Sunday On Route 130

On Sunday I slipped into the stinkiest pair of unwashed bibs that I had forgotten to wash after Wednesday's night ride. I stunk. The more the heat from my body warmed up the lycra, the more rank I became. It was awful. 

I was also hoping to try out a new cleat position to eliminate knee soreness that has held me back for so long. 

The goal was to test my speed and endurance over 140km with a climb over the Miaoli Route 130; a hill that serves as a pretty good mark of climbing health. 

I reluctantly slipped onto the streets of Taichung and headed for the hills half expecting an early rain squall to send me home. The weather was blustery, but not precipitation. 



I felt I had more power in the new position. My hips were a bit tired, but I hoped to work that out with this ride. 



Before long, I was hacking it up over the hill to Jhuolan for my morning coffee before starting the real climb. The hill on the Highway 3 between Dongshih and Jhuolan is not hard... just an annoyance. I big-ringed it all the way up to my own relief and landed with a bunch of other cyclists who were also looking to add some fuel to the reserves. 









The climbing was stiff, and I proceeded with caution. No knee trouble at all. This was the best I had felt in a long time. 



I passed the Hamburger Helpers (Ginger) that dot the Route 130 and made the Mile High Cafe with decent effort. I could do better, but not on this day. 



There was hardly any weekend traffic to speak of, so the ride out of the hills was sublime. I cranked out the kilometers over smooth, deserted country lanes and kept up a good clip home. 

Nothing too special, but this little ride has given me a huge boost in confidence to start puching myself back into climbing shape.  

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