Last Saturday looked like the better of available weekend days for a ride. It smelled a little rainy, but the roads were dry. This time of year in Taiwan will often start the day tantalizingly clear, with bright sunshine and puffy white clouds lazily hanging over the mountain peaks. By noon it can often turn to sheets of rain and slop. I have a simple policy for rainy forecasts. If it is raining when I wake up and shows no sight on stopping by a reasonable starting hour, I'll skip it and hope for the next day. If it is dry at start time...the ride continues even if the rain starts to fall. It just means the extra hassle of drying out the bearings. I met up with Rob, a rider I had never ridden with before, and we headed toward the hills at an even pace for shooting the shit and talking shop. After some harder training days mid-week, I really was ready for a more dialled back ride. Reaching the 7-11 in Jhuolan, we ran into Michael Turton from The View From Taiwan, and his crew of Iris and Mike (a.k.a. Mike Surly/M'erican Teacher). In an odd way, it was a meeting of several oddball spokes in the Taichung cycling world. It was also a great opportunity to keep the atmosphere of the ride fluid and amicable. I really enjoy these rides. The coffee and fuel from 7-11 vanished too quickly and it was time to head out. I had originally just planned an attack on the Miaoli Route 130 for a final sampling of the DT Swiss RR21 Dicut wheel that have been a revelation in the stiffness that can be engineered into a set of lightweight alloy hoops. Instead, we headed out of Jhuolan on the Shuanglian Industrial Rd. that humps up a stiff climb through a cemetery (possibly littered with the bodies of cyclists who broke trying to cap the heart popping climb). As we pushed and heaved and zagged up the ramps, mist became a dribble that became a full drumming of raindrops on hemet tops and gear. We met up with the 54-1, which is excellent by itself, or part of a larger network of rides that really showcase the hidden gems of Sanyi cycling. The 54-1 traces along the fingers of the Liyu Reservoir and through patches of orchard land. There are still plenty of short climbs as the route skims along a crumples ridge above the Dajia River Valley. The mist and rain obscured the deal of the foothills in a gouache blending of shapes and lines. Once you get used to the fact that it is raining, it can add an element of beauty to the landscape that we too frequently miss by hunkering down indoors. We eventually crossed the Highway 3 to the Route 130 and battled our way up against drizzle and gravity. It looked like a coin flip on the weather, so we trudged up to the Mile High Cafe for some hot Hakk-esque cuisine, which was totally welcome in the weather. We lost the coin toss and the rain was soon coming down in sheets.... Enough to make the fun descent down the back of the mountain a whole lotta not fun, so we retreated and beat it home. I had been feeling like I was ploughing into the rain covered streets for some time and then realized it was the least convenient flat... a flat in the rain. The two-way rim allowed me to switch from tubeless to clincher mode with ease and we were again on our way back to Taichung. If riding in the rain is good for anything, it makes for the greatest naps afterward.
Each ride and each route had its own start. A ride often has its inception in the space between the map and our imagination. Other times it can be as simple as the kind of "happy accident" frequented in a Bob Ross sort of way, where a wrong turn turned out much more right. This road started with telephone poles. Two weeks ago I had been out on a late-starter and chose a route I knew with an added wrinkle along a farm road. As I scanned the hillside across the valley, I saw a pattern of telephone poles zig-zagging up the hill and beyond. I really wanted to explore, but I couldn't guarantee a decent return time and left it. This past weekend I recruited Michael Turton to go exploring with me and together we disappeared into the Miaoli Route 51. The Route 51 starts off with an impressive staircase out of the river valley off the Highway 13 in Da She. Several of these roads are popular with cyclists. The Route 49 is especially used as a cycling route. The Route 51 was surprisingly devoid of cyclists. After capping the initial climb, which majestically overlooks the area and a famous railroad bridge, the Route 51 flattens out in a twisting avenue through an ecological forest preserve. The road is not glass smooth, but rather quite rough for traction against slick moss. The quietness of the shade along with the clicking and squeaking bamboos is simply relaxing. The Route 51 will surely be on the map as an alternate to some larger, busier roads. Near the Sanyi Station I bid my farewells to Michael and continued alone to see about connecting this network of incredible paved tracks that hide beneath the shadow of Guandao Shan. My first experiment was a failure as a promising connection to the Route 56 ended at a sketchy little farm that, apparently, raised vicious dogs. Google Maps seems to include former roads and streams in its mapping software. Still, the ride through these little marshlands is so unique. I eventually made my peace with the roads and retreated up the Route 49 to the Route 56. The Miaoli Route 56 is a hidden little gem that rises up to Guandao Shan.. but it does so with some compassion. Lots of little climbs, but noting that would restrict the road for climbers only. The Route 56 eventually opens up high over the landscape for about a hundred meters before being again devoured by the mountain. After another climb, the Route 56 ends at a strange intersection of tiny roads under a low canopy of trees. Each road leads off the hill, so I went down the hill to the Liyu Reservoir. I brushed along the orchards and graves lining the roadway until I was on the 53-1... roads I was more familiar with as ascents than descents. We need more water! I kept the chain on the large ring and jammed for home through Zhuolan and Dongshih. I was feeling good. Moreover, I was able to put the final piece of a puzzle together--a puzzle that will make for a remarkable summer route under the shade of the jungle. This one's gonna' be great.
Now that I am back on the bike, I can now fully devote my spare moments to suffering on the saddle of a bicycle all in the name of health, sanity and fun. This past Sunday I started out early to get a jump on the heat in the hopes of returning in the early afternoon with enough kilometers to feel like I did something to improve my lowly, lowly state. I set my sights on the foothills between Jhuolan and Dahu in Miaoli County. Specifically, I wanted to carve into some of the side roads that mesh their way around the areas off the fantastic Pinglin Rd. Just a few kilometers into my ride I could feel it was going to be a rough day. It was simply one of those off-days when your legs never seem to arrive, no matter how much caffeine you throw down along the ride. I approached my target, which was the Feng-kong Rd. a.k.a. Local Route 18. If you are coming up Pinglin Rd. counter clockwise from Jhuolan, the road starts in the village after the first hill. If you get to the sign for Pinglin Elementary School, you've gone too far. As soon as I turned up the road I felt the dampness of the jungle. The Feng-kong Rd. zags along tree covered ravines toward the top of a ridge where plots of fruit farms are scattered about in the flatter areas. I paused for a while to take in the openness along the ridge to try to get my bearings. I had left my phone at home and therefore I was exploring new roads with nothing but experience and intuition. As I gazed out into the haze, I caught the glimpse of a Formosan Crested Serpent Eagle as it unfolded its wings just above my head. It rode the thermals above the hill just over my head for several minutes, making low and measured glides just beyond my reach. It was a magnificent experience to have a front row seat to a sight we city dwellers are too often denied. I continued down the road, passing the road I really wish I had taken (and had intended to take). One panorama after another and then I was again bombing through narrow gullies with no real idea where I might end up. Despite the views, I felt a pang of disappointment that my only remaining options led back down to Jhuolan on the 54-1. My energy was simply absent. A chill had blown in with a low pressure front and I was struggling against a nasty headwind. I decided to take Dongchi Rd. through the hills to Dongshih to avoid moving at a snail's pace out in full public view. The indignity of having strangers see me like that was more than I could bear. As I grimaced my way up an incline I used to eat in the big ring, I ran into Michael Turton and Scott E. They were also returning from a shorter ride in the area and I needed to company. We ate lunch in Dongshih before going our separate ways home. I tried climbing Hsin She to embarrass myself on another "easy" hill. I finally made it home feeling cooked and well-done. It was the longest ride I have done in a very long while at 120km, but I paid dearly. Hopefully next time my legs will show up for the party.
