Puli --> Wuling Climb Tips

Hey all, what are your tips for climbing Puli to Wuling in early September?

I have only heard horror stories of 21C at the bottom and 5-6C if it is cloudy and rainy at the peak (which it has been for the past 2 weeks). Is it any better if it’s sunny at the peak?

What’s your suggestion on how to pace up the legendary climb?

Make sure you are at the top well before noon.

Most of the high mountain passes cloud up and get cold by 10 or 11 in the morning. By afternoon it is usually raining on one side or the other above 2,000 meters. Sunny weather is more likely between 5am and 10am.

I’d recommend you spend the night at Qinging despite the expense and head out very early the next morning.

You can make the first day more interesting by doing this: goo.gl/A8dx2L.

It’s much nicer if it is sunny at the peak. The next few months are the best for weather.

Early September is almost over. Are you going this weekend? Is it going to be organized on your own, or part of an event? I went on my own in late August of last year, and my thread about it is here.

I’m not sure how helpful that thread will be. I had gorgeous weather the two times I went to Wuling last year. I made sure I only went when the weather was forecast to be nice, but I’m not sure if you have that option.

Edit: Now I see that there’s an event on 9/12.
solomo.xinmedia.com/bike/events/detail/2035
Just watch out for those people who swerve a lot when riding uphill. I know I’m guilty of that when I know that there’s nobody around, but some people do it even when there’s plenty of others around, such as in this event.

[quote=“scomargo”]Early September is almost over. Are you going this weekend? Is it going to be organized on your own, or part of an event? I went on my own in late August of last year, and my thread about it is here.

I’m not sure how helpful that thread will be. I had gorgeous weather the two times I went to Wuling last year. I made sure I only went when the weather was forecast to be nice, but I’m not sure if you have that option.

Edit: Now I see that there’s an event on 9/12.
solomo.xinmedia.com/bike/events/detail/2035
Just watch out for those people who swerve a lot when riding uphill. I know I’m guilty of that when I know that there’s nobody around, but some people do it even when there’s plenty of others around, such as in this event.[/quote]

You saw right through me, Scott. I made the opening post in a rush, so I forgot to mention I will be participating in the event this weekend. Already starting to get a little nervous since I know it’s one of the toughest routes around Taiwan.

I just read your thread and everything on there is super helpful…so, sorry for not searching the sub-thread first and posting!

My plan is to just keep on spinning, stay out of the red and stopping at every rest stop to fill up on water and eat. I will probably bring a wind breaker/rain jacket in my jersey pocket and start off with arm/leg warmers as well as a base layer. Do not feel like stopping on the side of the road and put on leg warmers to very sticky and sweaty legs.

I am hoping my overheating issue won’t come into play since the temperature should be cool after a certain elevation. I just checked the CWB and it does not have forecasts for this weekend yet, however, this entire week’s forecast is low precipitation and clear skies with a high of 20C and low of 15C. Hopefully it stays this way. Fingers crossed.

I’m guessing you’re referring to the 3-day forecast? On the 7-day forecast, currently temperatures of between 21 and 28 are predicted at Puli and temp between 8 and 14 degrees at the peak (with some rain… But this might be after 12:00)

I’m guessing you’re referring to the 3-day forecast? On the 7-day forecast, currently temperatures of between 21 and 28 are predicted at Puli and temp between 8 and 14 degrees at the peak (with some rain… But this might be after 12:00)[/quote]

Just noticed the 7 day forecast a few mins ago before reading your post. Looks like a possibility of rain in the morning on Saturday…

[quote] I will be participating in the event this weekend.
[/quote]
Ranlee, was the ride up as tough as you imagined? How did it go? It’s a ride I really want to do, but remember how my 125cc motorcycle stuttered up some of those climbs makes me a bit apprehensive.

So I successfully finished the climb and here’s my insights for the Neverstop Wuling 09/12/2015, for those who are looking to participate or to just do this route it in the future.

I’ll try to make a quick blog post since sometimes my posts can be everywhere.

Preparation

As scomargo’s thread said, go up only if you know the weather is stable, this is not a route you want to do if it’s too cold or raining. The route is do-able, but should not be attempted if weather conditions are unpredictable. In August, the Wuling cup was done under 10C with wind and clouds. A lot of people abandoned.

Luckily, the weather man was wrong with his prediction of possible thunder showers and we had clear sunny skies with around 20-25C (depending on your elevation).

Make sure you have a few weeks of training behind you. I wouldn’t advise going up if you haven’t had some vertical training in the prior weeks.

Get an early start

Once you’ve checked every single one of your weather apps and have decided on going up. Like any other training day, I recommend getting an early start. Do keep in mind the entire road up there are multiple tourist attractions, so expect buses and cars to fill up the road after a certain time.

The event bell started at 5AM and I crossed the start line at roughly 5:30AM due to the sheer amount of participants. Two water stops and a few rests before the peak, I arrived at around 11AM.

Route feedback

We started in down town Puli (at the geographical center of Taiwan) and took the Number 14 to the peak. The first 15km are somewhat flat with a 2-3% gradient incline, this was a good time to spin the legs and get a good warm up in if you hadn’t yet. I was averaging around 25kph here. The climb really starts after the 15k mark (I think the 41km marker on the No.14). I remember vaguely it was right after one or two small tunnels. It won’t hit you like a wall, but you’ll know that it’s all uphill from there on out.

There are a few downhills throughout the route, however, no more than half a km long. The gradients get high right a few hair pins after passing through Cui Feng(翠峰), good news is, you can see the peak. Bad news is you are probably 40-60mins from there. So take your time and be safe. This is where breathing will be tough due to high altitude. This area is where there’s a lot of traffic. On the day of the event, if you’re anything after 5.5 hours, you were most likely be stuck in a sea of cyclists that are walking, as well as cars coming up and down the mountain. Be prepared to un-clip and aware of your surroundings. On a regular day with good weather, I hear there’s still can be some traffic going up and down, but not as much as when there’s an event.

The route is very do able if you just take it at your own pace. I only went into the red when I hit an uphill after a down hill section and just wanted to power up the hill to get some momentum to climb. Other than that, if you have a few weeks worth of training behind you, it’s not a very tough route.

Some quick tips

If doing the west entrance to Wuling is a two day challenge for you, I saw plenty of places to stay along the road. So no worries.

Always stop for food or to refill water when you see a 7-11 (should be 2 along the road at around 20-30km and the last convenient store at about 10-15km from the end is the highest 7-11 location in Taiwan). Once you get past Cui Feng and into the belly of the beast, there’s no more stores. You’ll need food and water to recover at the peak if you are planning to descend.

Like I said above, stay out of the red and conserve your energy, you will need it for the final kms.

The descent is approximately 2 hours into Puli either by car or by bike. I highly suggest getting a ride down. You will be pretty tired.

Nice write up, Ranlee, and congratulations!

Did you mean the Number 14 Hwy instead of the Number 8?

Also, I think the bike ride downhill is the best part of the whole trip. I love going downhill–way more than uphill anyway. You do need to be careful, as with any mountain road.

I know you enjoy these events, but I still prefer going to those places on my own when there’s no event. You don’t have to try as hard to avoid the crowds when finding a place to stay, getting transportation to the site, or just when riding your bike. To each his own, though.

How did your Taroko to Wuling ride go in that other thread?

[quote=“scomargo”]Nice write up, Ranlee, and congratulations!

Did you mean the Number 14 Hwy instead of the Number 8?[/quote]

Edited.
Yes! Was looking at the wrong spot on the map. Thanks for catching that. :slight_smile:

I think the descent is doable. I also love descending much more than the climb, but I think even if you take the last few km at your own pace, you’re still going to be pretty tired when you get to the top. However, if you’ve prepared enough food and drink at the top to be energized to make the descent (and the weather is ok), I don’t see why not. I’ve just heard horror stories of people’s hands getting frozen

I will definitely think twice about signing up for another event organized by Neverstop. Year after year, they do not put a cap on total participants and year after year there’s more and more people that sign up. It’s really getting to the point where the road is so crowded that it’s not safe.

Surprisingly, when I took the express King Bus at noon from Taipei Bus station to Puli, there were only 3 cyclists (all my teammates) that were on the bus. We were a little concerned about the bus being full, but we were ok. I guess most people drove.

For Wuling, I will go on a trip with friends one day. I was very very upset that I did not get the chance to take a picture in front of the 3275m sign on my first ascent to it. The line was probably a 2 hour wait after I had recovered. Due to the sheer amount of people and the fact that we wanted to get out of there ASAP, very few pictures were taken. Having the Asian blood in me, that’s not acceptable. Will ascend that mtn again.

[quote=“scomargo”]How did your Taroko to Wuling ride go in that other thread?
http://tw.forumosa.com/t/wu-ling-via-taroko-tips/87004/1[/quote]

Unfortunately, due to some issues, I had to abandon. It was a tough decision, but it had to be done.

:thumbsup: Great job!
Thanks! I feel much better about doing/survinging the ride up now.

That’s unfortunate. Any advantages to doing it with Neverstop?
I went on a Friday, and it was still quite busy, both with cyclists and, particularly the lower slopes, motorised vehicles. I still remember one tour-bus giving me about 50cm between the bus and the drainage channel as he passed.

[quote=“Wookiee”]:thumbsup: Great job!
Thanks! I feel much better about doing/survinging the ride up now.[/quote]

Good luck Wookiee.

Let us know how you do!

[quote=“march”]
That’s unfortunate. Any advantages to doing it with Neverstop?
I went on a Friday, and it was still quite busy, both with cyclists and, particularly the lower slopes, motorised vehicles. I still remember one tour-bus giving me about 50cm between the bus and the drainage channel as he passed.[/quote]

To my own surprise, there are advantages to doing it with an organization. You paid, so you get goodies that include a water bottle, ZOOT t-shirt, medal, and of course a down to the millisecond start and end time. During an event, you get a lot of motivation to push yourself and try to do your best whereas if you were going just to do the climb, you’d probably take your time the whole way up. Now, I’m not saying that’s a disadvantage of not signing up with an event, but there’s just different mind sets.

I think the next time I go, not during an event day, I would stop multiple times to take in the views and take a pic at the highest 7-11 sign. You know, be a tourist.

Well, like I said in my write up, the location is a tourist attraction, so motorists will always be there, just a matter of whether they’re assholes to you or not. Last time on the Taroko to Wuling, my friend was driving behind a cyclist about 2-3km from the peak and there was no room on the left to pass, so we just followed at no more than 10kph, a stupid yellow plate motorbike came by and started yelling at us for going too slow, yeah, next time we’ll just ram the cyclist.