Since the weather for these 3 days was forecast to be great for cycling I was looking for somewhere different to ride ride and came across this list @ranlee
The Double North (雙北) option was too much, so I decided on the just riding to Yilan and taking the train back. For the record, cycling down from Minci into Yilan I started to “wish I never go up this morning” - though to be fair this was probably due to including a “sojourn” up LaLa Shan…
Let me start by saying I didn’t plan on riding up LaLa Shan….I met some fellow cyclists on the road and they told me that the road beyond LaLa Shan was only open at 2pm and 4pm due to landslide damage, so here I was at 12 noon at the base of LaLa Shan wondering what to do - with 2hrs to spare I had no option but to ride up LaLa Shan (seemed like a good idea🤔)…for most of the ride its steep and especially tough after cycling 75km to get there. It didn’t help that I had to be down by 2pm to pass the landslide, so kind of felt rushed. The 7/11 about 3/4 of the way up the climb is a lifesaver. After descending LaLa Shan the real grind started and the slog up to SiCun - about 600m elevation from the base of LaLa Shan - was hard, but made easier by chatting with the cyclists I met. From there it was a great ride through the mountains along really narrow and winding roads before heading down into the Datong. The ride down was freezing with lots of switchbacks though I did get the obligatory photo at the 77km marker on route 7. The final ride into Yilan was fast (with straight (ish) downhill roads - although dark by this time the roads were ride were ok and it generally felt safe to ride in the dark. Got to the station at 6:19, put the bike in the bag and was on the 6:29 train back to Taipei which was empty (thankfully quick it arrived at 7:40pm). Incredible ride I would do again without the LaLa Shan side trip.
Thanks to @ranlee for the route.
