August 2, 2015: The most epic of all rides in Taiwan, the mother of remoteness: Lixing Road (Nantou 89)

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/854617657
235km, 11h14, 3810 elevation

There is a lot that can be said about this ride. Ever since I first learned about this road's existence, I just had to ride it once. I just had to. Doing some research online and checking other people's blog was a clear sign that this was no ordinary trip. We are talking about 60km of poor condition mountain roads, doable on a sunny day, insanely dangerous on rainy days. I had planned this trip almost seven times and each time I failed to execute it; due to various reasons. The nr. 2 of the KOM race, who also lives in Shalu, Taichung, wanted to ride Wuling again and he was driving his car to Puli. He invited me over so I decided to join, with the minor exception that I would not be riding Wuling.

The day started really early as we took off at 4am in Shalu. About one hour later we arrived at the Central Geography Steele of Puli, aka Taiwan's most central position. From there on we started to cycle. This friend had four more buddies joining and we went for Wushe together. Keeping their pace was difficult as I was riding my flat bar road bike with 30mm tyres, but I never lost sight of them. The small hills along Hwy 14's 73 to 78km point were a nice warm up. At around a quarter past six I decided to take a small brake at the 7-11 in Wushe, and preparing for this crazy madness that lies ahead of me, making sure I had enough drinks and foods for the road. Man, was I carrying a heavy backpack full of water! Just to be clear on this one: this is not a speed challenge, this is an adventure, plowing through Taiwan's most deserted and most dreadful mountain path. Getting there in one piece is the challenge, nothing more, nothing less...

Someone taking my picture in Ren'ai county

When I reached the 4km mark of the Hwy 14-2 I had to make a turn to Nantou 89 Industrial Road, aka Lixing Industrial Road. The sign indicated Hongxiang tribe. I had passed here various times on crusades for Wuling and Hualien, but now I finally got to enter this mythical section. It felt great right upon entering it, so instant pictures were required. After all, I don't know if there will be a second time for this trip. It was only after a few kilometers that I thanked my lucky stars for riding my flatbar road bike with 30mm tyres. The road's condition was deteriorating fast and I mean rocks, sand and mud, at some places even pieces of iron. Not a good setting for a road bike indeed... The climbing on the other hand was really fair, the road was offering constant ascents and descents but nothing that got my heart pumping over a 160 beats per minute, not even with this 10kg backpack. I could just enjoy the sceneries and count down from 53km. When I reach 0km, that will be Lishan, the end of this mountain path.

The road to Hongxiang already indicated above! Good times coming ahead!

Welcome to the non-Han controlled side of Taiwan!

Good morning, central mountain range of Taiwan!

Watch where you're going :-) And try not to get a flat tire

Unbelievable, a little side road in this maze! Incredible! According to a blog I read, this leads to a yacht club. But man, what a location for it!

Good thing it hasn't been raining lately, or I'd be screwed!

Definition of a nice bike

Time to brush up my central Taiwan geography skills

Can you imagine no one else is cycling here? What a shame!

A rare view of some plains

I often stopped for pictures, as I recognized certain scenes from the blogs I had been reading, or whenever I had the chance to learn something about the topography of this central mountain range. Knowing about these tribes is really cool. It is precious knowledge that a lot of Taiwanese lack. Apart from that there were nice bridges and signs etc. Not many people moving around here. I encountered very few scooters and even less cars. That kind of tranquility was a very nice feature of this trip.

This is where the mythical Hongxiang tribe lies. As today's trip was going as far as Hualien city, I did not visit this tribe. I did not go inside.

Lixing bridge number one (there are two of them)

A cute little waterfall

For those who enjoy hiking!

When I reached about the halfway point of this Nantou 89 Industrial Road, there was an aboriginal tribe village called Malaba. The Malaba tribe was a small village with writings in their own native language, which I found nice. There was also a rare opportunity for restocking on water and foods so I went to the little shack and bought whatever I needed. Of course those people were very curious seeing a foreigner on a location so remote, so far away from Taipei's night clubs. We had a nice chat and I learned a little about their way of life and their ordeals when the weather gets rough on them. I could tell that they had very warm relations with their neighbours, a characteristic that I can only admire.The lives of these people seems to have a lot less stress than ours.

Welcome to the Malaba tribe!

I just came from that direction, Wushe

Malaba local language

Right in the middle of this village

Learning some Malaba vocabulary

Very impressive wall painting

In Dutch we would say: samen uit, samen thuis!

Beyond doubt the most expensive vehicle of the entire Lixing road

Being here is just fantastic, finally doing this ride!

That is correct, you can reach Yilan from here. But what a long way to go! First all the way to Lishan, then the entire climb and descent to Datong and then the whole section of hwy 7 to Yilan city center. That is even crazy long for a car! Let alone by bike!

Wet soil

A suspension bridge, and a rare opportunity to get a picture of me. Prove I actually did come to this Lixing road haha!

After leaving this tribe, I felt good about my trip. I already passed the halfway point, the weather was good and I was not having too much trouble today. En route I stumbled upon a group of pedestrians, who were walking the whole thing. That was really cool. They applauded me for riding this road haha. Very nice. When I reached the less than 20km to go mark, road conditions were exacerbating seriously: a whole lot of mud and very difficult to steer. I could often pass via the edge of the road but there were a few mud swamps where I just had to wade through. Yuk! I felt sorry for abusing my precious bike like this. And this was a sunny day! Can you imagine riding this thing in a downpour? That is not cycling anymore, that is called offroad adventuring haha.

And then the road conditions got worse...

Mud party!

Sorry bike, nothing personal

Good thing to be riding with these beefy 28mm tires

A group of pedestrians that chose to spend this beautiful day in this remarkable location

I had to be careful for this pic, if my bike would roll over into that valley, I would be a very long way home.

Sand and gravel roads

Another funny thing that happened was that I was saying to myself: so far, so good. Haven't had the need to get off my bike yet. I should not have pronounced those words as there was a 19% ascent waiting for me. I don't have issues with those gradients but the road was full of rocks and loose sand. I had no grip whatsoever on my tiny road bike wheels so I had to walk. Luckily this was only a 200m section, but it did mean I was not able to cycle through the whole thing. But the weather was too nice to actually mind a thing like that.

More mud...

This must be cycling heaven! I could not believe what I was seeing here!

It takes some time to even notice the road on this mountain.

Excellent riding today, thank you Sirrus for standing by me!

At some points I was just MTB'ing

I mean just look at this!

Only 14km left, woo-hoo

My bike was becoming increasingly more dirty

The Church of Christ, where one would least expect it...

Later I realised that I was supposed to go via this slope. I went the wrong way...

John Deere tractor

A beautiful piece of Taiwan without a 7-11 around

 More nformazioni stradali! Right this way!

When I only had 11km left on this Lixing Industry Road, things started to go badly wrong. There were signs indicating me how to go and I followed these signs. But as is often the case in Taiwan,  they sent me the wrong way! Not very consistent for a road infrastructure! I could see the road becoming a forest road with branches and rocks and very little grip. And the road was getting smaller and smaller and not a sign or km marker around. I kept on cycling and after 6km I came across another section. I was clueless as where to go. So I followed another section, at random haha. Right in the middle of there was a giant truck trying to make its way through. So giant that It could not pass without me disappearing in the bushes. I made way for it and the driver saluted me. I took my chance and asked him how the hell I could get to Lishan. At this point, just meeting someone local is sheer luck. He told me that I took the wrong direction. Already knew that! He told me I could do two things, one being to go back 6km and take the other section. That would be Nantou 89 to Lishan, the road I had planned to follow. The other one would be pursuing my road and going to Lishan from there. As I did not want to do another 6km of forest roads, I decided to just keep going. After all, this road would also take me to Lishan as well. I also want to mention that this truck driver was super friendly, doing his best the help me. I often get rude and impolite answers from Taiwanese (maybe some of them are Chinese), but aborignal people have always been friendly to me. It is a fact I must honestly admit.

Getting very rural...

Thank you 30mm tires! You rock almost as hard the rocks I am riding over today!

So I kept plowing through the woods. I can honestly tell that I made the wrong choice in proceeding through this section. This road condition was a complete disaster with branches and rocks all over the place. This section was nothing short of an MTB track, with the exception that I was on a 1700m of altitude and on a ride bike without suspension and smaller tires with very little grip. Sounds challenging enough for you? It kept climbing for almost 10km. At a certain point I saw a sign that indicated the road to Deji. I know from studying the map that Deji is located on Hwy 8, right before Lishan. The section between Guguan and Deji is closed for traffic due to unsafe conditions, allowing only local residents with a permit to enter. This is where I realized that I was heading for Deji, which would imply that I would be cycling more than originally planned. But it was still early so no need to despair.

A little sign to indicate the road to Deji, Highway 8

Btw did you notice the Vietnamese writing on the banner?

However wrong I may be, these views are just spectacular!

After almost 10km of climbing in forest conditions; the road was going down very steeply. Normally that would be fun, but this road was full of rocks and there was very little grip. So little that I had to control my speed around 4-8kmph in order to stay safe. The constant pounding was also hurting my feet a lot. I can only thank God that I had disc brakes to help me through. On top of that, all of the sudden there was a bee inside my shirt trying to sting me. I stopped as fast as I could to get naked and send that insect back in the open air. Luckily it did not sting me and I was able to proceed. It took a lot of time, but eventually I reached a lake and the sceneries were beautiful. From a high location I kept descending and the lake came closer and closer. I never planned to come here,  but it was nice being here! Lovely views as I was approaching Hwy 8.

The lake which grew closer every single km.

Beautiful isn't it?

Here she is: Central Cross Highway 8. The road to Hualien can now officially commence. From previous cycling trips I remember that Xincheng county is located at the 189km mark of this very Hwy 8. Yes, that means another 120km to go PLUS the 25km from Xincheng to Hualien city. Right after noon I still had 150km to go. And from here to Dayuling would be nothing but climbing. A physical and mental test that I was bound to pass! First stop on this road: Lishan. From my spin around Taiwan in July I remember that Lishan is located at the 82km mark of this Hwy 8. Not too far from here. That is also the point where you can access Hwy 7-2 that goes to Datong and Yilan. Alright, let's keep that cadence and life this wonderful day!

Chiang Kai-Shek enjoyed his days in Lishan as well But it's about time he and his KMT buttkissers got the fuck out of this island!

Lishan! I had come here somewhere Mid-July 2015 for the first time. Coming back here now was kinda strange. At this point I felt really isolated from society and memories. Just me and this legendary cycling trip. I knew a little shop owner in Lishan and I decided to visit him for supplies. He was happy to see me, applauding the fact I cycled here again.

The lucky number 8 in Chinese, triple 8 means three times Luck. So far, I do consider myself lucky, being able to have this wonderful splendid day

 What a view,  just, WOW. That ray of sun, this central mountain range. Just eye-caressing

From Lishan to Dayuling is about 30km with 500m of altitude gain

The Lishan tunnel, this means that I made it to Dayuling (altitude 2565 meters). Which means that I have completed most of today's climbing. I will do more almost 4000m today. When I made it to Dayuling it was already relatively late. Calculating the fact I still had to go all the way to Hualien city, I did feel a little time pressure. That is why I decided to not take too many pictures on my way down. Just enjoy my disc brakes and try to keep my speed above 40km. I succeeded most of the times, even passing by Tour busses. I belive I can fly! I believe I can touch the sky! Gotta love disc brakes and wider tyres. I was even getting a cadence of 90 during my way down. I made the entire section down in a mere two hours and something and that was an amazing experience,  just racing off this mountain with the sun setting in the background. It made me realize how much I love Highway 8. It is really the most beautiful this island has to offer. And I am a lucky man being able to have these moments!

Sun is setting as I am loosing altitude

The eastern part of central cross island highway 8, late in the afternoon. I should even say evening. I have never been here so late!

Mission accomplished! Off the mountain before dark! Here I am, in the Taroko Gorge, less than 30km to Hualien city

A mythical spot for me: the entrance of the central cross island highway 8.

I succeeded in my primary objective: getting out of the Taroko Gorge before it got dark. At this point I took a break, had something to drink and to eat and I did a video report. From this exact spot it was still 25km to Nita Lin's hostel,  but that is just the plains of Highway 9. Nothing dangerous,  been there done that several times. This has been a legendary, magic, unforgettable and self surpassing cycling trip. I have broken various records today. Never had I cycled this much on my flatbar bike, this intense, so many meters of altitude gain. I have been outside for more than 14 hours. I finished the day with a good meal, a shower and some good night rest. The next day would be a genuine KOM race, from Hualien to Wuling and then back to Puli. So let's go recharge those batteries!