Have today and it’s open.
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That looks enticing! Will have to do a coffee run to Bali soon.
The sun was out in early afternoon today. I rode up to the graveyard and came down the same way, 40 minutes total, got drenched in the last 5 minutes. 
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Ahh…good times…
Hi all,
This morning the plum rain stopped and the sun came out, so i took the chance and rode up to bishan yan. round course: beitou → waishuang xi → bishan yan → neihu → beitou
the outdoor area of bishanyan temple is open, i was the only visitor there.
nice view as always.
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Dat view.
See any cyclists along the way?
No, didn’t see any cyclists.
Just a couple of hikers. Because the trails were closed off with yellow tape, they were all walking on the street…
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The elevation gain is really low for 131km
One of them, yeah. That’s my main 2-2.5 hour route these days, either direction paired with the 北7.
Wow, 37 achievements?! I’m happy if I get 10.
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I haven’t got any on my past couple of rides. 
Partly because I’m going on the same routes an awful lot.
Note however that you pretty much automatically get an achievement the 2nd or 3rd time you do a segment, right? Next time I do one of those loops all around Taipei - I’ve only done that once - I should rack up at least a couple dozen. Hey, there’s a challenge for next week!
Pleasant ride this morning. Up Denggong Road (鄧公路) out of Danshui. Usually after that I go straight down past the golf course into Beitou via, um, looks like it’s Xiaopingding Road (小坪頂路). But today I kept going up, on a road that Strava is calling Fuxing Road Sec. 2 / 復興二路, and eventually down into more central Beitou. I enjoyed that - I didn’t realize there was a road higher up like that, looking down over the city, staying roughly at 300-400m. (Although I did swear under my breath at the numerous viewpoints or covered benches or pleasant little pavilions - all yellow-taped off. “Oh noes the COVIDS will get us if we stand alone at a viewpoint!” Dumb dumb dumb.)
If I’m reading the Strava maps right, I got as far as I can that way: if I want to go up Yangmingshan from that direction, I’ve got to go almost back to sea level in Beitou. But maybe there’s a road I’m missing. It’s sort of my eternal quest when starting from Danshui: finding long routes that keep me above 200m elevation, especially in summer. But almost always I’ve got to descend back to sea level and then go up the next valley.
Masking report: saw one other cyclist in the mountains, wearing a black mask of uncertain quality. I kept my buff on in the mountains, switching to a typical surgical mask once I was in Beitou and on the riverside paths. I was pleasantly surprised the mask was fine on the riverside, even if I can’t stand it on the hills: that reflects my inability to push myself on the flats!
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hi all,
@lostinasia: i took a quite similar route yesterday. i knew from hiking datun mountain, that you could go up from fuxingliao to the higher road. but didn’t remember it that steep (although just a short stretch). i had to get off my bike right at the steepest part, because a green poisonous snake was looking at me right in the middle of the road!
the view from the viewing platform next to the 吳氏宗祠 template is nice as always. i just jumped over the yellow tape, because i need to take my picture…
regards, daniel.
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I did this clockwise - were you the same? Shortly after I headed on to new-for-me roads - a bit past the horse riding place, I think - I hit a steep part and had to get off the bike and walk. And then I had to keep walking because I was unable to get on the bike again due to the steepness, which I don’t think has happened to me before! Not a huge deal - maybe five minutes of walking. I viewed this as karmic payback because a few minutes earlier I’d felt smug about how little I’d needed to go into bottom gear climbing Denggong Road.
Since I’d never been there before, I rode up to the temple (ancestral hall?) itself. I assume that’s one of the big buildings I’ve been seeing for years from the MRT. And finally I’ve gotten there.
I’m not sure if your skies were prettier, or I need to do more touch-up with the photos.
Damn, you guys are changing my mental image of Taipei. All these pics have made me gun shy about posting pics of rice fields and binglang plantations. Keep 'em coming.
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also did it clockwise, because i don’t want to do uphills on busy roads with trucks/busses. although fuxing 3rd road is not as busy as the daoxiang road (the one with the golf clubs you mentioned before).
actually i already went there many times, i never went up the “ancestral hall / temple”. gonna check it out next time.
regards, daniel.
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That one’s pretty close to the road. I’ve been “tricked” by other temples before that had very long - and steep - access roads.
I suppose if I paid more attention to Strava’s heat maps I’d have figured out this route earlier. I think I preferred it to the golf course route, although novelty played a role in that. Plus I’m still unsure about the best way to get through Beitou and back to the river.
It looks nice enough, but if you’re in a virtual world, are there options to be chased by dinosaurs or try to run over random Pokemon? That’d make things immensely more appealing. “One does not simply bike into Mordor.” “Oh yeah? Watch this!”