Taiwan

About the Route

Choosing a specific route for this challenge took time to settle on, because of the incredible quantity of mountain roads and routes to select from, on this jewel of an island in the Pacific, named by the Portuguese as “Isla Formosa” or “beautiful island”.

In the end, this route was selected and it begins at the Gezellig coffee shop, in the southwestern town of Meishan. The first climb, fittingly, is known as the Meishan 36 switchbacks, and it winds its way from the flat plain up through the palm trees, pineapple farms, to the beautifully neat tea plantations as you rise to around 1000m in elevation.

Uniquely to Taiwan, the hairpin bends here are numbered, so give you some progress markers as you climb.

After cresting the first pass we plunge 500m in 10 km into the valley of the Qingshui River, and now you are entering the real isolated part of the ride, as few vehicles choose to take this route due to the arduous nature on the road, zig-zagging it’s way in and out of the valley. The second climb, from the river, eventually emerges into more pretty tea plantations.

Enjoy the views of the distant 3952m Jade Mountain as you roll along the higher plateau for a while, before we take on a 16km descent, rolling down a huge valley. This descent is more relaxing, and less technical and gives you a chance to really savour the views.

You brief respite from the corners end on the third climb where the switchback density ramps back up as you traverse around 30 hairpins in a 10km stretch. Keep your eyes off your stem and keep an eye out for the impressive Penglai waterfall halfway up the climb..

Another long valley descent can put some life back into your legs, as the road flows downhill back into the warmer topical air and forest, before you make one final effort to pedal up the 10km at 4% climb back towards the final stunning tea farm area and finally, the downhill back to civilization in Meishan.