Well, I just got back from a three day ride from the west side of the mountains to the east side over the southern cross-island highway. From my house at about 20 meters to the peak at about 2,722 meters, and back down again. The total distance was about 242 Km from my house to TaiDong where I boarded a train for the three hour ride back to PingTung. The three hour train ride is equal to a day and a half ride, I did that last year as part of a ‘round the island adventure with three of my local friends.
The ride was definitely tiring but very scenic. The sensation of elevation was always there as the mountains are quite steep and it seems one can always see all the way back down to the bottom. The road always seemed to have a sheer drop-off on one side or another. I saw no live snakes but did see a variety of dead ones on the road. I heard many different birds though could not identify any of them. And, I saw a total of six monkeys, four on one occasion and two on another. I heard the first set but didn’t know what the noise was until I went around a hairpin turn and looked back across to where I had just been and saw one up in a tree. Then there was another and soon I saw four. I got the movie camera out but in looking at what I captured it is hard to see anything other than a moving form in among the trees. The other sighting was on the way down when two monkeys were starting to cross the road. As I came around the corner one was in the middle of the road and the other was still on the side barrier. They both turned around and disappeared before I could even think of snapping a picture.
Even though the peak brought me up into cloud level I never had to cycle inside any clouds this time. The second night, after it got dark, the clouds or fog rolled in but stayed only for half an hour and left again. After that the sky was beautiful and made me wish I had brought my star gazing guide. It was hard to imagine that I had actually left anything at home, but I did. A sleeping pad would have been nice too, but that is another story. In the morning it was crystal clear again, and warm, not cold as I had expected.
I stayed the first night camping in a police station (no, not in jail) and the second camping in a parking lot. Luckily I stayed in a hotel on the third night and got a real shower. Also I met a few cyclists along the way, one who rode with me for a day and a half. There were six who rode up in cars just to cycle down, and on the way up I was two riding down who had obviously ridden up as well. On the down on the east side I passed several who were on their way up. “Next time” I will either take the van or spend an extra couple days at each of the hot springs along the way (there are at least two or three) or maybe I’ll do both.
From my account of the trip on Crazy Guy On A Bike I was contacted by David Horwitt from San Diego. He is here in Taiwan for work and will be taking a few days off to do some riding before he heads back. He took my family and I to dinner in KaoHsiung to pick my brain about cycling here. We had a great conversation and hope to do some riding together to KenTing as he starts his multiday adventure soon, and again when he returns in a month or so.
My bike shop buddy ZhiSheng is also talking about another round trip to KenTing some weekend so I better keep practicing.
