Clash of the Taiwan Titans: Merida Sitting Pretty in Pink With Lampre

According to several sources, including Bike Europe, Merida Bikes, the bike maker more famous for being the OEM behind several other top brands, is poised to reveal a sponsorship agreement between Merida and Team Lampre.

The news on the Merida sponsorship is denied nor confirmed by Merida spokesman Peter Koperdraad, general manager of Merida Benelux. “We will issue an official press release on 21 September. Until then we will deny everything”, said Peter Koperdraad. “Merida is talking with several teams and perhaps arrangements have been made. However we will not give any comment on this issue until existing contracts with current sponsors are terminated.”

If this is the pairing that will be announced this Friday, it would see Taiwan's largest bike makers go head to head in Pro Tour competition. Giant, the industry's largest bike maker, has been a major sponsor of Team Rabobank since 2009. Lampre will be switching from Willier bike frames to the Merida Scultura.

Team Lampre is still reeling from serious doping accusations directed at several current and former riders in the Mantova investigation. Perhaps a little positive attention can boost morale for next year.

Way of Biking: Bicycle Lifestyle Lectures and Photo Exhibition

This weekend the Splendor Hotel will kick off a bicycle exhibition series in the lead up to Taichung Bike Week coming this November. 

The Way of Biking exhibition will feature bicycle and bike-photo exhibitions, as well as guest lecturers who will be discussing various aspects of the cycling community in Taiwan. 

Sat. 9/15 (14:00-15:00) B1 Open Space -- Terry Lin from Caffe Terry will give a lecture on the current state of our cycling community.  

Events: 

9/14--11/11, 3F Exhibition Hall-- Dorcus Bikes will have a bicycle exhibit.

9/14--11/11, 3F Gallery-- Caffe TERRY will sponsor a photo exhibition.

9/14--11/11, 4F Exhibition Hall-- ibike will host a design exhibit. 

Show your support for the cycling community and take a look. It should be better than spending the weekend circling the malls. 

Taiwan Clipped In to Pedaling Influence: How Taiwan's Government Is Writing Its Own Cycling Narrative Through Paid Media

 

 Not too long ago I began raising questions regarding the placement of Taiwan's Sun Moon Lake on a list of world's best cycling paths assembled by CNN. The whole report seemed as if the writer had never been to Taiwan and knew nothing of the history of Sun Moon Lake or its environs.

I wrote Here   :

I would welcome the author to please provide some "ancient Chinese" literature and/or artwork regarding the lake and its surrounding scenery. Qing literati were quite clear in casting the mountain areas as mysterious, savage, degraded places that were filled with evil, ugly, degraded people and things. 

I would suggest the author leave poetics at the door and stick with the facts.

And then as the article made its way through the digestive tract of the Taiwanese media I commented again Here  :

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.

...and later:

Taiwan Today had a recent article detailing the Merida cycling event at Sun Moon Lake. I made the observation that this event seemed suspiciously linked to a CNN-GO article and the Taiwan Tourism Bureau's desire to promote it. The Taiwan Today article actually and suspiciously mirrors and even quotes the CNN article's most erroneous statements, which I devoured in an earlier postHERE   .
The TT Article begins to look more like an attempt by Tourism Bureau underlings to toady up to their superiors.

Sun Moon Lake, a natural alpine lake located in central Taiwan’s Nantou County, is surrounded by high forest mountains with stunning landscapes. The lake—named because its eastern part is round like the sun and its western part is narrow and long like a crescent moon—has been voted year after year by local and foreign visitors, including those from mainland China, as one of Taiwan’s must-see tourist spots.

Statistics from the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Administration show that the number of visitors skyrocketed from 2.6 million in 2009 to 6.3 million in 2010, after the launch of a cable car service Dec. 28, 2009. The service became an instant hit as it offers a bird’s-eye view of the lake’s beauty in a relaxing 1.87-kilometer ride between the lake and the nearby Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.

In 2011, the number of visitors declined slightly to 5.3 million. But the administrative office is confident that its efforts over the past few years in building a round-the-lake bikeway will soon spark another tourism boom, as hundreds and thousands of bicycle enthusiasts from around the world come flocking to the lake to indulge their passion for bicycling and soak in the beautiful local scenery.

I was then sent a link to a wonderful article that delves into the seedy relationships CNN has forged with governments around the world to promote tourism... if the price is right. Yes, CNN is using its status as a news source to pitch ad copy for foreign governments on its website. These fanciful turns of phrase are not being parsed by some dreamy-eyed Orientalist looking to squeeze fantasies of the exotic from slabs of concrete, but rather, they were cobbled together in the boardrooms and corridors of a propaganda office. In Taiwan's case, the Government Information Office (GIO).

Although the particulars may vary, the story may well be the same for Taiwan's encounter with CNN.

CNNi's pursuit of and reliance on revenue from Middle East regimes increased significantly after the 2008 financial crisis, which caused the network to suffer significant losses in corporate sponsorships. It thus pursued all-new, journalistically dubious ways to earn revenue from governments around the world. Bahrain has been one of the most aggressive government exploiters of the opportunities presented by CNNi. 

These arrangements extend far beyond standard sponsorship agreements for advertising of the type most major media outlets feature. CNNi produces those programs in an arrangement it describes as "in association with" the government of a country, and offers regimes the ability to pay for specific programs about their country. These programs are then featured as part of CNNi's so-called "Eye on" series ("Eye on Georgia", "Eye on the Phillipines", "Eye on Poland"), or "Marketplace Middle East", all of which is designed to tout the positive economic, social and political features of that country. 

The disclosure for such arrangements is often barely visible. This year, for instance, CNNi produced an "Eye on Lebanon" series, which that nation's tourist minister boasted was intended "to market Lebanon as a tourism destination". He said "his ministry was planning a large promotional campaign dubbed 'Eye on Lebanon' to feature on CNN network."
Yet one strains to find the faded, small disclosure print on this "Eye on Lebanon" page, even if one is specifically searching for it. To the average viewer unaware of these government sponsorships, it appears to be standard "reporting" from the network.

Seeing as this was a government promotion it is no wonder it quickly entered Taiwan's media feed through Taiwan's CNA, the official government news agency.

What is even more unsettling is how the CNN/GIO report on Sun Moon Lake echoes of some of the similar copy propagated during Taiwan's period of Martial Law during the Cold War (1949-1988).

During the era when Taiwan was governed as a single-party authoritarian state, much of the information available to the world regarding Taiwan was crafted by propaganda men with the goal of transforming Taiwan, in the international collective imagination, from Japanese Formosa to an inseparable Province of China that was the bastion of Free China and Chinese culture. Publications such as the Free China Journal and Sinorama published countless essays that were carefully constructed to provide foreign readers with the "appropriate" terms and narratives chosen by the Chinese Nationalist (KMT) government. Terms such as "mainland" and "Free China" were used in rapid succession to become the accepted terms where there had once been lack. If Taiwan was not viewed as Chinese after WWII, the Chinese Nationalist government hoped to write the union into existence. This extensive effort was semi-successful abroad, but failed to resonate where it mattered-- in Taiwan.

This effort by Taiwan's government is especially interesting in how they have started to re-write the story back to a China-centered narrative. This is not simply about cycling or tourism, but it is also about culture.

The activist role of government in Taiwanese culture is brought to the fore in this revealing interview from the Huffington Post with Taiwan's Minister of Culture.

The need for a Culture Ministry is already a warning sign. Culture is like shit... it happens. Culture is not crafted or dictated. It can be shaped by the state, but in essence it is simply something shared.

In looking at her comments it seems she is attempting to localize Taiwan in a Greater China. I would love to rip it apart line by line, but maybe it can be fodder for someone at another blog.

I guess in the type of relationship forged between CNN and the GIO, neither party rolls over and asks the question, "Was it good for you?"

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Sunday On Route 130

On Sunday I slipped into the stinkiest pair of unwashed bibs that I had forgotten to wash after Wednesday's night ride. I stunk. The more the heat from my body warmed up the lycra, the more rank I became. It was awful. 

I was also hoping to try out a new cleat position to eliminate knee soreness that has held me back for so long. 

The goal was to test my speed and endurance over 140km with a climb over the Miaoli Route 130; a hill that serves as a pretty good mark of climbing health. 

I reluctantly slipped onto the streets of Taichung and headed for the hills half expecting an early rain squall to send me home. The weather was blustery, but not precipitation. 



I felt I had more power in the new position. My hips were a bit tired, but I hoped to work that out with this ride. 



Before long, I was hacking it up over the hill to Jhuolan for my morning coffee before starting the real climb. The hill on the Highway 3 between Dongshih and Jhuolan is not hard... just an annoyance. I big-ringed it all the way up to my own relief and landed with a bunch of other cyclists who were also looking to add some fuel to the reserves. 









The climbing was stiff, and I proceeded with caution. No knee trouble at all. This was the best I had felt in a long time. 



I passed the Hamburger Helpers (Ginger) that dot the Route 130 and made the Mile High Cafe with decent effort. I could do better, but not on this day. 



There was hardly any weekend traffic to speak of, so the ride out of the hills was sublime. I cranked out the kilometers over smooth, deserted country lanes and kept up a good clip home. 

Nothing too special, but this little ride has given me a huge boost in confidence to start puching myself back into climbing shape.  

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Fight Cancer And Rest Your Tired Junk On A Pile Of Trash

In a continuing trend, more people in Taiwan have chosen the bicycle as an important weapon in the fight against cancer. For this type of fight the bicycle is ideal as a medium that both promotes health and fitness, while providing a fun activity that is accessible to the entire spectrum of Taiwanese residents.

November 2nd will mark another battle in the long, protracted entanglement many of our friends and family members find themselves involuntarily engaged as a round-island charity ride is planned to celebrate those who have gained the upper hand against the enemy within, as well as to raise funds and awareness for those who continue to fight or in memory of those who could not wait for a cure.

The Taipei Times reports:

The riders plan to begin the 1,100km cycling trip at Liberty Square in Taipei’s National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Nov. 2 and pedal their way around the country in a clockwise direction. Electric bicycles will be made available for participants who have only recently completed chemotherapy and have yet to fully regain their strength.
Daily routes and schedules will be announced in advance so that locals can join the cycling team when it passes through their cities and towns, the organizers said.

Most of us know someone who has had cancer or is currently trying to beat the disease. Right now I have a close relative with a small child who is currently doing her best to beat an aggressive form of cancer as every new form of treatment is delivered by a different specialist carrying the same bad news.

This is why I have the Livestrong Link at the bottom of my sidebar. I really don't care much either way about Lance Armstrong. I liked Marco Pantani more as an exciting racer to watch. Still, I have to give Armstrong credit for generating interest in the fight against cancer and giving cancer fighters hope that they may also be able to beat cancer and move on to living a full life.

_________________________________

After a full day in the saddle, Taiwan's cyclists are being encouraged to rest their junk on a mountain of garbage.

According to a report in the Taipei Times, bicycle tourists passing through the Bali DIstrict of New Taipei City are being encouraged to bed down on a campground located on the site of the area's former landfill.

Located between Linkou district (林口) and Bali, the original landfill site faces onto Provincial Highway No. 61, also known as the West Coast Expressway, and there are no lodgings or restaurant amenities located nearby, Lin said. 

To address cyclists’ needs, the park area set up a bicycle rest area so that cyclists can access tires-inflation facilities, water supplies and to re-charge — both electronically and biologically, Lin said. 

Four wooden platforms have been erected on the lawns that now cover the site of the original landfill, with each being able to accommodate up to six to eight people, Lin said, adding that the platforms also included facilities for green-power re-charging.

The article does not detail if the area was cleaned of potential contaminants or properly ventilated to account for the higher concentrations of methane gas associated with landfills.

So, if you are biking through Bali and you need a place to stay and can't find a hotel, hostel, love motel or any other form of lodging, there is a lovely ex-landfill waiting for you.

Pedaling To The Beat of a Different Drummer

Although this is not directly related to Taiwan, but who cares, this is my blog and I'll write what I want.

Maybe I should start with a little explanation.

I was listening to my ipod during a ride (officially not recommended) and the playlist shuffled to the song "Fishing" by Public Image Limited. I was instantly transported back to 1986, when I first heard became acquainted with several of the punk and post punk bands that were popular on the outer fringes of the music scene. I wasn't a popular kid. Actually, I was the Tatooine of popular with matted hair, plastc 80's glasses and a bit short. We didn't have a cabin on a lake. We didn't have a video game machine. We really had nothing my peers at school could exploit me for like they did with each other. This isolation from the "cool kids", though painful at the time, allowed me to discover some really cool shit. Public Image Limited was one of those things I was exposed to through an older brother. It was freaky. It was weird. It was a big middle finger in the face of pop music.

The idea of early Public Image Limited was that it was NOT a band. It was a collection of alternating musicians with John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotton of Sex Pistols fame as the glue. Fishing was the third song on the generically packaged Album... album. It was a major departure from the dub centered work  featured on First Issue and Second Edition, where Jah Wobble's bass lines provided the pillar of each song.

Bill Laswell was picked to produce the album and brought in his own musicians. Laswell creates the "Wall of Sound" with fusion, dub, world, jazz and electronica, often relying on mad guitarists like Buckethead, and members or quasi-members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

For Album Laswell assembled a musical Dream Team:

• John Lydon 
• Tony Williams 
• Ginger Baker 
• Bernard Fowler 
• Ryuichi Sakamoto
• Nicky Skopelitis 
• Steve Vai 
• Jonas Hellborg 
• Shankar

• Bernie Worrell 
• Malachi Favors
• Steve Turre
• Aïyb Dieng

When I was a teenager, allI could hear was the guitar and the lyrics. When I listened to the songs in my iPod the thunderous sound of the drumming smacked me over the head. Maybe it was the pop-pop-pop of the pedals, but I was fascinated. I usually don't like drummers because they feel a constant compulsion to beat on everything with their fingers and it is usually really annoying.

What I was hearing was no session drummer, but the thunderous smashing of a sledgehammer. It was the great Ginger Baker formerly of Cream. If Clapton was God.... Baker was surely the Devil.

I picked up a few more albums that featured Ginger Baker and it was clear that his style is not simply raw drumming, but it had the finesse of a jazz drummer. Still, no matter how soft, it was clear drumming was a physical endeavor for Baker. The mashing and spinning; a balance of power, technique, strategy and endurance. It could be said that Ginger Baker plays drums like he is trying to win a grand tour.

Then I read this:

Peter Edward Baker was born on August 19, 1939, in a working-class neighbourhood of London. The son of a bricklayer, Baker was four years old when his father was killed in World War Two. As a kid, Baker had a single dream: to compete in the Tour de France. He rode his bike for mile after mile, pushing himself to prepare for the gruelling marathon. "I was a good fucking cyclist because of my build -- tall and thin," Baker recalls. But on a rainy day in 1956, as he raced across town, a taxi threw the 16-year-old, crushing his bicycle. Not long after, at a party, Baker's friends dared him to sit at the drums. He was a natural. "The high-hat, the bass drum, the cymbals -- I don't know how, but I could do it all," he says. At that moment, Baker forgot all about a new bicycle -- he wanted drums. He also discovered that he could outlast every other musician in the room. "Long-distance cycling conditioned me for playing the drums," Baker says today.

Finally an explanation! 

Merida Poised To Shake Up The Peloton: Will Merida Sponsor A Major Pro Team in 2013?

  Each year cyclists around the globe feel the weather change with Eurobike and the Vuelta de Espana signaling the beginning of the end of the professional road cycling season, which officially ends at the World Championships. The end of the season is rife with rumors of any magnitude that might shake up the peloton. There will be personnel changes as last season's stars showed their age this time around and some super teams failed to materialize at the finish line. Both BMC and Radioschleck had some major setbacks. Contador will be back from his doping sanction. Lots of changes afoot. 

One of the changes to look forward to might be the emergence of another major sponsor from Taiwan. Although Taiwan is very well represented in the pro ranks through Taiwanese OEM/ODM work for foreign brands or through other partnerships, the Taiwanese face is too often veiled by the international banners of a brand. Several of the pro bikes come out of the same Giant factories and share some of the same DNA, and they race alongside the Team Rabobank Giant branded bikes; Taiwan's only big name sponsor left in the pro peloton for the grand tours now that HTC has withdrawn from the sport. 

But there may be agreements that may result in another Taiwanese branded frame taking a more prominent role in team sponsorship. 

There are indications that Merida, the Yuanlin based bicycle company, has its designs on sponsoring one of the top teams in professional cycling. In February the company first indicated its desire to increase brand visibility of its road bike offerings by having Merida branded bicycles ridden in the Tour de France, the world's highest profile race with maximum visibility. 

There are rumors that a sponsorship deal could be announced as early as September 21st.

It would be interesting to see how a sponsorship deal will affect Merida's relationship with Specialized as Merida owns a major stake in the company and manufactures Specialized bikes. Specialized supplies bikes to Astana, Omega Pharma Quickstep and Team Saxo Bank. 

The rumored date of the announcement would be a very auspicious date for a Taiwanese company as it marks the 13th anniversary of the massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake that caused massive, island wide devastation. 

For Merida's sake, I hope the move represents an earthshaking announcement and not a major disaster.