Friends, Fun and Filth: The Songboling Tea Gardens

As I mashed my way up Bagua Shan, I kept thinking about an article I had read about how Cadel Evans, the 2011Tour de France winner, had been feeling a bit slow coming into form before mounting a defense of his title. It is a funny thing, the feeling of measuring yourself against a better year, but we do it. It is the mysterious internal force that sells countless sports cars, gold chains, boob jobs, and divorce settlements.


I am doing my best to come back to the form I was in at this time last year, but I feel I still have much further to go. It is frustrating that it can't all fall back in place after a couple weeks like it used to and that the fat seems to know exactly where to go after only a brief introduction to the waist for just a few short weeks.


I spent Saturday assessing my personal metrics as to how far I have come and how far I need to go to be satisfied with my riding and to make a good showing at the races.
The plan was to ride Bagua Shan to Songboling and then drop down into Douliu, before charging back on the flats with a healthy tailwind.


At least that was the plan.


A makeshift Gentlemen's Club under the freeway. See the lanterns hanging down. Classy.

I left my house a little late, but the cloud cover was perfect for a day of riding. I figured I would just take Huanzhong Rd. to the HSR station and then cross the river before coasting along the Highway 14 to Fenyuan. I felt much better on the bike, but not quite "there".

Boys of the Bike Industry

I felt excellent on the climb out of Fenyuan to the Route 139 along the top of Bagua Shan. Just as I was clearing my legs of the heat from the climb, I ran into a few familiar faces parked at the side of the road with a mechanical to contend with.


It looked like a bicycle industry convention. Attie, the Asia product representative from Dorel (Cannondale et al.) was working on another flat. Nico from Birzman seemed eager to take out his tools and maybe give Attie a hand. Josh Colp (left) was also hanging with the Peanut Gallery. Josh has just introduced his own bicycle brand with a complete line of road bikes. Keep an eye out for Culprit Bicycles at this year's trade shows. When I first met Josh a few years ago, he was working as a test rider for Trigon, one of the world's top OEM/ODMs for composite frames and components. At that time he was already deep into his research for launching his own bicycle brand. It is great to see his hard work paying off in the shape of actual equipment.


On Saturday he was enjoying his Arrow-One road bike, which is supposed to be quite stiff. Right now he is in the middle of a soft rollout before he has his big coming out to the industry at Interbike 2012 this September.


Colp's Culprit Arrow-One. We will forgive the tower of spacers this time.

I left the group in good cheer and plodded my way over the rolling hills toward the Fengshan Temple where I could refill my water bottle.


Sidra


Very Fresh Pineapple


Puppet Theater

Fengshan Temple is a regular rest stop for weekend cyclists as there are supplies and refreshments readily available to ward off a mid-ride bonk.


Andy Jiang of the formidable Nantou Cycling Club

Just as I was about to leave I noticed some riders coming in from the Nantou Cycling Club. I have a lot of respect for the Nantou guys as they seem to have a well trained and well disciplined team. That is how the races are won. I have a lot of respect for these guys. 
I was especially happy to run into 江衍迪 (Andy Jiang), a Facebook friend whom I had never met in person. He introduced me to the gang as they took a few minutes from training for the Tour of Changhua next month. 


It is always great running into friendly faces on the road to share a few laughs or exchange war stories. This is the importance of a healthy cycling community. 


The Players

After a few pictures I claimed the high ground at the end of the ridge before descending down the 139乙 to Songboling. 


It had started to sprinkle and the road was still in a state of post typhoon clutter, so I took the descent a little slower.


Messy Roads

I finally reached the Nantou Route 38 and hammered away at that with the hope of dropping onto the Route 152 toward Douliu.


Nantou Route 38


Crossroad Blues

At the 5 point crossroads I slid over to the Route 3, which is a gorgeous country road that charges straight through fields of tea, pineapple and other crops. 


Tea Gardens of Songboling

I finally landed on the Route 152 near Mingjian and headed toward Ershui. 


Nantou Route 152

At first the road seemed fine with just a few patches of dirt cluttering an otherwise pristine surface. Then more and more sections of red clay passed under my wheels. I was fine with a little dirt and kept on going.  


Slurry

One reason I had chosen this route for Saturday was the fact that a typhoon had just passed and I assumed the mountain roads might still be cluttered with debris. Little did I realize that any road that hugs the base of a hill will also hold the runoff and storm slurry that takes about a week to wash out of the loose clay.  


The End of the Road

The road got muddier, but it was ok. I can handle a little mud. Just pick a line and avoid hard turns and you can stay on the bike. Easy. 


I dismounted cyclocross style and prepared to walk across the last stretch of submerged roadway. Then as a few cars passed, I noticed the water was much deeper than I had anticipated. With nowhere else to go, I turned tail and retraced my steps back to a 7-11 to reassess my return trip. 


My bike was caked with clay about the same consistency as pancake batter. It covered everything. I was thankful that I could still get a reliable shift every time. It was crunchy and loud, but shifting.


I neared Mingjian and saw another rider heading toward the Sippi Hole on a nice looking Look 585 road bike. I noticed too late and when I tried to ward him away from a similar fate with a head shake and a wave indicative of a "whoa/no", he responded with a friendly wave and kept spinning madly for a date with a Muuuuuuud Pit. 


I couldn't help a little dirty bike photo spread. There is something appealing about dirt and titanium tubing. 


For my return I plotted a slightly different rout through the tea gardens on Songboling, Taiwan's center for low altitude oolong tea. The lower altitude teas pare often cheaper to purchase, but they are pretty robust and harder to ruin when brewing. They make a great daily tea. 


Ripe Betel Nut

I lurched along through the tea and betel nut groves sounding like an old WWII tank as the gears on my bike crunched and chewed the fine particles of sand. Not a great thing for the smaller components of expensive equipment. 



A Taiwan Icon

I finally stopped at a gas station in Songboling to use the water at the restroom sink to do a basic rinse of the more delicate parts of the bike so I could cut some of the noise. With a hill climb dead ahead, I figured cleaner derailleurs couldn't hurt. 

Tea Picking


The Return

I put the legs back to work after getting a little lazy in the saddle and made much quicker work of the climb than I had imagined. I was turning a good 24kph up to the top before returning along the same route I had taken earlier. 


120km on the day. I could have been faster, but I need to learn to be more patient with my training. 


The area around Songboling is excellent for any type of biking. The roads and scenery are always interesting and the traffic is always light. Aside from the blocked road, I highly recommend these roads as part of a longer ride. 


Pineapple Jackets

Taichung-Alishan-Taichung: A Little Day Ride (250km)

This was a big weekend for me in so many ways. My birthday was Sunday and we also selected a date for a cesarian as my daughter has decided she likes sitting upright in the breech position.

At 37 with a baby on the way, I really needed a big ride to remind myself why I love the long rides before I enter the unknowns of parenthood and long rides become a luxury. Youth's last stand.

For this day I chose to match the fearsome duo of distance and altitude for a blockbuster of a single-day ride.

I decided to ride from Taichung over Alishan's lesser used southern route (149甲), and then back to Taichung in a day.

The logistics of a ride like this are never easy. Several factors need to be taken into consideration including food, hydration, speed, endurance, emergency supplies, alternate routes, mechanical issues and a whole range of scenarios that can keep a rider up all night.

I had not done a significant ride in twenty days as I took a week off to recover and then got rained out. Carbo-loading for these rides can get expensive, so when they fail you are stuck paying for a meal larger and more expensive than you really needed.

I packed in pizza and pasta the night before, with a fruit smoothie before bed. I really couldn't afford to eat like that for another weekend without doing something with it.

The weather checked out for the day, so I packed my yellow distance backpack with:

• Arm/Leg Warmers
• Warm Base Layer
• Tubes x2
• Tire (700x25c) x1
• Asthma Inhaler
• Antihistamine x4
• Tylenol x4
• Mini Pump
• Gels 150cal (small)x3
• Gel 180cal (large) x2
• Apples x2
• Pizza slice x2
• Waterproof bag x1
• Toolkit x1
• Phone
• I.D. Card
• Money (NT 2300)

The chances of something going wrong in an area far from a bike shop warrants the extra weight penalty. You just never know.... Especially on a solo ride.

After feeling as ready as I was going to be, I dozed off Friday night around 9:30pm to get some rest before the big day... until... a well-wisher, who shall remain anonymous, woke me up with a text to my phone at 11:30pm. I never got back to sleep. I rolled around in bed running through all the "what if" scenarios, worrying about my knee and getting pissed off about work.

I finally gave up on sleep and got suited up for battle, adjusted my tire pressure for a day in the saddle, slathered on another layer of chamois cream, and slipped out the door around 3:00am.

In the cool night air I was feeling it. It was game on and I was passing quickly through the pothole-lined intersections of the Highway 3. In the early morning many intersections are marked with flashing yellow lights and I took full advantage to duck on through in the absence of the usual snarl.

After reaching Zhushan in an hour and a half, I stopped for coffee to give the sun a bit more time to come out before heading into the mountains.

I could see dawn was close as work gangs from the tea farms were gathering and milling about the 7-11 parking lot to hitch a ride up into the hills. They all wore rubber boots, hoods and had their fingers wrapped for protection.

I continued at a slower pace up the Route 149-A toward Caoling. I had ridden these roads before, so I could rate my progress and make adjustments in my level of effort. I was a little disappointed to be passing some spectacular scenery in the dark.

Any regrets over the scenery were soon put to rest at dawn, when I realized the entire area was covered in a haze from the moist air rising up out of the ground. It was one of those days that seemed to be perpetually morning. (For better pictures of this route see this earlier report)

The first climb was right where I'd left it, but this time I made real quick work of each hairpin and switchback.

I occasionally had to yield to large construction vehicles that were having a harder time than I was chipping into the mountain.

At several points the road folds back upon itself to reveal the river valley below with its speckles of rooftops and a built environment that is quickly dwarfed by the masses of nature.

By the time I crossed into Yunlin County I was feeling absolutely committed to finishing this ride.

I could look out in the distance at the rocky peak I needed to blast through before diving back down for the second ascent over Alishan. This was just the appetizer.

I edged up to the cliffside and could just make out the scarred roadways leading to the Caoling Tunnel. It just looked nasty. The whole hillside looked like it could lose grip on the bedrock entirely and slip off into the rubble pit below.

Everything in the village at the top told of a futile battle against the ravages of climate and weather. The construction from last year was the construction of this year. A fine, yellow dust was settled on just about every surface that hadn't crumbled into a showcase of roadside decay.

I finally found the even spot in the road and went for broke through the tunnel to Caoling.

Wham! The hilltops and manicured hostels are a welcome sight from the blight on just the other side of the ridge. It is like punching a hole into the center of the Central Mountain Range.

Yes, it is a pleasant sight for about five minutes until the moment of truth where you dive into Caoling and commit to finishing over Alishan. It was at this point I felt a little discomfort in my knee... the kind that has been dogging me for so many months. I kept stretching to push it out of my thoughts. Then I bombed into Caoling for a little breakfast of apples and gels.

Caoling is a little tourist haven tucked behind Alishan. There are waterfalls and hikes galore. I was able to swing by and replenish my water at one of the shops before sneaking out under the noses of a hundred gawking tourists.

Caoling's police station offers a bicycle rest station with a pump, restroom and supplies. Sadly, it is at the top of a long flight of stairs, so I gave it a miss at the risk of renal failure.

At the bottom of a screaming descent I found myself at the gates of Alishan National Scenic Area. There is just something incredible about crossing the threshold into one of Taiwan's great wilderness regions.

I ambled along the river past hostels and farms. The gravel business is booming along the Chingshui River. I was still waiting for a lick of sunshine that never arrived. Instead the clouds spit occasional droplets at be from behind foggy ridge lines.

At last I was on the 149甲 on my way up Alishan. The road work is never finished, and it will never finish in my lifetime, so I just took it as part of the experience. The bridge has been rebuilt, but there is always something to make things dirty.

I also never put on my daylight glasses. It just seemed too dark... all day.

I heaved and pressed my way up the squiggle to Taiho Village. Just past the scene pictured above, there is the Taiho Restaurant and Hostel where you can buy refreshments if you need a little more to finish the climb. This part is all torn up and requires walking the bike around the construction mess. After about 50m it is all clear to the top.

From Taiho the rugged green tea farms open up and engulf the highest points of the mountain. Elephant Mountain sits off in the distance and plays on your imagination of exactly how rough Taiwan's wilderness can get.

There are still a few vestiges of Taiwan's Japanese colonial past when Alishan was both a logging, agricultural and tourist center. Push-car railways once meandered through these very mountains.

It was only 10:00am and I was closing quickly on the summit. I could easily map out my route as the white roadways slithered across the ripples below. Amazing!

My knee was far from happy, but still within finishing the ride. I was at 73 miles and I still had an entire trip back-- against the wind.

The drop into the tourist trap at Fenci Hu is quick, and the sight of shops, roast sausage and lovers looking lost on the roadside is actually quite warming after a long climb up the desolate back of Alishan.

I stopped for a coffee and a celebratory rest to eat my pizza. The fog was sticking to the mountains, so I didn't stay long. The last thing I needed was rain or any more cold.

A few other cyclists were making their way up the mountain from Chiayi. I passed a dozen or more on my way down the 159甲. I took few pictures on the way down as there was nothing to see in the haze and I just wanted to drop elevation and get on the road home.

What makes Alishan such a tricky mountain, is that it isn't what you'd normally expect. Usually an ascent is hard, but the descent is just the reverse. With Alishan, the descents all include a degree of climbing. This is especially rough if you've already humped up the thing... any incline is heartbreaking.

I bit down and made my final climbs on Alishan before screaming into Chiayi.

With nearly 100 miles under my belt for the day, I headed toward Taichung on the Highway 3.

The Highway 3 is pretty even around Taichung, but in the southern parts it undulates in a series of punchy climbs and steep dips.

For each climb I would leap out of the saddle and pull my ass to the top. My energy dipped a little, which was remedied with some sugar.

I finally made it to the area around Mingjian in Nantou County and made the fateful decision to follow the Changhua Route 137 home rather than simply going up the Highway 3 again. The difference was a trade of stop-and-go traffic for undulating hills and a little more distance with one final climb.

I just punched it up the 137 with some good speed and mighty bursts out of the saddle. I finally hit the Highway 74 and just ate it up. The adrenal gland is some powerful magic.

Then, just about 4km from home, all I could think about was chocolate. I couldn't ignore it. I stopped and downed a Kit Kat and a coke to fuel my push home. I had dropped 2-3mph from my usual sprint up the same road, but by the time I turned onto my street I was going full steam.

After a full day in the saddle, I was home for supper. My knee had remembered to get sore again and I was still feeling better than one might expect.

An awesome day of riding!

Score:

Distance: 250km/155mi

Altitude Gain: 3749m/12,303ft

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