Hills of Hong Kong: Big Buddha

As the, long overdue, third part in the series looking at the Hills of Hong Kong, we return to Lantau Island for the climb to the "Big Buddha".

The Tian Tan Buddha, commonly known as the Big Buddha, is perhaps Lantau’s biggest tourist attraction. It was ‘the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha’ prior to 2007 (I am not sure which Buddha now holds this venerable title…) – impressive I hear you think, but it was only built/completed in 1993 and seems to have been erected chiefly with tourists in mind (the nearby Po Lin Monastery, a genuine ‘centre of Buddhism in Hong Kong’ was founded as far back as 1906), something that is confirmed by the nearby Disneyfied ‘village’ of Nong Ping 360 (more of a tacky retail and entertainment centre than a village).

Tourists are brought up to the Big Buddha from Tung Chung by the Ngong Ping Cable Car; the more adventurous cyclists start their climb to enlightenment under their own steam from Shek Pik reservoir.

Hello Buddha!

The Route

The majority of cyclist will have already tackled (and conquered?) the Beast before dropping down to Pui O Wan and heading west along South Lantau Road. South Lantau Road provides a welcome respite and some rolling terrain before arriving at the dam at Shek Pik Reservoir – the reservoir to your right and a view over Shek Pik Prison to your left.

There may be some difference in opinion as to when the real climb to the Big Buddha starts, but there is little argument that the road turns quickly upwards as you leave the reservoir behind and hit Keng Shan Road.

The climb totals 4.4km in length with an average gradient of 8.2%, but there are many changes in pitch along the way that flatter to deceive. The climb to the crest of Keng Shan Road is consistent, before a right turn towards Nong Ping offers some extreme pitches, a nice flat section and then a wall to the finish.

3km of steady climbing before a small rest and then a final push to the finish

The final section of the climb; 2km of contrasts.... flats and walls

The Climb

The climb to Big Buddha offers it all; some consistent (if steep) climbing, extreme pitches, a section of flat and a ‘wall’ to finish it off. It is a climb that can be brutal the first few times, but once you have tackled it and know what to expect it becomes less of a challenge.

The climb from Shek Pik to the crest of Keng Shan Road, after an initial gentle start, maintains a consistent gradient of 10-12% for 2kms+, enough to get the heart pumping and the legs burning. If that doesn’t raise the heart rate, the tight, steep corners with buses taking tourists to the Buddha whizzing (far too closely) past you will.

As you reach the crest of the initial section of the climb, instead of following the road as it drops down to Tai O a right turn takes you up towards Nong Ping and the Big Buddha – from here on the terrain is more varied.

The first 700 metres includes short pitches of 21% and 29%, which require periods out of the saddle, before levelling off completely for 800 metres of recovery time.

Water buffalo roaming around 

Having had the opportunity to take a rest, carefully cycling past Lantau’s feral cattle and water buffalo that often roam this section, the road straightens and reveals the last 800 metre ‘wall’ with gradients never dipping below 11% and for the majority of the time sitting comfortably at 18-21%. You can see the crest of the road stretched out in front of you, but every time you find the energy to raise your head it rarely seems to be getting any closer.

On hitting the top, you can see the Big Buddha ahead and freewheel the last 100 metres to the tourist circus surrounding him.

Dogs are circling me everywhere (out of shot...)

Summary

The climb to enlightenment may not be an easy one, but it is certainly rewarding. Heading up to the Big Buddha can at first seem daunting, and the unpredictable nature of the road can catch a few riders out, but once you have had Buddha in your sight a few times the climb becomes more predictable and allows you measure your efforts.

There are some brutal gradients and some more forgiving ones, making the climb a perfect opportunity to test your climbing skills on varying terrain.

Its Strava leaderboard can be found here.

Altitude Training.... finding Shangri-La

Those of you that have seen the deluge of Instagram and Facebook photos will know that I spent the past week on the tourist trail in Northwestern Yunnan Province, China. The majority of my time being spent in Lijiang and Shangri-La, with a brief diversion to Tiger Leaping Gorge.

It has been amazing to spend some time away from the manic streets of Hong Kong and Yunnan has been the perfect place to do it, providing isolated and breath-taking scenery together with a chunk of ancient and historic Tibet (without the trouble of having to venture into Tibet itself).

The plains of Yunnan with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the background

However, a week’s holiday is also a week of not training(!). Added to that I have spent a significant portion of my time dedicating myself to eating large amounts of Naxi and Tibetan food and drinking quantities of Dali beer.

Another Naxi feast, rounded of with a cold Dali beer...

One unintended consequence, however, is that I have spent the week at altitudes of between 2400m (Lijiang and around) and 3300m (Shangri-La) – with that in mind I have convinced myself that the week has not been wasted and that it can be put down as “altitude training”. Very pro!

I have even managed to get in a few morning runs and a couple of (leisurely tourist-style) bike rides in. In fact, given the Black Rain experienced in Hong Kong whilst I was away, I managed to get more kilometres cycling in than I would have managed otherwise…

Lijiang, Shuhe and Baisha

The first part of my week off was spent in and around Lijiang, a town with a history going back over 800 years and famous for its maze of winding cobblestoned streets and orderly system of bridges and waterways. A fabulously picturesque historical town that has perhaps suffered a little from its success as a tourist ‘destination’ – the main streets are packed at peak times and are lined with shops selling tourist tat.

Deciding to combine a desire to see tourist-free streets and a need to maintain some sort of physical activity, I dragged myself out of bed one morning at the crack of dawn to run through the cobbled streets (I actually had to break out of the hotel, it was so early). The air was cold and my breathing was definitely a little laboured, but it was totally worth it. Running through the empty streets lined with history with only the sound of my own breath was awesome. That said, the 5km mark couldn’t come soon enough – definitely out of practice running wise. The Strava link is here.

Empty streets all to myself.... finally!

The following day I decided to hire a bike and head out to Shuhe and Baisha, two ‘ancient towns’ located outside Lijiang that were supposed to be less touristy. The bike I hired wasn’t up to much to be honest, but it did the job and I managed to get in a 30km round trip.

My piece of crap Giant for the day, complete with wobbling bottom bracket...

Shuhe was decidedly less touristy (perhaps a Lijiang of 5-10 years ago) and Baisha was basically a one-Yak town. The ride out to both was up a gradual gradient the whole way and completed in the midday sun – whilst not scorching hot in the traditional sense, the thinness of the air offers little UV protection, that combined with a lack of sunscreen meant I was pretty red come the end of the day. The return journey to Lijiang was largely downhill and I spent the majority of it being motorpaced by a mineral water delivery van – result. The Strava link for the day is here.

The locals, just chilling Baisha style....

Shangri-La

The second portion, and favourite part, of my week was spent in Shangri-La (formerly known as Zhongdian, more on that below).

The original Shangri-La, from James Hilton's novel The Lost Horizon, was a fictional hidden, utopian lamasery in the depths of the Kunlun mountains, Tibet, whose inhabitants lived for centuries. In 2001, Chinese authorities in Zhongdian decided that their one-Yak mountain hamlet was surely the book’s inspiration and officially changed its name to Shangri-La. A pretty obvious attempt to attract tourists a la Lijiang, and despite the obvious development and touristy shops the sleepy lanes of the old town still retain a large part of their isolated and historical charm.

Prayer flags would be a recurring theme for the whole week....

Whilst I wasn’t expecting to find the elixir of eternal youth here (nor would it specifically help me cycle over any mountains), I did take the opportunity to go out for another morning run and hire a second bike to go explore some of the surrounding monasteries.

The road to Shangri-La offered some truly stunning sceney 

The bike ride was very leisurely and quite short. I first headed to the famous Songzanlin Si, just 4kms out of the town, on flat straight roads and under the warming midday heat. The second part of the ride was again on straight roads but into a buffeting head wind. Even the smallest amount of effort in such thin air soon gets the heart racing. In total I clocked up a decent 17km. The Strava link is here.

Songzanlin Si, sitting on hill above Shangri-La

I also managed to drag myself out of bed early one morning (again having to be let out of the hotel) to go on a short, lung burning, run around the empty streets of the old town and vaguely in search of Baiji Si (a temple, brilliantly named the 100 Chickens Temple, that I had failed to find the previous day). Again, seeing the streets empty of tourists was amazing and despite the chillingly cold and thin air I managed to get a decent 5km run in with some little hills thrown into the mix. I wouldn’t want to run at this altitude too often! Again, the Strava link is here.

The brilliantly named 100 Chicken Temple.... I had the whole place to myself, except for all the chickens (really)

Too Long; Didn’t Read

A week off of training is always good, hopefully the effects of the altitude and the little physical activity I have been able to bring myself to do will have offset the amount of food and beer I have consumed.

I am looking forward to getting back on the bike!

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....

Goodbye Lantau...

This last Saturday, I headed out to meet Kelvin for what was to be my last ride on Lantau Island. The plan was to get a decent ride in before meeting Vicky at the TaiO Heritage Hotel where we would be spending Saturday evening as part of a short ‘staycation’ (a very thoughtful wedding present).

Arriving a little earlier than planned I made my way along the platform at Sunny Bay MTR station (front wheel of course off my bike) and noticed a minor scuffle between two ageing Cantonese guys. There was a bit of shouting and a little bit of ‘hand-bag at twenty paces’ type shoving. Not too unusual, so I skirted past and made my way out through the turnstiles. Next thing, one guy pushes past me muttering under his breath, throws down his bag and pulls out what I thought was a pen (to write a complaint?!). As soon as the other guy left the station he launched himself at him with, what was now apparent to me as, the screwdriver in his hand and started wildly trying to stab him in the ribs, kidneys, head and neck. Total chaos ensued!

The Cantonese labourers weapon of choice - more dangerous than one might expect

I wasn’t quite sure what to do, I was unarmed and didn’t fancy catching a screwdriver in the face. I thought about throwing my bike at them, but it was new (and expensive) so I quickly dismissed that ridiculous idea… A quick scan of the area revealed no readily adaptable street weapons. Deciding that I was going to be no use I also briefly considered whether I should film it (or maybe even Instagram the action….). I stood there uselessly.

A very ineffective street weapon

Eventually the unarmed guy wrestled him to the ground and got him in some sort of leg lock whilst the crazy guy flailed around on the floor with his bloodied screwdriver. The victim was streaming blood from his face and neck and clearly had several puncture wounds. Phone calls were made and the aggressor got up and legged it for a bus (from which he was refused entry) and then into the distance. People gave chase, then a typically unnecessarily large number of police (three paddy waggons?) and ambulances arrived. Shortly followed by Kelvin in all-white kit…

Try not to look too closely, you might get an unpleasant surprise

Is all white kit every really acceptable? I am not sure it ever is. I was wearing a white jersey, fine, it gets hot and it is a cooling colour. White bibshorts though, they are frankly indecent – a tiny bit of rain or getting a little threadbare after being loved too much and they reveal far too much of areas no one really wants to have to see. I resigned myself to spending as much of the day riding in front of Kelvin (or at the very least side by side) to avoid unwanted images being etched on my retinas.

I recounted the street fight / attempted murder as we cycled out of Sunny Bay, narrowly avoiding a pack of police dogs, and headed towards what in my mind was the mini-goal of the day – climb the Beast in my fastest time to-date. This would be the last time I would climb the Beast and to be honest I was a little glad about that. Hitting the bottom I tripped the lap timer on my Garmin and started to grind my way up (mindful of my power output – see previous, very interesting, blog here). Finally hitting the top I stopped the clock to a time that appeared to be 30 seconds slower than my previous effort a few weeks ago, but with a higher speed and greater average power. I tried harder, hurt more at the end but was slower - something was amiss.

Brushing my pathetic performance aside we headed towards Tai O with the promise of legendary coffee and cheesecake at a little stilted gem of a coffee shop – Solo.

Espresso time!

After a fab siphoned coffee, we started the climb to enlightenment and headed towards the Big Buddha (to be featured in the next Hills of Hong Kong blog entry). The cheesecake sat heavy in the stomach as we climbed and almost proved fatal in slowing us down when we needed to sprint away from a (wild?) dog that jumped out from a side road, teeth bared and started chasing us up the road. The dog was not mountain goat though and was quickly dropped.

The bad feeling amongst the canines continued as we tried to cycle to a good view of the Buddha at the top of the hill. We were surrounded by four or five dogs and every time we edged forward on the bike we were greeted with wild barking and snappy teeth.

Dogs are literally everywhere.... just out of shot

Not wanting to push our luck we headed towards Mui Wo along a storm drain which was significant flatter than the coastal road, free kilometres.  After a quick liquid refuel in Mui Wo we doubled back on ourselves and headed up the Reverse Beast – the, only marginally, easier side of the Beast At the top I left Kelvin to head off for his flight back to the UK and doubled back on myself and took advantage of the free-kilometre-storm-drain back towards Tai O to meet Vicky.

I am probably the first guest that the Tai O Heritage Hotel have had check in in full lycra.

Despite the Beast disappointment I uploaded my ride to Strava here – mercifully I had knocked 30+ seconds off my time for the Beast and moved up to 4^th on the leaderboard. I wouldn’t need to make the ride private after all.

I am currently in Taiwan for through days of riding through the mountains (and my highest every road pass next). Can’t wait (although the weather needs to improve).