Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/906692947
88km, 3h07, elevation 470m
On Sunday, I would be participating in the DK Cycling club's morning ride. A good way of meeting some new people. I was told that their would be a climbing section and a flat section where we would have to race. Early in the morning Xu Zihuai and I had breakfast and went t Yilan, via the 191 where I had my flat tire earlier. I remember us buying some nutrition packs at the Family Mart because the second one was only 60%.
Today I got to wear my Wanho team jersey. A picture with Kevin before the cycling tour commences.
A few group pictures before hitting the road
Sixteen people riding today, that was a nice number. Not too much, not too little
One more with Kevin in the picture... literally that is...
We departed from Yilan and after an initial wrong turn, we ended up at the Lanyang river. This was a long flat river bank section. At this section all of the sudden everybody started going all out. At first I was caught off guard, but I hammered it really nicely and I was going more than 50 kmph on my flatbar. Super fast! It required a great deal of energy but I had what it took to regain the leading position. Had to show these guys I know how to ride a bicycle. I was racing past everybody, even their team leader. Haha that was so much fun!
Still in the warm up phase, ready for spontaneous combustion
Riding calmly next to the Lanyang river bank, few moments later the scene exploded into a full fletched race.
When that sprint was over, we connected to Hwy 7. I recognized the spot immediately from my July tour around Taiwan. I came down from Lishan but now we would be going up Hwy 7. By then the group had already somehow split apart because of the racing earlier. I was riding together with their 42 year old team leader. He was riding at a fast pace, somewhat difficult to catch up with on my flatbar. However, as we entered the hilly sections I decided to hammer it more and more. The result was that I showed him who's boss. The distance between him and me grew only bigger.
However, since I did not know where the team ride would go, I decided not to push it too far. At some big bridge with an intersection I decided to wait. It was the bridge with the Hwy 7-3 to Luodong. That was exactly where we were going. I waited for him and we chatted a little. He was complementing me on my riding skills. That section was relatively flat with only a few minor steep hills.
We had a break at the Sanxing township 711, which was some 10km away from Luodong. I bought some drinks for everybody and we had a fun chat. Everybody wanted to have pictures taken with me. It was like I was a star haha. They were all complementing me on my riding skills. Even though I was just riding that flatbar, I still owned the shit out of them. Super sweet!
After the 711 stop, we went to Luodong via Route 196. Here, they had planned for another sprinting section. Before I had started going at it, I was already chased by several riders. I decided to tap that shit one more time, this time endurance style. I accelerated to 45kmph and more and I managed to keep that high pace for several minutes. I gradually gained on everybody and I left them seriously behind. Another display of power, how wonderful it was! Unfortunately, not knowing the roads, I had to again wait for them. We eventually rode back to Hwy 9 which would lead to the DK Cycling Cafe. Once we arrived there, most people went home because they had family obligations on Sunday afternoon.
Me and Xu Zihuai, we went back to Toucheng, had a shower and lunch and then we met some of his friends who were also cycling. I had originally planned to maybe do Suhua road in the afternoon and go to Hualien. However, it was raining in the afternoon so I decided not to do this. We went to a local mall together for some sight seeing. Xu Zihuai bought that book on athletic nutrition. It was a fun day, maybe not with great numbers, but I did manage to display a wonderful physique.
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