June 20, 2015: This is not Tou' erping, this is dead-end Gangxian lane

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/809390218

81km, 3h32, elevation 862m

Every day a new discovery, that is what life should be all about, right? I lived up to that adage today. I went to Fengyuan as usual and I took a climb up to Gonglaoping. Then, I descended further along Taichung-90, returning to Shigang. My plan was to cycle the ever steep Tou'erping lane, but I did something wrong...

Coming from Taichung-90, you have to take a turn right to a temple. From there, there are two directions to go. One leads to Tou'erping and is the lane to the right. I accidentally took the one to the left. Why did I make this mistake? It seemed logical that I would be taking the road that ascends, as I remember Tou'erping to be a very long climb. However, I was wrong...

In my defense, from the very beginning I felt strange on this path. It did not feel like Tou'erping. However, I just kept on cycling.

Shortly after that I knew I was not riding Tou'erping, but I wanted to see where this was going. This snapshot almost feels like some tranquil area in Nantou, but don't be fooled, this was just in Fengyuan's backyard.

This sign says that the road ahead is interrupted. I still wanted to see what was here. Maybe cyclists could pass? It was worth a try...

There were more and more road blocks. The government really does not want people to be driving their cars here...

I slowly began comprehending what was going on. These falling rocks were telling me that probably after a typhoon this road has been blocked up.

Incredible views just in the backyard of Fengyuan. Central Taiwan is such a mysterious place.

Bartman on June 20th. My helmet still had the Fengyuan race sticker on it

Maybe not completely clear from this picture, but there was a series of falling rocks and sand blocking the road.

This is where I decided I needed not take things further. The road was blocked, not by these yellow blocks but by the cover up in vegetation and rocks behind it. Too bad this lane did not offer an extra connection to Xinshe. It would have been nice if I could combine it in a Grand Tour de Fengyuan.

I went back to the starting point, because I wanted to check what the name of the lane was I had been cycling. The answer was Gang-xian lane. Good to remember...

I was supposed to take this small lane at the right to Tou' erping. Instead I went for a more sacred conquest of Gang-xian lane at my left.

I passed some small lanes and connected to a point to Shigang's Hwy 3. Then I cycled back via the Dongfeng path to Fengyuan for tea.