Hills of Hong Kong: Peel Rise

Following hotly on the heels of the third instalment, comes the fourth part in the series looking at the Hills of Hong Kong. This time we return to Hong Kong Island for one of the lesser/un-known climbs, Peel Rise.

The ‘road’ takes its name from Sir William Peel, the Governor of Hong Kong from 1930 to 1935, and in fact sections of it form part of section three of the Hong Kong Trail. Sections of it are certainly more suited to hiking.

Old Man Peel

The Route

This climb is approached from Pok Fu Lam Road / Aberdeen Praya Road, via the streets of Aberdeen, a town more famous for its floating village and floating seafood restaurants than its cycling scene.

Negotiating the traffic, a left turn at a set of traffic lights takes you up Aberdeen Reservoir Road and the start of the climb. A sharp left quickly follows onto Peel Rise. A path which, with the road surface gradually decreasing in quality, winds up to the base of Mt Kellett and Matilda Hospital.

The climb totals 3.4km in length with an average gradient of 10.8%, there are a few flatter sections but the gradients generally remain consistent throughout the climb. The road is obviously steep, but the road surface and the sharp, narrow hairpins can sometimes offer the greater challenge.

The Climb

Apart from the brief respite, the climb rarely dips below 10-12%

The climb starts with a bang as you turn up Aberdeen Reservoir Road to be faced with a wall, hitting 18-20%. But it is only 100 metres before a left-hand turn towards Peel Rise and relatively steady, if challenging gradients through a local graveyard. A brief respite comes as the road levels off temporarily before the remaining 2.5km of leg burning climbing.

It is at this stage that the question of whether or not bikes are really allowed on this section of the road perhaps explains the lesser-known nature of this climb (Strava only has four riders logged as having completed this climb…). After the flat section, crossing the storm drain the road you are faced with rises sharply up and the asphalt is replaced with a potholed, leaf covered, tarmac rubble. The climbing legs are tested, but so are the bike handling skills. A number of sharp, steep and tight hairpins on the way up means that those with mountain bike experience may fair better than pure roadies (although having completed this climb on a mountain bike, the road bike remains quicker).

A great road surface, some leaves and a good covering of trees...

The gradients for the next section of the climb remain consistently above 12-13% with steeper sections to get you out of the saddle. Adding to this the road itself offers a number of challenges and you will often be faced with wet leaves (days after it last rained), fallen trees (on occasion requiring a CX style dismount) and landslides (once having taken away 60% of the path with it). The tree canopies, close overhead, keep the road damp and can add a slightly oppressive feel to the climb.

Coming out of the trees for the final 0.5km, the road finally returns to a smooth asphalt; this luxury, however, comes at a price as the road kicks up for the last incline, pushing 19% as you reach the top of Peak Road and the base of Mt Kellett / Matilda Hospital.

Summary

An atmospheric climb that is consistently steep and can challenge even the best bike handlers, Peel Rise is an, as yet, undiscovered Hong Kong Island gem.

Just don’t let the park ranger catch you climbing it on your bike.

Its Strava leaderboard can be found here.

Three Days in Taiwan / Jia You 加油

[Warning: long post...]

Last weekend we (JK, Pt, Janice, Nic, Vicky and I) headed off to Taiwan for a bit of a jaunt in Taipei and a block of three days training across Taiwan's Central Alps. We would be cycling approx. 300km through Taiwan's mighty Central Cordillera, starting with the undulating terrain around Sun Moon Lake then tackling the epic Central Cross Island, taking us up to the highest road point in NE Asia at 3275m(!), before sweeping down into the Cilan Valley towards Yilan and the (well deserved by this point) hot springs of Jiaoxi. The whole trip was organised and supported by Cam (who also joined us on the bike), from the excellent In Motion Asia.

The trip was the first big block of training for all of us this year and a great opportunity to get three big consecutive days in the saddle in preparation for what awaited us in the French Alps. For most, it was also the first real taste of riding long alpine climbs too. People were nervous.... in fact Nic and Vicky had a pretty big wobble on whether or not they wanted to even head out on the trip at all which, in fairness, wasn't entirely unreasonable given neither had ever clipped into and ridden a road bike and would only be doing the final, pan flat, day into Paris on the Tour de Force - three days climbing through the Taiwanese Alps was overkill on the training front! A call was made to Cam to ensure that he had no concerns with having two complete novices on the trip - he didn't - although it wasn't entirely clear that he fully appreciated that they had neverridden a road bike before. Thankfully Nic and Vicky were eventually talked into joining us - it turns out both were total stars and needn't have worried.

Day(s) 0 – Hitting Taipei

On landing in Taipei, and being met by Cam, we took over a section of the airport and chaotically assembled our bikes before being driven to our hotel (Park Taipei) in downtown Taipei. What had become very clear to us all within minutes of our arrival was that none of us had really packed appropriately for the weather (and in Janice's case civilised society in Taipei). Rather optimistically we had all anticipated good weather. What we were met with was cold temperatures and rain. Vicky would be wearing the same red jeans and hoodie combo for the whole trip....

Once checked-in at the hotel we quickly sought out the nearest Din Tai Fung and gorged ourselves on Xiaolongbao and beer. After a short disco nap we headed out to see what Taipei offered in terms of nightlife on a Wednesday night. What we found was (i) a huge German style beer hall (346) attached to the side of a brewery with an eight song ABBA soundtrack on loop and an unnecessary token paying system, (ii) a couple of cool lounge bars (although the disgusting chilli cocktails should really have been avoided), (iii) it was ladies nights at the clubs Myst and Spark 101 (which basically involved free entry for the girls and some ropey alcoholic drinks and paid entry for Pt and me and some equally ropey free drinks), and (iv) a huge metal 'LOVE' sign ideal for climbing all over in the rain to get cool photos (who even has these photos btw?!).

We almost ended up being beer from a supermarket....

The morning after the night before was a little bit painful and all except JK and Vicky (who made it to the top of Taipei 101) struggled out of bed to be transferred to our hotel at Sun Moon Lake. We would have had an afternoon enjoying the tranquil lakeside scenery were it not for the fact that it was still raining and the mist had rolled in too. Some card games and more beer kept us amused though as we all readied ourselves for the first day of cycling the next morning.

Day 1 – Freezing Ice Rain

Unfortunately the weather hadn't miraculous changed over night and on waking we were met with grey skies and a light drizzle. Amongst the group there was none of the excitement you would usually expect at the beginning of a trip like this and enthusiasm was at a relatively low ebb. Nic and Vicky being particularly apprehensive as they still needed to have their first 'clip in clip out' lesson before we set off.

Team Brown with Sun Moon Lake in the background

Despite the limited enthusiasm we headed off on a 30km rolling loop around Sun Moon Lake (this had been sold to us as a flat start, it wasn't really and definitely involved some ups and downs....). Quickly though we were whizzing along with everyone perking up relatively quickly as we took in some of the scenic views (as best we could given the mist) and let Pt point out every temple he saw to us all (the most famous being the Wenwu Temple on a hill above the lake). Vicky was taking to the cycling like a duck to water and went up the first main hill like it was flat before revealing herself as a fearless descender as we sped down a narrow (and wet) descent through betel nut plantations into the town of Puli which lay at the foot of the main event of the day (and day 2), the Central Cross Island Link.

Bossing it like a Pro...

Phil G joined us briefly, but quickly dropped us....

After regrouping at a 7-Eleven we commenced the climbing. Lots of climbing.

After an initially gentle incline we started the climbing proper, heading up the Central Cross Island towards the historical town of Wushe and our lunch destination just 2km further up the hill just as the rain started to get a little heavier. As is usual as soon as the road goes up, the group fractured and spread out along the road - me leading the charge with the promise of a roast chicken lunch firmly in my mind and JK not too far behind. Pt and Janice were making steady progress as Vicky and Nic both put in great efforts to negotiate most of the climb before jumping off their bikes (literally in both cases as vans careered towards them on the wrong side of the road) and jumping in the van to meet us at lunch. Again the promise of views from the balcony at lunch was defeated by the incessant rain.

Stick Chicken in barrel, leave for 40 minutes, eat..

From lunch it was 12km climbing to our hotel (Chunjing Hillview Villa), all at a decent gradient. I had it in my head however that I would like to push on towards the summit of the road and reach Wuling Peak at 3275m above sea level - this would mean an additional 19km of climbing(!) and then the corresponding 19km descending. Pretty soon I was approaching the hotel and the decision as to whether or not I should continue in the increasingly heavier and colder rain. Inevitably I decided to keep going, a decision I would question at every 500m road marker for the next hour and a half.

As I continued to climb, ploughing a lonely, drenched and freezing furrow up the hill the rain continued to get heavier, the air thinner (apparently it is possible to get altitude sickness at these heights) and the temperature lower (going as low as 5 Celsius at the summit). The road continued to narrow and the oncoming cars become less and less visible in the rain and then, out of nowhere, I was at the summit, in a car park with three mainland tourists with the 'summit sign' annoyingly up an additional set of stairs.

It was all worth it for the wonderful views....

After dutifully click-clacking up the stairs in my cycling shoes with my bike over my shoulder I got a the all important picture (proof that I had actually cycled to the top rather than hidden round the corner from the hotel for a couple of hours?) and thought about descending. I thought about it some more. Then I decided I didn't really want to.

I have never been so cold on a bike in my life. No feeling in large sections of my hands, drenched to my core and being buffeted around in the wind whilst trying to negotiate the torrents of water flowing down the middle of the road meant that I was counting down the 500m markers with more intensity than I had been on the way up. When I finally got back to the hotel I was meet with a worried Vicky (minutes away from sending out a search party) and the promise of a chance to thaw out in one of our balcony hot tubs, which I quickly clambered into, in a bit of a cold induced delirium, fully clothed.

Clothes options were limited, but this was something else from Pt....

What a great day!

The Strava link for the day can be found here.

Day 2 – Hehuanshan

Vicky and I awoke early on day 2 to an awesomely beautiful sunrise (no pictures, sorry, it was too early to actually get out of bed) and the realisation that our hotel actually had a fabulous view and we in amongst some spectacular high alpine scenery.

It was a brutal start to the day as the road headed up as soon as we left the hotel with 19km of pure climbing up Hehuanshan to the Wuling Peak. We all headed out and negotiated the road at our own pace with a plan to meet for a refuel around 7km from the summit. Everyone did brilliantly, Nic and Vicky making it 7km up the road (beyond either of their expectations) and then tackling the brutally steep last 2km to the summit, Pt and Janice both grinding their way up and JK, of course, took it all in her stride.

Finally the clouds cleared to reveal the epic scenery

The weather was far far better than the previous day and it was enjoyable to actually get to see some of the beautiful scenery, that had been so well hidden the previous day, as we cycled upwards, upwards upwards.

All smiles at 3275!!

After all conquering the legendary Wuling Peak (and getting the obligatory photo), we plunged down the eastern side on an epic fast winding descent through the tea plantations, fields of cabbages and apple and pear orchids of the Taroko National Park, stopping at the high altitude farming village of Lishan for a picnic in front of a temple just as another cloud of heavy rain rolled in. Vicky again showing she was fearless on the descents ("everyone is braking too much...").

Team Brown leading the downhill charge

Leaving lunch we continued downhill in the rain, each bundled up as much as possible. Quickly, however, the rain cleared, the skies brightened and the temperature rose. As we hit the base of the last climb of the day towards Wuling Farm it was clear that we needed to shed as many layers as possible to avoid exploding in the heat.

On reaching the driveway to our hotel for the night ahead of the van (somehow), I decided that that would head up the 2km long climb to the hotel. The road had been described as 'gnarly' and I had expected this to mean a little bumpy or potholed, not very very steep... my already laboured breathing as I ground my way up the narrow country road was helped little by the cabbage farmers spraying pesticides in my face as I went!

Cabbage, Cabbage, Cabbage

Despite not really looking like a hotel (I spent some time on arriving deciding whether I would be walking into someone's farmhouse or not when I tried to check-in) and being in the middle of millions of cabbages the hotel (Green Leaf Resort) was really good and the food, again, was excellent. The cabbage particularly.

The Strava link for the day can be found here.

Day 3 – Cabbage and hot springs

The final day. Still raining. Almost all downhill.

We headed out on the final day and after a short ride back out to the main cross island road we hit a totally epic 60km descent on smooth roads and incredible views of the valley as we snaked our way down into the Taipingshan National Forest. I was enjoying the descent so much that 'didn't hear' where we were stopping to regroup and kept going for a further 20km...

Plunging into the valley...

After being chastised by everyone else we all headed out together to tackle the last real climb of the trip, on slippy treacherous roads (Vicky and Pt both taking low speed, comedy tumbles) in, you guessed it, heavy rain. Vicky again putting in a fab performance, taking the climb in her stride (watch out the Peak).

From the crest of the hill there was a little more descending before we decided to jump in the van and head to our final destination - the hot springs of Jiaoxi. The hot springs were exactly what was needed and helped ease some of the soreness from the past three days.

The Strava link for the day can be found here.

Day 3 – Airport dash

It turns out we may have been enjoying the hot springs for a little too long as, after a quick feed, we got stuck in the mother of all traffic jams that put arriving at the airport in time for check-in in serious jeopardy. As the clocked ticked down we made some pretty average attempts at rearranging flights whilst our driver started flying along the freeway like he as in a video game. I was pretty convinced it was a hopeless case.

Arriving at the airport with literally a minute to spare before check-in Janice legged it to the check-in desk with our passports just in time to stop the desk being closed and convinced them that we should be let onto the plane and only had a 'few bags' to check-in (Janice you little legend!) - I suspect the sight of us all running towards them with six half-built bikes was not what they expected. Credit where credit is due, the staff were great as we rapidly packed up our bikes and even joined us on our comedy run through the airport to departure gate!!

An eventful, if mildly stressful end to a great trip!

A summary...

Some very brief summary thoughts:

• Taiwan is a lot like China, but better
• Taiwan reminded me a little of Japan, just a little worse
• Everyone's training is progressing well
• The food was generally awesome (the thought of 'Chinese' food in the UK.... yuk!)
• Everyone needs to get a few more long long rides in (these rides were still significantly shorter than what we will be doing in the Alps)
• I don't like it when my bike gets dirty
• I like cleaning my bike less
• It is always helpful to have someone that can speak the local language
• Vicky is faster than me downhill
• Wet lycra in the cold sucks
• People may not finish reading posts this long
• Nic's efforts were amazing (she must love riding Pablo)
• The general support and cycle-friendliness of the Taiwanese was brilliant
• JK really does love Lulu more than a person really should love an inanimate object
• I still haven't ever missed a flight
• I'd like to cycle in Taiwan in good weather

Finally.... a star is born

There is no doubt that JK is an absolute natural. For someone that only really started cycling six months ago, she is far far beyond the level she has any right to be at – but to be honest this isn’t really unexpected, JK was always going to excel.

The revelation of the weekend, however, was Vicky! The 'domination' in the spin classes has clearly transferred well to the road. From never having clipped into a road bike at the beginning of the weekend to conquering some sections of the toughest climbing all weekend (including the punishing last 2km up to Wuling Peak in oxygen thin air) and finishing Day 3 with 75km on the odometer is an epic achievement. I should have known something was afoot when Vicky started emailing me her stats from her spin classes and talking about her RPM and Power/Kg....

Hills of Hong Kong: The Peak

As the first part of a short series looking at the 'famous' climbs of Hong Kong, here is "The Peak" on Hong Kong Island.

Whilst Hong Kong does not offer long Alpine style climbs (5-6 km would be considered a pretty long climb here) it does have a number of easily accessible roads that are great for getting some climbing training in. Across a number of posts I will attempt to provide a brief (insightful?) write up of some of those climbs, from the more gentle and scenic to the some of the short, but brutal, 'wall' like climbs.

The Peak, a 'mountain' on the western side of Hong Kong Island with an altitude of 552m, is probably one of the most famous landmarks in Hong Kong, offering panoramic views across Central, Victoria Harbour, Lamma and outlying islands

Originally the exclusive retreat of wealthy (non-Chinese) residents who reached their homes by sedan chairs and later by the Peak Tram funicular which opened in 1888, the road leading up to the Peak now finds a plethora of cyclists grinding their way up it every morning via the circuitous Peak Road.

At 1.4km long and gaining just under 400m, the Peak Tram is the most direct route to the top...

The Route

Starting at the base of Wong Nai Chung Gap Road and halfway up Stubbs Road, Stubbs Road climbs west, merging into Peak Road, before continuing towards the leisure and shopping centres found at 432 meters above sea-level.

Lots of blue.... just what we like to see

It is 5.3km long with an average gradient of 5.2% making it a relatively tame climb, despite the audible gasps non-cyclists let out when cycling up the Peak is mentioned in conversation. Despite sounding impressive, it really isn't that hard to cycle up - there a certainly plenty of climbs in Hong Kong that are much tougher....

The Climb

As with most roads in Hong Kong it is a road that is best cycled early in the morning, as it quickly becomes heavy with traffic making the experience more fraught then most would like, but when quiet it offers some sanctuary from the bustle of the city below as you cycle away from it - often into the clouds...

Despite a few short ramps the gradient remains relatively constant, meaning you can quickly find a rhythm and a feel for whether your legs are good (or not). On days when the pedals are turning freely it is easy to build and maintain a pace that will keep you at your threshold the whole way, regularly making for a painful, leg burning last 1.5kms.

Once at the top you find yourself thrust into the tourist melee, keen to catch your breath and (having briefly taken in the views) to cycle back down and escape.

Summary

One of the longer climbs in Hong Kong, with a gradient that lets you ride at speed/threshold the whole way, making it a useful benchmark for your training. 'Testing' myself up here has left me barely able to stand and close to vomitting on a number of occassions - I always promise myself I wont do it again anytime soon.
The Strava leaderboard is pretty hotly contested that is for sure!

HK Island 100

Saturday morning saw another training milestone (of sorts) - my biggest ride on Hong Kong Island to date, clocking in at 100km over 4.5 hours.

A 100km ride is not exactly epic in distance, and is certainly something that can be bashed out with comparative ease on my home roads of Essex or Hertfordshire, but when you throw in 2500m of climbing and a physical limit to the amount of road actually available then it becomes a (little) more impressive. To put the vertical ascent in context - across a similar distance in Essex/Hertfordshire you would only expect to hit between 600-800m of climbing and in terms of 'bang for your buck' the ascent:distance ratio compares favourably to all but the hardest mountain stages of the Tour. By all accounts a big day in the saddle.

A 6am start saw me cycle over Magazine Gap Road, up Mt Butler and then up to Park View before meeting Janice, Pt, Simon, David and Jono at the Cricket Club for a gentle cruise to Shek-O. Simon, David and Jono had all cycled with Dan in Hong Kong at various points over the past couple of years and it felt appropriate that we should all have a brief spin together on the morning of the Black Tie Benefit Party that had been organised by Nic (with help from JK and Vicky) and would be raising money in aid of Dan's trust - DBMT. The only notable absence was JK who is still on the mend from her accident.

The Dark Knight pauses to admire the view....

And what a glorious morning it was, a stunning sunrise over Cape D'Aguilar and a clear, cool and sunny morning. Perfect cycling weather to make the most of before the all too familiar Hong Kong humidity makes a morning spin feel more like a brutal spin class in a maxed out sauna. A definite improvement from the wet and windy (I would say it was cold also, but at 14C that seems a little unfair for any readers back in the UK.... still it felt cold, but its all relative I guess) ride of the previous Saturday. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

One half of the bike powering system (note blurry road for 'speed' effect)

The group stuck together all the way to Shek-O were we fed and watered ourselves at our usual cafe. Gleaming bikes lining one side of the quiet street and suped up supercars lining up the other side (with their admiring owners in matching Ferrari/Lambo/Porche jackets, caps etc congratulating themselves at being able to open the throttle for more than 5 seconds on the run down into Shek-O). In fairness I am not sure who is worse, the lycra-clad cyclists or the team kit clad motorists - mid-life crises manifesting themselves in different, but at the same time very similar, manners....

"Horse-Dog" was also spotted again.... a photo is really needed to explain what I mean by that. Next time.

After stuffing my face with arguably the best french toast on the Island we all headed back off to Central at our own pace, with me diverting off almost immediately to climb up to Cape D'Aguilar's radio mast (a climb for some reason named as "Luke's Lament" on Strava.... I have no idea who Luke might be, but you can understand the possible reasons for his lamentations as you inch yourself up the 13-16% gradients)

Taking some time to deeply regret having climbed Luke's Lament

From there back to Central and the base of the Peak it was a pretty uneventful ride with little to report, other than my failed attempt to catch Pt and Janice. Only afterwards, when really thinking about it did it occur to me that giving them a 20min head start (by virtue of my lamentation) was a pretty significant deficit to overturn in little over 17kms! Still, I tried.

Pro..!

The remaining 30km of the ride at this stage was mainly achieved by going up and down the Peak/Mt Austin and Mt Butler a couple of times to eek out each km from the limited road space - a task that got more and more fraught as the traffic up to one of Hong Kong's prime tourist locations on a sunny day exponentially increased with every passing kilometer. A decent first ascent of the Peak was followed by a distinctly average second and it was becoming evident that the 100km marker couldn't come soon enough. With 3km to go I finally dropped down Magazine Gap Road back towards home.... only to have misjudged the distance by 100 or so meters. 99.9km is not 100km so I cycled straight past my front door, bagged the extra 100m and did a u-turn to finish the ride.

Some chocolate milk, a vat of rice and scrambled eggs, a snooze of the sofa and a bit of 'sorting stuff' later I was ready to knuckle down to the days biggest challenge and attempt to tie my bow-tie....

The Strava link for the ride is available here



Bumpy...