Chocolate Milk in your Recovery Program

The Grand Tour season has started for the pros and as summer approaches I hope to put some distance behind me on the bike as well. So far I have ridden over 2000 miles since January 1, including 5 centuries during the first two weeks of January and 500 miles all most all of those miles from just four rides in April.

I am always amazed at how these professional riders can knock out 200km day after day. One key to training for these rides is recovery. Coaches and athletes often tout the trifecta of Training, Diet and Recovery to make the greatest strides as an athlete and avoid injury.

Although it is not necessarily the latest news, I thought I would add a post on using simple old Chocolate Milk as a recovery drink over fancy and expensive alternatives with marketing names that scream "tech-science," and here is why:

"What’s exciting about this comparison is that both of these products have been highly heralded and hyped in their respective arenas. Surge in its exact formulation doesn’t have any peer-reviewed research behind it. However, Berardi et al reported that a solution of similar construction to Surge (33% whey hydrolysate, 33% glucose and 33% maltodextrin) was slightly superior for glycogen resynthesis at 6 hrs postexercise compared to a 100% maltodextrin solution[1]. Effects on muscle protein flux were not measured.

Chocolate milk has thus far had an impressive run in the research examining its applications to various sporting goals [2,3]. It has performed equally well for rehydration and glycogen resynthesis compared to carb-based sports drinks, and it has outperformed them (and soy-based drinks) for protecting and synthesizing muscle protein. A standout study in this area was a comparison of chocolate milk, Gatorade, and Endurox R4 (a sports drink with a 4:1 carb to protein ratio) [4]. Chocolate milk was equally effective as Gatorade for total work output and prolonging time to exhaustion. Interestingly, both of the latter products outperformed Endurox R4 in both tests. The researchers speculated that the use of maltodextrin rather than sucrose (yes, you read that correctly) as the dominant carbohydrate source was the Achilles heel of Endurox R4. More on the virtues of sucrose instead of straight glucose for exercise applications will be covered."

Read the full article here: Chocolate Milk

Da Shueh Shan/大雪山

The Way To The Top

Today was my first real day of riding in a couple of weeks, so I decided to shake the rust off with a little climbing. April was a month of century rides and by the end I was getting pretty sick of the flats and needed to climb something. I was also testing out my recovery and a new cleat position, so I was happy to do a shorter climb today. Michael T. and I decided to hit the road to Da Shueh Shan and see how far we could go before our legs or time ran out.

Orchards of Dong Shih

We met up at the start of the bike trail between Dong Shih and Feng Yuan. The trail is fine in the early morning before it fills up with electric bicycles and wobbly, inattentive riders. The trail empties out near the Hakka Cultural Center in downtown Dong Shih and we then navigated the busy township streets to

Dong Keng Street, which is a gorgeous road that just keeps going and going up the mountain. It changes names a few times on the way up, but as long as you stick to the main road you'll go right up the mountain.

How Not To Store A Bike

Dong Keng road is a relatively gentle climb that could be done by riders at any level of experience. The difficulty depends on how you ride the hill and the gearing you have available.

Michael Climbing

The entire area on the lower part of the mountain is one rolling hill on top of another, covered in jungle and fruit orchards. Many of Taiwan's Hakka come from a culture of fruit cultivation and thus, when their ancestors moved to Taiwan, they headed for the foothills to continue practicing their traditional modes of agriculture. This area is also populated by Atayal speaking peoples, many of whom adopted Hakka farming techniques.

A Woman Enjoying The Ride

The road snakes ever higher, so I just sat on a 14-15kph pace for most of the way up. I really wasn't in any mood to destroy my legs on this one. I really just wanted to enjoy the scenery.

The Ascent

As the sun broke through the clouds, I was wishingI had stocked up on water. I did my best to conserve what I had brought. We met a few other cyclists on the way up and we all exchanged greetings and encouragement.

More Orchards

Michael Poses Above Dong Shih

Michael plugged away at the incline and then we finally decided to stop for food. They really didn't have much in the way of good climbing food, so Michael used a Jedi mind trick to convince them to cook up something entirely off the menu for us--fried noodles. Mine came with a little extra protein in the way of a bug, but I ate most of it.

Bamboo-zled

Just beyond the restaurants at Kilometer 11, the road flattens out for a while and large stands of cedar trees provide cooling shade as respite from the heat. The creaking of the bamboo makes and eerie sound as you pass the groves along the road.

The Valley Below

The road is pretty peaceful with the occasional SUV or luxury sedan that speeds by way too fast. It seemed ever other car was a Lexus or BMW.

The Great Cedars of Dong Shih

At one point we passed a clear cut. I haven't smelled evergreen sap in a long time and it smelled like my childhood in the Pacific Northwest. From high on the ridge you can look down and see all the way to to ocean. The grey riverbeds stand out from Dong Shih and even Feng Yuan can be seen poking through Taiwan's famous haze.

If Only I Believed In Traffic Mirrors

Sometime after 1:00pm Michael gave word that it was time to head back down, so we turned tail and hit the descent like a slalom course. A damned headwind greeted us at the best part for a sprint and so the top speeds were embarrassingly lousy. We hit the road back home content that we had a beautiful ride on a beautiful day. The weather couldn't have been better.

I Ride Off Into The Distance

Total Distance: 120 km/75 mi

Starting Altitude (Base of Mtn.): 1230 ft.

Altitude: 3062 ft.

Vertical Elevation Gain: 1832 ft.

Maximum Speed: 48kph (sad)

The Route

Unfortunately there is no alternate way down and you have to come back the same way you go up.

Here's Michael's take on the ride.

Also :

Check out Michael C. on his rides in Kaohsiung and Northern Taiwan.

Jiu Fen Er Shan/九份二山 in Nantou

A House in Dong Shih, 1999

Although we did this ride a little while ago, I thought I would do a post on it to add to the list of Notable Rides. This ride was also a very meaningful ride for a number of reasons as it traverses the epicenter of what has become known as the 921 Earthquake-- a shallow 7.6 magnitude quake that killed 2416 people, injured 11,000, and left permanent scars in the landscape. The 921 Earthquake of 1999 also had a lasting impact on my life and altered my own perception of my motivations, outlook and goals. This social ride with friends brought back a flood of memories that had remained buried for over a decade.

The Da Keng Scenic Area 3 weeks after the earthquake

In early September of 1999, as a cocky young buck fresh out of school, I was beginning to make peace with my environment and settle into some form of routine after almost a year of living as an expat in Taiwan. The first 9 months are often the hardest as you have to go through the humbling and often humiliating experience of relearning everything you used to know about how to negotiate life. You relearn how to use the post office, go to the bank, order food, pick up girls, shop for groceries... everything! Most expats go through an oscillation between euphoria and depression that mellows out over time, but is never easy. I remember going off on several arrogant tirades about how "they have it all screwed up" and how it would be so easy to solve every stupid problem with this society. I particularly remember being in a snit over the fact that postage envelopes didn't have adhesive on them and you have to apply your own rubber cement. I thought it was the most inconvenient thing EVER! I was working for a marketing/advertising company and we were sending out our catalog to, like, 800 addresses. It was a total pain in the ass. I just thought it was so, "backward". Only much later did it dawn on me that the humidity would probably activate the adhesive and ruin a stack of envelopes if it had been pre-applied. Whoops! My bad.

Todd and Myself

By September of 1999 I had finally avoided several disasters and was finally stable enough to start exploring on my motorcycle. I realized for the first time how close the mountains were to my house and was awestruck by the rural beauty of the foothills of Taichung. On one of my first real forays into the countryside I intentionally got myself lost around Dong Shih Township. I remember my feeling of surprise as if I had landed on a new planet. There was life outside Taichung and I found it by myself. There were children on the basketball courts singing and practicing a choreographed routine for the coming Double Ten Day or ROC National Day (Taiwan is still waiting to realize a new date for its national day). Birds were chirping, the sun was shining... a real happy scene. I then got lost along the winding roads that wrap through the orchards near the Dong Shih Forest Park and I had a real nice day. I was buzzing with excitement over this trip for a couple days. It was the first time I could really see through the grubby urban landscape of rotting concrete and see Taiwan for its natural beauty. Until then I had really been negative toward Taiwan's environment. I thought it was all flat industrial wasteland and I was so very wrong. I still feel twinges of remorse for some of the shit I probably told people back then. The arrogance of youth.

On September 21, 1999 at 1:47am, I was in my underpants getting ready for bed on the 7th floor of a 17 story building. I was on the phone with my then girlfriend and suddenly the building started to roll, twist and sway. I hung up and after about 30 second the power went out. I stood there in the dark, in my underpants, debating whether the danger was great enough to warrant running out in only my underpants or not. I didn't smell smoke, so I found my clothes in the dark and went outside. Pieces of building rained down on us from above as the building shook some more. I'll never forget the menacing sound of the metal security doors that covered the storefronts below. We had a few more aftershocks just under magnitude 7.0 and I brushed it all off as no big deal seeing as I had no real experience with earthquakes to know a big one from a little one. I went to the 7-11, which was sold out of water and I bought a giant Kirin beer to help me better surf the aftershocks.

A Dead Area

After a couple days I got antsy and wanted to see if there was any damage. I took my motorcycle out to explore and maybe see some wrecked stuff. I went through the city and saw some telephone poles on cars and the old Taichung bus station was in ruins. I then headed out to the only road I knew of that led out of the city. I took one of the small roads out and saw a house scattered down the side of a hill. The Army was out and conscripts were helping with a block of apartments that had collapsed. For the first time it was clear that there was a human cost to all this adventure and excitement. I turned a corner behind a car from the city government and watched as the representatives from the coroner's office chased a pack of feral dogs away from the corpse of a man at the side of the road.

I looked around and the steep hillsides that were normally covered in green jungle were completely bare. The roads had breaks and gaps. I then took off up the hill to Hsin She and came upon a family sifting through the rubble of their former home. Three houses at the top of the hill were in ruins. Entire blocks of Hsin She were gone. I had a camera, but I could not bring myself to become a disaster tourist and take pictures of these people's misery.

The next shock came as I turned the corner to the hill that leads down to Dong Shih. The town looked like every building was askew. The buildings looked like a mouthful of broken teeth coming up out of the riverbed. Helicopters were circling above and landing near the river. The "thwack, thwack!!" of the rotor blades really intensified the stress level. The buildings near the bottom of the hill before the bridge to Hsin She were caving toward the road making it almost like entering a tunnel. The township was completely destroyed. Several floors compacted into one. I remember seeing a family sitting on the fourth floor of their house when the entire front wall had fallen off. I saw and smelled death. There was lots of it and for the first time it really hit home for me. I thought about those children I saw in the schoolyard and wondered how many would be coming back to school. The entire ride home was filled with these images. 17 story buildings were lying on their sides. It was complete and total destruction and these images come back to me every time I take those roads.

Once we started to get news, the reports started coming in. Dong Shih alone had lost over 500 people. In Nantou entire villages had been wiped off the map as mudslides buried them in seconds. The thought of people sleeping and then drowning in mud filled my imagination and we all did what we could to help. That's about all I want to say about that. I just really felt for those people and my imagination didn't help things.

When I finally was able to contact people in the United States, I realized they really had not idea what was going on with us and it became apparent to me that everyone in Taiwan at that time had experienced the same event and could relate to each other about it. No matter where we came from we were sharing an experience and could relate. I was becoming a part of Taiwan. This huge event (for me) had hardly registered to my friends back "home".

Why did I write so much about this? Because when I did the ride over Jiu Fen Er Shan, I was again confronted with all the thoughts and imagined horrors of the 921 quake and I have to admit I felt a heightened level of anxiety that I didn't share with the other guys. It reminded me of the frailty of life and how easy it can be snuffed out. Not the kind of thing you like to think about when bombing hills and dodging cars.

The Ride:

For this ride I went with Michael T. and Todd A. on his behemoth mountain bike. We started in Jhongsing Village and headed towards Jhongliao in Nantou County and followed Longnan Road 龍南路 in Shuangwen and passed Shuangwen Elementary School 爽文國小. It is an easy climb that fails to allude to the coming tortures.

The road heads out toward the Longfeng Waterfall 龍鳳瀑布

After a short climb there is a sign pointing left toward Jiufen Ershan right after the Xinfo Temple 心佛寺. This is the way to 18% grades. We stayed on this road and kept climbing. At some points I was way out of the saddle over my handlebars just to keep my front tire on the ground. It is a grueling assault on the quads.

The earthquake park is about 400 meters downhill from the crest. After a rest at the top we blasted down on a forearm bursting descent.

Traversing The Slide Zone

One of the strangest stretches of roads is the tooth-rattling descent across a debris field leftover from the earthquake. The road looks level, but it is an optical illusion and soon gravity takes over and you find yourself riding your brakes to retain control of the bike over the choppy pavement. It starts to dawn on you that you are rolling across a giant mudslide that could easily take off again at any time. Below there is a new lake that was formed after the quake. The geologic power of the earth is truly amazing.

Scars On The Earth

There is a small market at the bottom where you can pick up bananas and fuel for the ride back. Just behind the market is a house that is now sitting diagonally due to the tectonic forces of the earthquake. It brought back a lot of memories. There is one more hill climb up to a restaurant and a vantage point over the epicenter of the 921 earthquake. The entire landscape is turned ever which way. The striations of the earth point in all directions.

The House Is Gone

In the distance you can see a wrecked structure and check out the natural recovery of the local plant life. We hung out for a while and had some lunch amid locals who were making the most of the disaster by selling souvenir picture books and postcards. There is a desolate quiet about the whole area and the proximity to the center of such a powerful event was making me a bit nervous. I guess I am chickening out on discussing the impact of this ride, but I was really feeling unsettled by it.

Looking Back at 921

A Type of Orb Spider

The idea of going back up the mountain and, even worse, coming down the other side, made us reconsider our exit. We headed down the back side to the Nantou County Road #147. This road can go to the Highway 14 or out to Shui li. We decided to go to Shui li and took a right at the base.

A Formosan Deer Farm

Shui Gang's Ship... far from the sea.

After taking it easy on a long, flat road, we were soon climbing again. The climbs were shady and beautiful along gurgling creeks and through quiet valleys. Eventually we hit a fantastic descent to the Nantou Local Road # 131. I love the 131. The 131 makes me feel fast. It is wide, smooth... and mostly downhill. It empties out into Shui li, where we refreshed ourselves with passion fruit slushies before beating it back along the Highways 16 and 3 to Ming jian.

Kayaking in Shui Li

Links:

Our Route

The Simple Route

Todd's Write-up on the route

Michael's Write-up of the route

Thanks to Jason W. and Todd A. for the pictures and details for this post.

Bike route 348866 - powered by Bikemap 

Support Taiwan

Taiwan is the center of my life and it is for all those who are living in this country. We are connected through an imagined community of experience and it is that experience of interacting within the frameworks of this society that gives us our sense of communion. Taiwan's culture(s) are and have always been in a state of dynamic change; adapting and transforming to conform to new realities and motivations. There is a social structure in Taiwan that is unique and each of us must come into contact with that structure in a different way, but it creates the structure of our lives and we learn how to negotiate it like a mouse learns to negotiate a maze. That is where our culture comes from.

Cycling in Taiwan is another way in which we can interact with our environment in Taiwan. Whether we are a Taiwanese, Foreigner or Alien, we are engaging and interacting with our environment. We are in contact with others. We make friends, chat with neighbors, visit the store, use the post office, cycle through rice fields and swear at passing cars. Everything that is going on within this structure is adding to the shared community. As an ethnic foreigner on Taiwan (yes, ethnic foreigner), I am often regarded as a hermetically sealed entity that can have no meaningful experience or impact on my community... or opinion for that matter. This is a false exclusion. I am part of the Taiwan experience and Taiwan is part of my experience. The way I interact with the structure of Taiwan is as a foreigner, which is different than a non-foreigner, but still an experience unique to Taiwan. Cycling simply allows me to engage in one more conversation with the land and people.

Through my experiences on the bike I add to my experience and my emotions attach to more parts of my world. I am a part of this space and I am not shy about standing up to protect MY HOME. I am proud of who we are on Taiwan and of the people we have become. I love my home and therefore I would like to pass along the following message:

On May 9th, FAPA-YPG would like to encourage all of you to change your Facebook Avatar to the image above.

======================
+++++++ THE CRISIS +++++++
======================

China claims that Taiwan is a "renegade province" that must be "reunified" at any cost. While threatening the people of Taiwan via 1400+ missiles aimed in their direction and refusing to renounce the use of military force, China has also isolated Taiwan internationally, blocking its membership in organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization. As a result of China's belligerence, many nations, including the United States, do not formally recognize Taiwan, instead adhering to a "One China" policy that fails to acknowledge the reality of "One China *and* One Taiwan."

======================
+++++++ THE TRUTH +++++++
======================

Taiwan is an independent, democratic, sovereign nation with its own government, its own territory, its own military, and its own people. China's campaign of "reunification" and "anti-secession" is nothing more than a propaganda effort to annex its democratic and prosperous neighbor.

===> Taiwan has been a part of China since...never. <=== Taiwan has been occupied by multiple powers (including the French and the Dutch) in the last four centuries. However, it has *never* been occupied by the People's Republic of China, a communist dictatorship whose rampant and systematic abuse of human rights are well-documented. ===> A casualty of World War II: Who asked the Taiwanese? <=== Prior to World War II, Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese for half a century. Upon Japan's surrender, Taiwan was occupied by the KMT (Kuomingtang), who had lost the Chinese Civil War *in China* to the Communists and fled to nearby Taiwan. The Allies appointed the KMT as temporary administrators over the island; however, the KMT promptly established martial law and ruled Taiwan with an iron first for the next 50 years. ===> The evolution of Taiwan's democracy: The Taiwanese people demand freedom. <=== Through the efforts of the Taiwanese people—many of whom sacrified their lives for the dream of democracy—martial law was finally lifted in 1987, which paved the way to a direct presidential election in 1996 and a peaceful transfer of power from the KMT to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2000. In 2008, the KMT was re-elected into power. Through all this, Taiwan has never been part of the People's Republic of China. ====================== ++++ WHAT YOU CAN DO +++++======================

On SUNDAY, MAY 9th, 2010, which marks the beginning of Taiwanese-American Heritage Week, join the campaign: (1) Change your profile picture to the "Taiwan is Not Part of China" logo, the picture for this Facebook event. (2) Post the following message as your status and attach a link to this Facebook event: ++++++++++++++++++++++ ----------------------------

Taiwan is a free, independent and democratic country. Taiwan is NOT part of China. Help us tell the world by reposting this message as your status.

Giro Time: Giro d'Italia Saturday, May 8

The late Marco Pantani was a climber's climber and a thrilling rider to watch. In 1998 he won both the Giro and the Tour. That year he also won the Giro's Mountain Classification as well.

The Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) is already here. Three weeks of some superior cycling and daily rigors. The race has been won by Coppi, Merckx and Hinault, among other greats, and it serves as the preview for the Tour de France.

These grand tours are interesting to watch for the tactical aspect as teams rally around their star rider and try to safely escort him through the peloton while chasing down breaks and capping attacks. The pacing is much different than the Spring Classics and the variety of climbs, distance and Time Trials makes for great racing day after grueling day.

The leader wears the distinctive Maglia Rosa or "Pink Jersey" as opposed to the Malliot Jaune "Yellow Jersey" from the Tour de France...

Here are some links if you want to catch some of the action.

Happy Giro!!!

Ride Like A King Day

One final piece of Giant News to report:

No, the title of this post does not suggest riding an early 1990's Cannondale aluminum framed bike over potholed roads for 8 hours until you feel like you've been beaten by a half-dozen of L.A.'s finest. No, no...

May 7th will be the second annual "Ride Like A King Day", in honor of Giant founder and Taiwanese cycling spiritual leader King Liu. According to Bicycle Retailer Magazine, King Liu is still riding strong at a spry 76 years of age. If he is not too old to clip in and hit the road, nobody has an excuse. Three years ago Liu covered the 927km around Taiwan to help promote cycling in Taiwan. I absolutely hate hearing the "age" excuse for cycling. Nothing can make a person feel like a kid again than riding a bike.

Speaking of age:

Joe Freil has a great piece on age and diet.

My GIANT Night Out

Last night I had to pick up some replacement cleats for my Crank Brothers pedals. I love how the pedals function. They are easy to clip in and out of and I can clip-in from two directions. The mechanism doesn't get clogged with dirt. They're great... except for the cleat mounts.

The aluminum bolts are just too soft and mine started to strip the first week I owned them. The mounts would come loose and I would torque them down pretty hard and strip them out even more.

I finally found my "spot" and they haven't moved, but they've certainly worn down from me walking around on them and it was time to change them out. That is... if I could get them unseated from my shoes. The hex holes were too stripped to take a wrench and no amount of hammering could do it, so I headed around the corner to the Giant shop to see if they had more tools in their arsenal to deploy against my cleat. I think I may have made it more difficult by forgetting to lube a bolt or two when replacing them in a hurry. ALWAYS LUBE THE MOUNTS!

The Giant guys kindly took a hacksaw to the cleat and it was off in about 30 min. During my time in the store I stood there with a bemused look on my face as I watched the sales staff sell bikes.

A tall young woman nervously walked in an grabbed a big mountain bike with full shocks and disc brakes. She rode in a few circles around the store and then picked up a micro-bike with flat-bar and 20" wheels. She did a loop on that. By then a sales rep went over to assist and mainly stood there talking to the woman about the "feel" of the bike. The customer was riding bikes with seats that were 4-5cm too short and then being asked how it felt. At no time was the customer ever asked what purpose she intended for her bike; leisure, exercise, commuting, errands, group rides...etc. She was never sized. The sales staff just let the woman randomly guess what might be a good bike. After that they took her over to look at mountain bike helmets and biking jackets. Lots of people really don't know what options are available to them and what characteristics they should be looking for in a bike. A knowledgeable sales staff can guide a customer to make better choices. The bottom line is that only the rider knows what they want... but the sales staff can help the customer focus on what might better suit their needs and at least size them for a proper fit.