Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/704247014
226km, 9h26, elevation 3004m
It was the week of Chinese New Year and the school was closed for holidays. One of my colleagues, Sabrina, had invited me to a trip to the Sun Moon Lake. She had cycled there a few times but never managed to find it. I agreed to join her on the ride.
The day started early in Taichung city. We met at the Zhongqing road school at 6:30. We first plowed through the city center on to Taiping. There we rode 136 to Guoxing. This was quite a though ride for her crappy bike haha. Here are some pictures of her ride:
She told me she bought this bike for 10,000
That tire felt like it could go flat over touching air
I lifted it up and I guessed it would nowhere less than 15kg. However, every rider loves their bike!
Anyway, we climbed up 136 to Chikanding and descended to Guoxing, Hwy 14 again. I noticed Sabrina's descending skills were really nice. She was gaining on me on downhill sections. That was really impressive.
We made it to Hwy 14 and cycled to Puli. We chatted about stuff related to working at the school and took a relaxing pace towards Puli. She had never made it further than Puli because she never saw the brown signs indicating Sun Moon Lake. I told her that those signs are only there occasionally. You have to do some research on the map of you want to find it. From Puli we entered Hwy 21 going south. I remembered this section from my first Nantou ride in August 2014. It is a very long climb with an average gradient of 6%. I came here again once in the end of December 2014. During this climb, she got behind me big time, but I waited for her. It even rained a little so we stopped to put on our jackets. We proceeded with caution.
The very long climb brought us to Shuili, where we did the tour around the lake. I did it the other direction from December, riding the Hwy 21 section first and the Hwy 21-2 section afterwards. This circle around the lake is about 20 km with several ascents and descents. We only stopped for pictures on this section.
Anyway, we climbed up 136 to Chikanding and descended to Guoxing, Hwy 14 again. I noticed Sabrina's descending skills were really nice. She was gaining on me on downhill sections. That was really impressive.
We made it to Hwy 14 and cycled to Puli. We chatted about stuff related to working at the school and took a relaxing pace towards Puli. She had never made it further than Puli because she never saw the brown signs indicating Sun Moon Lake. I told her that those signs are only there occasionally. You have to do some research on the map of you want to find it. From Puli we entered Hwy 21 going south. I remembered this section from my first Nantou ride in August 2014. It is a very long climb with an average gradient of 6%. I came here again once in the end of December 2014. During this climb, she got behind me big time, but I waited for her. It even rained a little so we stopped to put on our jackets. We proceeded with caution.
The very long climb brought us to Shuili, where we did the tour around the lake. I did it the other direction from December, riding the Hwy 21 section first and the Hwy 21-2 section afterwards. This circle around the lake is about 20 km with several ascents and descents. We only stopped for pictures on this section.
Cycling down Hwy 21, I came across this cycling shrine. Obviously we stopped here for pictures.
We also stopped at the visitor center. Funny thing: sometimes Sabrina's bike did not shift properly and the chain would drop, requiring her to put it back in the chain rings with her hands. Obviously the result was oil black hands. But it did not spoil the atmosphere of a nice ride.
Riding around the Sun Moon Lake. I was waiting for Sabrina to show up
Traffic was not too intensive. This road even passes through a tiny village, which is really nice. It also reminds me of that 2012 ride.
Almost at the end of the ride, we stopped for some pictures with the lake at the background.
The weather wasn't as nice as in December 2014, but it was far from cold.
Some more snapshots haha. I was not really going to throw my precious bike in the lake.
Sabrina with her 10.000 NT, 15,000 grams bike
Just before returning back to the starting point of the lake, we passed by this Wenwu temple. We descended along Hwy 21 again. I tried to look for 131 which I had seen on the map but I could still not find it. There were so many tour buses along this 21, it was really crazy.
Back in Puli we had some food at a small Vietnamese place. We talked a little about the ride and had a good time. I told her there were two ways of going back to Taichung. One was again via Hwy 14, going back to Guoxing and Caotun. The other was taking 21 all the way to Dongshi. I wanted to do that because I wanted to visit my Fengyuan friends. Sabrina did not have enough battery left for that one, so our ways parted in Puli.
The return to Fengyuan was nice, going the entire tranquil part of 21 to Guoxing and then Baimaoshan. I arrived in Fengyuan in the late afternoon and had tea with my friends. We talked about Sabrina and her crappy bike, which was funny. Later in the evening I went back home. It was a nice ncear-230km ride today. A day well spent.
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