Tour de France Stage 18: The Decider (My TdF Movie Ending)

I have been up watching the Tour de France online from one of the feeds at Steephill (look at the bottom for feeds) and with the extra help of the TdF Live Blogging from Cycling News.

I have to say, this is the best contest since Lance left the scene, and maybe even better without such a dominant force.

The race has entered its third and final act with several lethal threats still lurking at the top of the GC leader board.

Tommy Voeckler of Team Eurocar is still sitting on top with the yellow jersey. He is losing time little by little like a deflating balloon. He has led a valiant effort with pinache, but it may not be enough.

Australia's Cadel Evans is sitting in second. His style and ugly mug may be a turn-off for some, but he is looking flawless and strong after last year's curse of the Rainbow Jersey.

The Schleck boys from Team Leppard (I know) are sitting in third and fourth. Frank Schleck is 1:22 out, but he can't Time Trial. Little brother Andy is 2:36 out and he can climb and Time trial, but he is upset about the descents... boo hoo. They both seem apprehensive to go it alone without support. Neither has won the TdF, but Andy came in second last year after a dropped chain that allowed Alberto Contador to get away for a win.

Samuel Sanchez, the Spanish rider from Euskaltel in in fifth, and last year's winner Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank is in sixth 3:15 out of first-- a gap that can be overcome on a good breakaway, climb or descent.

Who to pull for tonight?

I think from the Hollywood standpoint it looks like this:

• Contador has got a couple big victories already. I'd like to see him as the Sports Movie Bad Guy this time around. The Drago from Rocky IV... The "Shoot" from Vision Quest.... The Italian team in Breaking Away... the Cobra Khans in Karate Kid... the Russians in that Red Dawn on Ice about the American hockey victory. You get the picture. Contador can play that guy. He can be a threat to the very end, but I don't want him to win it. It'd make a bad ending for my TdF movie. Sanchez would make a great toady for AC. Scheming Spaniards stroking their long mustaches and contemplating the plunder of innocents on their galleons in their puffy shirts.

• The Schlecks have the brotherly love thing going on, but they way they are doing it is pissing me off. The only way to find redemption is for one brother to sacrifice himself for the other in a selfless act of pain or danger. It taps into the whole Jesus thing of self sacrifice that Americans dig on. Maybe a biblical parallel on the scale of The Grapes of Wrath.

• Voeckler can't win. He has held the yellow jersey for too long and if he went ahead an won, it would be anticlimactic. Besides, he has a name most English speakers can't pronounce and he is too... European.

• Basso would just be camera fodder and maybe the surprise friend at the end who enables the good guy, who isn't sure where Basso's loyalties lie, to pull out the win is a surprising act of cross-team cooperation. He is also tainted by doping and can only be the seemingly morally ambiguous Han Solo who has a little heart... not the pure-hearted Luke Skywalker.

• Danielson would be a dark horse only because he's an American. Go America, yeah! Whoo! Home of the free land of the brave.

• I think Cadel is the better hero with all the adversity he has faced amid so much promise. He is the mountain biker who overcomes switching to the road after being told he can't do it... rises, falls... and rises again. Besides, he's a native English speaker and the hero must speak English.

Sunday on the Route 130 in Miaoli

Joe and Michael Near Summit

Although I was feeling tired from my Saturday ride, I thought it would be a good idea to really make the legs work this weekend and take a casual yet demanding ride up the Route 130 in Miaoli.

I was happy to meet up with Michael Turton and Joe Lee for a day of cruising the roads between Taichung and the Sanyi area of southern Miaoli County. I have been meaning to ride with Joe for a good long while as he is such a great athlete. Unfortunately, he has been working through sports related injuries as vexing as mine. It was good to have him along.

This is a route I have done numerous times, but I never get tired of it. I also wanted to do more climbing.

Cycling For All Ages

We coasted out to Juolan at Taichung's northernmost edge and then flew along the Highway 3 to the Route 130 turn off not far past the Liyu Reservoir.

That is not the race director's car

The climb opens with a steep set of curves and then mellows... only just a little. My legs felt better than they had in weeks. Joe, Michael ad myself pushed our way up through the orchards and jungle.

Joe at the posing place

The views from the road were just spectacularly clear.

Red Plum Slushee

We stopped at the Mile High Cafe for a little refreshment and a chat with the charming wait staff.

View

All too soon it was time to continue the climb.

Michael puts the hammer down

The clouds on the horizon spelled trouble, so we made quick work of the rest of the hill and flew down the other side... a sensation that could only be described as "grounded flight."

Joe gets another view

Me

As we neared the Longtan Broken Bridge, it was clear the rain would soon be upon us. And just as I had predicted, the rains hit at about 2:00pm. It wasn't too bad and came in waves.

We fought our way back against wind and rain into Fengyuan and Taichung. By the time I reached the Taichung city limits, the heavens opened up in a torrent that would have made my shower-head jealous. I was completely soaked, so I soldiered on home in the fiercest downpour I have ridded through in a good long while.

Just before arriving at my front gate, the clouds opened to let beams of white sunlight through and call off the showers. Ahhhh... Taiwanese summers!

Ominous Warnings

Quick Morning over Bagua Shan.

Looking at the mountains from Wuer

This week has been a bit tricky with the weather. As many of you already know, during the summer the weather can be completely unpredictable in Taiwan. What may start out as a hot, sunny day, can quickly turn into rivers from the sky. I recall a 200k ride I did last year that looked so promising, until the puffy white clouds turned menacingly grey and then dumped enough water on me to drown my ipod.

My best guess was that it would be wise to start out early and do a ride up and around Bagua Shan, the big hill that separates Taichung from the Changhua plain. I figured with winds coming from the south, a nice lateral route with some climbing would be nice. Furthermore, there are lots of escape routes if it looks like the weather might deteriorate.

Team Radio Shack's Last Tour Contender?

I left through the Nantun Dist. and took the bridge near the HSR station to cross into Changhua. Blue skies, puffy clouds. It was a magnificent morning. I tagged along with a small group of riders until we could circumvent the road construction on the Highway 74 that goes directly over Bagua Shan, and then I hung a left on Highway 14 toward Fenyuan.

Looking Good This Fine Morning

Fenyuan is really an interesting town. I highly recommend a photo-ride through there on any weekend morning. Everyone is hanging out on the street.

Beautiful Downtown Fenyuan

I made a strategic error and assumed I would have gotten food earlier, so I stopped in Fenyuan for coffee, rice dumplings and a sport drink to fuel my climb and the rest of my ride.

Dacun Below (Grape Country)

I took Zhong Shan Rd. to the 139 which runs along the top of the hill in a sort of undulating series of short climbs and drops. The high winds made the view from the top nearly free of the usual haze.

I kept a nervous watch over my shoulder at all times to make sure I wouldn't be caught by a surprise thunderstorm, but the only clouds were a few cotton balls snuggling up against the mountains and some wisps of white toward Douliu far below.

Then, no more than 15 minutes after I took these pictures, I looked up to see a huge cloud bank covering southern Changhua in a dark mist. I checked the mountains and the clouds had burst through the Central Mountain Range and were closing fast.

I bailed out on part of Yuanshui Rd. for a roaring descent off the hill to join up with the Route 137.

Posing With Pineapples

I pounded away under the shadow of grey clouds to get home before the skies opened up. I normally don't mind the rain, but I just got my new wheels on Thursday and I am really not ready to risk getting water and dirt in the bearings yet. Let them be new for a while longer.

I reached the Highway 74 again and decided to climb it rather than go around through Changhua City. My climbing felt a bit better and I made good time up to the top. Then I was ready for the descent. My Garmin had me at 69kph, but I felt so stable I had plenty of time to enjoy my ride.

Before long I was back home and the clouds were soon covering Taichung again. Within an hour the rain opened up and washed all of central Taiwan. It didn't last, so hopefully things will be clearing up and I can get a few more rides in.

It was just a nice little morning ride.

New Fulcrum Racing 1 Alloy Wheels... real nice!

Also:

Check out Muse of Taichung and his narrative from the epic Tour of Taichung.

HTC Taiwan's Team of the Tour?

Here is a video put together by Taiwan's HTC corporation to help celebrate the Tour de France and possibly to highlight their sponsorship of one of the top teams. It is easy to forget that HTC-Highroad, the team of 3 stage winner and master sprinter Mark Cavendish, is a Taiwanese sponsored team. With products like the HTC Flyer, which in too big to compete with the iphone and too small to compete with an ipad, they'll need all the advertising they can get.

Also:

• New Tang Dynasty TV (The Falun Gong TV Station) ran a report on Jack Becker's trip to Taiwan. The report (in Chinese) takes some liberties with the facts and uses the visit to presume Taiwan's bicycle infrastructure is now considered to be "world class". Looking for the validation.

• Check out The Muse of Taichung and his incredible route to tour Taichung.

Weather Notes:

Sadly, we have seen a week of tantalizingly beautiful mornings punctuated by evening rain beginning about an hour before most people are off work. Not ideal for weekday rides.

A typhoon is scheduled to rumble around out in the Pacific... close enough to send more nasty weather our way.

and

A reminder for all you planning long rides when there is a break in the weather: Summer means a steady wind from southern Taiwan will make riding south a virtual Hell. Plan accordingly. This situation should last until December.

Other News:

Seven Estonians have been freed in Lebanon.

Closing the gender gap in cycling.

Prevent skin cancer from cycling.

Levis Cycling Line? Maybe not for the humid Taiwanese summers.

Is the TdF crash crazy?

Tourng The Liyu Reservoir: Route 52 and Route 52-3

New Citizen Talking To A Cop

After waking up late for another scheduled ride, I slept in and then debated the weather before reaching the conclusion that anything could happen and pushed my luck on the saddle.

My legs were feeling... better... but the plan was for a more leisurely, exploratory ride into the hills over the Liyu Reservoir. I have ridden the gorgeous Miaoli Route 52 dozens of times as it starts high above Juolan where the Highway 3 bends toward the Liyu Reservoir and makes for an easy and accessible weekend route.

I had never tried the Route 52-3 at the northern end of the reservoir... mainly because it was not far enough away to make it worth the adventure. Now I was more than curious to try that road.

"Morning Ride and Smoke With My Best Gal"

I steadily rolled on up onto the Hou-Feng Bike Trail, which was filled with riders squeezed together cheek by jowl into the narrow path. The experience is really stressful as riders brake, swerve, smoke (see picture) and veer into the oncoming lanes. It feels just like morning traffic.

View?

Visibility was horrible all day. It seemed like the clouds were just sitting on my back the whole day driving the humidity through the roof. A coffee and couple punchy climbs later, I was perched over the Liyu Reservoir.

Haze Over Reservoir

Not long after I committed to the northern route a light drizzle had begun to fall. It was actually quite refreshing.

Bridge To Route 52-3

I approached the bridge where the Route 52-3 starts and stopped for a few minutes to watch a couple of fishermen balance along the edge of the bridge as they tried to reel in some type of fish.

Signs

Something To See

Looking Down On Reservoir

Soon I was speeding over short climbs and dipping into dark valleys. The road was an absolute gem until about 3/4 of the way to the top when it suddenly becomes a narrow scribble of amateur paving. The punchy climbs became sustained grinds on 12% grades through bamboo groves.

Road?

Farmhouse

Suddenly the bottom drops out of the climb and the road skates along ridges past lonely farmhouses and deep, foliage covered valleys.

Dam!

The descent is such a wonderful thrill ride on what is essentially paved singletrack, I felt a little disappointed when it was all over at the bottom of the Liyu dam.

I sat there for a few minutes to decide which way to go. Would it be to Houli on the busy Highway 13, or would it be another climb over the Route 52 along the southern ridge of the reservoir?

I chose the climb. My legs actually started feeling great the more I climbed. I then upped the pace back to Taichung as the spray and grit from the wet roads covered my face at speed.

It was rainy, humid and I had a late start, but it was a fantastic ride.

Score:

Distance: 110km

Elevation Gain: 3192ft

Max Speed: 66kph

Manly Day On The 52-3

An Analysis Of Taiwan's Cycling Infrastructure

A couple weeks ago Taiwan was visited by Jack Becker, a Canadian cycling advocate and director of the 2012 Velo-Cities conference. Mr. Becker presented a paper relating to creating lasting and meaningful infrastructure for cycling. He spent five days in Taiwan feted by local political actors looking for an evaluation of their efforts to transform Taiwan into a "bicycle island".

Becker walked away with a very clear impression: Taiwan can not foster a bicycle friendly environment until action is taken to regularly and evenly enforce traffic laws and to take cycling seriously enough to provide separate space for riders to survive amid chaotic traffic conditions.

Please read his brief evaluation HERE and I would encourage readers to leave a comment.

I think Becker makes some great points about Taiwan's softball approach to cycling infrastructure.

I call it a "softball" approach because rather than addressing real problems with our cycling infrastructure the central and local governments either look for solutions in search of their problems, or initiate a half-baked "solution" that looks good when framed by bullet points in a Power Point presentation, but lack any reasonable followthrough.

Two examples might be the kilometers of leisure trails being constructed that start at and lead to nowhere. In cases like these the proposition is to promote tourism, where there was no real need before (especially now that Chinese tourism has dropped 30% in the past year).

A second example might be the "Bike Trains". They look great on paper and the government can proudly announce an increasing number of these trains. What a bike train means is that a rider may be allowed to bring their bike into a train car, which will be shared with other, non cycling, passengers. There are no racks, there are no hooks or nets or any special devices to make carrying a bike easier. One simply must hold their bike as the car fills with passengers who are annoyed that they have to rest their bags of fruit on your handlebars or get chain grease on their clothes. Michel Turton reported to me that his train car was so full last weekend that one rider had to pass his bike over the heads of passengers packed seven or eight deep into the car. This is hardly a viable solution to encourage riders to use the railway system.

These are just a couple examples, but for a program that has had so much fanfare, there is sure a lack of results in many key areas the government should be focusing on.

A Mighty Feng: Taiwanese Cyclist Takes Win In Beverley Hills Cycling Classic

Taiwanese cyclist, Feng Jun-kai won the opening criterium for the Beverly Hills Cycling Classic, an annual Pro-Am event featuring professional and qualifying amateur athletes from around the world.

Friday night, as Beverly opened the circuit for a ninth straight year, Team Taiwan’s Feng Jun-Kai outsprinted John Grant, of Louisville, Ky., for the opening win.

Feng won all three jerseys Friday, taking the red (sprint leader), yellow (stage leader) and black (overall leader).

The victory came courtesy of a gutsy call late as the Taiwanese rider pulled ahead to win primes (money awarded to lap leaders) and was able to hold off Grant for the win.

“The breakaway stayed together for the most part, but his move at the end was definitely the defining moment,” Grant said. “In the breakaway, we never felt like anyone was getting away from it. (Feng) did a good job going for those sprints, and it was a hard race.”

Feng and Grant were part of an eight-man breakaway that separated itself from the field midway through the 60 laps. With fewer than 20 to go, the group lapped the field, making Grant’s job that much easier.

It is great to see a Taiwanese cyclist making an impact in international races.

Congrats!