Looks like someone has the cycling bug.
However long the instructions on it tell you to leave it on for.
Never. The chances I power wash away the grease on my bearings is a bit high.
That is my thinking too. The bearings will take a beating, but so many people say they do it OR they just don’t wash their bike.
I really do have the cycling bug. I am really worried about this Mountain Challenge I signed up for on Saturday because there is 50%-60% rain and it is a damn climbing challenge… If I do it without finishing and don’t get the medal I will be pissed lol.
I can send you a couple of my old Finishers medallions if you feel left out.
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This past Saturday, I left home at 5AM to do a quick ride up to Wu Fen Shan weather station, which turned out to be a triple digit finish with twice the elevation than originally planned. My excuse, it rained yesterday, so I had to make up for the lost mileage.
So what happened was, I had a training ride to Wu Fen Shan from XiZhi and I found out that @LeeRodgers was in the neighborhood and also going up to Wu Fen Shan from the Pingxi/Shifen side. So…I had to go say hi.
Both ascents to Wu Fen Shan ended up being in cloud cover, which I was ok with, I usually hated how I could see the finish and know how much more suffering there was.
Luckily, we bumped into no rain on this ride, just some wet roads and mist. Some may say it was a bit cold, but I thought it was perfect weather. Any warmer and a glimpse of the sun, I would have been dead on the side of the road by my 100km mark.
If you guys get a chance, definitely make a trip out to Wu Fen Shan!
When you ride with that many people, do you pick a nemesis to push yourself?
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I try my best to hold on to a few buddy’s wheels, but end up eventually being dropped by them. Not quite sure where I go wrong, but I blame my lack of serious training for that. 
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Yes, that will do it to you every time.
you need to ride that far every weekend, and push for faster times on each climb. Man, I’m glad i don’t need/want to do that anymore!
I don’t actually need to do this, but it’s just too damn fun not to.
I had a solid 2 hour ride last weekend. My first in absolute ages! I’ve been nurisng a broken wrist.
didn’t hurt too much during the ride (nothing major, just about 500 m climbing in 40 km) but the usual sore ass from lack of sitting on the saddle for months. And weirdly, a sore left foot, like the shoe was too tight and the bones got rubbed together.
So it is the 15. Is it much harder than 101?
I’d say so, yeah. But it’s gorgeous.
Damn… this mountain challenge is going to kick my ass…
If I’ve got the right segments, and that’s a big if, here are a couple of the relevant segments - not entirely sure these links will work:
Up the 101 to the columbarium / cemetery: 101 ascent to 北海福座 | Strava Ride Segment in New Taipei City, Taiwan
Up just a part of the 北15, so you’re not comparing like with like: 如來中指爬坡第二段(公車亭至真武殿口) | Strava Ride Segment in New Taipei City, Taiwan
The complete 101 has an average grade of 2.7%, elevation gain 245m. The tough part, near the top, has short stretches of grades in the 12% range.
That other segment: average grade 6.0%, elevation gain 268m.
Screenshots of the route the one time I’ve gone up the 北15 (I’ve gone down many times: up the 101, up the 北7, across Qingshan / 青山 road, down 北15). You see that first peak? That’s going up the 101. You see that second peak? That’s going from the coast up the 北15.
Okay that second peak is looking mighty huge o.O compared to the first peak.
The 12% gradient absolutely f…d me on my fastroad but now I will be on a TCR 
so I’m quite sure it’ll be better but still tough.
How shitty did it feel going up the 15 from the coast?
Look upthread to Aug. 25, 2020, with pretty much the same screenshots. In that post I call it the 北18, and I remain confused about just how to label these different roads - Google and Strava will sometimes have different names. It was tough - but easier than I expected, because I expected it to totally break me. And it only sort of broke me. I think I had to get off and walk 2-3 times (but there were pretty flowers, so really, I was stopping to take pictures! Really!), and by that time I wasn’t needing breaks on the 101.
Just enjoy it. It is a lovely road. Only frustrating aspect is you’ve got sporadic gorgeous views down over the ocean, but no real good photo opportunities that can capture it - or at least none I’ve found yet.
You just reminded me of the summer heat that is coming up quite soon…
Waking up will be a bit easier, but I’m not particularly fond of the temps hitting 30C at 7-8AM.
I am loving the 15C-25C temps.
What do you do in summer? Wakeup 4.30am and start riding at 5am?
Summer sucks. I sunburn at the drop of a hat too.