The Daily Bubble Tea

On Saturday I had plans to ride along with The Nantou Power Cycling Club for a trip to Shuili [水里].  The morning started off wonderfully:  I woke up at 6:10, ten minutes after the scheduled meet-up time in Nantou City.  My wife encouraged me to go along anyway, after all, I would probably be able to catch up to the group.  I headed out the door in a flash only to discover after riding for no more than three meters that my helmet and gloves were still in the house and I locked myself out.  I called my wife’s cellphone, she had a good chuckle about my misfortune, and let me back in.  I fetched my essentials and was back out the door only to face a new nightmare – rain.

As usual, the rain never amounted to anything more than a drizzle and it had stopped completely about a half hour after I already decided to not go cycling.

I made up for it on Sunday with a trip to County Road 147 and 131.  These two quiet roads run parallel to HWY 21 which feeds tourists to Sun Moon Lake.
Continue reading ‘Cycling the 147 and the 131′

Zhuoshui Station has Yellow Fever

I’ve been salivating to cycle up the Nantou 149 since reading ride reports from Taiwan in Cycles and The View from Taiwan.  During the long weekend, I found time to explore this area.  I started off rolling through Nantou City and Mingjian along Provincial HWY 3 and by the time I reached Zhuoshui Train Station I was thoroughly warmed up for a proper stretching session.  Zhuoshui Station sits on the Jiji Branch Line which runs from Ershui in Changhua County to Checheng in Nantou County and was built to facilitate the construction of hydroelectric power plants at Sun Moon Lake.
Continue reading ‘Up the 149 and down the 149甲’

Yesterday, I took an afternoon ride up Baguashan.  I wanted to practice climbing and keep the route brief to be home by five.  A map of the route can be found on Bikemap.net.  I would advise others to not take Chenggong #3 Road [成功三路] to the top as it goes through the Nangang Industrial Area and the air there isn’t as pleasant as other routes up.  The 148 descending into Caotun is gorgeous and the road surface is excellent.  Just be prepared to share the road with local sport bike enthusiasts.

Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle

Being a little tired of going up Bagua Mountain I thought I would go around it.  Last Sunday’s route followed Provincial HWY 14 to Changhua City followed by Provincial HWY 1 to Yuanlin.  After that I rode along County Road 141 to Ershui and 152 to Mingjian before taking Provincial HWY 3 back home.  With the exception of a short climb on the 152, the route is almost completely flat.  A map of the route is available on Bikemap.net.  Here’s a small collection of photographs from the ride:

Continue reading ‘Around Baguashan’