Saturday it was time for my monthly Century (100 miles) ride. Drew suggested we ride down 3 in central Taiwan and ride 149 just to see what was there. The result was a rewarding ride through the tea, coffee, and betel nut district of south-central Taiwan.
We met up in southern Taichung, where the size and number of the political advertisements are growing geometrically as the election approaches. It looked like it might rain, but the rain never really materialized, and in the afternoon we even got some sun.
We hit 149 in a couple of hours.
Going south down a long river gorge, 149 is bordered on its west side by the sheer gravel and rock faces common in central Taiwan.
Such as this one, for example.
Great views throughout the trip.
Shortly after we entered 149 we ran across this old temple. It had been built in the Qing Dynasty, Drew told me later. He found some interesting tombs nearby from plains aboriginal soldiers who had died in WWII. More on his blog later, I hope.
Along the roadside stood tombs of plains aborigines. It was an interesting mix of religions.
We soon entered an area of low-altitude tea farms.
Like this one.
Tea plants.
The road began climbing, yielding enjoyable views over the river vally.
Tea farms lined the roadside.
In the distance, tea pickers at work.
The Man in Black explores a side road.
Plenty of little villages lined the road.
Drying tea leaves.
Taking a photo op break.
We stopped by some tea pickers close to the road.
Watching the foreigner with the camera.
"What if this thing goes off?" a friend captioned this photo.
Tea pickers at work.
A coffee plant.
Another photo op break.
The mountains were coated with haze and fog. Can't wait to ride this when it is clear.
A bend in the forest.
Tea farms tumbling down the terraces to the river.
Near the turn for 158 there is a suspension bridge just off the road.
From the suspension bridge.
Gone fishing.
We climbed on 158A through forest for a couple of kilometers, not a car in sight......
Before winding up in the tea farms again.
Near the top.
We rolled down 149A back to Douliuo, a wonderful ride which I took no pictures of because I was having too much fun, then it was lunch and back on 3 to Taichung.
Along the way Drew took me on a nifty little diversion along 141 and 152 to Mingjian where we picked up 3 again.
It is really a pretty little ride, well worth the couple of extra kilometers.
The Formosan macaque research center near Mingjian.
Alas, it was back to dull, betel-nut-girl-and-auto-repair Rte 3 in Mingjian. Both Drew and I consider missionary proselytization a great evil, and in Mingjian we ran into a couple of Mormon missionaries spreading their centralized authority worship and securing new income streams for their organization. The encounter with that peculiarly Mormon combination of smug colonialism and arrant ignorance left an ugly taste in our mouths, but soon afterward we fell in with a group of Taiwanese guys on mountain bikes. The switch from the loony authority-worshipers to a bunch of sane, rational, good-humored intelligent Taiwan folks out for a Saturday ride was a life-affirming one, and we-renergized for the long ride home with a good-natured race down 3.
A wonderful ride! I'm a slow rider, but despite the climbs I kept up a good speed for me, averaging 20.2 kms/hr over the entire 166 kms. The entire area from 149 on south through Meishan and down to Alishan is surpassingly lovely and is highly recommended. Looking forward to spending more time there this fall, and hope to see you on the road soon!
ADDED:
Drew's post on our ride.
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I was surprised they were hand picking the tea leaves. I've seen them use the trimmers that get those nice shapely bushes in Changhua and Nantou.
ReplyDeleteFYI, The Forumosan Macaque Research Center has no monkeys and very little else. As a matter of fact I can't even see a reason for visiting it.
Looks like a cool route! How much climbing did you two do?
ReplyDelete@Okami, I've never seen a trimmer. Do you ride? You'll really have to show me this stuff.
ReplyDelete@Not a whole lot of climbing. 3 is rolling but not very seriously. 149 is basically a rolling upward incline I think eventually reaching about 200 meters, then you go up to where 149A and 158A meet up above 400m. Then it is downhill at 60 kph on 149A!! It's very doable from your place.
Michael
No, I don't ride, but I'll be fixing my crappy bike this week to start so I have a reason to take long trips like I like in the country and lose weight. Taiwan is one of the places where you can be out in the middle of nowhere and be surprised to see something you'd never imagine being there.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing they're handpicking because they have plentiful cheap labor and handpicked tea is worth more. You can see in some of your pictures how the bushes have a nice elliptical shape from trimmers while the others have a bushy appearance from handpicking. You also see no young people doing this either.
Okami, let me know when you want to purchase a road bike....
ReplyDeleteGreat ride, Michael. That is a really splendid part of the country. I explored it all (by car, LOL) last spring and you've inspired me to get out on the bike. Wasn't the ride up through Gukeng extremely steep though?
ReplyDeleteOkami, plenty of monkeys at the research centre. I saw mothers and babies just behind the centre and more further down the trail. Great butterfly habitat too.
Thanks RSK -- the ride over to Gukeng is steep on some roads, but not on 158A. 149/149A is steeper.
ReplyDeleteDrew and I are thinking of simply following 149/149A all the way to Alishan one day. Stay overnight along 169 somewhere, then climb up and over the next day, and back to Taichung.
149 is really pleasant...
The road up to Caoling is amazing and has been restored very well. After that, across to Fengshan and Fenqihu is probably still in very bad shape. In the spring I couldn't pass in my car. Perhaps by the time the road is ready so will I be: for a bike trip of that nature I mean.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the cop shop in Caoling had one of those bike rest stop signs so chatted with the guy on duty. He says they get a few cyclists but not many. He agreed the road over to Alishan is amazing.
We'll just give them the "but c'mon, we biked all the way here" whine.... if they don't let us through.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post and pictures as usual. Just out of curiosity there is one thing I would like to ask about your bike trips. I guess it's not a big issue to cycle around central Taiwan when you are living in Taichung. But how do you usually transport your bike when you want to, say move around the Hengchun peninsula or eastern Taiwan? Do you use a car, train/minivan or any other way to get your bike from A to B for the action?
ReplyDeleteI would love to also start getting out more on my bike, but living in Taipei City (and not having a car), I am a little put off by the thought of having to first ride through the city each time before I can get to somewhere interesting...
"Watching the foreigner with the camera."
ReplyDeleteThe foreigner taking pictures of "exotic" natives as if he's at a zoo.
@anon 11.57 (the sane anon):
ReplyDeleteIf you're in Taipei you've got great riding all round: Yangmingshan, Wulai, Pinglin (and all the loops), Maokong, Hwy 2, etc. All the river paths too. I rode from Bitan to Sanxia and back the other night. 60km, all along bike lanes, nice park and wetland areas. At the end of the path it's just a quick hop to the 7B to take you down to the North Cross Island or Shimen Dam. For a day trip just take the MRT to Yongning and head out to the dam, or Full Moon Park.
As for transport around the country you can ship your bike the day before on the trains. You can take a bagged bike on the HSR and progress is being made on special train carriages on the regular lines that will be equipped with bike racks so you can ride with your bike.
There's also the Giant rental program in a number of places. NT1200 for 3 days. Great deal.
Very nice post and pictures as usual. Just out of curiosity there is one thing I would like to ask about your bike trips. I guess it's not a big issue to cycle around central Taiwan when you are living in Taichung. But how do you usually transport your bike when you want to, say move around the Hengchun peninsula or eastern Taiwan? Do you use a car, train/minivan or any other way to get your bike from A to B for the action?
ReplyDeleteI usually bike to where I want to bike, like on this trip, most of which was on ugly and boring Route 3. If it is far we throw the bikes in the van and drive there.
I would love to also start getting out more on my bike, but living in Taipei City (and not having a car), I am a little put off by the thought of having to first ride through the city each time before I can get to somewhere interesting...
You know that on weekends you can take either the train or metro to someplace interesting. Also, any time, you can ship your bike by rail. For example, let's suppose you want to do the east coast Hualien to Taitung on saturday and sunday. On wednesday you ship your bike to Hualien. On friday you take the train down to hualien and pick up your bike. On saturday morning you ride. When you te to taitung, ride to teh train station and ship it back....
You can carry your bike in a bag on most trains too.
Michael
The foreigner taking pictures of "exotic" natives as if he's at a zoo.
ReplyDeleteYes, I try to avoid that, which is why I have so few people pics relative to other kinds. But we wanted the pics for another project as well.
All photography is framing of some kind. Taiwanese can do it to other Taiwanese. You wouldn't be able to have photos of people without some type of subjective framing. The difference is whether the purpose is to fixate on and fetishize the "exotic" nature of the subject, or whether it is to document and inform.
ReplyDeleteIn Michael's pictures it appears he is showing his readers what kinds of lives are going on in Taiwan. Tea pickers demonstrate one occupation conducted in that area that readers may want to know more about. It is simply local life being photographed because it is local and a part of the mosaic.
Anon 12:17 made the leap to exoticize the tea pickers as they must seem worthy of the fetishized exotic for Anon 12:17.
Fantastic MT. Great photos. How many hours to do the 100? I'm thinking of hitting the saddle again after 20 plus years and would like a benchmark.
ReplyDeleteIncoming, as an old slow guy, I just figure I'll average around 18-20 km/h of saddle time, and 10 minutes for every hour I am riding for traffic lights and other slowdowns. Also twenty of stopped time resting, photos, for each hour I am on the bike.
ReplyDeleteFor this trip, I left my house at 6:30 and came home at 5:15. 8 hours and a few minutes on the bike, saddle time. The remainder was spent on rests, chatting with locals, lunch, snacks, photos, explorations of nearby terrain and buildings, etc.
Michael