April 23, 2015: 6000 km on my flatbar during my explorations in Haifengli

Garmin Activity. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/754637949

79km, 3h07, elevation 728m.

I like numbers and today was another big number day. Already 6000 km on my flatbar. The miles keep flying in these days. Quickly summarized; I went to Fengyuan for tea and then I went to Taichung city for classes. 

I first climbed up Metropolitan Garden and descended to Daya. There, I took Taichung-73 which runs behind the army base. I had seen some signs indicating a cycling path here. I wanted to check that out today. This is a picture along Taichung-73. 

I saw this Young Bike sign which indicated that the bicycle path would be here. The street became narrower and I came by a temple. Following the road brought me to the cycling path. 

The cycling path. I read that this one runs from the Qingshui station all the way to the Dajia river. 

Are YOU spending your day doing sports?

A map of the coastal cycling paths of Taichung city, Qingshui area. If you look closely, you can see the provincial highways 1 and 17 indicated here. The yellow indications refer to the cycling path. 

The official name for it was the Dayang cycling path. From what I learned today, I guessed that this was the end of the cycling path. From here it would go to Qingshui station. But I was going the other way!

I continued my journey and entered the small village of Haifengli. This little town is full of very old buildings. Also the name is not a lie: it is a village, near the sea with a lot of wind. 

I ran through the tiny alleys and saw Dajia appearing on the signs. Compared to the bigger roads I had been riding, this was really nice. I think I have found a nice alternative for going to Fengyuan.

I love criss-crossing through tiny alleys without traffic. 

That little alley turned into a steep descent that ran under the express ways. 

I followed this direction because it indicated Qingshui/Dajia. This green sign says: cyclist journey, the Daqing cycling path. Apparently this was still part of that cycling path. 

Following the signs brought me to the Dajia river. I came out of the small street where I had passed by so many times coming from Shalu. This was a fun new way of getting here. 

6000 km at this very spot. This is the distance collected on this bike over something more than three months. According to that speed, I will make 10,000 km very fast. 

I crossed the Dajia river and I took Taichung-30, which is a smaller side street of Hwy 1. According to the map, that little road would lead to Houli. Taichung-30 had a very steep initial 2 km, I think the steepest gradient was 13%. After that, it became the Erkan road which was relatively flat. 

Eventually I ended up at Route 132. I followed it to Houli. There are also some stingers in this part. In Houli, I connected to Hwy 13 and went south to Fengyuan. There, I had tea in the afternoon and then I went to school.