Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/848155154
90km, 3h51, elevation 1299m
Lately I have been riding a lot in the hills between Fengyuan and Xinshe. I originally started riding here because my friends in Fengyuan ride Gonglaoping a lot. Then I learned from Lin Maodi, that there are several other nice lanes to cycle as well: Beikeng, Zhongkeng, Nankeng, Wanli Changcheng; Touping, etc. There is a lot to do and by linking these roads, you could assemble a nice work out. That was exactly my mission for today.
I left Shalu and I went to Fengyuan. However, I decided to cycle a little alternatively compared to what I normally do. I cycled down Taiwan Boulevard and first went to the Qingshui area. There, I made use of this Aofengshan cycling trail which would run behind the Qingquangang airport. From there, I road Taichung-70 which led me to the Fengzhou area. Then I took Fengzhou road to Fengyuan, where I first visited my friends and then hit the road again.
I went to the 921 Zhongzheng Park, which is where all of these tracks link together. Instead of doing Gonglaoping, I went for Zhongkeng, which could be considered the toughest climb of the area. It provides the most elevation, it has the steepest gradient and it has got the longest distance. It even climbs to sea level 500! Among local cyclists, this trail is referred to as "Little Wuling", because there is one particular view that looks like Wuling.
This Zhongkeng road (Chinese for Central Hill), has got some steep gradients, it keeps on climbing until sea level 500, which is not bad at all for a hill in Fengyuan!
From this picture you can see that the elevation is pretty good. That road down there was just two turns ago.
This picture was not a genuine success because of the gloomy weather. However, this is the top of the hill. From here, the road will make a little but steep descent and eventually connect to Taichung-90, the road of Gonglaoping.
I had only done a mere 35km from Shalu, but already more than 600 meters of elevation. For a shorter ride, those are good numbers.
This is the view you would get after completing Gonglaoping. I just got here via a little detour. The road that runs down here is Taichung-90 and leads to Shigang. I went down here today, because I wanted to connect to Tou'erping, another steep climb from Shigang to Xinshe.
So what I did was taking Taichung-90 all the way down, before connecting to Hwy 3 I went into a small lane on the right, which is where I took this picture. It is the starting point of Tou'erping. This is a continous climb of several kilometers that often has 16-17% gradients. One point even exceeds 20%.
If you just continue all the way along Tou'erping, you will make it to Taichung-93, one of the bigger roads that runs through Xinshe. This picture is the view on top of that road.
Orientating from Taichung-93, I went to Shuijing. Next phase of my mission would be to take Wanli Changcheng (Taichung-88) down. I saw this writing which says A-cheng. My Chinese name is Kuo Ruei-cheng and my friends call me A-Cheng sometimes. Even though it is a different character, I had to have this picture!
Xinshe is renowned for the flowers they grow here. Every year in November there is a big flower exposition. As you can see, they are already making preparations for it.
And then the rollercoaster ride down Wanli Changcheng commenced... The next picture is a view of the hills along this road. Enchanting, isn't it?
Before going back to Fengyuan, I did one more thing. There is a small road at the T-section at the end of Taichung-88. I went to the right to check it out. I had heard people saying that that road would also lead to Xinshe. It was a lot of climbing and the road got smaller and smaller. In the end it did not lead anywhere. So I headed back to Fengyuan. However, looking at the Garmin map, it does appear to connect. This lane is described as "Shanshou Lane" and should connect to somewhere on Tou'erping. It is something I will have to investigate on a future ride.
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