Highway 3

This is a good out and back route. Here is the map. You make it about as hard as you want because there are a lot of smaller hills (3-5 mins). Once you get out past Freeway 72, there is very little traffic. There are some places to stop along the way for refreshments, but not a lot so stock up before you need to.

Where To Ride Your Road Bike #2

There is a famous hill climb on route 136. This is a map of the ride.

It starts out as a gentle climb and then rises to about 700m above sea level. You can do it as an out-and-back ride, or do a loop. I like doing the loop because the descent down the back side is one of the best that I have found. Since they put in freeway 6 a couple of years ago, the ride back on highway 14 used a lot less, so it is much nicer.

Where To Ride Your Road Bike #1

There is a nice ride that you should try. This is the link to the Google map.

It is an out-and-back ride that starts in Changhua with a mid-point out in Nantou. In total it is about 60 km and there are a couple of climbs which makes it a little difficult. There are usually not too many cars and there are only about six stoplights total. There are plenty of places to stop for water and food, most importantly, near the top of climbs.

In Progress

Once upon a time there was a burgeoning dirt jump scene in Taichung. The riders were happy because they had a great place to jump. It had amazing views and it was out in the open so it was easy to take good photos. Then it was decided that the jump spot was the prefect place for a road. Never mind that there was another, underused, road about 500 meters away. The jumps were destroyed, along with years of hard work. This angered the riders and they vowed to find a new place to ride.

(Cue triumphant music). Thanks to the hard work of one fellow named Doc, a place was found! This place has deep dirt, just waiting to be shaped. Thanks to DoubLe, Doc and some others, the shaping has already started. (I would say who but I was not there to help out). In the end, the riders built and amazing place to ride and jumped happily ever after.




The Englishman has helped out as well.



There is more to be seen but the light was not great but due to blood loss from mosquito bites I left without taking more shots.

If you want to know where this is, or want to help out, leave your contact info and someone will get back to you.

Neng Gao and Chi Lai South Peak

Lots of pixels have been published about the Neng Gao trail in Nantou. You can find articles here in English and here in Chinese. Most people ride from the entrance up to the Tian Chi cabin then bomb back down. I decided to hit the Chi Lai South Peak for a look. It is about 4.5 km of hiking/pushing and it takes a while to get up there.

This is part of what you are facing.



Once you get up there the oxygen is pretty thin. The peak is 3350, or so, meters above sea level. Apparently there is only 70% of the oxygen available there, compared to sea level. This site gives you a calculator to figure it out. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, the view from the peak is amazing. One of the side effects is that you can't get as much oxygen to your brain and you can't make decisions as clearly or ride technical single track as well.

The reward for all your pushing is this descent.




As seen below, the trail is much narrower than the main Neng Gao trail but it is a lot more challenging and fun.




Is it worth it the hour or two of pushing and carrying? Depends on your fitness and skill level. If you are fit enough, and technically skilled enough, it is.