July 21, 2015: There are millions of ways to go to Fengyuan, today I went along the Dajia river

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/845847083

64km, 2h54, elevation 760m

This was just a very short ride with the sole purpose of visiting my friends of Fengyuan. However, I always try to look for new ways to get there. Studying the map tells me that there are indeed a multitude of small roads that could lead to Fengyuan. Today I just did a few options.

I left from Shalu and went to Zhulin. There, I took Taichung-67, the 5km climb to the Taichung Airport. From there I started cycling Taichung-73, the road that runs behind the airport. From there I entered Haifengli.

The plains of Qingshui and Haifengli, also very beautiful

A lot of agricultural activities here, which makes sense for the plains

There are so many of these tiny roads here, I just love the;

Bartman finding his way in Haifengli

A view over the horizon

That road behind the airport is basically a U-shape around the airport. When you get to the end of it, you are in Shengang. From there you can continue to Xinzhuang and Fengzhou on to Fengyuan. What was new today was the small road to the Dongshan area. I entered to check it out.

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Qingshui left, Shengang right

Dongshan village, a lot of places in Taiwan carry this name

From there it was not clear which route was heading to where, so I just cycled at random. In the end I would still get there... Eventually I entered the Shengang area

And this route was designated as Taichung-79

At a certain point, I saw a sign indicating Dajia river. I had passed here several times, but I never went inside to check it out. Today I did...

A small side road, didn't enter this one

Rice fields... Before arriving here there was a short but steep descent. I was not sure if it was the right way but I carried on. Getting lost and then finding your way expands one's comprehension of the roads network

US Army government? No idea what these characters were doing here

I made it to the Dajia river. I was on the southern bedding of the river. Behind these dikes the great stream was flowing through central Taiwan.

Obviously not meant for motor vehicles to enter...

This section along the Dajia river was relatively long. It would lead to the bridge that divides Houli and Fengyuan

On top of the dikes. That bridge crossing the river is Hwy 13, which runs all the way through Miaoli

Dajia river, dry as a bunch of sun laid fruits

Some small field roads at the other side of the dikes

In the horizon you can see the mountains of Dongshi

A journey along the southern bedding of the Dajia river

Then I arrived in Fengzhou, a small area within the Fengyuan district

At this point I did not know exactly how to navigate back to Fengyuan so I just went at random. I recognized Taichung-83. Once, my GPS had navigated me through here. This road would eventually connect to Taichung-72, which at its turn connected to Yuanhuan Beilu, where Guofa is. I made it to Fengyuan.

After visiting my friends for a couple of hours, I cycled back to Shalu. I made use of the bicycle paths but I climbed up to Metropolitan Garden instead of going around it.

This rock was new. Mind the beautiful view over Taichung

The Shengang-Daya-Tanzi bicycle path: a 12km stretch that connects the three areas of Taichung city. I often come here.