February 12, 2024
February 12th
Daxi and Shirmen Dam
Last week we beat the rush. Today we're going to join it. Kind of. It's just too nice not to.
Yesterday the weather was great and it looks to be another sunny one and g is up for a spin and says he's getting a train south to our place and will be outside our door at around 9:30. We have a vague plan, which is to pedal south-ish to Shirmen Dam, near the town of Daxi. It's been a while. It'll be lumpy.
Once g has arrived, we ride out towards Longtan on a route I know like the back of my hand, but it's been a few months and for g it's probably over a year. Our jackets come off soon enough. The sky is cloudless. It feels like an English summer's day and it's got to be over 20°C in the sun and no doubt it will only get warmer as the day goes on.
We know smaller roads, but there are a few junctions to negotiate and there's a fair amount of traffic to contend with for the first 20 minutes or so. Everyone is on vacation still.
It's not too far out of the way to ride into Longtan's centre, but instead we call at a 7-Eleven on its edge to get a coffee and a bite to eat. The few tables inside have been replaced by Lunar New Year gifts, so we sit outside the front door on some planters that have been filled in with concrete. Debbie and I have a croissant each, while g has a bagel.
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As we continue south, the Central Mountains loom up ahead. Thankfully we don't see too many cars on the small roads we ride along and it's all pretty flat until we connect to four-lane Highway 3 for a few minutes of up and then down.
There's a street market with vendors selling drinks, fruit, plants and whatever lining the road leading to the dam, which is something of a tourist spot. When it was built, there was an amusement park and a few hotels, but few people stayed overnight as it's so close to the local cities and the capital, so they went out of business.
When I arrived in Taiwan over 20 years ago, the amusement park was a rusty mess and got cleared away soon after. Another place overlooking the reservoir had been turned into a Buddhist retreat, which is odd as it still has a huge gorilla figure in the middle that was designed as a lookout tower. The only thing left is a company that offers boat trips up and down the reservoir.
Sure enough, there are more cars near the dam. They have to pay a fee to enter, but we cruise past the toll gate as it's free for cyclists. This was one of the first places that I found when I arrived in Taiwan after joining a local cycling group. The area struck me as being tropical, with bamboo and tall tree ferns growing on the hills that surround the large reservoir, which supplies our domestic water. people are milling around enjoying the beautiful weather and we watch a small tourist boat making its way across reservoir as we ride across the top of the dam and start a climb.
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The road that goes along the north side of the reservoir goes up and down. The climbs are quite stiff, but not too long. The first time Debbie rode here she walked up a couple, but now she doesn't have a problem. She's got used to riding and knows the crest isn't that far away.
I once brought a couple of teenage students here - about 10 years ago. On a fast descent, one of them slammed on his front brake and went over the bars and landed in a pile on teh edge of the tarmac. I feared he'd seriously hurt himself, but thankfully he just had a graze. His mother came and collected him and I think about all that as we whiz down that latter section before crusing along to join Highway 7.
A disused railway tunnel is only for pedestrians and cyclists. It wasn't open when I first came, so it was a matter of riding with traffic through the main tunnel, which was always a pain as it's pretty tight.
Once through the cool tunnel, we drop down fast into Daxi and decide to get a drink in McDonald's as g needs to use a bathroom. I have some fries to keep me going.
We freewheel down towards the river, but instead of crossing on the busy road bridge, we detour along the southern bank and make our way to a footbridge, walk over that along with hoards of daytrippers, then follow a small road towards an escarpment near the town of Bade, where g used to live a few years ago.
The climb up is a test. We then pass g's old apartment block and he veers off to ride back home, while Debbie and I ride along lanes towards our place.
We have another escaprment to get up, which may be even steeper, then it's venture down a series of back alleys that Debbie knows better than me. It's so easy to get lost here. I've done it before. I feel frazzled when we get home. It's been hot.
Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 3,685 km (2,288 miles)
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