Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/821871500
173km, 7h52, elevation 2830m
Mr. and Mrs. Cai wanted to do a Daxueshan ride and they had invited Yuan Xing-yi and Su Huang-yu. They asked if I wanted to join them and I was always up for a Daxueshan ride. The four of them left early in the morning driving their car to Dongshi and starting the climb from there. I did not want to wake up too early because I had 35km to do from Shalu to Dongshi.
When I arrived in Dongshi, I saw their cars by the side of the road. The chase could commence!
Early in the morning, at the Daxueshan route entrance I aaw two familiar vehicles: the white car of Yuan Xin-yi and the van of Mr. Cai.
The first few miles of this route are relatively flat, a nice warm up for those who start cycling from here.
Feeling good early in the morning.
Not even two km down the road and I already caught up on Mrs. Cai
She bought a new LIV giant cycling outfit, which looks nice on her
A took some pictures of her, I know how Taiwanese appreciate this
Su Huang-yu was riding with her, also a a snapshot of her
Two ladies enjoying a cycling trip
They yelled at me that I should not wait for them. It would be stressful to them haha
Then I saw Mr. Cai and Yuan Xing-yi, Never imagined that I would catch up on everybody so fast
I decided to join them for the big climb
We chatted a lot during or way uphill and of course I showed off a little with fast accelerations
I accelerated in the twisty part around 7km so that they lost sight of me. Then I escaped using a small slope which gave me a nice view of the road below. From there I took some nice pictures
Like a hunter waiting for his prey. Obviously he has to be silent and wait to strike...
Incoming...
There they are! This section has a 7% gradient
One more! Right before this picture I screamed so they knew where I was. They were like what are you doing there man! Haha, so much fun!
Then I had to catch up on them again. Mr Cai told me I should go check on Mrs Cai and Su Huang-yu, they were far behind. I descended two full km before I found them
Yuan Xing-yi met a friend of her here. Obviously, with her 1000 cycling friends on FB chances are big she would come across someone familiar
Mr. Cai riding his fabulous SW Tarmac
Su Huang-yi plowing her way up
And of course, my Taiwanese mama
Then I continued a section at my own speed. I would wait for them later.
Twelve and a half km inside of the climb
A view over Dongshi and Heping
Another wonderful day to be outside
Fifteen km, the first checkpoint. I waited for everybody at the police station a little further down the road
Temperatures were just right
I once went inside of this little dead end alley. Now access was not allowed anymore
A lot of info, but we would have to take Xueshan road all the way up.
The others arrived so it was time for pictures
Mr Cai enjoying his free water
This girl likes to have pictures taken
Su Huang-yi made it as well
We waited a while for Mrs. Cai and then Mr. Cai asked me tom go check, which I did. She was at the 14km mark, almost there, but slowly making progress.
More pictures
One of me with the two younger ladies
Mrs. Cai finally arrived!
We had a break and then we continued our climb. Well not everybody, Mrs. Cai and Su Huang-yi had had enough,. They decided to go back to Dongshi and wait for the others there.
I waited at the 20km mark for some pictures of the gang
Yuan Xing-yi arriving
and escaping... but I did tell her to wait for Mr. Cai
Mr. Cai arriving
,
Mr. Cai close up
At the 26.5km tunnel I waited, very long even but nobody showed up. Yuan Xin-yi had akso gone back. Then I saw Mr. Cai arriving who told me this was all he could handle for today. So he too decided to head back. I told him that I wanted to finish the climb. From there it was a solo ride once again!
My tenth ride up to Daxueshan but never got sick of it
Elevation around 1500
On a day like this its beauty and charm cannot be described in words
High up in the skies
On the map this position is far away from villages and tribes
It is located in the central mountain range, a little north of Hwy 8, where Guguan and Deji lie
A crevice in the mountain, just big enough for me and my bike
July on Daxueshan is really something else. I read about it in a cycling magazine, but it is really something else!
The Great Snow Mountain...
My personal favorite: the 32km blue bridge
Around elevation 2000m, that is 2km up in the skies.
My precious ride
Second checkpoint, a 100 NT entrance. Totally worth the bucks
Not even pedestrians were allowed to enter this section. Sounds a tad too risky to me.
On my descent, I felt so sleepy that I stopped for a nap, which I had right here. I slept for a good 45 minutes and then I continued my descent. Most epic siesta ever!
I do crazy stuff, but I renounce to potentially dangerous stuff
From my perspective, the way to Daxueshan.
The 41km waterfall
The 43km tourist center. Elevation 2273m, temperature around 23 degrees, still pretty warm for this elevation level
A snapshot from the 48km viewers deck
The weather patterns were gradually changing
50km, once agani! Fabulous
After that I descended and went back to Fengyuan where I had tea with my friends who went home earlier. A beautiful summer setting ride along one of the most remarkable climbs of Taiwan., To put some numbers on this: the distance of Daxueshan road is 50km, so up and down is 100. This, I did ten times, which is 1000km spent solely at Daxueshan. Lovely!
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