The group climbed through the fog, arriving to clear skies and dry roads up at the Pagoda. After numerous photo taking attempts, the pair of Bills and Marcus descended back to Tien Mu, while the others continued on to meet Lucas at his mountain estate below Helen's. A ride along unmarked mountain roads and past numerous questionable dogs dropped the group down at the highway separating what Lucas calls the Dutch Territories (in the hills around Helen's) from the New Territories (out through Shrfen and Pingxi).
At this point, Kaight decided to climb back to Helen's and head home, while the rest of the group took on the 10 km ascent- the second of six climbs on Lucas's route. The fog hid the view, but all agreed that it was still a great climb.
On the other side of the mountain, the group ran into Shane and Dave at a local snack shop. They joined up for the third climb, a wicked little lane leading up into the tea plantations. Jesper's altimeter hit 18% on one stretch.
From there, the group headed down into the tea hills. Leon's rear wheel spun out on one of the corners, sending him sliding into the gutter. He added a little skin to the moss and wet leaves on the corner, but he was back on his bike as quick as a Tour rider. The next climb was up through the tea plantations. The fog lifted, and the view was spectacular. The group paused at a beautiful temple two thirds of the way up the climb, where Leon rinsed off his wounds as the locals watched.
Lucas brought the group to an historic railway station for lunch. Claiming that he wasn't interested in the usual lunch spots chosen by the group on long rides ("beside a sewer hole eating 7-11 noodles"), Lucas ordered scrumptious beef noodle soup for all, while Leon and Jesper and Bill found the cheapest lattes in Northern Taiwan.
The penultimate climb was the steepest- Jesper measured a grade of 20% along the way. Towards the top, Lucas advised that the group spread out to allow for traversing the narrow road...
The descent was by far the steepest of the day. In fact, Bill's rims got so hot that his rim tape buckled and his rear wheel flatted. Fortunately, the flat occurred just near a picnic area. Unfortunately, the Taiwanese karaoke music from the nearby group was not the most relaxing. Despite the noise, Lucas's verbal heckling, and a broken tube valve, Bill managed to fashion a Macguyver-esque repair job out of some tape from the back of Jesper's seat and a second spare tube (which lasted until the Tien Mu Warner Village- he finished his climb home on his rim...).
The final climb to Helen's was uneventful but rather quick. The final totals from the ride were 140 km of ups and downs, 3047 metres of climbing (thanks, Jesper!), 6 hours 40 minutes ride time, and a 2:40 pm return to Tien Mu. All of Lucas's climbs were beautiful, and hardly a car was seen on any of the six.
Tomorrow is a rest day for me. There may be another ride out into the New Territories on Thursday, depending on the weather. Look for a posting tomorrow afternoon/evening.
Bill O'Brien
