Back Roads: Off Snow Mountain

Somewhere around the 14km marker on Xue Shan Rd (雪山路) there is a tiny lane that splits off along side the Changhua Telecom building. I have passed this road numerous times and always wondered about veering off to give it a shot. The usual reasons had always prevented me from doing that route; time...purpose...fuel...water...legs.....

I was out of excuses and figured I would give it a try. Honestly, my greatest fear is that I would be hiking my bike on impossible grades in the heat, without a clear path to civilization. This is a real fear in some parts of Taiwan. Everything may look dandy on a map, but become a totally different can of worms in the field.

I also liked the risk.



I completed the lower sections of lazy mountain switchbacks through the dazzling greens where the fruit orchards meet the forest. I always love the Daxue Shan Rd. for its open views across the Dajia River and alluvial plain. Local spaces that I know as shadowy clumps of concrete shops and townhouses shrink into the landscape. On a clear day Taichung and its surroundings can be seen from the southern side of the mountain. You can even look out into the Taiwan Strait.

The usual route is to keep climbing to the end of the road as the neighborhood practice climb for Wuling Pass or Alishan.

This route has a bit of a different character.



The immediate departure from the main road immediately offers up the goods on a slight descent. The area is shaded by tall trees of the forest that offer sanctuary for wildlife. I almost ran over a pheasant within the first 100m of roadway.



While the roads are not glass smooth, they are not unridable. There is an ultimate sense of quiet. I believe I did not see a car for over an hour of riding.



The road flattens out along cedar lined slopes over Dajia. There are a couple campgrounds along the way and a leisure farm at the end of one spur from the main road, so keep left when you come to an intersection.



This road feels like a portal into another world. One could easily imagine being on a lonely road deep in the forest of some other country. It is hard to believe you are still in Taiwan.

After a couple more kilometers through



The farm areas open up the northern slope of the mountain and reveal the full spectrum of central Taiwanese landscapes. The entire ride provides a 300 degree sweep of the areas below Daxue Shan from Taichung to Dahu and out into the mountains.



Most of the ride is perfectly fine for staying on the bike. Even a road bike can handle the terrain just fine.

The only part that poses a problem is the final descent. I found it to be mostly unrideable. the gradients were simply too steep for too long to feel safe. A short hike and I was back in a rideable location that eventually links to the high point of  the Route 47 (東崎街). The rest is a marvelous ride back to Dongshih for a satisfying day of riding without giving up the entire day. It offers a feeling of having stepped out of normal expectations for a brief vacation in an entirely different place before returning--a get away.

Cycle Route 4173786 - via Bikemap.net

A Hill Too Far: Overreaching On Da Xue Shan

Yesterday I thought I would teach my legs a lesson they'd never forget and I was poised to climb Da-xue Shan (Great Snowy Mountain).

Recently, my training has focused on sustained climbing and endurance building. These two aspects of my cycling seem to have suffered the most during my down time from my injury.

I had a massive day last Sunday climbing in some high heat and then I spent the past few days pushing around boxes of books to move to our new apartment. Physically, I am beat.

My hips and lower back felt tight. My legs felt dead. I went in for a massage, and it helped a little, but my hips still felt wound up tight. I knew I was not up for what I had been envisioning as my assault on Da-xue Shan. It always feels so much easier in the imagination. I hoped after a few kilometers my legs would warm up and maybe that was all I needed. I was wrong.

I pushed along to the Hou-Feng trail feeling ok, but I overinflated my tires, so not as smooth as I would have liked.

The Hou-Feng trail is one of Taichung's showcased leisure bike trails that is coated with a speed-robbing coating that makes it feel like you are riding through Molasses Swamp at maximum effort. Maybe Taiwan is so technologically advanced, they have a secret plan to steal energy from cyclists and use it to power unicorn farms.

I huffed on through to Dong Hshih and began climbing Dongkeng St. toward the top of Da-xue Shan. The cross winds didn't do much to help things either.

I have done this route several times and this time felt only slightly better than the first. I just kept pushing and trying to play mind games so that I wouldn't think about the soreness. I thought Da-xue Shan would be great with its gentler grades than the Route 136.

It was getting late, so I turned around at 3300ft. Nowhere near my goal, but good enough for me. I was riding like crap anyways.

My body had an adverse reaction to all this. I had overreached.

Overreaching is the phenomenon in endurance sports where the body reacts to the repeated stresses of hard training with fatigue.

If the "bonk" is stage 1, and normal fatigue is stage 2, then overreaching is stage 3. The next step in the progression of feeling like crap from exercise is overtraining. Overtraining can last for weeks or even months and can severely limit one's athletic improvement. The body feels under assault and rather than strengthening to combat the physical stresses, it works to conserve and protect itself from those stresses. The last step on the scale may be pathological fatigue and illness.

I will dial it back a little to recover and keep the improvements coming.

Da Shueh Shan/大雪山

The Way To The Top

Today was my first real day of riding in a couple of weeks, so I decided to shake the rust off with a little climbing. April was a month of century rides and by the end I was getting pretty sick of the flats and needed to climb something. I was also testing out my recovery and a new cleat position, so I was happy to do a shorter climb today. Michael T. and I decided to hit the road to Da Shueh Shan and see how far we could go before our legs or time ran out.

Orchards of Dong Shih

We met up at the start of the bike trail between Dong Shih and Feng Yuan. The trail is fine in the early morning before it fills up with electric bicycles and wobbly, inattentive riders. The trail empties out near the Hakka Cultural Center in downtown Dong Shih and we then navigated the busy township streets to

Dong Keng Street, which is a gorgeous road that just keeps going and going up the mountain. It changes names a few times on the way up, but as long as you stick to the main road you'll go right up the mountain.

How Not To Store A Bike

Dong Keng road is a relatively gentle climb that could be done by riders at any level of experience. The difficulty depends on how you ride the hill and the gearing you have available.

Michael Climbing

The entire area on the lower part of the mountain is one rolling hill on top of another, covered in jungle and fruit orchards. Many of Taiwan's Hakka come from a culture of fruit cultivation and thus, when their ancestors moved to Taiwan, they headed for the foothills to continue practicing their traditional modes of agriculture. This area is also populated by Atayal speaking peoples, many of whom adopted Hakka farming techniques.

A Woman Enjoying The Ride

The road snakes ever higher, so I just sat on a 14-15kph pace for most of the way up. I really wasn't in any mood to destroy my legs on this one. I really just wanted to enjoy the scenery.

The Ascent

As the sun broke through the clouds, I was wishingI had stocked up on water. I did my best to conserve what I had brought. We met a few other cyclists on the way up and we all exchanged greetings and encouragement.

More Orchards

Michael Poses Above Dong Shih

Michael plugged away at the incline and then we finally decided to stop for food. They really didn't have much in the way of good climbing food, so Michael used a Jedi mind trick to convince them to cook up something entirely off the menu for us--fried noodles. Mine came with a little extra protein in the way of a bug, but I ate most of it.

Bamboo-zled

Just beyond the restaurants at Kilometer 11, the road flattens out for a while and large stands of cedar trees provide cooling shade as respite from the heat. The creaking of the bamboo makes and eerie sound as you pass the groves along the road.

The Valley Below

The road is pretty peaceful with the occasional SUV or luxury sedan that speeds by way too fast. It seemed ever other car was a Lexus or BMW.

The Great Cedars of Dong Shih

At one point we passed a clear cut. I haven't smelled evergreen sap in a long time and it smelled like my childhood in the Pacific Northwest. From high on the ridge you can look down and see all the way to to ocean. The grey riverbeds stand out from Dong Shih and even Feng Yuan can be seen poking through Taiwan's famous haze.

If Only I Believed In Traffic Mirrors

Sometime after 1:00pm Michael gave word that it was time to head back down, so we turned tail and hit the descent like a slalom course. A damned headwind greeted us at the best part for a sprint and so the top speeds were embarrassingly lousy. We hit the road back home content that we had a beautiful ride on a beautiful day. The weather couldn't have been better.

I Ride Off Into The Distance

Total Distance: 120 km/75 mi

Starting Altitude (Base of Mtn.): 1230 ft.

Altitude: 3062 ft.

Vertical Elevation Gain: 1832 ft.

Maximum Speed: 48kph (sad)

The Route

Unfortunately there is no alternate way down and you have to come back the same way you go up.

Here's Michael's take on the ride.

Also :

Check out Michael C. on his rides in Kaohsiung and Northern Taiwan.