Sai Kung Country Park
Words and photos: Michael Pryde
Hong Kong may not be on many cyclists’ radar as far as a cycling destination is concerned. Not according to all the guidebooks that mostly talk about the skyscrapers, busy streets, traffic jams, pollution, noise etc. Whilst it has all the aforementioned features that are not conducive to one’s general cycling well being, it does have some of the most unique riding experiences found anywhere in the world.
Almost 75% of Hong Kong is covered in dense forest with 40% protected as parks and nature reserves and since the territory is very hilly, there are many towns and villages spread out across Hong Kong, especially in the northern parts of the New Territories, which shares its border with China. It’s the roads that connect the towns and villages that make up most of the riding that exists in HK, often crossing over hills and hugging the rugged South China Sea coastline.
Surprisingly HK has a thriving cycling scene with many clubs and teams riding and racing throughout HK and Asia. There are even certain spots where 50+ cyclists can be seen on a Sunday morning or even on a week day evening with much talked about rides such as the “MAD100” and “Shatin Speedfest”, which have become local favourites amongst those who like to train hard and race hard (more on that another time).
In typical HK style, the bikes are very exotic with lots of “bling” and carbon fibre frames and wheels being the convention amongst aficionados.
My first HK ride review starts in Sai Kung Country Park (75 square km), named after the local fishing village nearby. The National Park is closed to traffic except to residents who live inside the park area and with amenities such as parking available right at the entrance this has also been the venue for many local HK Cycling Association sanctioned races as well as the starting point of the world famous Oxfam Trailwalker (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam_Trailwalker) event each November.
The roads in the country park are steep but short, so if you are able to find a good rhythm and cadence it is possible to get up them pretty quickly and without getting your heart rate into the red zone. The ride from the entrance of the park to Hoi Ha Wan where the WWF Sanction Marine Park is located is 9 km long with 2 climbs at 7-11% grade and around 1 km long per climb. The road ends at Hoi Ha Wan, the turnaround point where I headed back to the entrance of the park.
After passing through the gates and car parking area in the opposite direction, I headed for Sai Kung town en route to Fei Ngo Shan. Fei Ngo Shan (602 m) is one of the highest peaks on Kowloon Peninsula with spectacular views over eastern Kowloon, the old Kai Tak Airport Runway and beyond to HK Island. On a normal polluted HK day, views to HK Island from Fei Ngo Shan can be rare, but I was fortunate enough to have a south westerly breeze coming from the South China Sea, which meant much clearer conditions, but temperatures at 30 C+ and 75%+ relative humidity.
From Sai Kung to the top of Fei Ngo Shan there is around 600 m of climbing including the 1.6 km climb up Hiram’s Highway, a notorious traffic black spot. Many HK roads that lead to remote hilltops were built many years ago in order to facilitate the building of telecommunication towers, and as such the roads are very narrow and often only designed for single lane traffic. Since they only provide transport to the top and back, there is very little traffic on most days, so there is a good chance of having the road to yourself.
The actual climb up to Fei Ngo Shan starts when you turn off Clearwater Bay Road and continue through some very up market residential addresses before the road narrows to one way traffic. The rest of the climb is under the canopy of the trees that line both sides of the narrow and slightly broken road that goes all the way to the pagoda at the top, which opens up to a panoramic view over eastern Kowloon and HK Island. It is worth spending a little time at the top to have a rest and take in the view. The climb is pretty gentle all the way until you reach a hairpin turn to the left where the gradient kicks up noticeable for 0.1 km.
From the top, the descent is narrow and fast in places. Whilst this is a one-way road, it is also very popular with hikers and therefore care must be taken when negotiating some of the tight and slippery bends on the way down to Choi Hung. After just 650 m of descending on Fei Ngo Shan Road there is a tight left hand turn onto Jat’s Incline and its important that you take this turn, since going straight onto Shatin Pass Road means going downhill the wrong way and taking the obvious risk of meeting oncoming traffic.
At the bottom of the descent, take a left and left again onto a steep but short climb of 0.7 km and then its pretty much all the way down hill to Sai Kung town and more country roads back to the carpark.
Stay tuned for more unique rides from Hong Kong.