With the majority of the team on Bintan duties, the DirectAsia.com contingent heading over to Taiwan for the Taiwan King of the Mountain challenge was down to two climbers. Unfortunately a crash suffered while training for the race would ultimately rule Amber Will out of the race, meaning Damian Barrett headed over solo. The relatively short 1 hour 20 minute flight from Hong Kong was followed by a leisurely 2.5 hour train ride to the start city of Hualien.
The race, in only its 4th year has become ever more popular as word spreads and riders look to push themselves even more and 500 riders had signed up for this edition of the race. The race organisers try to get a Mountains Classification winner from one of the three European Grand Tours and this year’s star rider was Simon Clarke (Orica-Green Edge) who won the KOM jersey at the Vuelta a España in 2012. Fellow Aussie Tiffany Clarke (Orica-AIS) team was also present who along with Eri Yonamine from Japan and 梁謝梁 from Hong Kong would contest the women’s prize. Apart from Clarke, the race had also attracted pro cyclists from the RTS–Santic racing team, CCN Cycling and the Atlas-Enervit team from Italy.
The Taiwan KOM had been on Barrett’s radar for some time. “I’ve done Mt. Grappa in Italy and Genting in Malaysia, but in terms of bucket-list climbs, Wuling is right up there. I’m a little fortunate to be based in Hong Kong as we’ve got the Peak and Tai Mo Shan to train on but these peaks come in at 500m and 1000m respectively so fall some way short to the monster 3275m summit in Taiwan”.
On arrival, bikes were assembled. Barrett was riding his NeilPryde BURAsl with Velocite Noir 22/38 wheels which fully built weighed in at 6.8kg. The perfect set up for the monster climb. While keeping his standard crank and an 11x28, many competitors had opted for compact or even triples with rear configs going all the way up to 32!
Organisation was top notch with sign-on easy and a comfortable hotel arranged for all the riders. Some of the riders had arrived a couple of days early to explore the lower stretches of Toroko Gorge and sample in the local delicacies. Taiwan is gaining an ever growing reputation of one of the best cycling destinations in Asia with smooth roads, great terrain and top quality food & coffee.
The riders woke early for breakfast on the Saturday morning. Rain overnight had cleared but skies were grey and rain looked inevitable. With a 06:30 flag off, vans were loaded and riders started rolling out of the hotel at 05:30. On the ride to the start line, Barrett had the chance to speak to fellow Irishman, David McCann, currently riding for the Synergy Baku team and the 3rdplaced finisher in the 2012 KOM Challenge. When asked for advice for a 1st timer, McCann with a wry smile told him “I’m not sure if it’s better knowing what the final 8k are like or if it’s better not to know”. Wise words indeed!
After the traditional start ceremony, including a performance from members of the local Yaroko tribe, the riders were flagged off and led through the 18k neutral zone by the pro’s & invited riders. A couple of small rain showers sent nerves through the peloton but fortunately none lasted too long. A sharp left turn took the riders away from the coast and along the riverbed at the foot of the gorge which signalled the start of the race with fireworks from the flag-off. The pack started splitting almost immediately. There were a couple of early attacks but most people were content to sit in with one of the RTS–Santic and Atlas-Enervit over driving the pace at the front.
From Barrett “I lost touch with the lead group around 25k after the start of the race proper, preferring to ease off and ride at my own pace to make sure I didn't blow up. I rode on my own for about 20k and started catching people who'd been pinged out of the lead group from about the 60k mark.” Shortly after Barrett was joined by a group of about 15 riders who came up behind him jumped in with them. The group rode well together, the pace not especially high but once we hit the 2000m elevation point the group started to get whittled down as the elevation and exertions started to take their toll.
There was a 4k downhill at the 85k mark which gave the riders a chance to recover but with some technical corners the group was down to about 8 riders heading into the final 15k. The attrition continued and this went down to 6 and then 4 with 10k to go. “The last 8k was just brutal. I've never been above 2500m before so this was my 1st experience of real altitude. My breathing was laboured and pedal strokes grinding. Gradients went from high teens to mid 20's. It was so steep that the few times we hit 8% sections, it felt the road was flat in comparison. The kilo between the 5k and 4k to go marker took an eternity!”
Sebastian Berner from Anza Singapore and 李憲忠 from the Taiwanese e-Ma team started to pull away from Barrett and 徐徐曹 from the Volando Cycling Team heading into the 1.5k downhill section at 3k to go which gave the riders a small respite before hitting the final kilometre was just a wall. Riders fought cramp and counted down the meters to the finish but with large crowds cheering them on they pushed themselves across the line.
Barrett finished in a time of 04:12, about 40 mins behind the winners but only 8 minutes back from Simon Clarke. There was an air of camaraderie at the top with all the riders congratulating each other on pushing themselves to conquer the mountain. It didn’t take too long before promises of coming back next year were being made though this might have had something to do with the thin air on top of the mountain. The Taiwan KOM is a unique challenge and definitely worth adding to the list of rides to do. Team Direct Asia is already looking forward to the 2014 edition.
Words: Damian Barrett, Team Directasia.com
Photos: Cora Hong
