yilan.

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Well done with the ride. I saw the Strava and thought you were crazy for attempting that ride from no training.

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xD

Fixed.

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This past Sunday is one of the reasons why Taiwan is such an amazing place to ride a bike. We only get 2-3 days out of the year with this kind of weather and we made it count!

The theme of the ride was “slow and smooth” and our destination of the “famous” Fulong Bian Dang/Lunch Box (福隆便當) for lunch. Somehow, our slow and smooth had us arrive in Fulong almost a full 2 hours ahead of schedule and 40 mins before the store opened. So, we decided to ride the Old Caoling Tunnel to Yilan.

Turned out to be an awesome idea because the clear skies, sun and sound of the ocean really made the extra couple KMs worth it.

Our return road home was along the east coast and I forgot how awesome it was to ride along the coastal highway. I have a video of it, but still editing atm.

Right as we got back onto the riverside in Taipei, the sun was setting and it was photo session time once again…

This is one ride that will be hard to forget.

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Probably not the most interesting ride I’ve done, but somebody asked me about it in another thread, so I’ll dedicate some lines to it.

do you like riding long distances? do you like the coast? do you dream of straight roads, no bends, and not much climbing? then the east coast is your place to ride.

we started riding reasonably early (11:30 AM) and had a few stops here and there… and we weren’t super fast despite the tail wind that made us sail pleasantly through flat lands and hills. I knew it was going to take us the whole day to make it to Taitung, so no need to rush, only occasional spins, good for your legs :smiley:

The ride is easy in different ways: you won’t get lost, there are no technical or challenging segments, there’s less traffic than more in the north, it’s overall pretty flat, landscapes are appealing (may be not by night though), and you get a nice tail wind. What else can you ask for?

Days like that you love this island.

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Yo ranlee, what is that program / website you used to create that bike route?

Geoff

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Strava

The draw your own route is only available on the PC version, not it’s mobile version!

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@Rlin446 came out and enjoyed one of the toughest routes Taipei has to offer this weekend and finished with a smile on his face. Me on the other hand…

Here’s a video I took of my descent of Yang Jing Road from Xiao You Keng to Jin Shan. Beautiful weather, but got blocked by a car farther down the road :angry:

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A great ride with Ran Lee and his friends last week! It’s amazing how you can be in Ximen in Taipei and 20 minutes later be in the midst of some seriously challenging climbs that make the Lake District in the UK seem like nothing! Thanks a lot for having me.

I got a really good road bike from Bufalo bikes in Minsheng west Road. It is next to the Giant store and only a short walk from Shuanglian station on the red line. It was a Louis Garneau, carbon frame weighing about 8 kg and a compact groupset 11-28 on the back. It cost 1200 TWD and the owner Enzo was relaxed regarding return time. He even lent me some shimano SPD pedals. Giant had no pedals saying that we normally bring our own so didn’t go with them (I brought my own shoes and helmet).

It was an incredibly fun and challenging day with a real friendly much of guys. Hope to be back again soon. Thank you for the warm and friendly atmosphere!

Best wishes
Richard

1 Like
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I finally had a chance to go south this past weekend and it’s always a great pleasure to ride new roads and not knowing what to expect next.

We cycled up one of the New Taipei favorite spots, Bear Mountain. The road leading up from it via Sanxia was an eye opener. How does such a touristy spot have such horrible road conditions?!

I had an issue with my bike a few days ago and it’s in the shop for repair. Luckily, a friend was nice enough to lend me his extra. I brought my extra wheel set to put on the frame, but to my surprise, he had mid section aero wheels for me to “try”. Not sure if I should’ve been happy or sad to climb with aero wheels.

I hope to make it back south this upcoming weekend. One can only ride Yang Ming Shan so many times!