1st MTB Ride @ Maokong

Finally got out to do my first mountain bike ride here in Taiwan. Met up with a local group in front of the NCCU (國立政治大學) to do the Maokong (貓空) XC Loop. A pretty large group showed up about 20 guys on all sorts of bike but mostly full suspension all mountain bikes. I was the only guy on a singlespeed, which apparently is not so popular here, but I did manage to hang on and did quite ok.

Trails on this route are quite different from where I come from (Toronto, Canada), the ride pretty much consisted climbing straight up and then coming down. The loop is linked through some stairs and going through some shops. The beginning was a climb of the road and then a flat rocky piece of single track and then a massive climb up a super rocky double track, which I walked mostly along with others. I don’t think its doable even on a granny gear, too much rocks, slick and just too long. Then it was just descending on the same piece of rocky double track which can be scary at times. By the way, there were quite a few hikers also on the trails but they were super cool and supportive cheering us on, nice to see mutual respect from different user groups (this I am not use to seeing).

Overall a pretty good workout and a fun ride, considering its pretty close to the city.

Didn’t get a chance to take more pictures but here is what the trails looks like.

The route is here if anyone wants to take a closer look or even download the GPX file to your GPS.
15km Loop 1673 ft. of climbing

mapmyride.com/routes/view/55343254

When my road bike arrives, will probably hit the same location doing the road.

I would be up for riding pretty much anytime right now as I am still jobless. PM or post here.

Is that Alan’s group? Alan is the forty-something owner of Alan’s Bike, aka the off-road guru of Taipei.

You rode a fixie up? :astonished: :notworthy:

That’s a sweet descend especially when the condition is dry. What I used to do is go up the ridge from the other side. You take Rt. 9 heading toward Shiding. At around kilometer mark 21 you’ll come to the “road” on your lefthand side that’ll take you up to the ridge. It’s overgrown in some parts and steep, but at least it’s rideable. When you get to the bottom of the double track, you can go for the single track and ride in the reverse direction. :sunglasses:

Yep, Alan was there. First guy up the hill and I just attached myself to his rear wheel for the most part.

I rode this up a 26in singlespeed 32/18 with a freewheel not a fixie. Fixie in an off road trail setting is knee suicide for me, LOL.

[quote]
What I used to do is go up the ridge from the other side. You take Rt. 9 heading toward Shiding. At around kilometer mark 21 you’ll come to the “road” on your lefthand side that’ll take you up to the ridge. It’s overgrown in some parts and steep, but at least it’s rideable. When you get to the bottom of the double track, you can go for the single track and ride in the reverse direction.[/quote]

No idea what you are talking about, when do you ride? Maybe you can show me where the good stuff is, cause i need more flow, more twisty, more gnarly singletrack around here…

Notice I used past tense. :wink: Haven’t gone off-road since I became a dad. These days I only ride the riverside bike paths with my boy in a baby seat. But for the good stuff, Alan is the man to talk to.

Are they I9 wheels? Nice!

Nice bike Winston. Was it snowing at the top? :smiley:

Glad to see you are getting some riding in!

Yep I9 wheels, best wheels in my opinion especially for a singlespeed, actually for any MTB application…

Snow LOL…no I don’t wish that on any cyclist :smiley: