January 23, 2015: Honored by Casper's visit all the way from Taipei for joining me in a Taichung ride

Garmin Activity: No Garmin Activity

This week, a friend from Taipei came to see me. We met online at the Specialized forum where I sometimes post pictures and stories. He wanted to come to Taichung to see me. He cycled all the way from Taipei to Taichung. He arrived at night and I bought him dinner in the small restaurant right across the street. On Saturday he would join our Fengyuan team ride to Guguan and Saturday evening he would take a bus back to Taipei because he wanted to join a cycling club on their Sunday ride. Quite a busy schedule for him! Let's talk about our ride together.

He spent the night in a little hostel in Shalu and we met early in the morning at my place. We crossed Taiwan Boulevard and took one of those very steep small lanes up to Metropolitan Garden. He could handle the 14% in the early morning well. From there we continued our journey to Fengyuan. Mr. Cai had prepared breakfast for us both, which was nice. Then we all went to that 7-11 in Fengyuan city together. The group reunited and we started chatting. I took the courtesy of introducing Casper to my friends, bragging about how he came all the way from Taipei by bike. What a champ!

OK, no more talks, let's just hit the road. Casper said he had never visited Guguan before so I think it was a good selection for today. It would be a rather tranquil ride, nothing stressy. Just Hwy 3 to Dongshi, then Hwy 8 to Guguan, distance back and forth somewhere around 150km for us.

For this ride, I installed my Bike Cam. I wanted some nice footage so I had my camera take one picture every minute.

As you can see, we had perfect weather. Ideal conditions for a lovely group ride

The rider in this white jersey is A-yong, who was riding his Giant bike

Presenting to you: Casper, aka Chen Weizhe. He was riding an Aster bicyle with carbon wheels.

We made a small stop here because one of the guys needed to take a piss and wanted to buy a drink

These red lights are a joke, just make sure you look at your right for incoming traffic and continue pedaling

A-Yong back in the picture, literally!

It is a tradition on Guguan rides to take a small brake at the Heping bridge. This is the bridge that leads to Hwy 21. We wait for others to catch up and we have pictures here. I was standing here with A-Yong, Shu-wei and Liao Shi-jie.

Once past that bridge, we found the tranquility of Hwy 8> For most people, this section is one giant dead end ally. At Guguan you cannot pass.

Random pictures taken by my bike cam. Most of the ride was just conversation with Casper and taking it easy. I was riding my flatbar, not even my road bike here. 

Early morning solitude along Hwy 8

A car just passed us by. There weren't many cars today and those that did come by, had all the space to go around us.

You see that descent up front? That is gonna be nice on the return. It will be a 12% ascent where we can shake off team mates.

Another descent, this one was a bit longer. The road to Guguan gradually ascends to 700 meters.

Guguan means going all the way east, into the hills and eventually mountains of Central Taiwan.

A beautiful day for cycling

Casper in front of me, enjoying his Guguan ride

One of the few tunnels here. 

In the left corner here is Liao SHi-hie, with his red Mavic wheels.

We were not the only cyclists riding here today. Guguan is extremely popular among Taiwanese.

Liao Shi-jie and Casper in front of me, good opportunity to have their pictures taken.

This one was more successful. Next time I will put my camera the other way so I can also flash the folks behind me

Car that is closing in a tad too close. Taiwanese drivers do not understand the ethics of conducting a motorized vehicle. That, or they are just complete assholes who don't regard cyclists. Or both...

There is a big temple on the left here. I even think it is a Taoist temple

My camera was suffering from tunnel vision here...

That guy in the left corner is me, see that bike cam on my helmet? Preparing for the last tunnel. There were some construction works here at my right. Usually you can see the mountains and river bed here but not today.

Winter tea now available for purchase! Guguan, Lishan, Dayuling these areas are mainly about selling tea.

The 29km red bridge, Guguan in less than five kilometer.

Closing in on Guguan

Enjoying the view. I was riding at pole position over here

We had our break in Guguan as usual. My friends were interested in knowing more about Casper. Then we rode back to Taichung. We stopped at that Heping bridge again. This time, I wanted to show Casper some different roads. We cycled along Taichung-95-1 that leads into Xinshe. From Zhongxingling, we climbed up to Shuijing and took Wanli Changcheng, Taichung-88 back to Taichung. It was a nice climb according to Casper. 

Casper with his very nice gear. He just enjoyed a lovely climb. Now it would be downhill. I warned him to be careful with his carbon wheels.

The best part of the ride was hanging out with a new friend. Later in the afternoon we first went to Guofa and then we cycled back. I explained him how to go to Chaoma in Taichung city. He would be taking a bus back to Taipei the same night. 

February 16, 2015: It feels good to be outside cycling after three intensive weeks of winter classes

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/698857613

134km, 6h19, elevation 1500m

For the past three weeks, I have been teaching non stop, as in seven days a week. This was because of a combination of winter classes and regular classes. The result was fewer opportunities for cycling. But today an opportunity popped up: my classes ended at 12 o clock and I decided to do a half-day ride.  My school is located on Zhongqing road, section 1 in Taichung. From there I went to Taiping and I started cycling 136, always a fun ride.

136 is hilly and has a five km continuous ascent. I think I made it to the top in some 40 minutes, which is above average. I took some pictures at Chikanding

Chikanding with my flatbar, I hadn't done that since early January when I rode here with my Fengyuan friends. That ride I even had to stop once because I had too much of a heart beat and I was too tired from the long flight. Today I wanted revenge for that and I rode it in one piece. 

There are always some people here, so I had the opportunity to have my picture taken here. 

Then the descent started. Right after the first turn, I saw a small trail. I entered to see what was here. I think it was some private property, so I did not proceed.

Moreover, the road down was more MTB terrain, so nothing for today.

A mile or something further down the road, I saw the entrance to this forest path. Again, I wanted to check it out.

It was a warm day and I was sweating. 

I was afraid of wild animals, mostly monkeys, so I did not go all the way in. I did see monkeys along 136 on previous rides.

The next of the descent was very relaxing. The weather was exceptionally good and I enjoyed the views along the hills. Coming here was a good idea! Not too far from home, but still a nice climb! This picture at the 47km is near to the end point of 136.

The end of 136 leads to Hwy 14. I could go to Caotun on the right, which would be the shortest and easiest way back home. However, I chose to go right, into Guoxing city center. I had a break at the 7-11 there. 

Originally my plan had been to take Hwy 21 back to Fengyuan, over Baimaoshan. However, I saw the entrance to Nantou-97 at my left and I started thinking. I had entered it in November last year, but a pack of wild dogs at the entrance chased me and I decided to not do it. Today I felt like I could go for another try. I entered and repeated the instructions some bystanders gave me there in November. It was possible to get lost here, but I found the right connection.

I noticed that this road started climbing right from the start, and very steep as well. There was a scooter right behind me in one of the turns and I started talking to them. I wanted to confirm this was the road to Xinshe. They said yes, but it would be another 26km. I asked them if there was a place I could buy water here. They told me there was not, but they invited me to go to their friends place, which was just down the road. That friend was a guy from Guangzhou living on top of a hill, very isolated, but very beautiful. I filled up my water there and we had a long chat. It was truly a cool place to live. When it got late, I decided to proceed my journey. Did not want to risk anything on a road I had never cycled before. 

This turned out to be a VERY tiny road. I was amazed by this one. Not only was it a steep climb, it had spectacular views of betel nut trees. The weather added that extra touch to it. I made some pictures here and there.

I turned on my GPS watch for recording this section. I wanted to be able to find it on the map later. I also focused on my bike km, counting the miles I did inside. I was focused on the number 26.

I made a small video recording with my camera while climbing. You can watch it via this link.

https://www.facebook.com/kuorueicheng/videos/881041798620212/

A small hostel was here. I wonder how its business would be... Anyway, there was a 20% steep ascent just before arriving here.

The hostel was at my right. I think this was some six km inside. 

Just look at this tiny little road. It is just a path between betel nuts on a giant hill. Not a single car here! Traffic was non-existing here.

There was a shadowy section under some trees were a dog came chasing behind me. It barked and looked as if it was on attack mode. On top of that, I was climbing a 13% ascent, so speed was not super high. The dog did not attack and I was able to pursue my journey. I did get scared though... You never know if these annoying stray dogs are serious.

The weather was really good and it made the ride very enjoyable.

After some eleven km, the road went downhill. This picture is a spot I recognized from a blog I had read about this road. I HAD to have a picture here...

I was now in a long descent. It had to be the road to Xinshe. I took this picture because of the beautiful sunset background. 

The downhill gradient was also very steep. Glad to be riding with disc brakes

This Nantou-97 is truly a small mountain pass, worthy of future visits!

All of the sudden, the road connected to a much larger road. I was first clueless on what direction I had to go, so I randomly chose left. That led me to a big temple and a closed road.

I ended up at the end of Taichung-95. It helped me reassure that I needed to go in the other direction. I remembered Taichung-95 of Fengyuan group rides. It meant I was in Taichung and had left Nantou. It was so cool that there was such a small connection between the two counties. 

There was still a whole lot of miles to descend along Taichung-95. Also, there were some cars driving here. I rode until the end of Taichung-95 and then I suddenly recognized where I was: I have come here a few times on morning rides from Taiping to Xinshe. A lot of places got linked together today...

From here it was still 30km to Fengyuan. I went back via Taichung-88 Wanli Changcheng. I stopped at my friends place for tea and told them all about this wonderful discovery.