Biking Around Sun Moon Lake and Beyond

Shuili

What a ride! Sunday's ride was really something special for me. It marked my first significant ride without knee pain in almost four months. Things had been looking up for the better part of two weeks and I had been itching to get out of Taichung. Before, I would simply hop on the bike and ride 200km or more to put some distance between myself and my city. Lately, I have simply been stuck, sitting at home, while everyone else was out sketching Taiwan's rugged topography by bike.

After last weekend's success I concocted a plan to go further afield, while building back into shape. The last thing I want is another three weeks off the bike.

The plan was to loop from Shuili Township in Nantou County, up the Nantou Route 131 to Sun Moon Lake, and then exit the lake at Dehua Village on the southeastern shore along the adjective defying Route 63, and then back to Shuili on the Highway 16. The entire route was only around 50k, similar to last weekend's distance, but with the addition of a climb up to 800m.

Michael Turton was game for the adventure as he had never biked some of those roads, and we were joined by Andrew B. from Feng Yuan. (You can check out Michael's write-up HERE)

I was feeling pretty anxious about things as a day of climbing could potentially lead to another flare-up with the knee. I imagined the possibility of getting to the furthest point and having to bail or continue forward in pain, each turn of the crank helping to degrade the knee even more. Since early March I have ridden with the fear that any real effort might contribute to making things worse. Still, I have ridden on these roads before as part of much longer rides, and I couldn't wait to finally take my new bike further afield.

The ride was simply inspiring.

Shuili Bus Depot

Michael had the courtesy to drive us all down to Shuili in his van, otherwise I would have had to cancel, and we all unloaded our gear for a day of riding.

A Local Bus

Shuili is a pretty little town near the source of the Choushui River that was once a logging and agricultural hub, but it is now cashing in more from felling tourists than timber.

Michael and Andrew Embark Up The Route 131

We quickly headed up the Route 131, a route I have only taken downhill, and made pretty good time over the low rollers toward the lake. Andrew B. spun his way along on his mountain bike as we tested the terrain. I felt pretty good pushing a 39-27 gearing combination, but I was not about to over do it. The grades were between 2%-4%, so totally fine.

A Straggler

Several groups of cyclists came careening out of Sun Moon Lake as they had obviously had a much earlier start than our little "coffee and cake" ride.

Village Below Reservoir

The balmy heat was tempered by intermittent cloud cover and it made for some good cyclign weather... at least good for Taiwan in June. The temps were in the 30s (90s) and the humidity was otherworldly, but not bad at all.

Sun Moon Lake

The roads soon plopped us down on the welcoming banks of Sun Moon Lake, where we joined caravans of tourists jockeying for their own unique glimpse of the cloudy blue waters lapping upon placid shores.

Andrew Arrives

Views

Views II

Posing

Blessings

It was easy to keep pace with the traffic as we inhaled petrol fumes from tour busses that threatened to push us into the guardrails at every turn. Visitors in passing cars cheered us onward past the cable cars to Dehua Village.

Tourism

Locals?

We stopped for lunch amid tourist-lined streets and pushy vendors scrapping for their restaurant traffic.

Michael Climbs

As the grey skies closed in we decided to make the hill climb out of the lake before the rain could make the descent on the other side any trickier.

Over The Lake

I was really happy with my climb. I felt comfortable and steady with a good pedal stroke and it was here that I really realized that my knee would be ok.

Drizzle

As I waited at the top of the hill for Michael and Andrew, a light blanket of drizzle began to cover the entire basin below. Within minutes it was covering me as well. The descent would be far more technical than I had anticipated.

Careful!

Over The Valley

We turned the corner just over the peak of Route 63 to reveal the rippling ramparts of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range. My pictures just don't do justice to this scene. The interplay between the light, clouds, shadows and scenery, punctuated by a weaving plunge through hillside farms and betel nut groves was a treat for the senses.

Great Roads Below

Cloudy Skies

The rain tapered off as I reached the bottom of the descent, just in time for a high speed assault on a ribbon of smooth pavement leading to the base of the valley.

Rolling Along

With mountains on all sides, we rolled smoothly along the valley floor. My legs were getting a little tired after so much time off, but with the entire scene spread out before me and the thrill of that descent, I was stoked on enough adrenaline to keep moving rapidly with a smile on my face.

The Flood

Suddenly, without warning, the skies opened up into a torrent of pounding rain. The air was filled with the deafening sound of thick raindrops pummeling the valley.

Brave Soul

We took shelter under an aluminum garage/betel nut stand and waited for the rain to abate. Within minutes we were back on the road.

UFO Cult?

River Wild

We were soon exiting the valley and headed back into Shuili. My legs were in great shape, albeit tired. We had had a great ride through great country. With good spirits all around we drove back under the sun drenched skies of Taichung.

With this ride I was able to regain the confidence I had lost after so many disappointing false starts on my road to recovery. Now I feel I can start to really enjoy riding again.

What a great ride!

Heading Home

Locating Taiwan's Cycling Center

There have been a few articles circulating lately focusing on Taiwan's bicycle infrastructure and the center of Taiwan's cycling culture.

Mark Caltonhill has a wonderful piece on the great strides Kaohsiung has taken in recent years to transform the city from one of Taiwan's least livable cities into one of Taiwan's most progressive in embracing alternative forms of transportation. As I write this I can't help but feel a sad bit of irony that the term, "alternative transportation" includes trains, bicycles and, sadly-- foot traffic.

“In order to make cycling more convenient and safer for citizens, bike paths are constructed as part of the sidewalk, so as to avoid bikes having to compete for road space with cars and motorbikes,” Kent T. Wang, director-general of Kaohsiung’s Department of Transport, said by e-mail.

Furthermore, to encourage cyclists to use the paths, he stressed that “they are built in coordination with road construction projects and in accordance with the same principles of signage, signaling and road marking.”

This will be good news to many cyclists visiting Kaohsiung from other cities—around the world and not just in Taiwan—who often feel themselves to be second-class road users. Taipei’s bike paths, for example, have few signs directing cyclists to destinations and no distance indicators other than those relating to the section of path being used.

Caltonhill's observations are supported by my friend and fellow rider, Michael Cannon from Peimic.com.

In a related article from Cycling Mobility Magazine via Bike Biz, Taiwan's recent investment in infrastructure projects is featured as the cover story. The article states:

For the piece Reid interviewed the ex-director general of Taipei City Transport (who cycles to work) and King Liu, president and founder of Giant. Bike maker Giant invests in cycle infrastructure and promotion projects in Taiwan, as does Merida. The companies invest in order to create more domestic customers.

King Liu started Giant - now the world's biggest maker of quality bikes - in 1972 after his fish-farm was destroyed by a typhoon. He has a customer-creation allegory: "It is more important to grow the fishes than to catch the fish."

Although private enterprise can help support the bicycle infrastructure, Giant's dominance in the production, retail and policy ends of the business, a more apt analogy for their use of using public bicycle infrastructure to generate profits may be more like, "shooting fish in a barrel."

The disparity between the Kaohsiung approach and Liu's approach, which has been adopted by Taipei, (Liu is a senior advisor to ROC President Ma Ying-jiu) hinges on their motivations. As Benjamin Fox recently pointed out at The City Fix, Kaohsiung is willing to take a financial loss to transform the way its citizens live in the city.

Recent progress aside, Kaohsiung faces several financial challenges. The city’s MRT system is steadily losing money and will lean heavily on government subsidies for the foreseeable future. Kaohsiung’s C-Bike program also lost NT $500,000 (US $16,892) a month in 2009 and statistics indicate that rentals are used primarily for leisure rather than a viable transportation alternative for commuters. Despite Kaohsiung’s financial concerns, the city is pressing ahead with public transportation expansion.

Liu's vision, and the vision he is pitching to the government, is one in which the prime motivation is corporate profit. While both methods have their strengths and liabilities, Liu's approach puts the cycling public at the mercy of corporate cycling and what goods and services corporations would like cyclists to purchase. Furthermore, Liu's vision pushes cyclists out toward managed "cycling reservations", while Kaohsiung looks to embrace cycling in the city.

Despite the polar differences between Taiwan's northern and southern metropoles and Kaohsiung's gradual increase in ridership, a recent survey finds that 63% of Hsinchu County residents list cycling as their favorite pastime.

Wu Che-wei, Office of Transportation and Tourism chief, said Hsinchu covers an extensive area, with many county roads and farm paths boasting stunning scenery. Although most are not exclusively for use by bicycles, they are quite suitable for a half or full-day tours.

Bicycle trails extend to every town and city in the area, and there is every sort of themed trip imaginable on the list as well. These include urban trips winding through Hsinchu and Zhudong, as well as routes taking the rider along the seacoast, a path along the Touqian Creek, and a ride around the Baoer Reservoir. Another trip showcases the yesteryear flavor of Hukou Old Street. And naturally, there is no shortage of routes that wind through the beautiful farmlands of the county.

This statistic might look surprising at first, especially with Taichung being the center of Taiwan's bicycle production, and without the additional tax revenue of the special municipalities (Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung), the difference may simply be that Hsinchu County, with its lower population density, can better manage traffic and create a safe cycling atmosphere, which is probably the most important factor in enticing people to exchange petrol power to pedal power.

Even as Taiwan struggles with the debate on how to invest in its cycling infrastructure, at least the issue is on the table and most local governments are thinking about how to integrate the bicycle into their collective futures whether for recreational or utilitarian purposes.

Also:

Please take some time to fill out this cycling survey which is being conducted by National Chung Kang University's Institute of International Management. Survey

Changhua Schools Make Students Suffer On Bikes Before Graduation

Several Chinese language news outlets were reporting on the cycling event organized by the Changhua Bureau of Education that went horribly awry yesterday when 15 students were admitted to the hospital suffering from symptoms of heat stroke and broken bones.

The Changhua Bureau of Education hosted a cycling event for 2000 junior high school seniors as part of their end of the year activities. The event happened to coincide with one of the hottest days of the year and involved 18km of climbing.

After a few kilometers several of the students began suffering from symptoms of heat stroke and heat exhaustion, while others suffered physical injuries at the result of collisions with other cyclists, and in one case, a student suffered physical injuries after falling from the bike in exhaustion. Fifteen students were admitted to the hospital with one in serious but stable condition.

It takes time to acclimate the body to riding in higher temperatures, and whoever organized this event used poor judgement that hurt some young people. Furthermore, these kids spend way too much time indoors studying (especially junior high school seniors who have been cramming for their exams) and not exercising, so it is no wonder their bones are weak and they buckle during a bike ride. I applaud the idea of promoting cycling for these young people, but proper preparations would have been helpful.

(Video) Cycling Central Taiwan: T-Mosaic Video Montage

Check out Rocky's new video of some of their various rides around Taichung.

Hills over Taipei: Ralph Jennings Takes A Look At Taiwan From On High

Central Cross Island Highway

Ralph Jennings has a nice piece in the Taipei Times detailing some of the steeper riding that is available in the foothills above Taipei.

The accordion-shaped Pingjing Street (平菁街) climb from Zhishan Road (至善路) just above the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) cures hangovers while penetrating deep into the less trafficked backside of Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園).

It’s just one in a maze of well paved, vista-packed and challenging roads in the park, the boundary of which is 30 to 60 minutes cycling time from central Taipei.

The article gives several route suggestions and rider opinions on the roads up to Yangming Shan, which would be extremely useful to riders who might be visiting Taiwan and do not really have to get out much further than the greater Taipei area.

What the article does not articulate, is the difficulty in getting from the city to the mountains. The RED LINE of the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), which skirts along the Taipei foothills through the Shih Lin and Beitou districts, has several stops that allow bicycles in marked train cars.

Another consideration on weekends is the traffic. Taipei is Taiwan's most populous city and Yangming Shan is a closest and better known "get-away". Weekend traffic can be a pain.

Still, unless you live in Tainan or Kaohsiung, Taiwan's hills are always close enough for a bit of climbing.

Also:

• Taiwanese students win award for their bicycle tent. The device allows a rider to pitch a tent anywhere.

An Encouraging Sign: My Ride Through The Hills of Dakeng

Encouraging Sign

I have been taking things easy and doing some interesting stretches which seem to be working, and so I decided to test my knee in the hills of Dekeng above Taichung city. I figured I could easily coast home if things went poorly. As of today, all signs are pointing toward a solid recovery.

Refreshing

I took things easy and got a late start with an easy warm-up out to the 85C on Dong Shan Rd. near Dakeng. The weather was already oppressively hot and humid, so and iced coffee made things a wee bit better. I also had a chance to stretch my hip. What you can't see in the picture above is my leg tucked up behind me against a railing.

Climbing

I followed the road up the Buzi River toward the CKS Campground and hiking trail No. 4. I casually retraced my first excursion out of Taichung City many years ago, when I discovered mountains and hills had been hiding behind a veil of mist and fog.

Making It Up The Hill

When I ordered the parts for this new bike I had been feeling confident and self assured. I had been doing some great climbing with a standard 39/53 tooth crank with a 12-27 cog. I decided I would harden up and abandon my old compact crank. I was missing it today. After 3 1/2 moths of limited riding my strength and endurance is suffering. I could keep above 20mph in the flats and 10mph climbing, but I was getting tired. I also was not going to try and push or really stand on the pedals. I already put myself out an extra month by trying to climb too much too soon.

I made my way up the hill and stopped to stretch the hip BEFORE it turned into knee pain.

Action Shot

My New Friend

Warning?

I was surprised to be able to push up over the hill and it was over sooner than I remembered. I was feeling pretty accomplished.

Dakeng Scenic Area

Map

Feeling On Top Of The World

Resting

Go Anywhere. Do Anything

The Fun Part

I took a few minutes to rest and then "Ka-thunk!" I shifted to the big ring for a fast descent along a twisting, narrow road.

When I Smile

I was flying along at about 35-40mph. One thing I really love about this bike is that it descends like a guided missile. You pick a line and stick with it. On the old bike I was always over-shooting my turns. This bike slices through them like a scalpel. So much fun.

Friendly Rider

I slalomed down to Taiyuan Rd. and then headed up to the Warehouse 185 for a coffee. The knee was feeling great. I headed out for a family function in Daya and then stayed in the big ring for a fast, but tiring, stretch back home. I pushed my knee and it felt healthy. Today was huge for me in getting back into form.

Distance: 42 miles

Max Speed: 40mph

Average Speed: Never Mind

Knee: Pain Free

New Feature in Dakeng

Made In Taiwan: A Giant in Seattle's Bike Scene Makes His Bike Taiwanese

Mark V. over at Bike Hugger writes an interesting post about his new ride, which he bought partially in response to all the purists who buy Colnago because it is not an Asian brand.

“Dunno why stuff from the mainstream guys like Giant & Specialized puts me off…..I’d go for Colnago CX-1”

I found this post yesterday, proclaiming a popular sentiment that European bicycle companies have more character and/or quality than “the mainstream guys”. The fact that two companies strongly associated with Taiwanese manufacture were singled out (and not say Trek*) is notable. What kills me is that the message board poster spews on lovingly for the Colnago CX-1…because I’ve been to the Giant factory in Taichung, Taiwan, and that vaunted CX-1 comes down the SAME production line as the Giant TCR. That’s right, Taiwan makes that Colnago.

It is funny how most people associate the brand of origin with the place of origin. In most cases this is not true. There are very few mass produced bicycles made outside of Asia. Colnago still makes their steel bikes in Italy and the new Limited Edition C-59 Italia carbon fiber bike was made in Italy, but they only made 59 of them using Toray carbon fiber from Japan (T-Mosaic has one on display). With many of the European brands, they simply need to do some minor labeling or finishing to qualify as domestic, when in fact, they were produced in Taiwan or China. In more cases than we'd like to admit, the frames were designed by a Taiwanese ODM and then branded by the buyer of the mold. It is possible that those sleek Italian curves or French lines had their origin in the mind of a Taiwanese engineer.

Also:

• Oz Soapbox waxes poetic on his Long Haul Trucker. The only rust is on the low-end Tektro brakes. The steel frame is looking good after a mere 14,000km over 3 years.