How was your ride today?

Average summer meet up time is 6AM. So I am usually up between 5-530AM as meet ups tend not to be further than 40mins away.

Have you considered looking into UV protection arm warmers and lightweight caps to block out the sun?

I used to carry a spray on suntan, but I stopped as my arms and legs would get dirty from the spit up of grime that I did not want to rub that all over my skin.

I really do need to get something like that. What about covering the lower part of the legs?

A few of my cycling buddies do cover up year round, they’re just used to it and can bear the heat in the summer. They use these the Frontier arm/leg covers.

If you burn, arm/leg sleeves could help, but if you’re just concerned about getting dark, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Same with your bib short tan line, it’s a mark of a warrior.

I burn easily, like pasty ginger skin but I’m not ginger.

The 15 is no joke, I rode up 95% of the way but the two hills totally owned my soul and I had to walk.

My ride time according to my Bryton was 1hr 6mins. It does pause when I stop though and walk so I’ll have to check the race website for my official time.

You’re a beast for doing the 101 and 15 in one day.

Coming back down I was too close to the slippery bs on the road (should of always rode in the middle) and slipped going slowly, less than 10kph.

Bounced my head off the road and bruised my hip. Pinky finger knuckle hurts too but it’s all functional. My first fall :sweat_smile:

still a successful day in my books

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A post was split to a new topic: 2021 Taiwan Cycling Events Thread

I just realized this is right near Elephant mountain. How is this road in terms of traffic and gradient? I never knew Elephant mountain could be biked up. I’ve only hiked there. The street view looks inviting.

There’s a few small roads behind Elephant Mountain, but not sure about the vantage points. I have to guess that hiking spots are better for views.

The roads probably don’t go all the way to the top, but you can always hike-a-bike up to the viewing spots when the road ends.

I rode Balaka road yesterday and that is such a great climb!

I did it in 1hr 10mins and really enjoyed the views from the top of the mountain.

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Keep gettin’ at it Zaps.

that’s not a bad time (im assuming you counted from Tamsui somewhere)!

It is indeed a great climb.

And by top of the mountain, do you mean you took 1:10 all the way to the top of Datunshan?

if so, then that’s a really good time you did there!

It’s got to be Datun. There’s no view at the “top” of Balaka except for the parking lot view.

I didn’t go to Datun, there was a part of the climb with a view. I ate some Taiwanese hotdog at the place I stopped which tasted good.

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Started at the Tamsui carrefour and the peeps I rode with took a warmup detour to the start of the 101. Next time I will start my bike gps when I get to balaka road.

Is paying for Strava with it? Does it auto time certain routes you travel on?

This is the view from Datun:

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A lot of bike computers have this functionality built-in - my Garmin shows favorited segments as soon as you approach one and you can compare against your PB as you go up.

Nice Balaka photo !

Oh yeah that is quite a lot better.
How hard is it to get to the top on a bike? Do you know the gradient %?

Very hard. It’s one switchback after another. Balaka is a walk in the park by comparison. It’s not very long though (less than 2.5k), but you climb over 200 meters in that distance. The grade is at least 10%, maybe 15%. Like I said earlier in this thread, you will suffer (at least the first couple times), but when you reach the summit, it’s all worth it.

I plan to park my car and walk it first to see the view and I’ll decide if I’ll bike up it lol.
Going back down must be really steep then too…