tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post117798962277074219..comments2024-03-14T10:19:04.234-07:00Comments on Taiwan In Cycles: Namaxia: Lunar New Year Break on Hills Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post-42071131452959962982016-02-21T21:16:41.972-08:002016-02-21T21:16:41.972-08:00Jean,
Yes, about 70% of Taiwan is hilly. That mak...Jean,<br /><br />Yes, about 70% of Taiwan is hilly. That makes the plains fill with traffic congestion and concrete. <br /><br />After 18 years, I don't have any plans to move unless someone makes me a good offer. <br />NONEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00312011183953017842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post-30457256536205355422016-02-21T18:45:24.498-08:002016-02-21T18:45:24.498-08:00You seem to do a lot of hilly/mountainous hard rid...You seem to do a lot of hilly/mountainous hard riding which is probably typical of Taiwan's terrain outside of the cities?<br /><br />Sounds like you and family will be living in Taiwan forever?Jeanhttp://cyclewriteblog.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post-64536726795858641612016-02-20T18:35:42.457-08:002016-02-20T18:35:42.457-08:00"In 2009, water diversion projects combined w...<i>"In 2009, water diversion projects combined with the extreme flooding that followed the disintegration of Typhoon Morakot, completely saturated the area causing a rapid collapse of the hillside."</i><br /><br />Curiously, although you obviously stopped to take pictures just before the village of Namaxia, you nonetheless seem to have missed what I would have thought would be two points of interest - the very water diversion project mentioned, specifically the east tunnel mouth for the western tunnel and the west tunnel mouth for the eastern tunnel. When I gently pointed out to Turton on gmail chat that he had appeared to miss something important, he said (whilst completely losing his shit among a barrage of abuse) that I had jumped to conclusions and that he had left it to you to feature. <br /><br />As to the claim itself, it's a reasonable conjecture (specifically that the east tunnel weakened the hillside which later collapsed on Xiaolin) and it ought to be properly investigated. The question is whether the tunneling did weaken the hill and by how much? I think it's likely the claim is correct, and it's worth noting that the eastern tunnel was suspended whilst still under construction. However, the student presentation at Turton's place is not very good; aside from containing the obvious biases of an activist, it also contains several glaring factual errors which I pointed out to him in the comments section years ago but which he refused to publish. Mike Faganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08745281285031316740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post-72602981152313276052016-02-13T06:21:15.910-08:002016-02-13T06:21:15.910-08:00Seriously, it was he same road between Namaxia and...Seriously, it was he same road between Namaxia and the Tsengwen Reservoir. The Kaohsiing side was so great I took note. The Chiayi side of the line...not so. I imagine at lower elevations is is the same, but up on the hills, paved roads were different. Don't get me wrong, I love Chiayi riding. NONEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00312011183953017842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post-25605874357355360372016-02-13T06:08:10.647-08:002016-02-13T06:08:10.647-08:00I don't disagree with you there, but the way y...I don't disagree with you there, but the way you state it in your blog post makes it sound like all the roads in Chiayi County are that way, when in reality it's only these "tracks" that are like that. If you ride on these "tracks' in Kaohsiung, I’m sure you'll encounter the same ruts and pits that you see in Chiayi County. I’m talking about roads, you're talking about tracks. But your wording implies it's all the roads around here. When you're on a road bike, who rides on tracks anyway?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01906603605041241138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post-39960282050248299102016-02-13T06:02:58.334-08:002016-02-13T06:02:58.334-08:00I guess we'll just have to disagree. The roads...I guess we'll just have to disagree. The roads on the Kaohsiung side were amazing. AMAZING!!! The Chiayi side was...not. I especially recall a descent in which the ruts and pits in the road made things outright dangerous. There was a clear difference between counties. Try the 茶山 area. <br /><br />Cheers!!!!<br /><br />ANONEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00312011183953017842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6203074149634807485.post-9015812348279982942016-02-13T05:57:36.658-08:002016-02-13T05:57:36.658-08:00That's a very nice post and it sounds like a v...That's a very nice post and it sounds like a very nice ride, but I have to take offence at the part when you say "it was evident that we were in Chiayi County, as the roads immediately wend from the sweetest stretches of smooth, black tarmac, to crumbling tracks of ancient asphalt." I’ve been riding all over in and around Chiayi County for over nine years and have never encountered "crumbling tracks of ancient asphalt". The roads around here are quite nice and smooth, as a matter of fact.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01906603605041241138noreply@blogger.com