Taipei to Pingxi: tough climb over Mount Jiangziliao

Taipei summer
Statistics for today
Distance 73.00 kms 45.36 miles
Statistics for trip to date
Distance 172.00 kms 106.88 miles
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Thursday, August 25th, 2016

I follow the river path on the bicycle as far as it will take me then head up over Mount Jiangziliao towards Pingxi. From the river it's about 15 kilometers of continuous climb on switchbacks before the road drops down the other side into Pingxi. With the heat and humidity it is a lot of work, but the pavement is in perfect condition. After lunch in Pingxi it's mostly a descent on 106 towards Taipei, becoming an urban death-ride about 10 kilometers away from the center. I wish I had my odometer/altimeter with me, it would be fun to know how many meters of climbing it takes to get over these mountains.

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Green bridge.
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Passageway under the bridge.
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They like to color the bridges.
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Riding through a garden.
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Pedestrian bridge near the end of the bike path.
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Heron.
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Colorful sequence.
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Purple flower.
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Fat and happy in the middle of nowhere.
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Butterfly.
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Huge fern-kind of thing.
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Massive leaves.
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Looking down on Taipei.
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I'm in the upper right corner of this map.
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Descending down the other side of Mount Jiangziliao.
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Lots of hairpins today.
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Pingxi "Old Street".
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Pingxi footbridge.
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Egret flying away.
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106 follows the river gorge down to Tapei.
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E. Heping Road tunnel.
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Taipei 101 peeking over the hills.
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Sudden thunderstorms are the norm with all this humidity.
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Waiting out the rain under a bridge.
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One-woman recycling plant, all of it pulled on a handcart.