Alive and Kicking Around Taidong by Bike

It appears Michella has found herself on a bicycle in Taidong and has some great reporting from her interesting blog.

She is riding a folding bike around Taiwan and learning a valuable lesson in choosing the right tool for the job.

Sunday Recovery Ride

Sunday morning we just took it easy. After a long Saturday on the saddle a more relaxing ride was in order. My wife and I decided to take a loop around Taichung.

We started out with a short ride to The Early Bird Diner on Chungming South Road. If you ever find yourself lucky enough to be asked to stay in Taichung for breakfast, The Early Bird is a great place to go. Pancakes, syrup, French toast, Denver omelettes, coffee.... mmmmm! We fueled up and then headed up to Tunghai University along the Industrial Road #1 from Wu Chuan West Rd.

The Industrial Road makes a nice climb with some sections to rest the legs a little before resuming the ascent. It then sneaks into the back of the Tunghai Market.

We crossed Taichung Harbor Rd. and climbed through International Street/Art Street and over to the Metropolitan Park.

The views were hazy, but nice from the top of the hill.

We then came back through Daya and stopped off to see Rocky at Mosaic LBS. Nice ride!

Cycling Culture Is Something Shared: Mingde Reservoir Reprise

Gone Fishin'

Although it seems I just got back from a long ride from Taichung to the Mingde Reservoir and back, I really wanted to share this route with my good friend and riding buddy, Michael Turton from The View From Taiwan. This is not a short ride on the bike, but, for me, 186km.

One of the regular themes of this blog is the subject of "culture", and I hope to use this blog space as a journal or record of Taiwanese culture as it unfolds. Cycling is a great example of one of Taiwan's cultures or one aspect of Taiwanese culture and I think, in some way, it highlights the importance of viewing Taiwanese cultures in terms of their particularity rather than through the warped lens of a grand narrative.

The topic of the meaning of "culture" has had very little respite from decades of academic assault and there has yet to be any unified, applicable meaning to the term "culture". About the only thing anyone can seem to agree upon is that "culture" is something shared. This is the focus of my post. The variety of people I meet on the road adds so much depth and vibrancy to the scenery, I return home full of excitement to discuss the people I met and what they were about.

Jimmy Neihu

On the way out of Zhuolan, I passed a young loner (on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless... in a world of criminals who operate... above the law), who was out on a sleek looking steel bike. I was really amazed that he had such a "different" bike and so well outfitted.

I turned around to discover the bike was a Surly Cross Check CX bike. This is one of those great "Taiwan Bikes" I love to recommend to people who want a great bike for just about every type of Taiwan riding-- The elusive all-rounder.

The rider's name was Jimmy, and he was on his "Round Island Tour" starting in the Neihu suburb of Taipei.

The bike was perfect. It was all Shimano 105, light racks, steel, 28c touring tires. I wanted to high-five him for making a great choice. The only things I would change are the Alex rims and lose the kickstand.

Jimmy mentioned that he also had a Kuota racing bike at home, but that was the wrong bike for the task.

Over The Water

After leaving Jimmy, we wrapped around Miaoli's Liyu Reservoir and into the rolling hills of Miaoli County.

Strawberry Fields Forever

The strawberry farmers were busy preparing the fields and the deep rows of earth make for fantastic pictures for contrast.

Sunshine On Dahu

The weather was as perfect as you could get for riding. Not too sunny, with a breeze. The northerly wind was a little annoying at times, but the dividends would be paid on the return trip.

Ex Shrine

We passed the town of Dahu, where I spotted a pair of lanterns from the old Shinto shrine at the gate of a more modern buddhist monastery.

Michael At Mingde

Michael plugged along up the hill to the Mingde Reservoir.

King Of The Road

The roads are so perfect they could just about make a cyclist weepy. There is some cycling infrastructure in place, but it appears to be substandard or someone's brother-in-law made a fortune from a government contract to produce bike racks.

Maybe Nots

Scenery

There is lots to take in during the ride through the reservoir, and the wetlands are an invaluable natural resource for wildlife.

Birdland

Looking Back

Serious Riders

At our pitstop in Shitan we met a group of boisterous riders with some of the heaviest, shock-absorber-est, fat-tire-est mountain bikes I have ever seen. They looked like they were training to win Leadville. We chatted them up for a while and they were at first full of bravado, but when Michael tried to sell them on road bikes, they became a little less sure of themselves. We had a lot of fun bumping into them at several points along the ride and we just couldn't figure out how they were catching up with us. Then we remembered the hour lunch and snack stops we had since first running into them. They ended up being just a goofy bunch of guys out on their bikes to get away, goof off and maybe smoke some cigarettes with friends.

Along The 119

We then climbed out of Miaoli on the Highway 13, only to turn onto the Miaoli Local 119. I was eager to show Michael this little road and scenic detour. I figured the tailwind on the Highway 1 would be a blast on the way back.

Michael Tries To Enjoy The Road

We hammered home. My legs were still feeling fresh. I was keeping my speed up... way up. Things were just clicking. We then cut back to the Highway 13 on the miserably straight 140. It is a demoralizingly straight road that makes no forward progress.

The New Newlywed Game

Just before our climb back into Houli, we passed some riders with some interesting gear. The woman had on a white veil and I had to turn around to chat. It turned out they were newlyweds from Tamshui, who were on the second day of their honeymoon. Their plan was to take a cycling trip around Taiwan as their first act of their new life together. They were being followed by a friend who was also the cameraman for this adventure. It was one of those wonderful little stories that makes cycling so interesting. I was glad to have met all these people and glad I can share.

It Will All Be So Easy Until Clipless Pedals Are Introduced Into The Relationship

Please see Michael's Post on the ride at his blog.

Bicycle Diplomacy: Taiwan Sends Bikes To Ghana

Taiwan is often criticized for its reputation of using "dollar diplomacy" to win friends and influence people. This practice of pouring millions of Taiwanese taxpayer dollars into parts of the world that have been disrupted by the effects of colonialism in exchange for official diplomatic relationships with the ROC (oddly... representing China) was widely promoted by Taichung's current mayor, Jason Hu, during his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The practice of flooding "allies" with cash and infrastructure projects (that can easily be skimmed by the powerful and connected), has recently been matched by China and has led to more civil strife as local clans and political factions maneuver to enjoy the spoils.

As an alternative to simply throwing money at potential allies, Taiwan could make a lasting impact by using softer methods to assist other countries and forge lasting ties. The use of NGOs may be one way Taiwan can promote itself around the world without getting caught in Chiang Kai-sheck's Cold War battle for China.

The One Village Foundation (OVF) has recently received its first shipment of 102 bicycles as part of the Taiwan Bike Bike Ghana (TBBG) project.

Giant Bikes Taiwan, in cooperation with National Tsing-hua University (NTHU) have been gathering used bicycles and equipment to better promote "Economy, Ecology, and Education".

From the OVF Website:

The TBBG project is designed and will be executed under the Health, Ecology, and Economy pillars of the OVI, to achieve amongst others, the following:

• Encourage a culture of biking in Ghana as a means of healthy living in OVF’s operational areas (Winneba, Cape Coast and Jukwa);
• Set up a bike rental station in Cape Coast to be managed by the Unity Drum [for clarification purposes: is it UnityDrum or Unity Drum?] Cultural Group (OVF Social enterprise Incubation Program), to create employment for some unemployed members and create a income stream to fund the group’s operations;
• Reduce manual labour by beneficiaries, such as farmers and cultural group, by fixing a Extracycle [is this a trailer? please explain what Extracycle is] on the bikes for these groups. The Extra cycle can extend the capacity of load haulage to 150 kilograms;
• Reduce Carbon dioxide emissions and help beneficiaries to make savings on transportation.

The goal of this initial effort is to build long term partnerships and foster positive relations between Taiwan and other countries. Perhaps this program can be emulated elsewhere without having to become the world's John paying for misguided love.

Returning To Seattle: Oct 12-25

The Emerald City

On Tuesday I will be returning to Seattle for two weeks due to an urgent family matter. I will specifically be in Seattle from October 12 to October 25.

I would like to apologize to my regular readers for any disruption this may cause in my ability to provide regular content, follow-up posts, or additional commentary. I would also like to apologize to those of you I have been hoping to ride with during this period.

This disruption will be temporary and I will resume regular posting as soon as I can.

I have also found that in the face of tragedy, the solitary comfort and simple joy of riding a bicycle has brought me some welcome comfort over the past several days. I will likely be looking for a few kilometers of Seattle riding to help ease my mind over the coming weeks.

Again, I am sorry for any disruption this may cause and feel free to send me your Taiwan ride reports.

My family needs me right now... and I will gladly be there.

Night Stats

I have had a lot on my mind lately and a lot of serious things are going on right now with my family, and I really didn't want to go for a ride tonight. I knew it would be the right thing to do and I forced myself to go. I am glad I did. I started out pretty well, but I was partially derailed by my train of thought and somehow got turned around toward Nantou and had to lose a little time figuring out my mistake. That little mistake took a little of my competitive edge off the ride, but I still managed to do ok. I feel much more relaxed and it really helped relieve the stress.

Stats

Distance: 29.4mi/47.3km

Time: 1:33:26

Max Speed: 30.02mph/48.31kph

Average Speed: 18.9mph/30.41

Chain Links

• 96 years old and still riding. Gramps is still a force on the bike.
• Landis too little too late.
• Boy Wonder: Taylor Phinney arrives on the scene in a big way.
• To win you must first get beet.
• Contador vows to take his ball and go home.
• Tour de France can not be won without drugs or exposure to gamma radiation, radio active spider bites, strange asteroids or being born on the planet Krypton.
• Recovery Rides: Injured veterans ride 463 miles for rehabilitation.

Register for Taiwan Bike Festival

I have finally found some useful information about registering for the Taiwan Bike Festival in Hualien in a couple of weeks (October 16-24). I hope it is not too late to join.

To register for the various cycling competitions or for information about package tours, please contact Vicky Liu, the coordinator of Taiwan Cup 2010, at vicky@cycling-lifestyle.org.tw .

For Taiwan Tourism Bureau
York Chen, (02) 2349-1670/ 0972-168-801
Alice Chen, (02) 2349-1650/ 0912-594-357