September 20, 2014: A relaxing Miaoli ride to Sanyi and Dahu with the Fengyuan gang

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/594517255

101km, 4h04, elevation 1256m

Another morning ride with the Fengyuan gang... These rides are never really long but they are fun and these people help me get to understand the local geography a lot better. Today we did some cycling in the Miaoli region, which could be considered as part of "northern Taiwan".

I got op really early and started cycling at 4h30, yeah that's really early! The first part from Shalu to Fengyuan was in the dark. When I made it to Fengyuan the sun had risen and I got myself a free breakfast from Mr. Cai. After breakfast, we headed out to meet the others.

We waited for the others to show up here. We took some pictures while waiting. Three beautiful Specialized bicycles paired up against the fence. Left: Liao Shi-jie's Venge, middle: my Roubaix, right: Mr. Cai's Tarmac. Nice looking bikes!

We met up in Houli and then we started cycling Hwy 13. This was a wide road going north and the section from Houli to Sanyi we were riding had a very long climb. Just after Houli there is an ascent of quite a few miles with some steep sections. In this section I ditched everybody else, even though  I was having a hard time myself. I kept plowing through until the summit and then there was a descent, which led to Sanyi city. I took some pictures while I was waiting for the others.

Miniature train in Sanyi

Waiting for the others to arrive...

The first one to join me was Liao Shi-jie. He is a good climber as well

And he was kind enough to take my picture here, while we waited for the others to arrive.

Eventually the group reunited and we continued for the second part of the ride, which was Route 130 from Sanyi to Dahu. This is the section that runs past the Ginger Garden. Again, this section has a 6km ascent with some steeper sections. Another golden chance to race against my new buddies :-)

Right before the climb of 130 there is a split section, more like a scenic area. Anyway, we just took 130.

 

Us having some pictures taken. It was a fun morning ride

Mr. Cai and Steven approaching... really cool how they cycle all the time. It is def. something to look up to.

We were going left here (Route 130 to Dahu). Straight ahead would be Guandao mountain and Longteng broken bridge, two minor attractions in Miaoli.

From another angle: we just came from the left side (Sanyi) and we were going to Dahu.

Then we started climbing 130. If you are not a good climber, you will find this section hard. I found it hard at the time. Steadily and slowly I managed to plow through. On top of the summit, there is the Ginger Garden (Jiangyuan in Chinese). This is where I realized I had actually already been here in August, on a GPS guided tour. A strange sensation of coming back...

 There is also a huge temple here, where you can even get water for free. We stopped there for some water and checked out the scenes.

A devoted Buddhist thanking the spirits...

The temple complex, quite impressive though. Buddhism is really something in Taiwan.

Bartman and Steven

Bartman and Liao Shijie

Group picture

Crazy A-Zhu

 

Then we headed down, the downhill section was pretty steep and needed to be executed with care. I saw on my GPS that gradients were as steep as 13%, kinda scary. After the 4km descent, we connected to Hwy 3. I had cycled Hwy 3 so many times that it looked so familiar.  

We basically cycled Hwy 3 back to Fengyuan. The few ascents were a fun way of challenging each other.

Back in Fengyuan we had lunch together and chatted for a few hours. In the late afternoon I went back home a satisfied man. At least I did 100km with some climbing. Good ride!