Tainan Century Ride

After a couple weeks with little to show for it, I was finally able to use my long weekend to lay some miles down on the bike. It was the perfect opportunity for a Century ride (160km). I was joined by Michael Turton and Chris Bolster, a cycling neophyte.

For Chris, a man who weighed over 300lbs last year, this would be his first Century ride... and his first ride over 100km.

We chose the easiest and best route for a Century between Taichung and Tainan by taking the Route 145 from Hsiluo to Beigang. Although there are several larger and better marked routes, the Route 145 is flat, beautifully paved, and is almost devoid of stop lights... or at least any stops you actually need to heed. It is easy to slip into a pace and maintain that pace for kilometer after flat kilometer.

With a strong wind at our backs, progress was easy.

With this being my first ride of any real length since November, I was cautious and steadfast in my goal to simply take it easy. I only needed to spend time in the saddle and acclimate to the feeling of spending hours on a bike seat.

The road just unfolds southward through fields and farms. Today, the smell of pigshit was not overbearing and we could take our time enjoying the scenery.

The route is marked by the periodic sight of a smoke stack or rusting hull of one of the hundreds of sugar refineries from the Japanese colonial era that made up such a major part of the prewar Taiwanese economy.

We tried a more creative route into Tainan which dumped us out onto the Highway 1. With 49km to Tainan City and 30km shy of a Century, I decided to go for broke and put the Century ride to bed in short order. I hopped the speed up to between 35kph and 40kph and reached the 160km mark just about where the road turned to the HSR station.

Michael, who had put in a little more distance earlier on in the trip, pulled up at the Shanhua Station. After a rest and a stretch, the mighty Chris came rolling along and we took the turn to find the HSR.

I kept expecting to see the station at any moment. The slight bow of the HSR line simply masked the distance to the station and made it seem frustratingly far. In fact, it was frustratingly far. We ended up riding an additional 24km. Just before the station, the road rises up into the highest hill of the ride (possibly the highest hill in Tainan City) to the station. We heaved over the hill before packing up our bikes and a celebratory beer. We headed home in Business Class style because the have more space to stow a bike and they offer coffee and dessert service.

The whole ride was 185km and Chris was just incredible on his first Century. I am looking forward to doing this again.

Moreover, I am happy to be feeling well enough to do these longer rides again.

明德水庫 Mingde Reservoir Century: 190km/119mi

Views Along The Highway 3

Today I really needed to test my legs with a long ride, so I decided to make a trip up to the Ming de Reservoir in northern Miaoli County to see where my legs are after so much down time. It was a sunny morning with patchy clouds later in the day and a northwesterly wind blowing in to take couple kph off my speed.

Dutchman's Pipe Cactus/Epiphillum Oxypetalum Cactaceae

I have done this route before, and it is one of my all-time favorites. The ride combines flats, climbing, descents and urban riding. There are beautiful mountains, rollers, lakes, streams, pastures and oceanscapes. More importantly, the roads are absolutely beautiful. It is really the "perfect century ride" if there ever is one.

Some Nice Rigs Out Today

I first did this ride as part of my project to do five centuries in four weeks, and I was blown away by the entire scope of the ride. Upon leaving Taichung and Fengyuan, I just stayed on the rolling hills of the Highway 3, all the way up to Shih Tan. This stretch is a lot of fun and you can really push the speeds up above 50kph for spurts from the Liyu Reservoir to Dahu and beyond.

I was making good time, but I have ridden the same stretch of road much stronger in the past.

Shih Tan 7-11

At Shih Tan, there is a great little spot outside the 7-11 to chill out, eat, and prepare for the next leg of the trip. While I was there a group from Taoyuan arrived coming off the Miaoli Local 124.

I had actually met one of the riders on a previous trip. We said our surprised greetings and I was off again toward the Ming de Reservoir on the Miaoli Local 126.

Climbing To Mingde Reservoir

I have to state here and now that the 126 is one of my favorite roads ever. Although the climb started at about the 80km mark in my trip, the grade is completely doable. It is a gentle rise up over a deep river valley. The views are amazing (the pictures just don't do justice), and moreover, the road looks as if they had cycling in mind when they built it. It is one of the widest and smoothest mountain roads I have ever ridden. There are rapid descents with banked curves, and clean, well manicured shoulders with decorative flowers. Most of all... there is almost no automobile traffic. I love it. Ride it!!!

Sparkling Waters

The 126 lets a rider cruise along the inlets and islets of the reservoir. The entire area has been transformed into a wetland full of egrets, cranes and other wildlife.

Fishin'

The Banks of the Mingde

I was happy to see the reservoir was so full. It was absolutely brimming with the tears this cyclist has shed over the September rains that have ruined most of his monthly riding schedule.

A Good Sign

The entire route through the reservoir is a designated cycling path and there are several alternatives for riders to explore the entire area.

By the time I left the reservoir I was feeling worse than usual. I couldn't understand where my energy had gone or if the wind was having any bearing on my performance. My butt was getting sore and I just couldn't keep a strong pace.

I stopped at a fruit stall for a banana, and then sat at the 7-11 for a while over a gel and some juice. That gave me just enough energy to climb the hill out of Miaoli and find enough energy to make it to the Miaoli Local 119, which appears just before Tongluo. The 119 is another one of my favorite roads. It rolls down out of the hills under a tunnel of shady trees and out to the Highway 1.

Xihu Government Housing

I took a few minutes to check out a strange, seemingly out of place little neighborhood of government dormitories for the nearby agricultural center. These lonely modernist houses just sort of sit there in the middle of nowhere. Just odd.

I finally took the Highway one back toward home. The Highway 1 is one of Taiwan's ugliest roads... except around this place. From Xihu to Tongxiao, the Highway 1 hugs the coast offering a wealth of seaside views. There are plenty of sections where a cyclist can make up some time on a poor showing earlier in the day.

After the big hill climb that awaits just after the 119 ends, I started to gain precious speed. I was keeping a solid pace around 40kph. This pace carried me to Dajia, where I stopped one last time for an ice cream bar, and then powered my way to Shalu, where I decided to make the hill climb over Dadu Shan to Taichung.

Residential Taiwan?

I made a respectable effort up the hill to Dadu Shan and then, in a burst of raw energy, I mounted a standing attack on the final third of the hill. I felt as though I had just started out. It was amazing.

I crested the hill and made my way down the other side. Just before the Tunghai market soem asshat decided he would try to recover a missed turn and cut across traffic right in my way. I did a little fishtail as I tried to avoid an accident. The simmering tension of a full day of riding and working my ass off in the saddle only to have that happen already had me on edge. Then I saw the guy smiling and laughing with his buddy about it... and I guess it made me go a little ape over things. Enough said. I'm sure he thought he was going to die as much as I had earlier.

I cut through the Industrial District and made it home bounding with energy. I felt much better. I hope to get a few more of these long rides in as I build back into form. I would like the whole ride to feel like the last third of this one.

Lastly, I would like to encourage all of you Taiwan cyclists to try these roads out. They are really that good.

Also:

Don't forget to check out Joe Friel's fourth installment in his series about cycling and aging. here

Guide Of The Century: How To Prepare For A Century Ride

Due to work and other commitments, I often have to save up my serious riding for weekends and that often means as much time on the bike as possible. The result has been dozens of century rides under my belt as I seek new and different places to visit or different ways to test my body. Putting down 100 miles in a day has become a pretty common feat, though the mystique of the "Century Ride" remains. There is something rewarding about seeing the odometer flip to the triple digits, and now I am training (weather permitting) to double that in a day's ride.

With all the long rides I post, a number of people have contacted me about my preparations for completing a century ride. Although I am not as meticulous asI was when I first tried 100 miles (note: This is not kilometers) there are still some practical and sensible things a rider should do to prepare.

1. Be physically prepared: Ride longer distances leading up to your century and try to emulate the conditions (hills, flats, estimated wind direction...). If you know the route and you now the landmarks then you know where you are in relation to your goal. It helps rein in a defeatist imagination that seems to want to imagine you are further back. You don't need to long distances to get into shape. Shorter, high intensity rides, can increase your overall fitness so the long miles won't seem so long. Two weeks before your first century, you should complete a longer ride, maybe 50-75 miles. Cut back on the riding the week prior. When you ride, pace yourself. Do the first 50 miles at an easier pace and see how you feel for the other half. A slow 15mph pace can easily get you to your destination in 8 hours with the occasional pit-stop.

2. Make sure your equipment is in good working order. The last thing you need are mechanical problems on a long ride. This goes with shoes and clothing. Can you imagine finding out your chamois rubs or you get hot spots in your shoes at 50 miles? Once you start to think about any article of discomfort, you will think about it all day. Be sure your bike is fit well and is comfortable with properly inflated tires. Every imperfection is magnified the longer you sit on a bike. Overinflated tired might not be noticed on shorter rides, but an beat you up on the long rides. One century ride I got a flat and filled with CO2. I usually inflate to 100psi, but I bet I was around 130 and it just beat the crap out of me. A helmet that doesn't fit can give you neck and back aches down the road as well.

3. Food and nutrition management is vital. Start eating and drinking for your century a week before. You want to make sure you have plenty of glycogen stored in your muscles. Start really packing in the fruits, veggies and carbs mid week. If your body is ready it helps ease the mind. Cut the caffeine and the booze. These will only dehydrate you. Start taking in the carbs to fill your glycogen stores for maximum exertion.

4. Eat during your century. Maybe one thing every hour if you are not conditioned for regular centuries. Eat before you are hungry. Granola bars, raisins, a ham sandwich... whatever works for you. Try not to eat candy unless you are 20 miles from the finish.

5. Drink during your century. Drink before you are thirsty. If it is hot, you may want to add one sport drink for every two bottles of water.

6. Start stretching more the week before your century.

7. Read for pleasure. It gives you something to think about on the ride if you go solo.

8. Don't worry too much. You put down a few miles and take them one at a time. Next thing you know you have put together a string of 'em and they make 100.