This route we did on Saturday was the outcome of cycling around Taipei for almost 3 years and running out of ideas. I’m ok with sticking to Leng Shui Keng, Feng Gui Zui and Zhong She Rd near NPM on weekdays. Those roads are all well lit and full of cyclists in the evenings, but I really try to stay away from them on the weekends.
The original idea was to ride “The Hand” (Greater Taipei Cycling Routes: A List - #12 by ranlee) , but a few people were concerned about the heat and another had to be home before 2PM. So, we came up with the idea for this route. After a few hours of calculations, it really only cut down 40-50mins of movement time and about 500m of elevation.
I seriously lost sleep the night before because I was so freaked out I would die from heat exhaustion since this route doesn’t get much shade until the final climb back to YMS. Nonetheless, we got extremely lucky. The temps were up, but the sun crept out for a few minutes here and there.
We started out on schedule for the first and second peak, but apparently some of the guys ate something bad at the first rest stop in Jinshan and everyone needed to poop at the second rest stop. Having only one bathroom at the FamilyMart, we got delayed, but I was glad I didn’t need to go.
These are the rides in which I really like going out on because everyone tends to stay together. This is where the banter and gossip levels are at its highest and you could burn more calories laughing than pedaling at some points in the ride.
At one point, we actually had to dismount and carry our bikes across this bridge. It was a good chance to snap some pics since we weren’t riding to too many vantage points along the route.
I never really liked those people that hang stuffed animals on their saddles, but these put another meaning to it.
Left “charm” was previously owned by the right one.
When I arrived at the Er Zi Ping parking lot after my final ascent, my total elevation gain was sitting at around 2850m. I mapped the route for everyone to receive a bit over 3,000m elevation gain and I knew I had a bridge to go over, so I wasn’t concerned I couldn’t hit 3k. A horrible and exhausting descent down Yang De Blvd and a few kms on the riverside and…
Despite how exhausted I was, I wasn’t going to skip out on reaching 3k for elevation gain so I did a bit of extra…going up the ramp of a bridge.