A Ride With Mosaic : 鐵馬賽克

Gaomei Wetlands

After logging only one meaningful ride in two weeks, mainly due to the weather, the rain clouds parted just in time for a warm-up ride with Rocky and his crew from T-Mosaic.

A Group on the Go

The ride was perfect for what I wanted to do. I have some heavy climbing this weekend as we attempt to do the Central Cross Island Highway again and I really didn't want to over do it and be less that 100% energized for the weekend long haul.

Cold Cash

I wanted to mostly go 50% on the effort and just loosen the legs up so they won't get tired on the climbs. I was also having a mild asthma attack and I was having trouble getting my lungs full of the oxygen I needed for any major effort. The route was simply down to the Gaomei Wetlands and back. I rode for a while with Cash Huang, who has the perfect build for cycling, and a bike that looks like a charity project.

The Emperor's New Cycling Shoes

I stretched it out with a few spurts of energy here and there, but when I would feel my muscles working too hard I would dial it back.

Mr. Mosaic Himself--Rocky Huang

We arrived near the wetlands and sat around doing nothing for a while before heading back to the T-Mosaic shop on Liming Rd.

Heading for Home

The croup was fairly small and since I normally don't have time to ride with these guys, I was a bit of the odd man out in an established group. No biggie. They were all nice people and a mix of skill levels. As we turned back toward Taichung the headwind made it so that we were doing flat hills... until we got to the hill over Dadu Shan, which combined a head wind with a climb and thus making it feel like we were doing hillier hills.

We Eat So We Can Ride and We Ride So We Can Eat!

We ended the ride at Dante's Cafe on the Donghai University campus where conversation swirled around...mainly the topic of food an of a shaved ice store that is operated by girls with large breastseses. It was a calm and relaxing ride. Just what I needed. 35 miles of easy, happy biking.

Rocky Huang: Cycling Taiwan Video

Support Your LBS:

Final Build

Here is a great video posted by my friend and builder Rocky Huang from T-Mosaic Cycles in Taichung.

When Rocky is not preparing for a race he usually reserves his weekends for taking customers on rides. They usually offer different rides for different levels of fitness, so nobody is excluded.

Although the big box stores like Giant and Merida offer some good deals, you don't get the same level of expertise you get when dealing with a good local bike shop. At an LBS like Rocky's, you might pay a little more, but you get service from a guy who actually knows what it is like to seriously ride a bike and shares the same passion for the sport. Often, the big corporate stores do just enough to move merchandise, but the employees do not have the saddle time it takes to understand the customer's needs. Sometimes with large corporations, excessive overhead drives the sales rather than ensuring the customer has the bike they want and need. In my own experience I have found Giant and Merida stores are great for a quick repair, but generally they are technicians of limited ability. The employees go through a short training course, like McDonalds, and then hit the sales floor. Rarely are the Giant derailleurs ever indexed properly. Visiting Rocky is more like going to a cycling councilor. I can discuss training technique, different component options, geometry, routes and resources. This is a huge advantage of the LBS.

Furthermore, supporting your LBS is a great way to support your cycling community and I hope more cyclists will go out of their way to lend these places their support. The LBS forms a center where local cyclists can meet, ride and build community awareness. They need your patronage to remain a part of your community. To favor the corporate stores is simply penny wise and pound foolish.

I would again like to thank Rocky for his expertise and help with prepping by bike on short notice when I need to ride. Best bike shop in central Taiwan.