[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-FNUnIez8V0w/Ue4uZRt6hmI/AAAAAAAALqo/b-yJalpjYUI/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_110914.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707173316888162″ caption=”Big Mountains” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_110914.jpg” ]
Last weekend, as sometimes happens, things started to fall into place. My sister-in-law invited my son to go to Hsinchu for the weekend. That meant one kid was out the house. I relied on the hospitality of my parents-in-law to keep a watch on my daughter and so I was left with some time to do some riding.
The challenge of Taiwan’s highest road has been something on the backburner for a while. I think about it occasionally, but that’s about it. I’ve read about a number of people who have done this ride and I was keen to try sometime.
With this big block of time available I decided the time was right to tackle this beast.
I say beast only in hindsight as I grossly underestimated what a huge climb it would be.
My last ride to a high peak was my ride up Alishan. In comparison Alishan is a piece of cake. The route up the mountain is longer and more gradual. It’s quite possible to just pick a good gear and spin all the way to the top of Alishan. Although I have been up there, I really enjoyed it and might go again if the opportunity arises.
[pe2-image src=”//lh4.ggpht.com/-Cbdz1LKiiwg/Ue4uSfqsAhI/AAAAAAAALoQ/C8Q6QsALbk0/s144-c-o/IMG_20130720_233223.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707056802365970″ caption=”Tropic of Cancer Marker” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130720_233223.jpg” ]
In fact, it was my friend Paul Sharpe who was partly responsible for this ride. It had been on my mind and when I was chatting to him the other day I mentioned it. This was enough to bring it from the backburner list to the todo next list.
As with all my previous rides, my preference is to ride the whole way. The “commute” to a ride is just a part of the adventure and I’ve come to embrace that as part of what needs to be done for a good ride. I see many people take other transport to the starting point and then do the ride and commute back. Although I understand this I stubbornly want to do it all by bike. I savour the journey, making the ride more difficult than it needs to be doesn’t detract from the ride, but adds to it. Riding 100km to the start is a hundred kilometers of warm up and build up to the treat ahead. It does require more time, so that needs to be built into the preparation.
So I mapped out the route. (route map here: Jiali to Wuling on bikemap.net)
Bikemap seems to give much better routes than Google Maps, so I mapped it out on Bikemap then uploaded the data to Maps. I did not choose the absolutely most direct route to get there.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-Z_eBVBF1yjE/Ue4uTt5SKRI/AAAAAAAALow/rUrPO5iCJQ8/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_004600.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707077801552146″ caption=”My bike taking a rest in the early morning” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_004600.jpg” ]
The most direct route does not often take into account the state of small roads. Saving 5% distance on a crappy road tends to even out over distance, due to many small factors. So I chose the big roads. The number 1 in the night on the weekends is very empty, and extremely well paved and flat. I can make good time by just tucking in and cruising at a speed that fits. It also feels comfortable at night because of the enormous motorbike and sometimes bicycle lane at the side, giving plenty of room between me and any other vehicles.
I’ve taken to packing food for the journey. Eating at the 7-11 is really convenient, but has its limitations. This is part of a scientific breakdown of my ride. I estimate that I burn around 500 Calories per hour and for really long rides this needs to be replaced. A three hour ride can be done while simply depleting my glycogen (carbohydrate) stores, but after that time I experience a huge drop in energy. It’s possible to come back from that energy drop, but it takes a lot of food to make up that deficit. Better to just keep topping up from the start for a much more controlled effort. Another thing that I’m moving away from is chocolate as an energy source. Large amounts of chocolate simply give me a headache, and I can eat a lot of chocolate when I ride. So instead of controlling my intake I’m switching to alternate sources of energy.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-ZmqJKRV3Po0/Ue4uTmgy2hI/AAAAAAAALo0/s7GTLCcWLEY/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_035645.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707075819788818″ caption=”Puncture” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_035645.jpg” ]
Peanut butter sandwiches make up the bulk of my prepared food. Although boring, they pack a fair number of calories and are very palatable. I tend to make them with four slices of bread, with peanut butter on two layers, in essence, two sandwiches on top of each other. The other advantage is that I can squash the whole concoction very small. The other thing I’m going for is Jelly Babies. These chewy sweets have always been a favorite of mine. Getting big packs of them from the supermarket is the best way and I can split a pack into two so the little packets simply need to be finished for a set number of calories.
Enough about food.
At around 11:30 I set out. No surprises. Miles and miles of just keeping the pedals turning. Sucking in the cooler night air, watching the landmarks pass by. The first few kilometers go quite slowly, but before I know it I’m slipping into mindless mode and simply enjoying the outdoors.
[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-HZyeJ8sY8lI/Ue4uUr194nI/AAAAAAAALo8/rfi53bt1bdI/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_035700.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707094430638706″ caption=”Sign” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_035700.jpg” ]
Somewhere around Douliu I lost my shirt.
I don’t wear a shirt when it’s really hot. This is hugely beneficial for my sanity as the humidity can really start to bear down even at night. The cooling effect of wind over an exposed upper body is awesome.
Stupidly I just tucked my jersey under the netting on my bag. I checked around and it was gone. Dammit, my favorite jersey. Go back and search or press on? The answer was obvious, I stopped at a 7-11, bought an undershirt for when I venture into public and went on. Besides, I had no intention of wearing my shirt unless it got extremely cold.
On the number 3 I took a slight detour along the 152 that I’ve taken before. It follows a much smaller, quieter road near the train line. It’s pleasant and shorter than the main line. Unfortunately my lights had run out of juice and as I was to find out, there are no lights on that section. I rode slowly, riding in only the moonlight. My reward, however, was the fireflies. Little glowing lights flittering across the road while I passed by, it was too dark for my camera so I just had to enjoy it as I went, something that, although I cannot share, I can still remember.
After getting back to the number 3 it was clear sailing again and I pressed on to Caotun. No complications and after skirting the edge of town I was on the road to the summit, the only road I would see for next 12 hours, the number 14.
Bikemap was slightly deceptive (more likely my own idiocy, but I’ll blame bikemap) and the ride up to Puli was a little more difficult than expected, but all good. The sun was out and the birds were ushering in the start of another beautiful Taiwan day.
[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-qBEVTiFreMw/Ue4uUu4BvAI/AAAAAAAALpU/wuW40zDZ9TU/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_045452.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707095244585986″ caption=”Tunnel” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_045452.jpg” ]
At around 6:00 I got to Puli. Much later than I thought. This pleasant village at 500m is the starting point for many people on this venture up the highest road in the country, but for me it was the 165km mark. The 7-11 I stopped at had plenty of bananas so I had some of those and some other junk to mark the start of the real climb… or so I thought.
The first part of the journey going out from Puli starts off gently enough. The rising hills are not too much to deal with and flow in a general upwards direction. There are very few downhills on the way up, almost purely uphill with relief in the form of not-so-steep sections only.
At this point I realized that I had pushed a little too hard on my commute as I was already quite tired. I had not expected the stretch up to Puli to be quite so tough. It wasn’t tough, but was harder than I expected.
But pressing on there was no way that I wasn’t going to get to the top of the mountain. There are extremely few reasons for not completing the ride, but one that I most despise is running out of time. For this reason I always plan a lot more time than I need, because things almost never work out quite as expected.
[pe2-image src=”//lh4.ggpht.com/-RAEIA9rv1OI/Ue4uV8pOaJI/AAAAAAAALpg/FDvHjnLYUvU/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_070827.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707116120467602″ caption=”The lower valleys” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_070827.jpg” ]
The lower part of the ride was much like what I had seen when trying to do the Southern cross island road. The road runs along the lower valley occasionally crossing the river. However, after a stretch it started to push through those lower valleys and up towards the peaks. This happened rather quickly and I was down into my lower gears for much of the ride from here on out.
When the going gets tough, sensible plans tend to fall apart. My meal timing was one of those things. For the long stretches on the way to mountains I had been regular about taking in food every hour and drinking water all the way. On the long climbs, the slow speed worked against my good eating habits. Times between food intakes got stretched, but at the same time I was putting in less than the required calories. Being regular makes everything easier and I made things harder than they should be by not sticking to feeding times. It also complicates the matter of how much the altitude was playing with me, the climb was difficult, but I can’t pinpoint the hardest element. For now, it’s just a tough climb.
[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-lm09SjrUsdI/Ue4uV8wkG7I/AAAAAAAALpo/vAG8eNAueh4/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_071947.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707116151249842″ caption=”Roads carved between steep cliffs” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_071947.jpg” ]
The elevation markers came slower and slower.
Most towns in the mountains mark on the town sign how high the altitude is. This can be either a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective. Once I was at a 1000m or so I thought I had already put in a good effort. By the time I got to 2500m I thought I was done.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-Rg0b8GS_Yio/Ue4uWksuiSI/AAAAAAAALp4/ruj_Km_OtAI/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_080512.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707126872574242″ caption=”Deep valley and big lake” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_080512.jpg” ]
At the 2500m I took a rest by two other guys who were on their way to the top. They were lucky enough to have their friend on a scooter as a support guy. He also helped them take pictures and give encouragement along the way. I decided that we were probably all going about the same pace, and having company along the rest of the way would get me to the top just that little bit easier. The elevation marker also marked 14km to the summit. I thought that would be 2 hours, but they said more like 3 hours. They were right, from this point the road points straight up.
[pe2-image src=”//lh5.ggpht.com/-558G7dWCUhE/Ue4uXYfhJQI/AAAAAAAALqA/ZFCqYEibo_0/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_083426.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707140775814402″ caption=”Tea fields on the steep slopes” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_083426.jpg” ]
The unrelenting climbing over the last 1000m of elevation was torture. My energy levels were drained and I was getting very painful rashes from my ill-fitting cycling shorts. Leg pain I can tolerate, but the pain of a rash is not so easily tolerated.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-ZT1gc2T0XYY/Ue4uYI18M1I/AAAAAAAALqg/OUt-DGL19nc/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_095423.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707153754764114″ caption=”Always things to buy at the roadside” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_095423.jpg” ]
Finally I made it to the top, having plenty of time and breaks to take in the spectacular views all along the way. Despite being at such a high altitude I managed to break a sweat the entire way, despite being shirtless and having a freshly shaved head. The temperatures at the top were cool and refreshing and I took a break to get a picture or two and then have a nap.
Needless to say the ride down was fast. I was faster than many cars but with the traffic thick I just kept my distance from the cars up front and let the ones behind me pass by when I thought they were getting ready to drive up my ass. It’s still amazing how stupid drivers really are, passing each other on blind corners on the way down. What’s the rush? Do you want to die young?
[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-M2C-Hv-fThA/Ue4uY4984aI/AAAAAAAALqk/K4vwj_LO8x0/s144-c-o/IMG_20130721_104100.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/RideToWuling#5903707166673265058″ caption=”Car drove over the cliff” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20130721_104100.jpg” ]
Speaking of bad driving, I passed an accident where someone had driven off the side of the road and then 100m or something down the steep slope, one was killed. Sad, but not uncommon.
When we got to Qingjing recreation farm, my two companions got in their car. It turns out they had driven up the day before, in preparation. I tried to bum a lift back, but they had no room in their car. So off I went for the fast and furious trip down.
Once the road flattened out I was so tired that I decided the bus would be the best to get home, and even if it took longer it would get me home without effort. I found the terminus in Puli, headed to Taichung, then found the only bus that would go near my home, the magical Ubus. Although there was a queue, I sat on the floor and just shuffled up when the line moved, I was exhausted. Once on the bus I fell straight asleep.
Many hours later I got home, gobbled down who knows what food and went straight to sleep.
It was a fantastic ride. And one I’d do again. My biggest complaint would be the traffic with a constant flow of traffic all the way up. I’d love to do this ride on a weekday. The views near the top are breathtaking as all of Taiwan’s mountains are. I’m very grateful for the two companions that I picked up on the way to the summit. It made the whole thing so much easier.