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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