And Then He Touched Me: Traditional Medicine For Overuse Injury

In Taiwan we are lucky to have access to two parallel streams of healthcare. We have the traditional system of hospitals and clinics where white coated doctors wear reflectors on their foreheads and prescribe an attack of pills that often resembles a pack of Skittles.

Then we have traditional herbalists.

Both are covered under Taiwan's National Health Insurance program; a single payer system that covers every citizen, their dependents, and every registered worker in Taiwan.

After a host of overuse injuries and too much time off the bike, I was referred to an herbalist in Changhua. This herbalist is also an accomplished rider, so I was encouraged to feel he might be a little more understanding of my situation and of my injury.

I walked in, filled out my registration form, and within 10 minutes I was sitting with the doctor discussing my problem.

He massaged my knee with a perplexed look on his face, and then asked me to stretch out on the massage bed.

"A-ha!" he exclaimed with delight as he lightly patted my spine, "Your muscles in your back are creating an imbalance that is affecting your knee."

Apparently, my riding has developed an imbalance that pulled my bones out of alignment and resulted in an aggravated sciatic nerve.

The doctor pushed and pulled like he was realigning a bent frame.

I stood up and I felt amazing. The tightness in my back was gone. My knee felt better. My hip was loose.

I climbed some stairs and knelt without any sensations in my leg.

The whole procedure took about 10min. after a slathering of traditional goo-cream pads.

If you are having trouble with overuse or pain from cycling, I would totally recommend this guy.

The visit cost me a mere NT 150 (USD$5) with my insurance.

If you decide to go, be sure you or someone you are with, can speak Chinese or Taiwanese. I do not think anyone there can speak English.

Dr. Wu Chiu-Shiong

No.256-1 Chang-nan Rd.

Changhua City, Taiwan

Tel:04-7388838

彰化市彰南路二段256之1號

電話:04-7388838

DYS AmainT Individual Time Trial in Changhua

Today I was hoping to get down to Wuer for the DYS Amain T. Individuall Time Trial. What a great way to spend a Sunday. I am glad we have groups putting stuff like this together.

As much as I would have liked to have taken some pictures and put some heat into the legs, I am still on the mend and needed to do some domestic work today *sigh!*

I hope to be back on the bike soon.

Enjoy some pictures from the event today.

HERE

Racing The Top of Taiwan (200k): 7甲-14甲-14線-21線-18線

Here is an upcoming race being organized by the Taiwan Bike Association.

No, I am not going to do this. I just don't have the time to train and get my body into shape for something like this.

But it looks like fun. Maybe I'll do this route on some future weekend. I'll have to pocket the route for later.

I have ridden most of this route at different times and it is a spectacular challenge amid breathtaking scenery.

If anyone has the time or opportunity... DO IT!

Notes For A New Year: Here Comes 2012

I have to admit, as far as cycling is concerned, 2011 was a bit of a mixed bag. I achieved several of my riding goals. I rode the Wuling Challenge, I redeemed myself in the Tour of Changhua, I climbed Alishan and returned in a day. I purchased my dream bike, wrote a few posts, did some rides with some good people, and I became a dad.

I never rode from Taichung to Kenting in a day like I had planned. My Salsa Las Cruces broke prematurely and I was stuck sitting on the couch for a couple months without a bike and recovering from an overuse injury.

For 2012 I have some great posts lined up. I have a few rides planned and I hope to continue to be a good dad.

I realized I don't suck as bad as I thought, so I really need to work more on training, stretching, strength training and staying healthy. As I take a few weeks off with another overuse injury, I really need to resolve this problem to be healthy all year.

I hope to put in as many races as I can. I also hope to tour a few places that have piqued my interest. I hope to get back into form as soon as possible to beat it down to Kenting in half a day and tick that off my list.

I hope to see you all out on the road soon.

Good luck and safe riding in 2012!

Update: One Bike One: Under Pressure Ma Distances Himself From Event

Under increasing pressure to distance himself from the growing number of allegations that Ma Ying-jiu's campaign has made improper and illegal use of taxpayers money for campaign related activities, the president and the highest ranking members of his campaign decided to skip the One Bike One event, which had been hyped for over a year.

Instead, the embattled incumbent visited a convention of doctors.

Update:

Despite initial estimates of one million riders, which had been lowered to 110,000 riders. The event only managed to attract just under 73,000 participants, shy of the government's goals.

Although the event probably succeeded in providing cover for spreading largesse to vital KMT patronage networks all over Taiwan, it failed to captivate the public's imagination in the same vein as the 2004 Hand in Hand rally, which catapulted DPP candidate, Chun Shui-bian to victory on a groundswell of Taiwanese national pride against Chinese hegemony.

The failure to captivate the Taiwanese imagination with such an event, political or not, demonstrates, in part, the cleavage between Ma Ying-jiu's push for Taiwanese national ambiguity, and the Taiwanese desire for more meaningful expressions of their national and ethnic identities.

Who knew a bike rally could be so loaded... ?

Update II:

A report on how Ma used the cultural commitee for his own campaing- copying DPP's 228 牽手護台灣

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xilv4BwR0Q

Here is a report from 自由時報：

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2012/new/jan/1/today-life1.htm

為避免政治炒作，文建會主委曾志朗前天就表明拒絕任何政治性的宣傳，因此，時常參加建百各種活動的總統馬英九及行政院長吳敦義，昨天反而缺席了「轉動台灣向前行」活動，由副總統蕭萬長、文建會主委曾志朗、體委會主委戴遐齡及執行團隊總召集人劉金標等人帶隊，自中正紀念堂出發騎往士林官邸。不過，蕭萬長發表感言時還提及很「讚」，並舉起雙手比如同「二號」的手勢。

The red part says the Ma and Wu are usually very keen at joining 100 Year activities but they intentionally skipped One Bike One event, instead the activity was lauched by vice president Siew, the head of culture commitee, and the head of Physical Education, and the chairman of Giant- King Liu (劉金標). Although the cultural commitee emphasized this is not a political event, Siew (蕭) still made a "V" hand gesture ( their campaign number 2) when he was talking about "讚".

Apparently, I am not the only one who saw this as having political implications.

Link

The Straight Story On Bent Forks

A few days ago I gave a little link to Dave Moulton's Bike Blog in relation to that crazy fork I spotted on that custom bike in Taichung.

Dave does a great job explaining what happened.

Check out the whole post on Dave's blog HERE.

Dave says...

Over the years I straightened many steel forks like this one, with complete safety and often not even damaging the paint. When you consider that a fork blade starts out as a straight tube; it is then rolled in a machine between rollers to make it tapered. This process is done cold.

The top end is pressed to an oval shape; this is also done cold. Finally the framebuilder cold bends the fork blade to the desired curve. So if the fork blade is bent once more in an accident, it can be re-straightened cold with complete safety as long as the tube is not kinked or rippled.

One Bike One: Political Tools

The One Bike One Rally, which I have blogged on extensively, has been getting lots of press this week as the government pushes to maximize exposure for incumbent Ma Ying-jiu.

Ma, who has vowed to drop out of the race if he or his party uses the state apparatus to promote his election campaign, has already been accused of leveraging state power against his opponents during this election and this event appears to raise more questions about the intentions behind such a rally.

From Focus Taiwan:

Organized to mark the centennial of the Republic of China, the "One Bike One" tour has so far attracted the registration of more than 110,000 cyclists, organizers said at a press conference in Taipei to promote the tour.

"This event heralds the arrival of the next century in Taiwan as an energy-saving one with a focus on healthy lifestyle options,"said Ovid Tzeng, minister for the Council for Cultural Affairs.

Despite the motives listed above, the event leans heavily on images and symbolism often regarded to be emblematic of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Yes, even the ROC flag is regarded by a large number of Taiwanese to be a partisan KMT symbol.

OneBikeOne 轉動臺灣向前行 not only conflates Taiwan's experience into the construct of the Chinese Nationalist belief in a Greater Chinese epoch centering around the foundation of the Republic of China in 1911 when Taiwan was a Japanese colony, but the clever use of the bicycle also plays on the name of the incumbent candidate Ma Ying-jiu for the shared character for "horse" （馬）

More than 7,000 riders have registered to set off from Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which will be the largest departure point, said organizers, calling on interested bikers who have not registered to still join in the event.

It is also interesting to see that Chiang Kai-sheck Memorial Hall was chosen as the centerpiece of this event. The CKS hall was commissioned a year after the late dictator's death. For many in the KMT, the Chiang cult of personality is still a binding force despite his opposition to democratic rule and his notoriously bloody rule in both China and Taiwan. Chiang is a recognized symbol of authoritarianism in most parts of Taiwan, but worshipped by many KMT party heads who owe their wealth and careers to the Chiang family.

Bikers with smartphones can check in by downloading an app from the event's website and activating their app to start a GPS track, which will be recorded on the website's homepage.

Those without smartphones can send text messages to a designated number, after which their signals will be tracked.

With the latest allegations of security agents spying on the opposition, I simply found the idea of tracking riders apropos for signaling the lengths this government will go to influence the coming election.

If you decide to attend One Bike One, understand that your attendance will likely be politicized.