232km, 9h24, 2600 elevation
Mission for today: Going all the way to Shanlinxi in Lugu Township (Nantou). I had done a previous attempt a few weeks earlier, but a flat tire underway and the delay because of it turned Xitou into my last stop. No problem, today would be another try and I was bound to succeed. I departed south from Shalu to Wuri (actually my GPS sent me that way as I could not have come up with this itinerary myself). From Wuri I went further south into Changhua county's Fenyuan area, using one of the many Route 14's. Eventually I made it to Hwy 3 and I kept on going south to Nantou city, Mingjian and Zhushan townships. In Zhushan I took 151 to Lugu. So far for my warm up.
The map of my ride today, approximately since I drew it myself
Lugu scenic area road map, a good way of seeing what's around and what might be fun
At the 7-11 there was another cyclist going that direction, but he had a different pace than I did
Pursuing route 151 south
From Lugu to Xitou on to Shanlinxi was all uphill, the first part being the steepest with gradients of 12%. It was about 20km to Xitou, that section went fairly well. I revisited the spot where I previously had a flat tire. I restocked on essentials and continued my journey uphill. The section from Xitou to Sanlinxi was not as steep as the previous section. I think it had an average gradient of only 4-5% with only a few steeper sections. The numbers counted down to zero and there were signs of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac along the road.
The sign indicates Shanlinxi in Chinese with the number of KM remaining
Today would also be a lovely 2500+ climb
This section was not very steep as you can see
Views of Southwest Nantou
10km remaining to Shanlinxi
Beautiful views. Later on I read an article saying a vehicle had crashed into one of these valleys and everybody in the car died. Sad story. Always be careful in mountainous areas
The only tunnel of the route
At this point I met an older couple who were both teachers at Tainan Chenggong University. They were kind enough to take a picture of me.
Shanlinxi is a park with entrance fee of 150 yuan. Not that I was backed by that, just that I could not keep my bicycle safe here. And I still had about a hundred km ahead back to Shalu.
Information brochure of the Shanlinxi park
I saw fog merging in the mountains, time to go back
Going back down hill
Yes that is fog!
Once I got back down, I wanted to do some more sight seeing of Nantou. At the intersection of 151 and 131, I took 131 east to Jiji, where I crossed the Luji Bridge (Lu stands for Lugu and Ji for Jiji)/
A small little road, very cozy in this afternoon
After a climb it was downhill now.
The bridge between Lugu and Jiji townships in Nantou county
A view from that bridge. The weather wasn't particularly bright.
Me riding my bike on the bridge
In the Jiji town center, replica of an ROC M24 tank
Jiji Train Station, packed with Chinese people
Jiji temple, the new one after the 921 earthquake
The forces of mother nature are confrontating and shocking
After my mini tourist tour of Jiji, it was really time to head back, it would be dark when I got home. I took the 139 which I had cycled before in the other direction to Nantou. I swapped between roads and eventually I was on Hwy 3 again, which I took all the way through Taichung city to Fengyuan, for team time. I saw this interesting picture next to the road:
After a tea break in Fengyuan, I headed back to Shalu. I made a mini detour for Qingshui, because that would provide me with an excellent 230km for today, and this lovely night view of Qingshui:
I had a wonderful time, finally completed my quest for Shanlinxi, got some awesome numbers and views, a wonderful day in the sattle. Just a quick peep at my Garmin data. Now good night folks! To be continued
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