The king of the mountain

A 55 kg bike, on the circuit of the "most difficult race in the world". Sounds like my kind of challenge!

---

A few hundred meters from the famous road that never stops climbing.

All I wanted was to go to the mountains. The island of Taiwan, off the coast of China, is known to be a cycling paradise. In the center of the country, there are fantastic landscapes on its roads which climb to hundreds of peaks at more than 3000 meters above sea level. But the options are not legion to enter the mountains from the south, where I come from, and descend to the north, where I want to go.

I see one of these options on my map. A few days before going there, Jacques Sennéchael, the editor-in-chief of the magazine Vélo Mag is surprised at this choice when exchanging emails.

- You will ride the KOM Taiwan with your 120 pound bike ??
- What is KOM?
- Just the course of the most difficult race in the world ...

I think a little reading is in order ... KOM is for King of Mountain. I learn that what I'm about to do goes from sea level to over 3275 meters above sea level in just 80 km. With a small 25 km of false flat to get to the start located at the entrance of Taroko National Park.

This is where I reluctantly decided to drop my guitar and to go “lighter”. I still have all my clothes, food, health, bike repair, and camping gear. The latter will be welcome because it is quite impossible that I manage to get on and off in one day!

It leaves

I stop at one of the last convenience stores before starting the real climb. Inside, I meet a couple of cyclists who have two panniers behind their bikes. Seeing my bike sweater, the man approaches me with great pride.

- We are touring the island of Taiwan! You ?
- I left England.
- Oh...

The first 20 km ascent is not that dramatic. I stop at one of the last villages and ask for the price of a room at a huge Youth Activity Center. It's over $ 100! QWAT ?! Okay, I sweated, but not enough to spend 4 budget days on a hard bed. I ask her if I can just use her showers. No, he replies almost insulted. Perfect, I said, then just heading for the bathroom.

After a brief wash at the sink, I set out again in search of a first campsite on the mountain. The options are limited by the cliffs on both sides of the road. I sit a few meters from the road on a promontory and fall asleep soundly.

Each turn hides another in this long climb lasting several days.

A popular route

I am not yet awake the next morning as I can already hear groups of cyclists pass one after the other. I already told you that Taiwanese love to explore their country. This is even more true here. All along the way, I will meet road cyclists. However, I cannot explain to myself how they manage to have only one container of water and no food with them. I understand when at a belvedere, I see several vans stopped with different people preparing lunches and coffee. 

Either the cyclists alternate between riding a bike and driving the refueling vehicle, or they have literally paid an agency to help them in these short sporting vacations of one or two days. By making more mileage and sharing their costs, these cyclists also sleep in the few rare hotels on the mountain. 

I am therefore the only one with complete autonomy. And at each of my stops, I create a surprise by arriving among them with my load. So I am offered several free snacks and coffees in exchange for my efforts!

Jack (right) with his friends.

Surrounded by James and Luke.

It keeps going up

The milestone of the 20th kilometer since my departure from England has been crossed in this mythical climb.

I go up all the second day. I only managed to do 34 km, but I go from 850 to 2100 meters above sea level. I stop to talk to people, to eat, and to take pictures. Including my official photo of the 20th kilometer crossed since my departure from England.

Then I camp again not very far from the road. The temperature is more comfortable, however, and I wake up motivated for my third day of climbing.

It continues to go well until I get to my last 10k before the summit. There is a real wall. The incline reaches almost 30% for one section. My forehead pearls with sweat despite the relatively cold temperature. Sometimes I have to zigzag from one side of the road to the other in an attempt to lessen the coast.

I push on my pedals while sitting. I push on my pedals while standing. I talk to myself and motivate myself. And I keep moving forward.

In a 27% incline section ... Who could say better ?!

A little break in the cold air as the sun completes its daily course, casting long shadows on the mountains.

The king of the mountain

I finally get to the top at the very end of my third day. A few photos and it is already dark. Fortunately, I had spotted a nice flat spot a few hundred meters below. I retrace my steps a little and, stepping over the guardrail, I sit there by the light of my headlamp.

The summit devoid of vegetation, at an altitude of nearly 3300 meters.

The night is shaping up to be cold and I don't have a lot of warm clothes with me this summer. I put on the diapers I have and take out my down sleeping bag. The night might be cold, but the incredible sight and the sense of accomplishment I feel keeps me warm.

Night is falling in the Taiwanese mountains.

As I fall asleep, I think back to all these people I met on this climb. Who wished me with big smiles welcome to Taiwan, and good luck for this climb. They are the ones who pushed me with their encouragement to the top. Now all you have to do is go down!

Cold, bluish night atop Mount Wuling.

Alarm clock on the mountain. Now all you have to do is get off!