Over Nantou on the Yongle Rd.

After missing two weekends with sickness and the unpleasant aftermath of a chest cold, I finally got to take advantage of a beautiful morning on the bike.

As my recovery has progressed, I have still been confined to many of the familiar roads in the greater Taichung area. But this rider needs more than that.

There are some people who can do the same three rides week in and week out…. Guguan, Sun Moon Lake and the 136. Yawn!

That rider isn't me.



I plotted a route on some roads I had some familiarity with, but like a Beatles record, a ride can often say something completely different in reverse. I decided to climb up into the hills above Nantou City beneath Jiufen Er Shan, and then make my way down the other side of the ridge toward Jiji.

I had made it to the ridge on another ride, but the list of unknowns was too great for me to roll the dice on that particular day. This time I would be ready…. so I thought.


I pedaled down to the Highway 14 in Caotun and then filled up on supplies at a 7-11 a couple blocks from Nanping Rd.

Like so many great rides, the thrill isn't cheap. This ride really gets started with a blistering hill climb to a rolling slick of pavement that cuts through shady farms and a sprawling cemetery high above Nantou.

I hit the climb with all the explosiveness of a bucket of water. I made the climb and spun out the legs before running into a large horned beetle that hitched a ride for a kilometer before I flicked my new friend to the side of the road.



Around a corner Longcao Rd. reveals nothing but an ocean of green. Somewhere under the glowing canopy of jungle there are a few narrow strips of pavement that connect to somewhere else.



I entered the Longnan Recreational Area, which is on the southern side of Jiufen Er Shan. There are hiking trails, waterfalls, and a few leisure farms-- as well as the frightening landscape of the 921 Earthquake epicenter.



I crouched into a climb as my saturated cycling cap endlessly dripped droplets of sweat into my cycling computer.

The road ramps up the side of the mountain with views that reach all the way to Caotun. I concentrated on my pedaling as I cranked up to the end of the road.


The Nantou Route 55 fractures into four smaller parts. I had made it to this point before, but the idea of jumping off into an unknown valley was too much of a risk for the amount of water I was carrying.

I thought this would be different. This time I had one full bottle of water… but my stomach had started to growl. Bad sign.



I double checked the GPS and heaved myself over the edge to an area marked 無心山 or "Heartless Mountain". With a vote of confidence like that, I was looking forward to the adventure.


The road flipped and turned over itself on some fantastic grades that obscured the glint of corrugated siding of the occasional hillbilly farm.


BOOM! Suddenly I was slicing along the edge of a fantastic valley hemmed in by massive cliffs of rock and jungle. The sight was simply awesome.

I was finally sure I was on Yongle Rd.


I was soon passing families out looking for places along the creek to dip their feet and barbecue sweet wieners in the steaminess of the jungle.



By the time I reached the junction with the 139, I was positive I had overextended my calorie intake and headed toward Nantou. I figured a ride on a gorgeous country road back to Nantou would surely beat going to Jiji and returning to Nantou on the Highway 3.



Finally, A subliminal message caught my eye and I found a place to quickly take on calories.



The trip along the Highway 3 from Nantou was a scorching hell. My legs were already beginning to twitch with cramps at the top of my pedal stroke. I had waited too long to eat and suffered for it. To make matters worse… there was a nasty 15kph head/crosswind conspiring against me.

As I crested "the hill of shame" before the bridge connecting Wufeng and Dali, my legs locked up in painful cramps. My hips, quads and calves were locked in pain.

After sitting on the side of the road for a time, I made it back on the bike toward home. About 10 blocks from home I had to stop again and get one last water to cool the cramping in the heat.

It was an absolutely spectacular day.

I highly recommend this route for any of the experienced riders in central Taiwan who are itching to break from the regular routes and get a taste of something special.

These roads fit together in a seamless route of cycling ecstasy. When I get back up to strength, I can imagine working this route into something even more epic that completely avoids the big roads.

It just feels good to be back exploring again.

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Ba Gua Shan--139 (大彰路)

Often, when a person first starts cycling, they go through a complex and passive aggressive relationship with hills. You start out realizing that hills were so easy to climb when you were an eight-year-old and now, as an adult, the mild rollers are laboriously difficult. We all harbor our secret shames on hills we failed at that now seem to melt away beneath us. I know my shames and elevation failures. I have to pass them all the time. It is not uncommon to start out avoiding hill climbs to avoid the pain and the shame of walking a bike up a climb as cars pass. No 加油s and garlands from passing cars. You so badly want to climb, and dream about going to the far-off hilly places, but you know you would just fail and hobble home. As you get a little stronger you start attacking hills with more success and rather than avoiding the hill climbs, you look for every opportunity to make a climb. Every ride must have a hill or there is an empty feeling for the lack of accomplishment. Then, once this phase passes and you gain confidence that you can take ANY climb, you become more at ease with any type of ride with more mixed terrain. One such even route around Changhua is the 139 over Ba Gua Shan 八卦山.

Changhua Bank

With this ride I always start at the base in Changhua city near the banking district of Japanese Era Changhua. There is an old Kendo dojo near the start of the climb which has recently been restored. During the latter part of the Japanese colonial period, Japanese and Taiwanese boys were often trained in Kendo to learn how to better incorporate themselves into the militarist vision of the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Kendo Dojo

The climb starts out steep, but it doesn't last too long. You can ride past the gaudy temple at the top with the gigantic buddha. This was formerly a major Shinto shrine that, like most Shinto shrines, was transformed under the Chinese Nationalists into something far less threatening. Also along the route for a true Sunday In Hell, is the Taoist Hell amusement park; a funhouse-like walk through the horrors of Taoist Hell.

Sprawling Family Farm

The road crests and there is a nice descent past scrapped military surplus and scenic lookout stations. At the bottom take the left turn and it leads to a long, straight, sustained climb that goes past a home for geriatric soldiers who followed the Kuomintang to Taiwan. Be careful because ambulances rush in and out of that place on a regular basis.

A Strange Taiwanese Insect

At the top of the hill there is an intersection that either heads Right, to Changhua, or Left to the crest of Ba Gua Shan. The left turn has a nice descent along a shady road and up another hill where you can take a left or right down the 74甲 , which is a great descent if you like speed. It is straight and steep. Left goes right back to Taichung and left empties out into the Changhua plain. I like to go straight.

A Pineapple

The Changhua-139 undulates along the ridge top past scenic tea and pineapple farms. This is road has been designated as a recreational cycling road and there are bike supply stores that pop up infrequently along the route.

Bike Route

There are a couple places to abandon the ride early, but the road continues until it empties out into Nantou from Song Bo Ling (松柏嶺). The right turn down Feng bai Rd. (豐柏路). A gorgeous treelined descent into some little tea village where they like to come out and gawk at foreigners. Don't stop. Keep going down the hill. This is a speedy gem of switchback heaven.

Tea Farms of Songboling

At the bottom of the hill you can turn right and trace the base of the hill all the way back to Changhua. Another option is to go straight to Yuan lin and take the Highway 1 back.

Either way it is easy to make this a substantial ride. Easily over 120km if you go all the way. It can also make a quick route if you have other things to do later. You can abandon the ride at several points along the way and come back on the Highway 3 through Wufeng or Caotun.

The Spanish Inquisition!!!

The whole ride on top of the hill offers scenery galore and enough variation to mix things up. The return is flat and speedy for a little bit of everything.