Changhua County (100k)

This long weekend could have seen more riding. Instead of riding I spent some time with friends and family.

That isn't to say I didn't get a ride in.

Saturday morning I decided to put in 100k over Bagua Shan and around Changhua to get a sense of how my legs are feeling at the over 50k mark. I've been pretty consistent with my Wednesday 50k TT with averages around 31-32kph for a night course with traffic and lights.

A 50k route is different than a 100k or 160k, and they all require a specific ride plan depending upon your fitness and your goals.

My ride on Saturday lacks the usual pictures as it was hazy and I was busy riding or suffering in the furnace of the Changhua Plain.

I had a few things going against me. The first is that I had lost a lot of sleep with imaginary conversations and concerns from work filling my head to the point of getting only two hours of real sleep each night. Rest is one of the most important factors directly correlating to physical performance. Sadly, it is often the most neglected.

The second issue was the heat. I awoke at 6:00am to suit up and get out the door, but I collapsed in bed again to catch an extra hour. By the time I got out the door I didn't stand a chance. I had forgotten the sunscreen again and made a quick pit-stop at Fen Yuan to baste myself in enough white fluid that I may have been mistaken for the star of a Japanese movie.

The climb up Bagua Shan has a few sections at 10%, but it quickly comes to an end at the Route 139 along the ridge of the mountain. Bagua Shan is tricky because it seems flat, but when you check the Garmin you find that you're pushing a 7% incline. You can quickly wear yourself out. Lots of little rollers to keep busy on.

As I approached the final two kilometers before the descent into Song-bo Ling, I meekly passed a couple of hard looking guys kitted out in fan jerseys. From the looks of things it was Alberto Contador from Saxxo Bank and his minion.

I politely nodded and gave a polite "Good morning!" in Taiwanese, and then I continued at a pretty hot pace around 40kph. As I looked back, I noticed I had a wheelsucker. Mr. Saxxo Bank on his matching Specialized Tarmac was enjoying my draft. Game on!

I kept at it while Mr. Saxxo Bank abandoned his riding buddy to chase me down.

As we got to the hump just before the big drop, he made his move and put four or five bike lengths into me just up to the base of the hill. I then did the same to him on the climb until my cleat popped out. He passed and then I edged him out over the hill before gaining speed for the descent.

A real key to descents and road riding in general is to train yourself to look where you want to end up. Focus on the open spots and the bike will follow. As human beings we are hardwired to focus on objects, but in cycling this often leads to disaster. You gotta look where they ain't.

By the time I finished my descent, I was very much alone again and my scrimmage was over.

The plunge out of the tea district of Song-bo Ling to Er Shui is an absolute rush. I hit 67kph and could have gone faster if the traffic hadn't stopped up on the straightaway. Then the knee ache started in.

I tried to cool it and stretch it. It isn't as bad as before, but annoying.

This led to a final 50k that could only be described as a series of fits and starts. Bursts of speed combined with bursts of .... non-speed. I got a little lost and had to slowly assess my situation, but nothing serious.

The heat was just getting unbearable. A final popsicle provided the fuel I needed to make it home.

It was really a rough day on the bike, but as always... a good day on the bike.

Carbon/Disc All-Purpose Taiwan Road Bike: James Reveals His Ultimate Taiwan Machine

Photo by Michael Turton

The hard part about building up a bike for Taiwan is trying to figure out how you are most likely to use it. This creates a bit of a conundrum, as Taiwan's unique riding features lead to two very different types of bicycle.

Taiwan has some of the most amazing roadways for a fast road bike. Without snow, and a healthy construction industrial complex fueled by local politics, the roads are often beautifully paved. There are long stretches of flat, fast tarmac all along the western plain.

The mountain roads are also pretty nice, but with Taiwan's typhoons and heavy rains, there are many roads that are under constant repair. There are also hundreds of rough mountain roads that string across the central mountain range. These offer high adventure and technical bike handling, but they are often worth the reward.

To tackle these two conditions with one bike is a daunting task, but not impossible. I did that with my old Salsa Las Cruces.

Now, James Murray from Warehouse 185 has introduced his own take on the ultimate Taiwan bike.

This new rig is a carbon composite frame, which will be featured as a Warehouse 185 house model. It offers internal cable routing, disc tabs, and room for knobby cyclocross tires in the 32/38mm ballpark.

This bike is also built up with a few intriguing extras.

James is using SRAM Apex, the groupset that is making the triple chainring obsolete. This is matched with a Mtb derailleur for a rear cassette range from 11-32 teeth.

The wheels are Crank Brothers Cobalt 29ers to be strong enough for the hard stuff and the stresses of disc brakes.

Ah... now for my favorite part. This is one of the few road bikes out there that is equipped with hydraulic disc brakes using a hydraulic cylinder mounted on the front. The added hydraulic cylinder is not as stramlined as a typical road bike... yet. The technology is evolving rapidly and the industry interest in hydraulic disc brakes is certainly there. It may only be a matter of time before the hydraulic discs move from dirt to pavement.

This bike is really a great study in the form of a Taiwan Bike.

For more information on this bike and its components, or on the availability of this frame, feel free to contact James Murray at Warehouse 185.

185 Warehouse

321 Buzi Rd.

Beitun Dist.

Taichung, Taiwan

Tel:o4-223-93185

http://zh-tw.facebook.com/pages/185che-ku/134381256607731

Warehouse 185 is located HERE

Changhua Route 137 Is History

Liu Family Shrine

After two weeks off the bike, I met up with Michael Turton for a looper around the Tri Mountain Area of Bagua, Hu, and Xiang mountains in Changhua County. They're really more like various parts of one really long hill, but it makes for a nice day of pedaling.

Why Do You Ask, Two Pigs Fucking?

I have spent a lot of time over the past several weeks preparing for the Wuling Challenge, so now that that is over, it was just nice to have a lazier day in the saddle to poke around and find things. The purpose of this ride was more historical than fitness oriented.

Michael to Ershui

We headed out down the ugly part of Highway 3 into Mingjian, where we hooked right toward the town of Ershui. The roads on that end are absolutely wonderful. Lots of fruit farms and treelined lanes.

Christianity is a common sign of an indigenous comminuty

I was interested to make it back to Ershui as I am interested in its history as an indigenous "refuge" village, where the people of Davale (Beinan) would withdraw to in times of war or during headhunting season.

On this occasion I think I may have better located the former bamboo palisade. There are numerous other clues around if one just takes the time to look for them.

Savage Creek

We continued along the Route 137 at the base of the hill and stopped to check out the Liu family compound.

Michael tells it as it is

There are still several fine examples of mid and late Qing architecture and artwork.

The Liu family rides

Although the family shrine has been "restored", a few things remain from earlier days when this large Hakka family was trying its best to eke out a living and negotiate with other local power brokers.

Panels

There are still Liu family members living in the compound, but mainly from older generations.

Longyen Season

We failed to find one of the old kilns near Huatan, but it was a good ride nonetheless despite the steady headwind from all sides.

Double The Fun

We headed back to Taichung, but not before witnessing another amazing display of thinly veiled innuendo.

Kou Yao Ding (The character Yao uses a Jiao in it.. coincidence... or not?)

On my way back I ran into a rider named Paul on his classic Colnago Conic. What a beautiful looking bike. We rode a couple kilometers together to shoot the shit about bikes before I was off for home.

It was just a real nice day for riding despite the heat.

Paul

Shoot The Bike: Taipei Bicycle Film Festival Seeking Submissions

The Bicycle Film Festival in Taipei is looking for cyclists and filmmakers to submit their works for this year's festival for Bike To Work Day through the month of October.

The film festival is to help promote bicycle commuting in the hopes of encouraging 20,000 cyclists to bike to work instead of driving or riding a scooter.

The organizers encourage riders to use the Riverside Bike Lane, where they will provide feed stations along the way supplying bananas and water to desperate riders.

Organizers are also requesting submissions of photos and movie files revolving around the themes Bicycle.Memory/Bicycle.Traveling/Bicycle.Life. to present images that best portray cycling in the city and they are offering a NT$60,000 grand prize and several smaller prizes.

Photo:

Gold medal*1 : NTD 60,000, a certificate of merit

Silver medal*1 : NTD 30,000, a certificate of merit

Bronze medal*1 : NTD 10,000, a certificate of merit

Excellent award *60 : each gets a voucher of NTD 2000 , a certificate of merit

Movie:

10 winners: each gets NTD 5000, a certificate of merit

• Bicycle.Memory hopes to find images or video depicting Taipei's old bicycle culture to create links to the past.

• Bicycle.Travel is seeking submissions to depict traveling around Taipei by bicycle.

• Bicycle Life is for submissions that show Taipei's modern bicycle culture.

• Photo submissions may be in either color or black and white and be in 6 million pixels at either 2000-3000 dpi JPEG or TIFF formats. The submission should be the original image without a frame.Video files should be in submitted on disk with mpeg or AVI files no more that 15 minutes in length. Each submission should contain a brief description under 100 words.

All submissions should be sent to:

105臺北市內湖區港墘路117號【BFF自行車電影節 徵件】

BFF Bicycle Film Festival

No. 117 Gang-chien Rd. Neihu Dist. Taipei City, 105

You can download an application HERE: 活動詳細辦法與報名表下載

Be sure to follow the link at the top to see some of the great trailers for some of the movies that will be screened at this year's festival.

Ride Reports and Other Links

A couple recent ride reports to post.

Last weekend I did Puli to Wuling. Nathan from Bicycle Sidewalk provides a report from his attack on the other side of the mountain from Hualien to the Taichung side. Personally, I find his route more rewarding in every way.

and

Michael Turton from The View from Taiwan provides a wonderful report on his recent ride to the Liu Family House in Changhua along the Route 137. This is a wonderfully accessible and interesting ride into Taiwan's history from a time the Liu Family House sat near the very edge of the Qing imperial frontier.

Information:

For anyone planning a Round-Island ride or for those people interested in riding Taiwan's East Coast, there is a Facebook page that provides regular traffic reports for the infamous SuHua Highway. The SuHua Highway is notoriously dangerous for automobiles and cyclists alike.

You can look for details HERE (Chinese).

Other News:

• When I was in the first grade, all the kids in the neighborhood converged on the school to participate in the "Bicycle Rodeo", where children would learn about bike safety and then follow a course similar to Taiwan's scooter driving test to gain the right to bike to school. I loved biking to school. Sadly, in this era of "helicopter parents" and coddling overcompensation for children whose parents are too busy to raise them, children have increasingly lost the right to bike to school. In Taiwan we have a safety problem as well. I have actually been run off the road twice by parents rushing their children to school. Now, parents are being encouraged to send their children to school on bikes once more... in America.

• Awesome INFOGRAPHIC on cycling injuries.

• According to a new report, the prospects for increased use of cycling for recreation and transportation looks rosy. Another great INFOGRAPHIC.

• Competitive Cyclist has been purchased by Backcountry. I normally wouldn't care, but a few months back Competitive Cyclist acquired Merlin Metalworks, the storied titanium frame maker that was languishing under the American Bicycle Group, which also owns LITESPEED. Both these titanium brands seem to have been mistreated by ABG and have lost a ton of their cachet. I have been hoping Merlin could be revived... and I hope Backcountry will have the same dedication the the brand rather than holding it a simply a commodity to increase the company's value.

• Welsh Cycling President encourages cyclists to "get aggressive" on the roadways. I am sorry Mr. Owens, but there is one thing I have learned about drivers... and that is that they are unpredictably crazy. They are bigger and more powerful than a cyclist, and may also be carrying a weapon in the car. No thank you.

• Americans are assholes to cyclists. Persons unknown have attempted to sabotage the USA Pro Cycling Challenge by scattering dangerous materials along sections of the route.

The Politics of Cycling: Election Season Cycling and Other News

Election season is upon us once more, and Taiwan's president "Mayor" Ma Ying-jiu has announced he will be joining a round-island tour to promote his re-election bid.

Over the past four years we have seen Taiwan shirk from a place of prominence and pride... only to seek a position of marginalized ambiguity. This platform of mediocrity and ambiguity comes as a directive from Ma's office, which is seeking to rein in the two decades of Taiwan centered policies promoted by both the former Lee and Chen administrations; policies that resulted in giving recognition to the Taiwan centered outlook shared by most Taiwanese.

For Ma Ying-jiu, "Taiwan" has been a dirty word. He uses the word sparingly and through clenched teeth as if being forced to take some bad medicine.

Instead, Ma has tried to resuscitate the old term "ROC" or "Republic of China", which, although the official name of the state, is primarily disregarded outside the world of officialdom.

Now we see his hand again in his yearning to appeal to his glory days during the latter years of authoritarian rule in the 1970's.

This cycling event will be called: "ROCbike Taiwan Bravo."

The bicycle tour, “ROCbike Taiwan Bravo,” is a nationwide bicycle tour launched by Ma’s campaign office earlier this month. Ma’s team embarked on a similar tour during his presidential campaign in 2007.

The “long stay” bicycle tour, which saw Ma and his campaign team travel through 18 cities and counties through the country’s western plains and finished in then-Taipei County, was believed to have helped bolster Ma’s chances in the last election.

This year’s 15-day “ROCbike Taiwan Bravo” bicycle tour will cover 1,181km and finish in Hualien County.

King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), executive director of Ma’s campaign office, met the cyclists last week in Taitung County as part of a campaign activity, while Ma is expected to join more bicycle-related activities as the presidential election approaches.

I just hope he does not feel the need to inform the public on the state of his junk this time around.

In Other News:

After running into health and injury troubles, Taiwan's delegation for the Paris-Brest-Paris race in France have appealed to the Taiwan Representative Office in Paris for assistance, but have been denied.

The deputy representative determined the riders to be too far (5 hours) outside of paris to lend any help and referred them to their travel agent. Complicating issues was the fact that Taiwan's chief representatives have all been called back to Taipei (coinciding with election activities) and were unable to be on hand to make the call on how to handle the situation.

During the ultra-long bike tour, two members of the Taiwanese team were stricken by health problems, which included hallucinations and severe sickness.

In the end, they were forced to hitchhike back to Paris.

And:

Like a lot of Taiwanese who take their dogs out in bags or strollers to join them at the mall... one man couldn't resist brining his pup along for a tour of Taiwan.

Last, but not least...

Please enjoy TIC reader and occasional Taiwan cyclist, Emmanuel Thiry's multimedia tribute to riding the dreaded Route 136. The musical score is also an original Thiry score. Awesome!

Bike Stolen: Author Road Bike in Taichung

Readers,

I was just made aware of a bike that was stolen from the back of a vehicle. Please keep your eyes and ears open and see that it can get back to its owner in once piece.

If there is one thing that I really hate... it is theft.

I wish the victim lots of luck in getting it back. I can attest to having had some luck in hunting down stolen property in the past, and with a little persistence it is possible to recover your things, but not always.

Here is the message from a friend of the victim:

_____________________________________

For all of the Americans/British/Canadian friends: An Author bike was stolen from our friend's car while park outside of the office. The window was broken and bike was stolen. The crime has been reported to police and filed. This customed paint was one and only. So, please post this msg onto your Facebook and pass it to your friends as well. If you see this frameset, please notify me immediately (there is an reward-by the way). Thank you all!!