With an extended New Year holiday, my options for weekend riding were completely open. I had several ideas rolling around in my head. I could have chosen anything. My first and best choice was not a chest thumping, piss contest, body wrecking joyride to boost my testosterone (though being over 40, it may not have been a bad idea).
Instead, I wanted to spend my first ride of the year with an old friend and a new one as well.
A great ride isn't necessarily... or even remotely about achievements on the Strava leaderboard. Often, the greatest and most memorable rides are stitched together by the ambling conversations that twist, roll and pitch with the contours of the natural landscape.
Michael Turton had a ride on offer and I was ready to buy. The idea was to thread together a series of lightly trod mountain roads between Taichung and Chiayi counties. I had been on a few of the roads before, but I had never put the pieces of the puzzle together in exactly the same shape... and I was excited to see what kind of trip this might make.
Oh, the reward!
I rode the 30km from Taichung to Zhushan where I met up with Michael and Iris, another local rider from Taichung. Michael and Iris hopped a train to Ershui Station to save time and energy for the day's climbing.
Iris has not been riding for very long, but she is a dedicated cyclist who has put in the time with a regular riding schedule that has helped her become fit enough to eat up the hills in short order. Apparently, we both raced in the Tataka Hill Climb last October.
Our route started off on familiar territory with the incredible Nantou Route 149 from Zhushan.
The 149 makes easy work of the Qingshui River valley. The air quality was not perfect, so it was hard to really capture the beauty of the river valley.
The Route 149 cuts through the Lugu and Alishan tea growing districts and thus we were never too far from a tea field.
The area is sparsely populated, with only pockets of farms or houses rising out of the forest.
We remained on the Route 149 as it breaks right, high above the infamously daunting 149乙.
I couldn't help feel drawn deeper into the mountains by that mesmerizing call of the Alishan Route.
The climbing was not terribly high, nor steep... but it had the feeling of drifting out into nowhere.
There is not a lot to eat in the mountains, so we brought a little food and snacked as we rode.
As soon as I thought I had the route figured out, Michael added a new wrinkle to it with a left turn up what looked like a small farm road. This was the 212-1.
The 212-1 is a tight little farm track that sneaks between remote tea farms and the abyss.
Needless to say, I was surprised to be crossing into Chiayi County. The road system throughout the Qingshui River Valley crosses through the convergence of Taiwan's Nantou, Changhua, Chiayi and Yunlin Counties.
At one junction we turned onto the 151-1 and I could see no way out of the mountains without a serous climb. At every corner it seemed we would be veering back into the valley below.
Finally, the 162甲 was at hand. The glorious 162甲-- A road that was undoubtedly designed by a cyclist.
The 162甲ties itself in knots on a comically drunken scribble of road that cascades through tea gardens, farms and forest. The road is impossible to descend without stopping to take pictures of such a comically incredible feat of engineering whimsy.
We all plunged into the plain below. I was stuck in a convoy of cars as I waved them off from even thinking about riding up on my left. I was ferocious in sticking to my line and pace with the cars in front.
Man, what a ride!
It was then a slow roll into Dalin Station for a train back to Taichung. I had over 100k of distance for the day and I can imagine the entire ride being done in a single day. There are just so many options in that valley... yet it is fortunately neglected by most regional cyclists.
The company was the best. I was so happy to be out riding with Michael and Iris on that day.
I will definitely be doing this again.
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