Hello all, it’s been awhile since this sub-forum saw a new thread, so here it is.
This weekend is the MAXXIS Taroko Gorge challenge and it will be my first ever attempt at Wu Ling. After finishing in 3.5 hours at the Tataka Challenge (Yu Mtn), I already know how difficult this race will be.
For all you guys who have made the trip from Taroko to Wu Ling, other than constantly staying hydrated and eating, what are some tips that you guys can give me and probably a few others on the forums that may be participating.
Race starts at Xiou Ling Elementary School about 5-6km outside of the entrance to the gorge. Here are our water stations:
Xi Bao Elementary School西寶國小 30.3 km
Xin Bai Service Center新白楊 50.4 km
Bi Lu Tree碧綠神木 64.9 km
Guan Yuan Gas Station關原加油站 76.0 km
小風口 85.2 km
I really don’t know how to translate the last one, directly translation is small air.
Getting a good night’s sleep is the only other thing I can recommend. I wish you all the best. You should have a great time.
I’ve only ridden to the Wuling Pass from other directions (from Puli and again from Luodong), and I wasn’t racing against the clock either time, so I didn’t have the same considerations that you do.
Edit: Just so you know, I think the pass is somewhere around kilometer marker 31 (or where 30.5 would be if I recall correctly). This can give you something to shoot for when you’re riding.
[quote=“scomargo”]Getting a good night’s sleep is the only other thing I can recommend. I wish you all the best. You should have a great time.
I’ve only ridden to the Wuling Pass from other directions (from Puli and again from Luodong), and I wasn’t racing against the clock either time, so I didn’t have the same considerations that you do.
Edit: Just so you know, I think the pass is somewhere around kilometer marker 31 (or where 30.5 would be if I recall correctly). This can give you something to shoot for when you’re riding.[/quote]
Thanks Scott. I’ve been looking forward to this short trip and ride for awhile.
I dreaded it when I signed up, knowing it’s one of the toughest roads in Taiwan, but also one of the most beautiful roads from bottom to top.
Everyone keeps talking about the last section and it’s brutal gradients. I think aside from that and the total distance of the race, it’s quite manageable.
base to Tianxiang : easy
Tianxiang -> Houran Pavillion (thru Xibao): tough. This is quite a ramp up. Many folks will use up too much energy here - go shallow, it’s early on.
Houran -> base of Xinbai climb : moderate
Xinbai climb, 3 long hairpins then the tunnel to Xinbaiyang : tough.
Xinbaiyang -> Ci’en : easy
Ci’en -> Bilu : moderate/tough
Bllu -> Jinma Tunnel: more of the same
Jinma Tunnel -> below Guanyuan, 5km of zippy fast downhill.
Then you get a moderate climb up thru Guanyuan to Dayuling, then the killer steep finish at altitude.
I’ve never ridden it in a challenge race, mind, so not sure how it all comes together in 1 unbroken ride. Good luck!
Make sure to keep lots in the tank. I.e., don’t ride hard early on anywhere, always go less hard than you think you could. You will need it later, especially if you don’t stop and rest and eat along the way. If you do keep on without stopping, it’s hard to eat enough to keep the energy levels up, but force yourself to do so whenever it gets a bit flatter.
[quote=“mathpro”]btw I cannot find Dayuling on Google maps
(I mean I was there, so I know where it is,
but I Google does not show it in English.)[/quote]
I think Dayuling is not big enough to warrant much of a mention on Google Maps. It is written in Chinese, though. You have to zoom way in to see it. A link is here
That’s exactly where I was, where I thought it would be on the map.
But I read in a blog somewhere that there was a motel there, somewhere you could rent a room.
At the junction of 8 with 14 I looked around and saw… nothing. One building in a state of construction or destruction, I’m not sure which.
Do you have any insight as to the nearest rentable habitation?
G.
[quote=“scomargo”][quote=“mathpro”]btw I cannot find Dayuling on Google maps
(I mean I was there, so I know where it is,
but I Google does not show it in English.)[/quote]
I think Dayuling is not big enough to warrant much of a mention on Google Maps. It is written in Chinese, though. You have to zoom way in to see it. A link is here[/quote]
This place is not too far away, and at least one of the staff members speaks English. kwan.cyh.org.tw/eng/
They have dorm-style rooms and private rooms.
That’s exactly where I was, where I thought it would be on the map.
But I read in a blog somewhere that there was a motel there, somewhere you could rent a room.
At the junction of 8 with 14 I looked around and saw… nothing. One building in a state of construction or destruction, I’m not sure which.
Do you have any insight as to the nearest rentable habitation?
G.
[/quote]
By the way, I’ve been told by a reliable source that all of the rooms for rent in hostels that used to be there are now gone. The hostels were illegal, and got shut down. I never did see them either. I did my ride last September, and Dayuling was like a ghost town from what I could see from the main road.
Yeah, the restaurant /shop / hostel complex that used to be there on the left (going up from Guanyuan), has been razed to the ground. I asked what had happened and a guy said that the owners had ‘gone down’, and thumbed towards Hualien. Perhaps they were all illegal structures and got dealt with.
Anyway, I don’t know of anything in Dayuling now. It looked even more of a wreck than usual when I went through in April.
