Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/581688442
134km, 5h18, elevation 1268
Today was the day I learned about Baimaoshan, the White Hair Mountain. When my job at the Dutch company in Qingshui could not be official, I had to start looking for other options. I found a company on 104.com.tw that hired foreigners. I contacted them and they welcomed me for a conversation, that was in Caotun. I had no idea where that was, but luckily I live in the 21st high-tech century. I looked up the address on google maps and then I meticulously studied the map and copied this waypoint to Basecamp. From Basecamp I saved it on my Garmin GPS and with my Taiwan map, I could just navigate there. Fantastic, saved me a lot of stress.
The job interview was at 10 am. I remember leaving early enough. All I did was follow my GPS, but for those who enjoy watching the map, here is what I did: Taiwan Boulevard connecting to Route 125 going south. Then some small roads which connected to Route 127, going south to Wufeng. From there I took Hwy 3 which would eventually lead to Caotun. From there I just had to take Hwy 14, where the company was also located. It was a small company and not really an option for me, but they were still very nice. The company was called Tang-Hua and sold LED-lights.
Anyway, after that conversation I was ready to go back home. But then I took that 88 NT map and I saw that there was a nice connection to Fengyuan: All I had to do was take Hwy 14 to Guoxing, ride Route 133 to the end and then I would connect to Hwy 21, which would lead to Dongshi. From there I knew how to go. At the time, it sounded really adventurous so I wanted to try this. I had my map, I had my GPS and it was still early in the day, not even noon. Plus it would beat the alternative, going back through Taichung city.
The first part was easy, I had done Hwy 14 several times. I didn't take any pictures on this first part of the ride. I made the connection to Hwy 133 and after a few hundred meters I saw a 7-11, where I had my lunch break. Just to be absolutely sure, I confirmed with the shop lady that this Hwy 21 would lead to Dongshi. She told me it would, but that is was a mountain path. She looked at me like "are you serious about cycling that"? And there I went, approaching highway 21 for the very first time...
I could feel right away that this was going to be a mountain pass. The gradient at first was doable. The picture above is a view just after leaving Guoxing city center.
The view from a little bridge
I saw a sign indicating 20km, so I knew that I would be in Dongshi in twenty km, but I was clueless as to how those twenty kilometers would be filled in...
Baimaoshan here I come!
The first five km were doable, with some minor climbing but also a little descent or platform to regain strengths. After the turn in the above picture, I saw three wild dogs chasing me. Luckily they gave up really fast. I was in a mountain pass where I had never been before, traffic was exceptionally low and then these black stray dogs. Didn't make me feel at ease tbh
When I reached the 14km sign, the road started to ascend more continuously
My ride... already done quite a few thousand km with this bike
A view down from the mountain. Must be a river with these rocks. I could also see homes and villages around here. I did not see a connecting road though...
I just came from that direction, see how the roads gently makes it way into higher spheres?
The section from 12km to 8km was steep enough and this was also a constant climb. I saw on my GPS screen how the elevation rose about 500 meters. To me that was a lot!
I had no idea how long this climb would still last, but when I saw the 8km sign I was ready for a downhill
Between 8 and 7km there are a few houses and then the road went downhill, downhill for quite a few km. I had made it to the summit and now I was sliding down again. My ordeal must have been over!
A view from Baimaoshan after the summit
Such a tranquil road, I don't remember seeing too many cars on my more than 60 minutes spent here.
During my descent there were some road construction works. I had to wait a few minutes for this truck to pass. But then everything was cool. Most important was not getting a flat here
Hwy 21 connected to Hwy 8. I recognized the bridge we had passed during our Fengyuan team ride to Guguan. It was cool to see that bridge and location from another perspective. I took a left, went to Dongshi and then to Fengyuan via Hwy 3. I stopped for tea time in Fengyuan and headed back to Shalu later in the evening. My first encounter with Baimaoshan had been successful.
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