First Biking Trip of 2009! reverse 八仙嶺郊野公園!

Oh man, what a blow out biking trip I took yesterday!  my legs are still feeling it!  31km!

昨日とても長自転車トリープをもう一度した。31kmだった！疲れた過ぎね！でも景色すごい綺麗！したの地図と写真を見て下さい。

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2470753 yes, thats right,  I did the Pat Sing Leng Country Park (八仙嶺郊野公園) trip, same as I first did in July,  except this time in reverse! :-P

Wow, I forgot how far it was...  18.5 miles = 31+ km!   At least this time it wasn't July... but even in January coolness, I was still sweating (i think i'm not in as good shape as I was last summer). :-P

Also the route is a bit more difficult in reverse...    rather than one really steep hill early in the run, you get a really really long hill in an unbroken stretch.  Gmaps Pedometer recently added a new elevation feature to their service:

so yeah, basically you get a ~120m change in elevation all at once. (the other direction is definitely less steep) :-P

Anyway, enough whining, let's get on to some of the really cool pictures I took of the great scenery:

Not so impressive at the start... just go down Sha Tau Kok road til you're almost at the border control point... then turn off to Luk Keng Rd....

Which is right along the Sha Tau Kok (沙頭角) inlet... a nice bay between between HK and the Mainland.

There is an island near the shore thats full of wild birds....  you can see a crane standing in the middle of the water, implying its not very deep... (or he found something to stand on).

Off in the distance on the left side is a huge port facility...

You can see it a little more clear here, those are giant cranes for loading ships, reminds me a bit of the view near where I used to live in Emeryville in SF Bay.

I didn't realize it at the time, but apparently a little bit further down is MINSK WORLD... 

I was stopped where that red X is on the map...  MINSK WORLD is in the circle...  let me give you a closer look in case you don't know what MINSK WORLD is:

click here to see it on google maps.

yes, thats right, its an old Soviet aircraft carrier that was turned into a tourist attraction in China! :-P

I've wanted to go for a while,  I'll have to make a trip out next time I'm across the border... ;-)

Anyway,  to continue on w/ my adventure,  I ran into this poor hapless puppy,  who I thought was worth stopping for a photo op:

He was rummaging through a pile of junk and garbage:

Delicious!  (the puppy is that black spot in the middle of the trash heap)

Actually there are a LOT of random dogs running around in these remote areas... in the junkyard industrial parks they use them for watch dogs,  in the farm areas sometimes they just let them run around... and over in Fanling I've seen at least two or three kennels (aka puppy mills).  :-P

On the other side of the road the scenery is also impressive:

its actually some sort of marsh area with trees growing up out of the water...   technically I believe this is a mangrove!  Nice mountains in the background too....

The road snakes around through the small town of Luk Keng, which is the start and ending point of a lot of nature hikes... so since it was like 5pm by this point, there was a long queue of hikers waiting for the minibus back to civilization. 

Another nice estuary or whatever...

Along the way are some farms and fish farms... then you get to a really long road that leads to that really long hill... (not pictured, I was too busy struggling up in first gear).

After you pass over the top you get easy downhill riding and you can finally see the Plover Cove Resevoir:

Wow, the water level is so much lower than it was over the summer, at least 10-20m lower. There's actually some rocks sticking up in the middle... a temporary island. :-P

Since it was getting late, I decided to hurry up and finish up... next thing you know we're in Tai Mei Tuk, along Tolo Harbor:

Thats Ma On Shan (the town, not the mountain) in the distance,  the mountain is kind of cut off on the left...

I even took a self-portrait while riding... not safe, but I'm a professional...  Here you can see Ma On Shan the mountain ( 馬鞍山) here behind my head.

One last shot before the sun goes down:

Lots of boats and fishermen out...

Actually this reminds me a lot of a photo I once took in Moji, Japan when i went to visit the famous Ganryu Jima... except w/ less attractive people. :-P

Anyway,  last but not least:

Back in Tai Po...    I decided to go an extra kilometer and park my bike at Tai Wo station, since I've had so many bad experiences w/ the Taipo Market Station. >:-(

My legs held up pretty well considering the distance...   I'm looking forward to going again this weekend, who wants to go w/ me? we can try something much much easier... :-P