October 13, 2014: A Miaoli ride with my former Shalu landlord and his buddy

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/611623849

126km, 5h17, elevation 1497m

When I just arrived in Taiwan, I needed a place to stay. I found a little student dorm room online and I moved in there that same day. However, that room was only temporary and I found a better place after two months. My landlord from the room I rented, also a fanatic cyclist, invited me for a cycling trip together with one other friend of his. I could not really decline could I? 

So we met a six am at Providence University. The three of us headed out to Qingshui and took Hwy 1 north to the Miaoli region. I noticed this landlord of mine was seriously hammering it. I did not even want to keep equal pace with him. I cycled at my own pace and just tried to keep him within sight. Sometimes he would wait. 

In Miaoli we took Route 121 further north, until we reached the Route 130. Something annoying happened here. There was a lot of traffic and because my landlord gained on his friend in a tight position, he forced him to a sudden stop, which caused him to smack into the concrete. Good thing eh was fine, but what an asshole behavior. I did not pronounce my thoughts at the moment, but I was disgusted by it.

Back to route 130. This a long climb that goes until Sanyi township. I have ridden this section in previous early rides in 2014. We went through Sanyi city and took Miaoli-49. If you have no idea what I am talking about, just check out my Garmin map. We then started climbing Miaoli-56, the so called Guandaoshan. We only did the first climb though.

I had never been to this area before. It is the Guandaoshan mountain. The views were lovely. We stopped here for a quick break. The climb up here was strange: 12% with minor descents in here as well.

I was not yet at their level, but that's fine.

This is the road of Guandaoshan, a.k.a. Miaoli-56. We did not go in here, we turned back to the main road where we came from.

They told me Guandaoshan was a very steep climb and that it would be cool for another ride.. 

Sanyi, Dahu, Shengxing station, Longteng broken bridge... A lot of scenic spots in Miaoli. We went straight ahead, hoping to connect to 130.

Good thing I brought my Garmin. There are a lot of cool routes here. Gotta come back here!

Then we saw this. We thought it was just meant for cars, so we passed. Often you have these road blocks where you can pass as a cyclist.

And then we noticed we really could not pass. These workers were even unfriendly, shouting ''can't you guys read the sign that you are not supposed to come in here''. 

So we went for plan B, which was going back to Hwy 13 and descending to Houli from there. On the long straight section our speeds were very high. I believe I did around 65 kmph. Incredible! In Houli we took a section underneath a bridge that lead to Shengang and Daya. From there, Shalu was close.

This is a snapshot I took in Qingshui. I used to cycle here a lot in the days I worked with Gert in Qingshui.

It was a nice ride with some serious elevation, but honestly speaking, I will cycle with other people next time :-)