228 Pole to Pole with Mayor Ko and More

It has been a busy week for cycling in Taiwan. With a three-day weekend last week and the Velo-cities Global conference leading up to the Taipei Cycle trade show, a lot of cyclists have been hitting the roads for a little taste of Taiwan's cyclescape. 

The charge was led by Taipei's incredible mayor, Ko Wen-je. Ko was noted as a commuting cyclist from his time before politics as a surgeon and director at the NTU Hospital in Taipei. When Ko was elected, he made it a priority to try to right the decade of cycling wrongs Taipei has suffered as the bicycle was trotted out as a convenient campaign tool and bicycle infrastructure was merely a gift to special interests. Ko has pushed ahead with commuter bike lanes that actually integrate the bicycle into the grid as opposed to banishing it out into the hinterlands...earning praise from the Netherlands.  

This year, Mayor Ko decided to bike the length of Taiwan in the Lighthouse to Lighthouse ride; a 520km effort in under 24hours. The affair garnered criticism from the usual crowd as he had abandoned Taipei city during commemoration events for the brutal 228 Massacre of 1947, in which troops sent by Chaing Kai-sheck swept the streets of Taiwan with machine-gun fire in the weeks following an island-wide uprising in protest of the Kuomintang (KMT) and its maladministration. (Cycling Through 228) 

During the events sparked by 228, Mayor Ko's grandfather, as a member of the local gentry, was arrested and brutally tortured for his cooperation with the Japanese colonial administration during their fifty years of colonization. 

Mayor Ko describes his decision (Taipei Times):

An emotional Ko became teary several times during his speech, which seemed similar to his 228 speech in Taipei last year. 

“I was moved to tears giving a speech [recalling the memories of my grandfather] in the 228 ceremony last year, but my father did not shed a tear. Fathers are stronger when their children are weak. It is a father’s nature to protect their children. It was then I decided my father and I would not cry anymore on 228 Memorial Day. We have to move on from sad histories, so I chose to commemorate the 228 Incident in a different way this year,” Ko said. 

“I challenged myself with a ‘twin tower’ bicycle trip — from Taiwan’s northernmost Fuguijiao Lighthouse [in Keelung] to its southernmost Oluanpi Lighthouse [in Pingtung County] — to seek redemption for the soul with a 520km physical undertaking. In the past, our tears were filled with rancor and hate. Today, we opened up a future of tolerance and forgiveness with sweat,” Ko said.

I have a lot of respect for Mayor Ko as a cyclist and as a mayor. My impression is that he is really willing to do what needs to be done to make a commuting by bicycle a viable reality in Taipei. 

It is in this light that I think the Velo-cities Global conference could be useful, rather than merely looking at it as an award for a job well done. It should be more of a promissory note to move forward and learn without the backslapping we have seen time and again in the media. 

BikeBiz reports:

“We are here in Taipei to celebrate the future," said Manfred Neun, president of the European Cyclists’ Federation and the World Cycling Alliance. He was flanked, in the picture here, by Giant's CEO Tony Lo and company founder King Liu. 

Neun continued: "By bringing together more than 160 speakers among experts, professionals, mayors and public authorities, Velo-city Taipei is the place where the evolution of cycling takes shape.” 

Taipei's Deputy Mayor Lin highlighted Taipei City Government's plan to rejuvenate the city and make it more livable by 2050. “From now on, neighbourhoods will develop wherever the bicycles go. The cycling-orientated network will lead city-wide development."

Of course, when you are flanked by the holy trinity of the advisor to the president on cycling, the head of Taiwan's largest bicycle advocacy group and the supplier of the YouBike system in Taipei, it all looks good. Giant CEO, Tony Lo, even had the grace give an old chum another political hand and praise Ma Ying-jiu for YouBike...a plan that had been severely mismanaged under Ma.  

Taipei still has a long way to go, but lets hope Mayor Ko stays the course and resists the politically expedient, but almost useless, leisure bikescapades. 

Taiwan Promotes Healthy Bicycle Lifestyle Amid Killer Pollution?

Taipei Cycle (March 2-5) hopes the Velo-city Global conference will help boost flagging interest in the bike expo that has been searching for more of a purpose amid competition from Taichung Cycle, Eurobike and Interbike trade shows. BikeBiz has a brief interview with Yi-jyh Kang, the executive director of exhibitions for the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

My favorite part of the interview is the last comment that has been ripped straight out of the talking points memo, complete with a mention to an old CNN infotisement Here, Here and Here: 

And Taiwan has been growing its cycle infrastructure…?
Taiwan is known as a Cycling Kingdom for its strengths in manufacturing high-end bicycle products with reasonable prices. However, we are doing more than that. The industry and our government are promoting the “cycling lifestyle” and would like to encourage people to get used to cycling in daily lives. For instance, the bike rental system, YouBike, is very common for public transportation in Taipei and New Taipei City. Besides, the government is constructing cycling paths all over the island, like the one around Sun Moon Lake was even selected as one of the tenmost beautiful cycling paths in the world by CNN. With convenient facilities and beautiful sights, Taiwan is becoming a cycling paradise and more and more people are crazy doing cycling tour here. I would very much like to recommend all of you to come and truly experience cycling here. This is going to be something that you’ll never forget.

Oh, and then there's this....

Although not exactly cycling related, this story should pique the interest of outdoor athletes in Taiwan. The Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance alleges Taiwan's air pollution problems may have led to death and injury in the Kaohsiung Marathon.

The Taipei Times reports:

Severe air pollution might be to blame for the death of a runner during a marathon on Saturday and the critical condition of another marathon runner, who fainted while running on Sunday, a group said. 

The runner died after collapsing in a marathon in Yunlin, and the runner who lost consciousness was participating in a marathon in Kaohsiung. The second runner was hospitalized after defibrillation. 

Yunlin and Kaohsiung had elevated levels of fine particulate pollution measuring 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter (PM2.5) during the marathon events. 

The Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance yesterday said that the PM2.5 levels during both marathons reached the “purple” level — the most severe degree of PM2.5 pollution defined by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) — and although there is no definite causal relationship between air pollution and the two incidents, the health hazards of air pollution could be equal to those of natural disasters.

Of course, these claims have not been verified as other mitigating factors may have led to the participant's death, but it is something to think about. Currently, southern Taiwan is on the receiving end of a weather system out of China that is delivering high levels of dust and pollution combined with our own local varieties.

Cough!

Current air quality can be monitored here.

Taipei
Hsinchu
Miaoli
Taichung
Changhua
Tainan
Kaohsiung

A Breath of Fresh Air: The Art of the Cycling Lifestyle

In the lead up to the Velo-city Global 2016 Conference, which will be held in Taipei at the end of February in the Taipei International Convention Center, Shin Kong Life has commissioned an interactive light installation with a focus on cycling that hopes to demonstrate the connectivity between the health of a city and an active, sustainable lifestyle.

Shin Kong commissioned The Loop.pH, a London based experimental design studio, to construct an art installation that requires active participation from cyclists in the city. 

According to The Loop.pH: 

Fleeting trails of light are created as participants physically interact with the installation by cycling through the vortices of light. The light visually communicates local air quality with dynamic branching structures, reminiscent of trees and the tubular networks in our lungs.  

The installation uses and advanced air quality sensor to collect the fluctuating data. The installation draws on the field of aerodynamics, the study of air in motion, to communicate the dynamic, borderless nature of our planet's fragile atmosphere. On top of the treelike structure is a network of ephemeral tunnels that move gently with the breeze. 

As cyclists we have all experienced Taiwan's growing problem with unhealthy levels of air pollution that completely negate the health benefits of cycling. Cases of lung cancer and childhood asthma rates have more than doubled over the past two decades, with one out of every five first graders receiving a diagnosis for asthma in Taipei, and lung cancer becoming the leading cause of cancer death in Taiwan. 

As Taiwan seeks to promote itself as a "Bicycle Kingdom" while rebranding the nation for cultural and ecotourism, the nation will have to address the problem of pollution. 

Check out more about the VelO2 installation project at The Loop.pH Facebook page. 

VelO2
Opening 26th February, 6-8pm
Dadaocheng Waterfront, Taipei
26th February– 6th March 2016