Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/763686697
55km, 2h08, elevation 510m
Sometimes a short ride can also present some lovely discoveries. That's what I learnt today. Today was not an ordinary Sunday, it was the last Sunday I would live as a 27-year old. I had classes from ten to five today.
When I finished my class at five and got ready to get back home, I suddenly got some inspiration: It was not dark yet, the weather was great. I could go for a small ride. I decided to do something I remembered from looking at the map: going south along Hwy 1 and making a loop around Nantun and Wuri, back to Shalu.
The first part was through the city and had more traffic, but as soon as I made it to Wuri things got somewhat calmer. Here, I saw the High Rail Station and I recognized my location from my very first ride in Central Taiwan, on August 10, 2014. Back then I took that road to Changhua. Today I went back to Taichung. Recognizing all of this was nice. It made me think about how I had developed in the last year and how I had gotten a good grasp of Taichung.
Beautiful rice fields on a beautiful Sunday late afternoon. Today I linked two spots on the map together. My geographical understanding of Taichung got another boost.
Typical Taiwanese, these cheap built factory buildings right in the middle of the rice fields.
In just two days I will turnd 28. That thought actually scared me
Route 125 runs from south to north Taichung. I ride it often.
Then my roads with 125 parted. In order to get back to Shalu I could do two things: Take 136 that runs through the Taichung Industrial Park, or take the other option I never took before. Xiangshan road. I went for number two...
This Xiangshan road was a long nice climb. I took the trouble to check out what was around this area.
This was somebody's private property. I only made this picture and then I retreated.
Looks like an MTB trail
As I continued my climb up Xiangshan road, I realized I had also been here on that very first central Taiwanese ride. I came down from 136 and I descended on Xiangshan road. When I realized I was going in the wrong direction, I went back and descended through the Industrial Park.
My lovely bike. I just love it! Good frame, nice wheels, disc brakes...
From there I entered Longjing. I already knew where I was here. Shalu was close
The sun was setting...
I remember all of this from the summer of 2014. When I came up that hill from the other side, I nearly died. Of fatigue that is. Btw check out that typically Taiwanese spot for scooters wanting to make a turn. They have to do it in two moves. Super lame system.
136 indeed. I descended along this steep hill and made it back to Shalu. From there I just had to navigate away from the city center.
One little discovery still: this Taichung-68. It connected to the street where I live> Beishi Dong road. From there I just had to take a right and one km later I was home. A cool way of getting back home.
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