Sun Moon Lake: A Failure to Communicate

The bicycle trail at Sun Moon Lake has been the subject of much attention in the local press, and it is usually cited as an essential part of any cyclists's trip to Taiwan.

Taiwan has made no secret about trying to lure more cyclists to Taiwan as part of some cycling tourism junket or another. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau annually invites cyclists to come to Taiwan and publish about their experiences. It is as if the Tourism Bureau has an internal memo reminding its representatives to include biking Sun Moon Lake in all information regarding a tour of Taiwan. And because the bike trail is for bikes, they target the cycling community. 

I know this because I regularly field requests to fill in some of the missing information. Sun Moon Lake can not be edited out of any article. It can't. Period.

This always perplexes me as cycling Sun Moon Lake is really not appropriate for most people who would identify themselves as cyclists--people who own bicycles that they ride semi-regularly.

Last month's trip out to Sun Moon Lake provided the perfect opportunity to see what Taiwan is actually selling. It was then that I had an epiphany:

This may not be merely a effort to over sell and over deliver.... but rather, it may simply be a failure to communicate.



The trail is between 3-4 meters in width. It is covered in mixed surfaces and it bottlenecks in several locations.

On my last trip to Sun Moon Lake, the congestion was so bad, several recreational riders threw their bikes over the barrier and into motor traffic to escape the crawl.




The Sun Moon Lake bike trail is not a trail for cyclists. It is a trail for NON-cyclists. It is a trail for non-cyclists to rent and ride bikes, make sudden stops, sway the handlebars and forget how they used to stop a bicycle thirty years ago.

Sadly, there isn't a lot of space for cyclists at Sun Moon Lake. There is no discernible shoulder along the perimeter of the lake. Motor coaches and other vehicles are usually found pulling a few Gs going into each corner. It is dangerous enough for a local. I would not want to lure out-of-towners into this potential death trap.

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau should quit pushing the bike trail on the cycling community, and start pushing it on families, flirting couples and those with a death wish. 

A Rush and a Push: Taiwan's Push-Bike Bonanza

As the high holy days of Taiwanese cycling begin ramping up with the first glint of Fall, cycling events seem stacked one upon the next.

A few weeks ago it was my daughter's turn to throw herself into the fray with a balance bike race organized by Charming Arts, a manufacturer of wooden balance bikes.

For my daughter's first birthday she got an Early Rider balance bike and she has been regularly speeding around on it since she was about 17 months old. Now as a confident three-year-old she is fearless on two wheels.

I will try to keep my natural wordiness to a minimum and simply let the pictures do most of the talking. Though, as a parent and a cyclist, I would say, the balance bike is one bike where the lightness of the bike is most advantageous. You're always going to end up carrying the damned thing, and some of 'em weigh a ton.

Enjoy the pics!


The (AWARD WINNING AND INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED!!!!)Sun Moon Lake bike trail was the venue, which gave me ample opportunity to think about the trail design and its hype.


Kids rolled about and sparred with one another on the pavement.


Always a nice assortment of bikes and styles.




I love seeing the real little ones out on two wheels.


Each kid was so proud to show off the bike bling.


Personally, my favorite part was in looking at how the riders personalized their rides with stickers and other childhood artifacts of individual expression.


Some were hilarious and absurd.


Others were more socially conscious. These guys must be the Unitarians.


Sadly, the event was marred by the all too common displays of ethnic stereotyping in having the event staff running around in pseudo indigenous costume. Several of the stations along the ride route were exploitative attempts to play Aborigine.


The lamb needed to get out for a spin.


The event marched a few kilometers down the narrow bike trail, which made a pleasant spot for a slow stroll.


There were various stations along the way where the riders could perform a certain task.
In this one below the children could pretend to be "Aborigine royalty" with spears and tomahawks.


On the up-side, it was great to see so many kids outside doing something under their own power.

Superfluous Things: Taiwan's Bike Sales Reel in Europe and China.

• Bike Europe reports on China's stagnant growth in bicycle purchases aside from the eBike. Remember how some of the very large bike manufacturers in Taiwan were very bullish on ECFA early harvest benefits and the growth of high yield road bike sales in China to boost the bottom line... Nope! Air pollution has strangled recreational cycling in China while Taiwan's imports from its neighbor far outpace exports. The report also cites anti-dumping measures driving Ideal to relocate production to China. Don't worry, they'll be back. China's lack of interest in expensive luxury bicycles and recreational bicycles and a sales of Taiwanese bicycles plummeting in Europe do not bode well for Taiwan's bike makers.

• Taiwan's women's tandem of the great Hsiao Mei-yu and Huang Ting-ying won bronze in the Asian Games.

• Taiwan's Tourism Bureau has announced the dates and events for the Taiwan International Bike Festival. The events will be held between November 8 and16.

• On the tail of a New York campaign, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau is on full offensive in San Francisco. The Tourism has laid out its familiar narrative of world class cycling routes, the CNN infomercial on Sun Moon Lake being world class, and Wuling's 105km KOM Challenge. The question remains.... Can Taiwan live up to its own hype or will Taiwan's cycling tourism suffocate before it reaches maturity?

• A cycling tourist buys some faulty information from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. The offending paragraph and a good reason to question everything about a government sponsored junket:

These influences are still very strong, but the Taiwan we know today reflects the influx of the mainland Chinese in 1949, led by Chiang Kai-shek, who fled the Communist takeover and brought with him as much of China's heritage as he could organize (apparently, the treasures of the Forbidden City had already been boxed up during the 1930s because of the Sino-Japanese War, so it was relatively easy to get them out). 

Feel free to write-in and offer your own correction to this piece.

Tempest in a Tea Kettle: Typhoon Day on Wuling

With a tropical storm bordering on typhoon bearing down on Taiwan threatening to flood the weekend with boredom locked inside and nothing to do but eat Oreos (which is what is done on typhoon days) I did the math and figured Saturday would probably be the day to get a ride in.

The typhoon seemed to be behind schedule and wouldn't be arriving until late Saturday and early Sunday. I figured that would probably mean the moisture would be sucked up by the typhoon and we might have clear skies.

I figured I might just have enough time to make a run at the 3275m Wuling Pass-- the very road that utterly destroyed me a few weeks back.

As I eased into my ascent, I was nervous with fresh memories of suffering high up on the foggy ramps high above central Taichung. My pedal stroke felt easy and slick. I was loose... without the pressure of a race.



The mountains clung fast to a wall of clouds that threatened to burst through at any moment and drench the pass with rain.



I moved upward as my shades filled with misty drops of water from a passing cloud. In my mind I had a threshold for physical exhaustion or inclement weather that would preclude an immediate escape.



I passed various landmarks of recent woe buoyed by the notion that I night just make a good day of it.



I climbed higher and higher. Occasionally I would glance at the altimeter to watch my burning legs devour chunks of altitude in satisfying doses.



I was happy to pass other cyclists on my way up with the understanding that my photo stops were merely that-- opportunities to take pictures for this blog.



As I closed on the summit, the great wall at Kunyang towered over the roadway. It is such a marvel of roadway that I had to make more of an effort to photograph it. 

Somewhere near Yuan-feng the air suddenly changed from the usual balmy summer air that has the consistency of over boiled spinach, to a crisp , coolness that shot directly into my lungs. It almost hurt to breathe...in the most satisfying way. No, it actually did hurt to breathe. I could feel my lack of conditioning disturbing. I only hope I can bring my VO2 max back up. That is really the killer of one of these high altitude rides in Taiwan. If you are not getting enough oxygen into the muscles, you are going to suffer. 



Layer over layer over wiggling fold, I capped Kunyang with a clear line of sight toward the summit.



At last my pain had come to an end and I had plenty of energy remaining...suddenly. I snapped my obligatory picture and scared a few tourists along the way as I grumpily lined up my shot while they fiddles with iPad photography. 



Any chance to enjoy Taiwan's mountains is worth the effort.

Meditation in Miaoli: Miaoli Route 60（苗60）

Here is a little meditation through the foothills of Miaoli on the Route 60 between Dahu and Tongluo. 

I hadn't been on this road in a while and I thought I might have another look. I felt pretty good on the bike and the ride just turned into a meditation of sorts with my thoughts keeping me company as the machinery whirled away. 



The road looks like a dead end, but a smaller road juts out to the side and immediately introduced a nasty little hill that had me gasping for air. 



I made the climb and continued on the Miaoli Route 119 and 119-4 to Sanyi. It is a quiet little road, but I was in serious need of water and food. Just at the end of the Route 119-4 I went to a closet of a store and had the coldest bottle of water I have ever tasted. 

I raided the calories stored at a convenience store in Sanyi and then trudged on home. 



Just a simple day on the bike. 

The Million Dollar Mountain: Taiwan KOM Raises Purse

The 2014 Taiwan KOM Challenge opened its registration on September 15 with the additional lure of an NT1,000,000 purse. This was supposed to be my year, damn it! 

Velonews adds:

The Taiwan Travel Bureau in association with the Taiwan Cyclist Federation announced the details of the 2014 Taiwan KOM Challenge, which will take place November 15.
Now in its third year, the Taiwan KOM Challenge’s 105km route travels from the eastern coastal town of Hualien, starting at sea level, and rises along its route to the roof of Taiwan, up on HeHuan Mountain at 3,375 meters [11,073 feet].

The course takes the participants up at an average 7 percent through the Taroko Gorge to the 97km point at Dayuling, and then rises up its remaining kilometers to a maximum incline of 27 percent, averaging 17 percent for the final eight kilometers.

The 2013 men’s winner, Rhaim Emami of Iran, completed the race in three hours and 26 seconds from the official timed start, which began after the 18km of neutralized riding.
This year’s race sees a massive increase in the prize money, one million Taiwan dollars [33,145.60 USD] for overall men’s winner, and $200,000 ($6,675 USD) to the women’s winner.

Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/09/news/taiwan-kom-challenge-offers-11000-feet-climbing_346031#7CXbUXUiAKKZXidc.99

Tackling Tranquil and Terrible Tainan: The View from Taiwan's Southern Expedition

Michael Turton of The View from Taiwan has posted a magnificent spread detailing his tour of the foothills of Tainan. The full article can be found HERE.

Here is an excerpt:

The 179 turned out to be absolutely brutal, 16 kms or so of up and down hills, none big, but almost all 10-12% grades, a couple every kilometer. Because the area around the reservoir is a conservation district, there was no development -- no houses, no water, no people, nothing. The road surface was broken up with great gashes that ran parallel to the direction of travel, dangerous invitations for your wheels to slide into. And of course, no views, the whole thing was vegetated over. It was basically 16 kms of brutal ascent and descent, with nothing flat.