So I successfully finished the climb and here’s my insights for the Neverstop Wuling 09/12/2015, for those who are looking to participate or to just do this route it in the future.
I’ll try to make a quick blog post since sometimes my posts can be everywhere.
Preparation
As scomargo’s thread said, go up only if you know the weather is stable, this is not a route you want to do if it’s too cold or raining. The route is do-able, but should not be attempted if weather conditions are unpredictable. In August, the Wuling cup was done under 10C with wind and clouds. A lot of people abandoned.
Luckily, the weather man was wrong with his prediction of possible thunder showers and we had clear sunny skies with around 20-25C (depending on your elevation).
Make sure you have a few weeks of training behind you. I wouldn’t advise going up if you haven’t had some vertical training in the prior weeks.
Get an early start
Once you’ve checked every single one of your weather apps and have decided on going up. Like any other training day, I recommend getting an early start. Do keep in mind the entire road up there are multiple tourist attractions, so expect buses and cars to fill up the road after a certain time.
The event bell started at 5AM and I crossed the start line at roughly 5:30AM due to the sheer amount of participants. Two water stops and a few rests before the peak, I arrived at around 11AM.
Route feedback
We started in down town Puli (at the geographical center of Taiwan) and took the Number 14 to the peak. The first 15km are somewhat flat with a 2-3% gradient incline, this was a good time to spin the legs and get a good warm up in if you hadn’t yet. I was averaging around 25kph here. The climb really starts after the 15k mark (I think the 41km marker on the No.14). I remember vaguely it was right after one or two small tunnels. It won’t hit you like a wall, but you’ll know that it’s all uphill from there on out.
There are a few downhills throughout the route, however, no more than half a km long. The gradients get high right a few hair pins after passing through Cui Feng(翠峰), good news is, you can see the peak. Bad news is you are probably 40-60mins from there. So take your time and be safe. This is where breathing will be tough due to high altitude. This area is where there’s a lot of traffic. On the day of the event, if you’re anything after 5.5 hours, you were most likely be stuck in a sea of cyclists that are walking, as well as cars coming up and down the mountain. Be prepared to un-clip and aware of your surroundings. On a regular day with good weather, I hear there’s still can be some traffic going up and down, but not as much as when there’s an event.
The route is very do able if you just take it at your own pace. I only went into the red when I hit an uphill after a down hill section and just wanted to power up the hill to get some momentum to climb. Other than that, if you have a few weeks worth of training behind you, it’s not a very tough route.
Some quick tips
If doing the west entrance to Wuling is a two day challenge for you, I saw plenty of places to stay along the road. So no worries.
Always stop for food or to refill water when you see a 7-11 (should be 2 along the road at around 20-30km and the last convenient store at about 10-15km from the end is the highest 7-11 location in Taiwan). Once you get past Cui Feng and into the belly of the beast, there’s no more stores. You’ll need food and water to recover at the peak if you are planning to descend.
Like I said above, stay out of the red and conserve your energy, you will need it for the final kms.
The descent is approximately 2 hours into Puli either by car or by bike. I highly suggest getting a ride down. You will be pretty tired.