Exploring Nantou

I had originally planned to head into Nantou city along along the Route 139, but the route is not marked upon entering downtown Nantou, so I wasted enough time that it just wasn't worth continuing with that plan.

Ordinarily, I would be a little upset without tasting the meat of the ride through the hills to Jiji, but since I rarely spend much time in Nantou, I had seen enough to explore a little.

I crossed the Lumei Bridge. The bridge in its current form was completed in 1997, but was actually a modern conversion of a much older bridge.

Just on the other side of the bridge I noticed the remains of a bamboo palisade with a stone wall inside. It may be the remains of a family compound, military outpost, or even a satellite village of the Hoanya speaking Sarva group of indigenes.

Just around the corner I found the traditional market and a park.

The park is home to a new croquet court.

It is also home to the only remaining segment of the snake kiln from Shuili. The original kiln was destroyed during the 921 earthquake, but one segment was recovered and moved to its current location in Nantou.

On my way home, I stopped to take pictures in a community built from traditional mud bricks. Unlike more famous structures that use fired red brick that arrived in Taiwan as ballast for ships, the majority of Taiwan's Qing era buildings were constructed using sun-baked bricks composed of mud, rice husks, and water buffalo dung. The husks and dung gave the bricks a type of waterproofing while holding the bricks together. The walls were then covered in a lime paste.

Last, I stopped by an old playground to get a picture with one of the antiquated concrete animals that used to be the highlight of Taiwanese playgrounds for earlier generations of children.

Training Again

Most of us have been there. For whatever reason we need to take time off the bike. I have had an overuse injury combined with getting used to being a new dad, so the riding has been on the back burner.

Last night I did my first real training ride in two months. My training loop is a 50k loop of mostly flat roads that I do Wednesday evenings. It seems every club is out Wednesday nights as it is mid-week between weekend races and longer rides.

As I slid out into the cold, windy Taichung night, I could feel my sustained speed was slower than I had hoped. The large muscled in my legs were hungry for oxygen that I couldn't provide. I pushed and eased back, pushed and eased back. It was rough. It was hard. It hurt like hell. It was demoralizing.... It was absolutely marvelous to be back out there.

The endurance is the first thing that fall off when you stop training. Hopefully, if I keep throwing myself out there, everything will come back on line by April.

Sometimes it seems like you'll never get back, but it happens... it just taked longer and longer to get here.

Inside Knowledge: Taiwanese Bike Companies and The Costs of Chinese Manufacturing

Bicycling IQ has a very good article up on the exodus of smaller Taiwanese bicycle component manufacturers from China as structural increases make doing business in China less of a profitable endeavor. The problem for these companies is in finding competing economies of scale.

Courtesy of the China-Taiwan cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), tariffs on bicycle imports between the two countries have dropped from their previous levels of 12%, to 0% this year. The ECFA has been well-received by Taiwan-based makers of higher-end bicycles; but mostly those who had previously added mainland infrastructure to their manufacturing arsenal, years before they caught a whiff of earnest free trade discussions. They can now toggle their operations almost effortlessly between the two countries, depending on demand and client need. Other, smaller, OEM’s may struggle to compete against such flexibility in a declining global market.

The whole article is really intelligently thought out and is worth a read.

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In other news, Giant has apparently won a bid to supply the city of Taipei with a system of bicycle rentals. Details of the winning bid or competing proposals are scant, but it appears Giant has its work cut out for it. This must be good news for Giant's President and Founder, King Liu, who also serves as a special advisor to the Taiwan's president Mr. Ma Ying-jiu.

The You Bike program aims to:

• Promote Taipei City's image as an eco-friendly international metropolis
• Create new tourism opportunities in Taipei
• Improve residential quality of life and citizen satisfaction
• Reduce the use of cars and motorcycles to improve air quality and transportation
• Encourage people to take up cycling
• Transform Taipei into Taiwan's capital of cycling

It is this writer's belief that the Taipei city government will have to do much more in providing city-wide bicycle infrastructure to make this project more than leisure rentals along bike paths. The city will need to provide a safe cycling environment, enforce traffic laws, provide safe storage facilities, retrofit busses and MRT cars for bicycle transit, increase the number of bicycle ONLY lanes and many other projects before this projects can begin to benefit Taipei residents. Lots of work to do before putting bikes on the roads.
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Also:

• Jim's Bike Blog takes a brief look at Taiwan's Cycling Scene.

• Merida's Ike Tseng passes away at 81. Merida is Taiwan's second largest producer of bicycles and a major shareholder in Specialized.

The Ritte Stuff: Taiwanese R&D

Wired Magazine has published a great article on Ritte Van Vlaanderen bikes, and how the company built itself up backwards.

Apparently, the company started as a joke to make a less obnoxious jersey, and then it grew into producing bikes using Taiwan's R&D.

My favorite part is this:

Canon was at Interbike, the annual bike biz bonanza, three years ago when he hooked up with a Taiwanese firm that specializes in carbon fiber bicycle engineering and manufacturing. (Canon refused to name the company because he doesn’t want competitors cribbing from his business plan.)

“They had a prototype frame that was amazing,” Canon said. “I convinced them to build me 20 bikes. I went out and presold them at cost, then presold 50 more.”

Although he concedes his Taiwanese partner designed “95 percent” of the first-gen Bosberg, Canon insists Ritte called the shots on later models.

“We have a lot more control over the design,” he said. “I’ve designed the new Crossberg. We’ve completely redone the tubes.”

And, he argues, Ritte isn’t doing anything many of the bigger companies aren’t doing too – outsourcing to experts. The way he sees it, he can’t match the expertise of a company specializing in carbon fiber design and manufacturing, so why try?

I find his honesty refreshing. You don't get all the marketing junk about the team of Italian engineers or the bestestest most laterally stiff, yet vertically compliant... blah blah blah.

Taiwan has a great reputation for not just producing, but also engineering some of the best frames available. Lots of open moulds out there begging for a brand to stand behind them.

A Little Scrap Of Video

I just discovered a short video of me from the Neverstop Wuling Challenge. It seems there were a few cameras on me at the same spot, so I cobbled together a little video.

American Cyclist Killed in Kenting

Some sad news has come over the wire.

An American cyclist has been killed while biking in Kenting.

Apparently, the 24 year-old teacher was struck by a truck and killed.

“He had a couple weeks off for Chinese New Year, so he was doing a bike trip, from Taipei to the southern tip of Taiwan,” said Kuebrich’s brother Ben. “He was very active and very athletic, and always doing lots of long-distance endurance sports.”

Although cycling deaths occur in every country where bicycles are available, and this story should not take precedent simply because the victim is an American, it really highlights how Taiwan's traffic culture lags behind more progressive countries when it comes to educating drivers to drive defensively.

Anyone who has driven or ridden on Taiwanese roads knows how much stupid and aggressive behavior goes on regularly. I saw it today.

Sadly, another member of our community is gone... and it was likely a completely avoidable death.

My condolences go out to Mr. Kuebrich's family and loved ones.

Please ride safely.

Determination: Fighting For Life

As the clock runs out on my Lunar New Year vacation, I thought I would take a short ride through the hills around Taichung and get back into riding.

The ride is not very long, but it consists of some pretty challenging climbs and technical descents.

I thought I would invite Chris B. and Michael Turton to take part in the fun.

Lolita Brand Shorts

We started up Dong Shan Rd. a.k.a. Route 129 to Hsin She. I was expecting Chris to take a while and maybe stop a few times to rest. The climb up to Hsin She is not the easiest climb for a novice and Chris only started doing hills a week ago.

Chris Starts The Climb

As we started toward the beginning of the climb, I gave Chris some pointers on the climb and climbing in general, and then I took off up the 129.

Michael's Busted Bike

About three quarters of the way up I received a call from Michael. He had been brushed by a passing car in a hit and run. The car had pushed him into the barrier resulting in a bent rear derailleur and the end of his ride.

Incidents of car vs. bike seem to be becoming more frequent around Hsin She, especially as the area continues to devote more and more space to tourism and recreation.

Chillin'

I waited at the top of the hill for Chris to arrive. I had no idea how long it might take. After about ten minutes, Chris came plodding up the final ramp. He hadn't stopped once.

This is an incredible feat for any novice, let alone one who was 60kg heavier just a few months ago.

Atop Route 129

What Chris has done is an inspiration to all.

He has dedicated himself to life. He made a commitment to himself that he was not going to simply throw his hands in the air and grasp for excuses. He had every reason to not even start down the road to fitness. He is a father. He works a lot. He was always the "husky" kid with all that... "husk".

Chris Before

Then Chris became a strict vegetarian. He ordered a bike and started running while he waited for a decent bike to arrive in his size. He learned to refuse the extra calories and has shown remarkable willpower.

Today, that willpower was on display as he tackled one gnarly climb after the other.

In this post I have included a number of pictures that show Chris gritting his teeth and fighting through the climbs.

For me, these shots do not just show how far he has progressed as a rider, but they also show how far he has come in taking control of his health.

As I come back from an injury, I also feel inspired to get back to a higher level of fitness.

If anything, Chris shows us all that there are no excuses to getting on a bike, having fun and getting fit.

Watching Chris ride with such a positive attitude is really an essay in determination.

Thanks Chris!

Look 695 Mondrian

We stopped for coffee and chatted with a group from Fengyuan. They all had some nice bikes. Looks are among my favorites.

KOM

Fellow Riders

Chris Hacks Up An Unassuming Challenge

We then kept a good pace toward Feng Lin Valley.

He Arrives

The 16% Grade

Putting The Hammer Down

Cruising The Highlands

Finally, it was time to head back to the city on the Route 136. What a nice little ride.

This Man Is Smiling Because He Is In Good Riding Health