Racing the Rainclouds: Unfinished Business on Route 136

My health and fitness is coming back and I am gradually edging toward the form I was in last year before my injury. I had almost a week off the bike due to scheduling and weather, so I was rested enough to try the loop between the Taichung Route 129 and the venerable 136. If I am going to hurt myself, this is the route I seem to do it on. 



I had planned to take off at 6:00am, but with a baby that didn't want to go to bed, it was more like 8:00am that I finally put the wheels on the road. I saw the beautiful sunshine out my window and, in the drunkenness of sleep, thought to myself that it would be a beautiful day, so I needn't worry about the weather. 

I had just sent my bike to the shop to have all the bearings re-greased and everything washed up after my misadventures in the mud. The bike was just rolling smooth as could be. I climbed the Dongshan Rd. (Rte. 129) with much less effort than last time, testing smaller and smaller cogs.  



With the bike's smoothness and my own fitness, I was almost bored with the ease I was feeling. I stopped once for a coffee and once to stretch my legs before the climbing to avoid another injury. 



Once the climbing commenced, I surprised myself with my smooth, even cadence and steady speed. Just as I started up Baimao Shan on the Highway 21, I smashed headlong into a mass of cool air. At first it was a refreshing respite from the mid-morning humidity. Then I saw the dark clouds leading an advancing system of rain. 



As I looked out over the valley, I wondered how my friend Dom was faring on his climb up Da Xue Shan. From the looks of things the route was soon to be swallowed up by the gloom. 



I silently cursed my decision to reset my alarm and made hay for the 136 with vivid memories of getting stuck near the top during a violent rain shower. I would do it and accept the consequences. 

Luckily, it looked as if the area near the Route 136 was enjoying some clear skies. I tried to make time over a line of cars off the mountain, but as a sprinkle of rain slapped across my nose, I was locked behind a caravan of vehicles too fast to pass and too slow to keep me from riding the brakes. 



I had made it out to Guoxing and toward the Hi Life at the base of the Route 136. 

As I was descending, I noticed my shifting was getting sloppy. I would downshift and nothing would happen It would take a couple tries to shift the chain to a new cog. The chain would jump cogs and I noticed I was spinning out with two unused cogs at the end of the cassette. I used to experience this all the time with my Shimano Ultegra, but with Campy it was an entirely new experience. I kept wondering why my gear was behaving like Shimano. I fiddled with the barrel adjusters as well as I could, which seemed to work for a couple minutes. I figured I would do my best to get over the 136 with sloppy shifting and have it looked at when I got back to Taichung. 

I never had the chance. As I attacked the lower reaches of the 136, I tried to snap into an easier gear, and instead, the chain slid on down the line to the smallest cog... and stayed there. 

I noticed the derailleur cable looked a little loose, so I took out my multitool and attempted to pull it a bit tighter. I pulled and pulled and pulled as I was presented with more and more cable. 

The cable had snapped up near the shifter. 

It was time to call for a rescue and put this ride on the list of unfinished business.  

Taiwan's Olympic Cycling, Bike Camping and Sails for Cycles

The weight of 23 million Taiwanese who hoped to realize golden dreams of a medal in cycling rested entirely on the shoulders of one competitor; Taichung's own Hsiao Mei-yu.  

Hsiao competed on both the road and the track in the Women's Road Race and the Women's Omnium. 

After an unfortunate crash in less than ideal conditions, Hsiao finished over the time limit in the road race. The race was ultimately, and not unexpectedly, won by the incredible Marianne Vos of the Netherlands. Vos has won just about every contest there is as she has been dubbed, "the female Eddy Merckx".

In the Omnium, Hsiao finished 17th out of 18 competitors in the final. Laura Trott of the host country took home the gold. 

Despite her difficulties in both events, just being an Olympian is laudable enough, especially from a small country that must fight to even be seen at the Olympics in the recent dispute over displays of the ROC flag. 

With more cyclists becoming interested in the sport early on, I am confident Taiwan will become a greater force in the various cycling disciplines. It is just a matter of time. There are some very talented young cyclists champing at the bit for an opportunity in four more years to represent Taiwan. 

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Also:

• Taiwanese-American Olympic windsurfer gives up the sail for the cycle. Ted Huang discusses his choice to represent Taiwan as an Olympian and on turning his back on his former sport. 

“Windsurfing is a loner sport,” he says. “I like the camaraderie of cycling. 

• Here is an excellent blog on Biking and Camping while touring Taiwan. Lots of excellent info if you would like to rough it in the great outdoors. 

Tour of Changhua Preview (2012環化賽)

Each Fall for the past few years Merida has sponsored the Tour of Changhua, a Fondo-style road race where thousands of participants slog it out over the long, flat stretches of Changhua County.

The event is open to anyone and everyone, which results in a mix between some of the area's top teams... and the friendly weekend duffer with the less-than-friendly bicycle stereo system. The best thing about this race is that it is more about finishing the ride that it is about placing.

It is fun. It can be challenging. It can be a great way to meet other cyclists.

Yesterday I took the morning to conduct a little reconnaissance of the route with Dom, a formidable riding buddy who keeps me turning the pedals.

Here is my assessment :

This year's installment will be held on 10/14 with a start time at 6:00am.

Compared to last year's route, the 2012 edition will be about 20k longer. It has also been designed to run counter-clockwise. Whereas last year the climb came at the beginning, it is now at the end of 60km of flats. (Prior Races: Here and Here)

I can see this route seriously helping the larger and better organized teams. If they can work together to even out the load through the flats, they can set up their climbers for the final hill section when everyone is worn down. The climbers can probably put several minutes into the heavier riders on the climb through Songboling. Once they reach the ridge on Bagua Shan, they will be aided by a gradual decline into Changhua.


The trick will be to stick with a fast moving bunch for 60k. A larger group will surely have the advantage. If you don't have a team, offer to pull at the front for the price of admission.

Last year my strategy was to leapfrog as much of the field as possible before the climb so there would be fewer riders to contend with on the hill. In a race of this size, it can be easy for the road to get clogged with slower riders. Once I made space on the ascent and descent, I joined a faster group to the end. It worked out pretty well.

The opening section from Changhua to the Rte. 152 will plunge riders directly into a stiff headwind. This is where teamwork will really count. Yesterday we made pretty good time against the wind at 37kph against the wind. It took a lot out of me. The Rte. 152 will see riders fighting a crosswind, especially near the river. The climb is divided into two parts. The first is a pretty stiff climb out of Tianzhong. There are about four humps in the climb before it flattens out for a couple kilometers before the climb to the top of the hill. The second climb is a bit easier and I have carried some good speeds to the top. It is actually a bit of a relaxing climb to recover for the endgame along the top of the ridge.



There are also a few sections of road the Changhua government will need to repave before the race.

I capped 120km yesterday with exactly enough energy for a day's effort, but on the way home I was about 200 calories short.

The best thing about the Tour of Changhua is that there is no pressure. It is an easy race to join simply for the experience.

If you would like to join or would like more information on this year's race, you can check the website HERE.

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. 


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