Tourism Bureau Manufactures Cycling Buzz?

In less than a month after CNNGo included Sun Moon Lake in its erroneous and potentially misguided list of Top 10 cycling routes, a report comes across the wire like this:

Taipei, April 6 (CNA) Tourism officials said Friday that the number of cyclists in the Sun Moon Lake area of central Taiwan has surged during the past few weeks, driven by a CNN report that said the scenic area is one of the world's top 10 cycle routes.

In a March 15 article titled "Cycling Routes That'll Take Your Breath Away" on CNNGo.com, the area around Sun Moon Lake was ranked No. 5 behind the Great Ocean Road in Australia, the Udaipur City tour in India, the Karakoram Highway between China and Pakistan, and the Route of the Hiawatha in the United States.

The unexpected media exposure has triggered an overwhelming response from both local and foreign cyclists, according to the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Administration.

"We have seen the number of cyclists doubled on holidays, with 30 percent more on regular days," said Chang Jenn-chyan, director of the administration, who added that there has been an increasing presence of foreign cyclists.

This report seems fishy to me.

My questions are:

• How can the Tourism Bureau possibly have amassed enough definitive data to draw the conclusion that there had been an increase in cycling traffic due to the CNN article... especially in a few short weeks?

• Which methods are they using to collect data?

• How is the Tourism Bureau defining "foreigner"? I would assume they mean caucasians, but they may be including other foreign visitors.

My feeling on the matter is that the Tourism Bureau is paying for press and they are determined to show results of their marketing efforts.

I have emailed CNNGo for clarification and I have yet to receive a reply. I have also emailed the Taiwan Tourism Bureau for clarification.

I have seen a number of instances where the Tourism Bureau has supplied visitors with talking points, in exchange for a free trip.

The Tourism Bureau is too quick to draw its conclusions, especially since central Taiwan has been experiencing nicer weather in recent weeks and more people will be out cycling anyways. To attribute an increase in cycling to a minor CNN article seems presumptuous and wanting.

I also doubt large numbers foreigners saw the CNNGo article and immediately booked a trip to Taiwan to ride Sun Moon Lake.

I recently rode Sun Moon Lake, and at no time did I see any government official collecting survey data on riders.

I think we may be seeing a move by the government to promote a Merida event that will be held at Sun Moon Lake at the end of the month. They are trying to hype their own efforts at taxpayer expense.

In the long run, this type of manufactured hype may not be in the best interest of Taiwanese cycling, as many of these hyped locations do not deliver the goods when we actually ride them. Nothing makes a worse impression than being underwhelmed.

This is just a farce in analogical reasoning.

It really raises the question as to how many other articles have been fudged by the government.

Taiwan Tourism Bureau = FAIL!

KOM: Learning Taichung's Best Climbs

With a beautiful gap day mid-week for the Taiwanese Tomb Sweeping holiday, when families head out to the graves of their ancestors to clean them up and preserve the Feng-shui to provide better luck and prosperity for the entire family, a few of us decided to use the day-off to hit the hills around Taichung.

I thought I would use the occasion to treat Chris, a cycling neophyte, to the... ahem...joys of climbing over the fence.

We were joined part of the way by Michael Turton, who was tired from a weekend of heavy riding and only stayed until Dong Shih before swinging back to Tanzi.

In Taichung, "The Fence" is a term often used to describe the rugged foothills that separate Taichung from Nantou County and the Puli Basin. It is also regarded and a training ground for climbers ranging from weekend amateurs to local Pro-Tour favorites.

The Route 129 on Dongshan Rd.(東山路) leads up to the Hsin She (新社) plateau and provides the warm-up climb. It consists of a series of switchbacks that climb like stairs up Zhong Xing Cliff (中興嶺).

This was really a perfect test day for me as I could see how my knee feels while climbing and I could then back off and take periodic stretches.

For Chris this would be an initiation rite.

We made the Hsin She plateau and then polished up on cornering skills diving into the bends of Zhong-he Village (中和村).

The second climb over Baimao Shan (白毛山) is such a bitchin' road. It combines wide, smooth roadways that mix steady grades with graceful arcs of flat recovery space, before squiggling through fruit orchards to the shady peak.

The road then plummets downward in a phantasmagoric descent of tight hairpins that nearly fold on top of each other.

The bike felt perfectly balanced, so I threw myself into the corners. The centrifugal force at the zenith of each arc, opposed only by the rubberized grip of my Contis against the newly laid asphalt, gave the sensation of surfing the rising swell of a wave. Incredible!

Chris heaved himself over the hill and we stopped for a stretch and a sugar boost at the bottom before returning over the Route 136.

From the Puli side the renown of the 136 is for the final third of the climb. It starts out with gentle rollers between 2% and 4%, but then, just as you cross one of the bridges, the road lets you know who's boss.

I danced on my pedals to recover before mashing through the steeper ramps. Because I knew the route, I was mentally prepared for the challenge. I am at about 70% of my pre-injury fitness, so I was not going to set any records. For Chris, it was his first look at this beast and I left him to write his own manual on how to best overcome.

Most of us, at some time or another, have gone a hill too far.

We know the feeling in the legs of blood vessels popping from the calves. We know the fear of the bonk and the worry of having to hike the bike to the top. We fear the fluttering quake of a cramp in the back of the calf or the lower quad, that only fully presents itself as soon as we give up and try to dismount... then fall over to the folly of everyone or no one watching. We have endured the rivers of sweat that fill our eyewear and slosh burning puddles of brine into our eye sockets. We know the burning in the chest.

The 500 meters of 17% grade along the back side of the 136 is this torture. It is a beast. It is an insult against your mother. It is pure hell.

So we do it for fun.

I waited with sick anticipation for Chris at the shack above the steepest section of the climb. As the gap in time grew, I knew that Chris was busy getting his education on the ramps below.

Finally, Chris came storming around the corner in a flurry of motion and sound. He was not going to be defeated by the 136. I joined him and we capped the 136 all a bit worse for wear, but it was over.

After a bit of a breather to bring the color back into his face, Chris could only reflect on his painful, demoralizing climb.... "Fuckin' awesome, dude! I just climbed the 136."

That's what keeps us coming back. To do it and do it again, even better.

I let gravity pull me into Taiping for one last plunge, banking like a sports car through each bend.

We parted in Taiping and I rolled out to meet my wife and daughter at the park, where my little girl took to inspecting the craftsmanship of a fine titanium frame.

Nice ride. Nice day.

My legs feel like they are getting healthy again. When that happens, I don't know what kind of crazy I'll get myself into.

Congratulations Chris, you've entered a strange new world.

Outside With The Inside on Caffe Terry

I would like to congratulate my friend Terry Lin for the exposure and excellent write-up he has earned from Outside Online, the online version of Outside Magazine.

Best for: Globetrotters and industry insiders
Whether you know it or not, the carbon bike you’re riding almost certainly comes from Taiwan. The vast majority of carbon frames in the world are built there, which means lots of cycling types spend lots of time on this small island off the coast of east coast of China. Run by local racer and custom bike builder, Terry Lin, Caffee Terry (tel: 04-23207243; Tues.-Sun: 10 a.m.-midnight) is the cultural center for both pre-ride caffeine and post-ride carousing among local cyclists and expatriates alike. Saddle up to the bar and order a Taiwan Beer.

Terry is such a central figure in the Taichung cycling scene. He is one of the most generous and enthusiastic members of our community. I consider Terry to be the glue that keeps our community together.

Congrats!

Pedaling From Petrol: Taiwan Facing Second Wave of Cycling?

With the presidential elections in the rearview mirror, Taiwan's central government has ended its subsidies on gasoline, resulting in a 10% rise in fuel prices around the country.

While drivers are outraged by the sudden rise in fuel prices, many local bicycle retailers are looking to benefit from the new penalties at the pump.

During a similar spike in oil prices in 2008, Taiwanese started looking to the bicycle as a means to help mitigate the higher costs of driving.

This is really what initiated the "cycling revolution" in Taiwanas orders for new bikes more than doubled.

When prices became more manageable, many riders went back to motorized transport and the bikes were mothballed. Bike shops closed as quickly as they were opened.

Sadly, this is often the state of the bicycle as transportation.

It is a response to oil prices rather than an antidote. It is not seen as a long term fix, but a temporary diversion... much like the artificial prices Taiwan has long hung on the gas pump.

Eventually these high prices will become the status quo, and with over a decade of income stagnation amid rising inflation, the high cost of regularly driving an automobile will be untenable for many in the long run.

With the millions spent on cycling for leisure and tourism, the question remains whether enough has been done in the municipalities to accommodate the bicycle as a permanent fixture.

.......

I guess it could be worse. It could be Hong Kong, where the SAR seems to have taken a more adversarial approach.

Pinkbike Gives Taichung Singletrack The Hollywood Treatment: Incredible Video

For all you mountain bikers out there.... Here is a spectacular video of what Taiwan has to offer.

This is what those bikes are made for, and not just for negotiating loose bricks on the bike path. I would love to get my CX bike out there.

VIDEO HERE

Richie Schley - Made in Taiwan on pinkbike.com

Taiwan is a place of diversity and extremes: from busy factories to dense jungle, from white sand beaches to snow-capped peaks, from deep marble gorges to bustling city; Taiwan has it all. I had an image of what to expect when I first made the trip to Taiwan 2 years ago. My mind conjured up images of concrete sprawl, skyscrapers, and smog-spewing chimneys littering the skyline. The oft-seen label "Made in Taiwan" is testament enough to the sheer scale of industry. However, I was about to see another side of Taiwan altogether.

With a huge part of the mountain bike industry based in Taiwan, long time freerider, Richie Schley made the pilgrimage to experience a side of the bike world that often goes unseen. This is his experience.

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Tale of Taiwanese Bike OEM

The Torqued Wrench has an interesting little piece about The Myth of Origin for bicycle brands.

It reminded me of an OEM catalogue I recently came across that listed dozens of possibilities a brand can choose from in building their next frame. The tubes are ready to go.

This is how many brands "engineer" their frames. Despite the volumes of marketing literature on the brand's investment in state of the art engineering, this is how many modern bikes are produced. They are pieced together from a catalogue like choosing upholstery.

It is not that these are not great frames. Some of them are fantastic. It just gives a window into the economies that drive bicycle branding and production.

Multiple brands often work with a single OEM, and each of those brands may be working with multiple OEMs to build different bikes. The web is wide, and quite tangled.

For example, OEM firm ADK is partnered with CSG group, which owns Cannondale and GT, and is also partnered with Felt and ASI, who own Fuji and Kestrel. So you have frames from Cannondale, GT, Felt, and Kestrel, among others, all coming out of the same factory in Taiwan.

Giant Bicycles is unique in that it started out as an OEM, and still partners with other brands (Colnago’s M10 frame is built in a Giant factory, for example), but has also spread into doing its own R&D and, more importantly, its own marketing.

It continues...

Details of OEM relationships are therefore extremely difficult to pull out of brands. A cynic would presume that these OEMs, it seems, are good enough to build their products but not good enough to publicly associate with. Their location does not match the origin story put forth by the brand’s marketing department.

From a pragmatic view, this makes no sense. Today it is understood that Taiwanese production is as good, if not better, than anything coming out of the United States or Europe. It is clear that origin has zero relevance to end quality. But Trek reserves its top-tier frames as the only models still built in Waterloo, Wisconsin, and Colnago’s beautiful C59 is still built in Italy, while the rest of its production has gone overseas.

When The Bikes Come Out (Updated)

This past Sunday was pretty much an excuse to go out and bask in the glory of Dom's new bike. We still managed to do a fair bit of riding between glamour shots, but nothing epic. Dom has been suffering some of the same IT band problems I have been struggling with, and believe you me... the last thing a fella' with a new Seven needs is to be laid up nursing injuries.

Dom, Michael Turton and I decided to ease into the riding season with 100k of Baguashan.

Aside from Dom's rolling display of welded steel pornography, the ride was a pretty uneventful affair. What really stood out were the ordinary displays of cycling life in central Taiwan.

The weather was nice, so hundreds of riders were out as individuals or with clubs.

Few seemed to be racing to win.

The best part were the numbers of families out biking.

We took a few minuted to pick up some of the water they leave out for cyclists at the Fengshan Temple above Nantou.

We descended the 139 into Nantou City. It was my first time actually taking the 139 into Nantou as I prefer the screaming descent into Songboling.

The 139 is not a technical descent by any means and the potential to hit 70kph is always there... without the headwind. It has few turns, so it is not the most challenging ride, but it is not un-fun.

We stopped for some lunch and were joined by a large family that could think of nothing better to say after an awkward introduction and meal where the foreigners were suddenly the entertainment, other than to implore us to be sure to drink water.

The wanna-be military baddasses were out in costume... says the guy in tight pants and jersey. I just wonder how many of them had deferments when it came time for conscription.

These are just some of the typical sights on a lazy Sunday over Baguashan.

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Taiwan Links:

• An exciting race on Ta Ta Jia (The Back of Alishan). The Changhua-based Canadian national, Fraser Young, took top honors for CCN Cycling Team. It is good to see Fraser in good form after his brief retirement. RIDEA from southern Taiwan finished with four riders in the top 10. I am also happy to see Nantou's John Tonks and Taichung's own Inigo Gisbert just edged out by William Zhuang from Primavera. Racing season in Taiwan is underway.

• The Hualien-Taidong Cycling Series is open for entry. The Taidong Government wants you to come and ride.

• A Taiwanese couple on a sponsored trip around the world will be riding the USA. Since it is America, it gives them some sort of newsworthy validation that the rest of the trip failed to garner.

• Cycleture has an interesting photo-essay on his travels around Taiwan to check out the cycling industry and culture.

• Over Taiwan's highest pass... on a folding bike. Check out Small Wheel's story and photos.

• Taiwan's Hsiao Mei-yu is back to her winning ways in El Salvador.

• Cycling I.Q. takes a deeper look into Merida's quest for glory in Le Tour.

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Other Links:

Don't try this at home... Actually... don't try this EVER!

Brazing Hell: A look at the art of fillet brazing.