Dakeng Scenic Area: Afternoon Riding

Not all of my rides need to be of epic length to be fun and fulfilling. Today I took my wife on a great little training ride that was short, but no less fun. We rode out to the back roads of the Dakeng Scenic Area for a little climbing practice and a little bike time.

From the edge of Taichung city we took Tai Yuan Rd. out toward the mountains. The local elections are a week away and the roads were filled with posters and those slow moving campaign cars that yell at you as you pass and then bombard you with "nostalgic" tunes of yore. Several candidates have been featured astride their bikes pitching green initiatives and bicycle culture.

Although Tai Yuan Rd. is labeled a "bike path", and is a favorite for local cyclists with its wide shoulders and shady trees, the path leaves much to be desired. The bike path actually navigates some very dangerous areas, and at one point suddenly jumps the curb onto the sidewalk. These design problems plague Taiwan's bicycle routes.

As we approached the local golf course, we hung a left to start our ascent into the Dakeng Scenic Area.

The whole area is a labyrinth of narrow farm roads, which are ideal for cycling. We saw dozens of riders out to enjoy the sunshine.

The climb is a moderate grade and we just enjoyed the greater degree of difficulty. Joyce handled it with aplomb. I have never seen her "enjoy" hills. This is where cycling love really takes off... on the hills. You hate them until you love them to the point where you can't live without them.

The whole area is just one quiet corner after another.

We continued toward the Chiang-kai Sheck campground as we neared out 1300ft. ceiling.

The area is especially important to me and evokes a whole range of feelings. When I first arrived in 1998, the Dakeng area was my first major "discovery" as I took my motorcycle out of town to get lost. I was so surprised to find "nature" in a country I had written off as being an industrial wasteland, even before I set foot on Formosa.

Several months later I toured the area in shock as I inspected the damage from the great 921 earthquake. This is where I saw real damage, naked cliffs and my first real human body. It was frightening and has continued to resonate with me. It is always nice to return to see the area recovered and naturally tranquil.

From the top we could look out over the rippled hills in the glowing haze of late afternoon.

The whole area has grown into a haven for cyclists, and thus it is only expected that cycling infrastructure should follow. A rest stop (club house) and adjacent cycling swag stand were located right at the peak to be of service as riders arrived and departed.

As we were about to leave, we were spotted by one of my readers. She is a 58 year-old rider who bought herself a Colnago C-50 for her 50th birthday as a treat and commitment to her health. She is a fantastic climber and adventurous rider. One of my cycling heroes.

I highly recommend this route for beginners or riders who want to get a quick ride in without having to go too far outside the city.

Furthermore, I was very pleased with my wife's progress. You know you're with the right person when, despite being together for many years, they continue to grow, change and surprise you... and all you can do is hope to reciprocate. I am simply thrilled to hear my wife talk about her cycling. It is just one more dimension that adds depth and nuance to this wonderful woman.

What a great afternoon ride!

Also:

Ernesto Colnago, the father of the brand that bears his name, was in Taiwan for two days and paid the folks at T-Mosaic (my LBS) a little visit.

Garmin Edge 500: Stats, Stats, Stats

As a little birthday present my wife bought me the Garmin Edge 500, which has recently been discounted due to the arrival of the new Garmin 800 (which is just too geeky for my needs).

So far I am really loving it. Last night I went out for a short post-sickness ride to get things back in order after a few weeks of inaction and health troubles.

The whole slew of stats are great for tracking fitness, planning routes, focusing on improvement and monitoring effort.

I see I will be having lots of fun with this.

Anti-China Finger Pointing Shifts From Mat To Track

In the wake of the recent "Taekwondo Incident" at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, the China Times published this article which continues to target the host nation as the root for Taiwan's failure to bring home medals from the games.

The full article in Chinese can be found HERE.

The English translation below is exclusively provided by Taiwan in Cycles.


An Unfortunate Event At Bike Race: Yi Fang Ru Loses Gold Medal After Losing Consciousness Following Fall

2010-11-17 China Times
Reporting from 中國廣州

“After working so hard for 4 years, the gold metal has just slipped away,” said the female cyclist Yi Fang Ru, who is a member of the Chinese Taipei cycling team attending the Asian Games. She fell from her bike and injured her head in the middle of the track event. Yi was knocked unconscious but still managed to return to her bike and keep riding. She finished in 4th place. When she regained consciousness again and realized that she had lost a chance to win the gold medal, she burst into tears.

Coach Yang witnessed the crash and placed the full blame on the Chinese cyclists. Yang claims they banked and clipped the Japanese cyclists’ handle bars, which caused the two Japanese cyclists to crash. Yi was riding right behind them, and Yi flipped over along with her bike, slamming her head into the ground.

Coach Yang said, “ I hurried to drag her to the side to try to revive her as she was already unconscious. I finally brought her around. If she did not take off again in 5 laps, she would have been disqualified. I encouraged her to keep on riding. When she got on her bike, she was not fully conscious yet and her whole body ached as if she were drunk. It took her over ten laps for her to become fully conscious again.”

Yi rode for another sixty laps and ended up earning 11 points, and therefore did not qualify for any medals. The winner of the gold medal was the Chinese cyclist, Liu Sin, with a score of 34 points. Coach Yang said Yi would have not been passed by other cyclists if she had not fallen off her bike. She could have at least won another 20 points (The cyclist who passes the most behind cyclist in every lap can earn points), which means she could have at least won the silver medal, or even the gold metal.

Coach Yang said, “ After a medical examination, we found that Yi had suffered a light concussion. Her waist is also swollen because of the accident. After receiving medical treatment, she is resting now back at the athlete’s village.” When Yi found out she did not win any medals, she broke into tears. Yi still has a road bike race on the 27th. Coach Yang said the concussion and waist injury are both not serious, but it would be lying if he said the injuries wouldn’t affect her future performance. However, Yi will still do her best because she has been in training for 4 years!

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First: I need to call into question the actions of the coach, in placing a cyclist who has just suffered a head injury and is demonstrating signs of a concussion back on the track where she could become a danger to herself and the other cyclists. That was simply reckless and irresponsible in the pursuit for glory.

Second: The finger pointing in this case is ridiculous. Much of it seems to be editorializing the news on the part of the China Times.

Third: The Taiwanese response to the Taekwondo issue and this issue really exposes an underlying sentiment of resentment and distrust and anxiety shared by the Taiwanese in viewing their relationship with China. It also points to an increasing feeling of disenfranchisement at the hands of China/Chinese and China-centric political actors. These are very real sentiments that transcend party alliances and reflect public opinion. Take heed.

News From Around The Hub

• Joe's sixth day around Taiwan. Interesting recommendations for bike travel.
• Bikedan on his exploits in the Tour of Formosa.
• Dr. Freil-good on Force Reps.
• Bikesnob NYC blogs on Fred-dom.
• Velonews Letters about tire pressure along with the Sheldon Brown link.
• Cycling news from the Asian Games.

Tour of Changhua (環化賽): Body Defeats Man In 110k Race

Yesterday I competed in the Tour of Changhua race sponsored by Merida Bicycles. It really wasn't much of a race as the sponsors pulled the timed competition out of concern for rider safety following a period of light drizzle that fell on the area. My health hasn't been real great over the past few weeks following an asthma attack in Seattle and an increase in the frequency of the attacks over the past two weeks. I started taking some medication to bring the symptoms back under control, but the cure is as bad as the disease. As I have described before, the regimen consists of 12 pills per day that effectively render me useless beyond daily tasks. They induce insomnia, dehydration, muscle tremors and appetite suppression. I feel terrible. When I asked the doctor about exercise, she said, "don't over do it."

Regardless of this obstacle I decided to line up at the starting line with 4000 cycling enthusiasts to take part in a bike lover's ride.

Saturday, I went to T-Mosaic and collected my race pack; an assortment of swag including a water bottle, electronic race chip, socks, and energy gel. Earlier I went to Famous Bikes to pick up an early birthday present... a Garmin Edge 500 to record training stats and track my energy.

I rode the 12k from my house down to the starting line and was putting up an effortless 22mph. I figured it might be a good sign and rolled on into Changhua, where a light rain had begun to fall.

As I approached the Changhua city, riders of all type were appearing from alleyways and side roads to join a virtual convoy to the starting line.

It was great to see so many riders all together for this event despite the weather. There was a mix of road bikes and mountain bikes, with some folding and 20inch wheeled wonders in there too. Several teams showed up... but mine went home after hearing that the actual "race" component was cancelled and it would be a glorified mass-ride. I saw a few guys from our group who decided to stay and slog it out in the rain, but not many.

The start sounded and the mass of rolling humanity lurched forward into the dark wet morning. I kept my jacket on to stay warm and stuck with my plan to pace myself for a fast century ride.

I used the lead up to Bagua Shan to pass most of the field before the hill climb, which worked well as I had a pretty good run up the hills to the top of Bagua Shan. I was feeling good, and confident. I was also up near the front. I figured with nothing but flats and descents I could plod along at my typical pace at about 19-23mph and end up with a respectable finish. My goal was to make it back at around the 3:30 mark. I have averaged some pretty fast centuries, so I was optimistic.

I went into cruise control on the top of Bagua Shan to recover a bit from the climb and sit in with a small group of riders who were plugging along about the same as I was.

Then my first cramp hit. My left calf tightened up into a ball of pain and I had to unclip to shake it off. That made me increasingly concerned about my level of hydration. I typically can do very well with liquids, but with the medicine I was in desperate need. I had figured to fill at each feed station and there was one up ahead. By that time I realized it wouldn't be a banner day for me, so I took out my camera for a couple of blog shots.

The scenery in the morning was absolutely stunning. The sun provided backlight for Taiwan's central mountain range and a low gauze of fog hung over Cautun in the valley below.

I was still spinning along quite well over the little hill climb before the descent into Songboling. The slick roads with decomposed leaf debris made it too dangerous to pass anyone on the descents.

We quickly spilled through the tea town of Songboling and into the final descent. I have ridden this route a few times and was familiar enough with it to hit 37mph on the descent.

One poor bruiser of a fellow who had managed to power his way up on one of those funny 20-inch-wheel bikes, lost control on a turn and hit the deck in spectacular fashion.

I completed the descent and hammered along at 19.1mph while ducking into some pace lines and even leading for a bit... and then the wheels came flying off. Well, not literally, but at just about the half-way point I was developing a bottomless cough and my breathing felt "tight". I kept trying to clear my lungs, but they just felt full of crap. I made the hard decision to pull back to a touring pace and just breathe. I couldn't pull enough oxygen through my clogged alveoli to keep my muscles running strong.

I watched as all kinds of riders blew on past me. It was shameful, humiliating and rough. I knew where I should have been and felt awful for where I was. I hoped I would recover and get back into it.

Then I was hit with a major cramp in my left quad. This was followed by a cramp in my right quad. I dismounted to ease my legs back into shape, but almost tipped over as my right hamstring cramped up as I was unclipping. I was in total agony. I stopped at the feed stations to keep filling up on water, but I couldn't lose the sensation that any exertion over 16mph would result in a cramp. My muscles just felt dead. I couldn't summon anything out of them. Essentially, I had asked my body to perform lacking the two major ingredients-- water and oxygen. The result was an absolute physical breakdown.

At one point I dismounted to get a sport drink. My leg cramped at a 90 degree angle for 30 seconds as I propped myself up on my bike waiting for it to straighten out.

I finally slogged my defeated self into Changhua city at such a shamefully slow pace, that I didn't care. My wife was waiting for me at the finish line with a big smile and that was good enough for me.

We waited in line to collect my participation award and then I hopped back on the bike for some food before riding the 12k home. Official time: A disappointing and agonizing 4:24:18.

I will just have to get my body back into racing shape and show'em next time.

I think my face says it all.

My Tour of Changhua?

Tomorrow, bright and early, I will be riding in the "Your Tour of Changhua". The event is being sponsored by Merida Bicycles and will start with a quick climb and descent over Bagua Shan, before long sections of flats to the coast and back.

The event takes on a delightfully local flavor in the name. In Mandarin the event is called the 環化賽 (Huan Hua Sai), which, when pronounced with a Taiwanese accent, sounds like the Mandarin term for the Tour de France (環法賽). Har har har!!!

I really haven't trained in weeks and had a pretty bad asthma problem last week, so I am taking some seriously heavy drugs, but I will make a go of it and just go out to have some fun, meet some people and feel good about life.

News:

Police seize "substances" at Popovych home.

Taiwan's Hsiao Mei-yu wins bronze at Asian Games 500 meter TT.

Pirate's booty stolen! Pantani's yellow jersey lifted.

Mark V. Cruises Through Taiwan: Ride Report

While I was in Seattle I stopped by Elliot Bay Cycles and was surprised to learn that one of their employees was actually visiting Taiwan for the Bike Festival. I was pretty excited about that (as everyone with connections to Taiwan seems to when a person in a foreign country can find Taiwan on a map), bought a few things and left my contact info. The employee was Mark V. at Bikehugger.

I have to admit that I am pleased with the reports that have been coming in. Mark Blacknell, Beverly Garrity and Mark V. have all done a wonderful job giving readers their impressions of visiting, while negotiating the minefields and pitfalls associated with reporting on Taiwan, especially on a government funded junket.

Here is Mark V's report from his trip.

The only part I had any issue was this little quote:

You see a lot more of the aborginal culture in the east than you do in the other parts of Taiwan, which are heavily influenced by the Han Chinese of mainland descent.

This passage is problematic in many ways. The foremost is that it makes the typically broad assumptions about Taiwan's diverse cultural heritage and loads it with the ideological term "mainland", while further asserting that somehow "Han culture" is uniform and monolithic. This view also fails to take into account the cultural drift that has occurred on Taiwan as the result of Taiwan's unique history of administration from indigenous, Dutch, Cheng, Qing, Japanese, KMT, and constitutional ROC. Each of these structures erected and eliminated borders, shifted economies and engineered new schemes for social mobility within their program. Lastly, this little blurb follows the Chinese nationalist method of conflating concepts of "Chinese/Han" with ideas of modernity and risks linking indigenality with traditionalism.

I know this is a little issue to comment on, and I don't want to detract too much from Mark's wonderful ride report, but I do think as writers we need to be aware that we can inadvertently perpetuate the ideological language of a political program that continues to be colonial in nature.

I probably still have a bee in my bonnet over our missionary encounter last weekend.