On Sunday I headed out to Jhongliao for some cycling.  The forecast called for a rainy afternoon so I set my goal for the base of Jiufen Ershan [九份二山] with the intention of turning around after I made it that far.

Since I got there earlier than expected, I decided to make my way up Jiufen Ershan.  It became abundantly clear that the mountain is prone to landslides so I proceeded quickly and with caution up, telling myself I would turn around at the first drop of rain or 11 a.m., whichever came first.

I made great time going up, the steep sections of the route I took were very brief followed by longer flat or nearly flat sections.   Sure enough, at roughly four-fifths of the way up, at about 10:30 it started to rain lightly.  Not wanting to be stuck on the mountain I began my journey down.  About halfway down the rain stopped.   The sky still looked pretty dark so I kept riding towards home.

My D90 and I in front of a convex traffic mirror:

Finally, it wouldn’t be a rural cycling trip without a picture of a discarded betelnut box laying on the side of the road:

About an hour away from home, it started to rain more heavily for about 10 minutes.  I guess the epic journey to the Jiufen Ershan 921 Earthquake Memorial Park will have to wait.

[No google map this time, I’ll create one after I take a return trip and actually make it all the way to the 921 Earthquake Memoral Park.]