Hi TC,

I have just come back from a most excellent weekend of cycling � a group of us went for a 3 day trip into the central mountains of Nantau County, about 2 hours drive south of Taipei, to climb Wo Ling Shan.

This is the group just prior to departing. I am told the banner reads $B!H(BPu Li to Wo Ling Shan, very cold place, 3275m high, good luck, be strong$B!I(B. There were 40 similarly crazy cyclists, and one waigauren (foreigner), myself.

We started at about 300m altitude, and it was a 55km ride to the mountain top, with 3000m to climb. It was 10 degrees C and raining at the start.

This is about 20km into the ride, quite scenic and perfect cycling.

The roads and scenery just got better and better. The cherry blossoms were out in force.

I need to stop because of a broken spoke. I called the support vehicle on the mobile phone, and from the time of stopping until the mechanic gave me a new wheel and pushed me on my way was about 4 minutes. Felt like a Euro pro, with that kind of service.

That is the destination Wo Ling Shan, completely obscured by cloud. This is taken from 2000m altitude and a couple of degrees C.

This is the manager of the bike shop who was providing the support for our ride. One of the support vehicles had an espresso machine � these guys really know how to organise a bike ride.

About 2500m up, pouring rain, about 0 degrees. Because it was a constant climb (similar grade to front size of Mt Cootha) and hard work, and I had several layers of clothing, I never felt cold (apart from frozen hands and face).

This was the when the decision was made we could go no further � the roads were very narrow and slippery, and many cars were crashing into barriers and each other. Only about 300m altitude from the top, but far enough considering the dangers. And it was -10 degrees C, so the hands were finding it hard to control the bike, and the water bottles were starting to freeze!

Of the 40 starters, this is the group who made it. All completely mad, like myself J, but a group that really made it the excellent day it was.

The support vehicles took us down off the mountain, where we soaked in the natural hot springs, ate plenty of great food and had more than several glasses of red wine, and awoke the next day to find the mechanics had spent the night getting the bikes in perfect condition for Sunday$B!G(Bs ride. The clouds and rain disappeared, the sun came out, and Sunday was spent riding through Aowanda Forest in absolutely perfect winter cycling conditions.

Regards,
Andrew Collins