Cyclist Dies of Hypothermia in Taiping Shan Race

Taiwanese media sources are reporting that a cyclist, Zhu Zi-fu, went hypothermic and died on the side of the road during the Taiping Shan race as part of the Taiwan International Bike Festival.

According to Zhu's fellow riders, the 44yo. athlete had failed to register in time for the race and simply matriculated in to the group of 1291 other riders at the beginning of the mass-start race.

As temperatures plunged amid a steady stream of freezing rain, Zhu fell from his bike and never regained consciousness.

Initial reports held that the long haired and bearded cyclist had been a "foreigner". Those reports are incorrect.

This is the second case of another mass-start race going awry and resulting in another death. Last month's Tour of Changhua also saw a fatality as fatigued riders lost control of their bikes on a narrow hill climb.

Since Zhu failed to register for the event, his family is ineligible to receive any of the NT$2million in insurance offered by the organizers.

Another sad end to what should have been a great day on a bike.

The Tarnish of Traffic

 These are the high holy days of Taiwanese cycling with Taichung Bike Week, Maxxis KOM Wuling Ride, The International Bike Festival and the Tour of Formosa, an annual cycling event for hearing impaired competitive cyclists.

Taiwan's Tourism Bureau has stepped in to cover much of the sponsorship and to craft a unified narrative of Taiwan as a cycling paradise.

Last week's Tour of Formosa bore witness to an event that highlights why cycling in Taiwan will never be wholly embraced internationally as anything other than a production and logistics center-- Taiwan's notoriously dangerous traffic culture.

During one leg of the Tour of Formosa on one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the country, the notorious Suhua Highway, a tour bus loaded with Chinese tourists tried to intimidate and overtake the group of cyclists.

According to the report published by TVBS, the driver became angry that he had been caught behind the peloton and angrily laid on his horn. When nobody reacted, he swerved across the double yellow lines into the oncoming lane and tried to push past the riders and their support and safety vehicles.

When the driver was eventually stopped by the police, he just unleashed an stream of abuse at the officers and the issue was resolved.

Even when an event like this happens in a high profile event such as the Tour of Taiwan, it seems oddly routine and almost tame by the standard most regular riders in Taiwan are accustomed to. Taiwan's dangerously aggressive driving culture and the lack of political will to do much about it will continue to leave visitors with little but faint praise for Taiwan as an Asian cycling leader.

Visitors to Taiwan almost unanimously list the nation's driving culture as the overriding negative caveat for any trip.

The Tourism bureau only wants to hear about the mountains, but the traffic in the cities are the blight that cast the long shadows over any marketing plan. It seems that if the government spent as much time and money making the cities safe to ride as they do in keeping cyclists safely out of the cities, some real progress might be made on the issue.

Delusions of Grandeur: Mayor Jason Hu Lauds Taichung's Bike Lanes

Taichung Mayor, Jason Hu, opened the Taichung leg of the Tour of Formosa with a speech in which he declared the city's bike lanes to be among the nation's best. Oddly omitted from the speech at the last minute were references to unicorns, flying livestock, staged moon landings, Obama's birth certificate and the notion that the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Cubs always have next year.

Press Release (Translation):

"On the 4^th, the cyclists came to Taichung City Fulfillment Amphitheatre to start their next challenge. Jason Hu gave awards to the top three cyclists from the last stage. He spoke through the translator for the cyclits, stating  that Taichung has the best bike lanes. The scenery is gorgeous, including lakes and hill climbs. He welcomes the cyclists to experience the beauty of Taiwan." 

Here are some examples of the "best bike lanes".

The Brick-Zag (Nantun)


The Parking Strip (Daya)


The Sidewalk (Chingshui)


The Bricks To Nowhere (Shalu)


Narrow To Nowhere (Taichung Port)


Hou-Feng hype (Fengyuan/Houli)


The Scooter Lane (Dakeng)


Largesse (Daya)

Nov. 24-25 Alishan Ride: Last Call

I am issuing a last call for riders interested in joining our Alishan Ride scheduled for the weekend of November 24-25. 

Everyone leaving from Taichung City should meet at the McDonalds on the Highway 3 near the Taichung Youth High School (You do not necessarily have to eat there) at 7:00am. Breakfast can be anywhere. We hope to be on the road by 8:00am. 

We will be staying in 來吉 because the patronage networks ferrying Chinese tourists around Taiwan had booked Caoling through December. 

It is not such a bad thing and the food is rumored to be better and there have been beer sightings in the area. 

I have already made reservations for 13 riders, so please let me know ASAP if you are interested.

Andrew
ackymouse@gmail.com

Sunny Story Bike: Your French Connection

Sunny Story Bike:
Manager: Lu Sheng-yin
Address: No. 350 Shang Yang Rd. 
Fengyuan District, Taichung City, 420
Tel: 0933-464028
Email: Sunny16816@kimo.com




As an early birthday present, I went out last week and picked up a new set of bibs. As a man with a taste for long rides and too few opportunities to indulge in the finer things in life, I decided I needed a new pair of Assos bibs. Assos is the Swiss made gold standard of bib shorts and my last set fit me perfectly. For the price you pay they'd better be good.... and they are.

My problem was finding a vendor.

Assos felt their Taiwanese vendors were not moving stock fast enough and decided to consolidate to fewer vendors.

Rather than spend a day hunting for the few suppliers who still carry the brand, I went straight to the official Assos distributor; the most unassuming major bike shop in central Taiwan-- Sunny Bike.



Sunny bike doesn't look like much on the outside, but their connections with the powerful Shen Yang company, one of Taiwan's largest owners of bicycle distribution rights, little Sunny Bike is a major source for just about anything you want.



Apart from being one of only two official Assos dealers in central Taiwan, Sunny Bike is also the regional distributor for the French brands Time and Look Bicycles.

Look is one of the few carbon fiber bicycles that I really wouldn't mind having. The legendary 585 was an amazingly balanced bike. Look provides house designs for their crank arms, stems, forks and their signature pedals. The Look 695SR Mondrian pictured above is the SR version to be Super Stiff compared to the standard model. They were offering discounts as high as 45% off for the Look. So tempting.

Sunny Story is the regional distributor of Lightweight Wheels as well. 



They also had a supply of Colnagos, Ridley, Stevens and others.



The all alloy Colnago Prima pictured above is a size 46 and is perfect for a lot of women who are looking to get into road cycling. The Shimano 105 grouppo makes for a nice, easy, reliable shift on a double chainring.

As a 2010 NOS bike, Sunny was offering up for a negotiable NT35,000. A steal for what you get.



Sunny also has connections with Rikulau, Taiwan's custom titanium and steel bike maker. The bike on display was a gorgeous Reynolds 953 steel frame with Tung Blossom design.

For a lot of Taichung residents Sunny Bike may seem a bit out of the way. But if you can make the trip it is surely worth it.

The owners understand some English, but do not speak it well.

... and if you ask nicely they may even show you their Dorcus. 

A Ride Where There Was None: Miaoli County Route 26-2

Friday morning I had a plan to ride from Ching-jing to Wuling to watch the KOM riders start arriving from the Hualien side. By Friday afternoon I was informed that my plans would be changing and I would be going to Taipei instead. All of a sudden I didn't have a clue what I was going to do for a weekend ride.

I decided to kit up and head into Miaoli with only the vaguest idea for what I might do.

This was like a mid-life crisis of rides. I had no clue what I really wanted to do with my ride or if it was even a good idea. I was listless, directionless and apathetic. Not the best recipe for a great ride. I would have been better off buying a sports car.



I woke up late and was in no hurry to get out of Taichung. I put no real thought into my breakfast or preparation.



This is the peak of Taiwan Bike season. Taichung Bike Week is in full swing. The Taiwan International Bike Festival with the Maxxis KOM Challenge. Lots of organized bike activities in play, and I was out in the middle of the city deciding road by road which direction I would go.

A steady wind blowing from the north was enough to convince me to tuck my shoulder down and bear into the wind.



Adding to my malaise was a layer of cloud cover that made the entire day feel like I should have still been in bed. It was that muted, saturated grey that took all the life out of the landscape and all but killed my desire to take pictures.

After a long, long coffee break, I decided I would head up to the ethno-entertainment tourist town of Tai-an.

I first discovered Tai-an on one of my earliest motorcycle trips about fifteen years ago. I think, at the time, I was under the notion that I was headed toward the Central Mountain Range near Gu-guan. Only much later did I realize Tai-an was in Miaoli. At the time it was all such a big adventure of discovery.



The area near Dahu had once been a stronghold of Atayal speakers, but now produces strawberries and sunflowers. There is also a healthy ethnic tourism business centering around Taiwanese hot spring culture.



I launched up the ramp to Tai-an and was soon disappointed that the gradient was so shallow.



Until Tai-an, the roads had been nearly vacant. It seemed everyone had stayed home for the weekend. I was passing through near ghost towns on my way along the Highway 3 through Miaoli.



Tai-an's Tofu Street tourist trap had a handful of Chinese tourists, and had been glosses up since the last time I passed through. It was all the same snacks and "ethnic" trinkets that litter the parking lots and manufactured spots of "interest" all over Taiwan.

It was all just really dumb.

My ride was being wasted on a dump truck load of dumb dumped in the mountains of Miaoli.

There was almost nothing to write about.

I couldn't see any reliable roads to take that might give me a sense of discovery or even a little "wow" to sate my need to mix things up.



I cruised back to the 7-11 at the bottom of the hill, bought another coffee and contemplated my next move.

I contemplated returning on the Highway 3. The Highway 6 just up ahead and that would have sent me back home. I did see a little road that disappeared into the mountains between Dahu and Tongluo.

Or... I could keep on the Highway 3 and make the ride into a century.

I rolled onto the road still unsure if I would turn on the Highway 6 or keep going....

.... I rolled past the Highway 6 and didn't swerve across the lanes to head home. I had, in an instant, chosen to make my boring, meandering ride into a real ride.

This is where things became interesting.

My body reacted positively to an environment lacking indecision and my pedal stroke became purposeful. I was beginning to feel glimmers of my old self. Moreover, the road was almost all mine. I was out of the saddle pulling my lazy ass along behind.


Rare: A Firefly custom titanium 007. A New England cousin to my Seven. Firefly is an offshoot of Independent Fabrications after Independent skipped town to a new location.

I decided to stop at the Family Mart in ShihTan below the Route 124 for another pack of instant noodles.

Normally I take the northern route through the Shitan Reservoir. The waters of the reservoir are so inviting I have never taken the Route 26-2 on the southern route.



This was my day to try it. Finally, at long last...... adventure.



One reason I have avoided this route is for the fact that it looks like it would be tantamount to jumping into a wall. The hills rise up like pillars on all sides.

For a century ride the fewer hills the better. I had somehow chosen to deliberately burn up valuable calories on an unnecessary hill climb.

The route up zig-zagged between the hills while forcing me into a diesel powered cadence to lift me higher above the valley floor.



I was pleasantly surprised to find a tunnel through the mountain.


Route 26-2

The road on the other side was incredible. It followed wide, banked turns along deep ravines through a labyrinth of vertical cliffs. All politics aside, Miaoli did a marvelous job on turning these roads into a usable bikeway.

I was absolutely elates by the descent.

The road ended on the Highway 6 in Miaoli City and I followed it to Gongguan.

As I followed the road I kept seeing signs for towns to the north of Miaoli. I was totally confused. I knew where the hills were that I had come out of. I looked around at the landscape and felt the wind. I was even more confused when I looked off to my right and saw a ramp indicating East. On my left was another indicating West. I wondered if I had somehow gotten turned around in the Twilight Zone of Taiwanese roadways.

I slowly rolled into Gongguan and the signs reversed themselves. I was confident I was on the right track.

I tacked right to the Miaoli Route 128, which, once it clears the townships, becomes a pretty series of hills and dips. The descent into Tongxiao is purely intoxicating.

The tailwind allowed me to cruise at 40kph for long stretches and make up some seriously lost time. I was blasting through township after township.

I climbed up the Highway 12 on Taichung Harbor Rd. for one final test of my endurance.

Everything clicked into place for 3/4 of the climb... and then I was done. My speed slowed and my cadence dropped. I had just enough energy to roll down the hill and back home.

I had turned the ride into A RIDE.... Boom!

That felt really good. For the first time in a long time I was challenging myself.


Taiwan Rock tiger. A type of wild cat around these parts. I just love actual wildlife in Taiwan. 

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Also:

• Michael Turton tours some amazing country in Kaohsiung County. 

• Peter, Taiwan's Rando-man, rides Tainan to Alishan and back in a day  . I always keep a warm spot in my heart for these incredible day rides. 

• Congratulations to CCN's John Ebsen for claiming the coveted Wuling KOM championship prize   . Ebsen rode from sea level to 3275m in 3h. 37min. defeating some serious talent from the Pro tour. This is one of the world's toughest climbs. Too bad it is best ridden in the cycling off-season. It would really be an excellent new monument in cycling. 

Don't Forget: Taichung Bike Week in on. There are rides every morning out of the Evergreen Hotel.

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Fighting The Foothills of Nantou

It had been too long since I felt I could seek out a little adventure on a mystery road I had only vaguely imagined from a Google map and hazy recollections of regional topography. Sunday provided just the opportunity I was looking for.




With no desire to spend a gorgeous day fighting wind, I had my eye on exploring a section of Nantou foothills that was far too vacant on my riding map. I etched out a vague ride plan and memorized a few of the details and the names of a few of the communities scattered around the Nantou side of Jiufen Er Shan. I aimed to take a route out of Caotun and into the hills near the Longfeng waterfall. This is the same route that goes up to the 921 Earthquake epicenter, but I hoped to continue into some new areas.



As I ambled along at a lazy pace to Wufeng, I met up with Michael Turton on the road and we made small talk all the way to Nantou. I changed my original plan and decided to start my climb on the Nantou Route 22 (Dongshan Rd.). This was a fortuitous decision as I had forgotten to grab my food and emergency cash as I hurried out the door. Three weeks off the bike is enough to forget the usual routines and precautions. I am surprised I brought my own ass with me.



The initial climbing was quite tame. 2-4% grades. I passed through a few towns that showed signs of being rebuilt after the massive 7.6 magnitude quake that rocked the area in 1999.



Before long I started to recognize the Route 22 as the road Todd A. had taken us up on the way to the earthquake epicenter. The road is a designated bike road with plenty of signage to drive the point home.



The stretch of road that leads to the Longfeng waterfall has some light traffic and tour busses. I passed the commotion at the falls and continued ahead on a deserted ribbon of asphalt.



The only real company on the road were a few butterflies and a large locust that was content enough to sit out on the median sunning itself.



A few kilometers past the waterfall the road split into the 58, 56, and 54. These all looked like farm trails and I debated which would be best for this ride. I didn't recall seeing any of them on the map, so I went with my intuition and headed down the 58. I could look out at a sea of hills eddying out into the distance. I knew it was the way to Jiji or somewhere, but I couldn't see any sign of human existence save for the occasional red and white power pylon.



My stomach wasn't feeling real great and I was looking at a long, uncomfortable day on the bike. So I turned tail and chose another road that looked like it would head back home.



The thought of adding another two hours between myself and a 7-11 restroom was too much to bear.
I dropped through one of those narrow chutes that exits off the mountain and I found myself back at the village where the Hakka singing competition was taking place.



I decided to take the Nantou Route 17 to Caotun rather than retrace my steps any more than I already had.

The Route 17 was a quiet little road that snakes an invisible line through the forest before climbing up to a cemetery over Caotun.



The view was incredible.

I realized I had been there several years before as I was looking into some local history.



I eventually cruised off the mountain at top speed and landed on the Highway 14 back through a nasty crosswind home.

A nice way to spend 100k.



This map is as close as I could draw. Not all the roads are listed.

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