Polar Opposites: Taipei Urged To Follow Kaohsiung's Lead In Bike Rentals

In the wake of a crumbling urban bike "plan", KMT City Councilor, Lee Yen-shiu is urging Taipei to take a more proactive approach to integrating the bicycle into the urban grid by following Kaoshiung's lead in offering an extensive bike rental program.

The Taipei Times Reports:

Taipei City has set up 11 public bicycle rental sites in Xinyi District (信義) since launching the program in 2009, providing 500 bicycles for rent near MRT metropolitan rail stations in the district, including Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station and Taipei City Hall Station.

According to the city’s Department of Transportation, an average of 23 people a day use the system. The department has budgeted NT$14 million (US$ 470,000) a year to manage the program, and incurred a loss of more than NT$10 million since its launch.

KMT Taipei City Councilor Lee Yen-shiu (李彥秀) said the department has failed to promote the program by limiting it to the Xinyi District. She called for the number of rental sites to be expanded to 12 districts and for a friendlier environment to be created for cyclists.

“Public bicycles should not only be used for recreational purposes, but as a short-distance commuting tool. With rental sites only in Xinyi, it’s difficult for more residents to take advantage of the service,” she said.

In Greater Kaohsiung, which also launched its bike program in 2009, there are 49 rental sites around the city, with 800 bicycles available, she said, adding that the number of residents using it has reached 1,300 per day.

It is refreshing to finally see some growing criticism on how the government is choosing to craft cycling policy. Now if only someone would commit to giving cyclists space to safely ride.

Dunhua Bike Lane Debacle: City Puts NT$60 Million Failure To Rest

My quick synopsis and commentary of a recent article from the Chinese language news wire:

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Taipei City has finally been forced to terminate the ill-fated Dunhua Bike Lanes.

The Dunhua bike lane was launched 2 years ago with much fanfare, but due to poor design othere have been several serious accidents and numerous complaints. Therefore, after a lengthy evaluation by the Bureau of Transportation, the lanes have been slated for removal.

The lanes have been routinely criticized for having been constructed as a knee jerk reaction to the first bicycle boom in 2008, when the city sought to win political points on the heels of a trend.

Now, the city is proposing a redesign. But after an initial NT60 million initial investment, Taipei residents are reluctant to fund the redesign fearing a continuation of the same type of ill planned, ill thought-out city project that has been the hall mark of Taiwanese urban bike trails.

The lane runs from Min Quan E. Rd. to Keelung Rd. at 4.6km.

Ever since its opening in Sept. 2009, the city has received regular complaints. Many residents feel the basic design has many errors, for example the rubberized material is easily damaged and becomes slick in the rain. Furthermore, the lane cuts between pedestrian walkways and bus lanes forcing citizens to dodge bike traffic in order to catch a bus.

What this really shows is how little the government really considers the needs of cyclists before spending public funds on these types of projects. Often these bike paths are a quick means to pander to the electorate and to spread money to various construction firms.

It is disappointing when a city loses a bike lane when they should be creating them, but that is the risk of letting unrelated factors influence necessary infrastructure. If you're just going to do it half-assed, then don't do it at all.

Taiwan's Commuting Conundrum: Has Someone Finally Noticed? (Updated)

The Taipei Times published an article today concerning the influx of commuters in the wake of rising energy costs, and more importantly on the problems that still face Taiwanese commuters despite the NT$870 million allocated for bicycle infrastructure in 2011.

Some netizens scoffed at the idea, saying that the government was unfriendly to bikers and that saving NT$60 per day on fuel while spending more on lunch was not a good tradeoff. However, netizens who have already begun to commute to work by bike said they enjoyed the health benefits.

The article points to some companies that have taken the initiative by providing facilities for cyclists. Rather than paving more leisure trails for visitors and tourists, the government might want to allocate part of the budget for offering to subsidize the installation of facilities that promote cycling to work.

One anonymous staff member at an e-commerce firm said his company encouraged its employees to bike to work, adding that it had set up shower stalls equipped with free toiletries and hair dryers.

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Taiwan Cyclist Federation director Tien Yi-sheng (田沂生) said that safety was still the most important concern for bicycle commuters.

“We still need more systems that are biker-friendly in Taiwan,” Tien said, adding that in Denmark and the Netherlands 30 percent of the workforce commutes by bicycle.

This is really the crux of the issue. Taiwan's streets are still too dangerous for most cyclists to want to navigate on a regular basis. To make the sweeping changes necessary to make cycling a safe and effective alternative to the automobile, someone is going to have to start making some politically unpopular decisions.

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An editorial in the Taipei Times echoes many of my sentiments. Read It HERE

Taichung to Lugu (140k)

Sunday seemed like a good day for a ride. Still no word on my camera, so I am stuck with these awful Nokia images.

My plan was pretty simple. I need to put some miles in the legs and I need to build back into climbing.

The best way to do that from Taichung seemed like a little trip up to the tea farming areas around Lugu. Aside from the workout, I felt like getting up there to take a look at the Spring harvest. The Spring teas should be ready by the end of May and many of the lower elevation teas are already being rolled.

I love spinning along through some of the small villages in the area when the air is filled with the smell of freshly processed tea.

I had the most inauspicious start to my ride with a piece of tissue paper flying up off the road and into my rear derailleur. After picking the pieces out and getting things back to normal, I sluggishly took the Highway 3 out of Taichung toward Nantou.

Just between Nantou city and Mingjian I came upon the scene of an ambulance carting off a fellow rider. He seemed pretty banged up, but not in serious condition. His teammates ambled idly by over the demolished Bianchi frame, which sat in three pieces, held together by the brake cables.

It appears he may have swerved into the path of a passing scooter.

I normally don't take pictures of wrecks, but I thought I would just post a reminder that this could be any one of us on any given ride. Ride safe and be careful.

I took the bridge at Jiji over the river to the Nantou Route 131. This is a nicer way to bike up to Lugu. The grades are not as severe or as crowded as the larger Route 151, and there are plenty of pleasant scenic surprises.

As I reached the Route 151, I decided to simply cross the canyon to Hsiao Ban Tian, which is another tea producing area near Lugu. I really saw no point in continuing up to Sanlinxi in weather that looked just shy of rain.

I thought I would swing through Hsiao Ban Tian and see how the tea harvest a was doing. A few farmers seemed to be getting ready for the big Nantou tea competition, which is abut a month away.

The town was mostly still asleep. I continued off the hill on the exciting Route 55 and made some good time on the Highway 3 back home.

Just after Nantou, I decided to get off the three and hook up to the Highway 14 on the opposite side of the Wu River. As I exited I passed a wedding banquet that was being held in the space under the viaduct.

My legs felt pretty good all the way back and I kept the speed up so I could get home early and see my daughter.

I was home just after 1:00pm... with plenty of time for play and then a trip to Caffe Terry for a beer and the Amstel Gold Race.

Nice day!

Taiwanese Cycling Expedition Vows to Spread Their Seed For The Environment

Focus Taiwan is reporting that a trio comprised of two Taiwanese and a French national will soon embark on an expedition aiming to cycle from China to Vatican City with the message of environmentalism while planting trees along the way.

The three cyclists are each making personal sacrifices in order to embark on their latest adventure.

Chang and Chen have quit their engineering jobs, while Merlingeas, who teaches French in Taiwan, has postponed her marriage to her Taiwanese boyfriend.

Merlingeas said she will get married after the trip and joked that hopefully

Something tells me there is also a missionary subtext here that is not being reported. If this is the case I can't help but point out the irony of an environmentalist project combined with a colonial project that, at its very root, contains the type of dominionism that has led to so much of the planet's environmental woes.

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In other news Giant's King Liu shares his vision of the future with CENS

Liu is upbeat about the prospects of the global bicycle industry, noting the global cycling population now reaches only 15%. He said that soaring oil prices will stimulate the purchase of bicycles, as growing numbers of people would use bicycles as transportation vehicles between MRT stations and their homes or destinations. This will combine with the growing popularity of cycling exercise to enhance the global cycling population, according to Liu.

It is understandable that Liu would be so bullish on light commuter bikes, as his company has been tapped to supply Taipei City with its You Bike.

Maybe instead of letting Giant tell customers what they want, people will look to other alternatives for their city travel-- alternatives like the sleek Tern Verge. The Taiwanese company that was born out of a Dahon family feud has just won the prestigious Red Dot award for design.

Of course, before people can bring their bikes into the city for transportation, they need to have a safe place to ride them.

Paris-Roubaix Tribute Ride: Taichung to Kaohsiung (240km)

For many cyclists the second Sunday of April does not represent the death and purported resurrection of a Jewish prophet, who will redeem the believers and relieve them from suffering. Instead, this date marks a different tradition, one in which its adherents use a cobbled roadway dating from the Roman era as a blunt instrument to inflict the maximum amount of suffering a cyclist can endure. Yes, it was Paris-Roubaix weekend all over again and I decided to craft my own homage to the fabled Hell of the North with a 240km ride from Taichung to Kaohsiung.

Looking for Lukang

My goal was to follow the tradition of Paris-Roubaix, and complete a point to point ride in a similar distance at the Queen of the Classics.

Paris-Rubaix is usually run on a 250-260km route from Paris the velodrome in Roubaix, Belgium. The uneven cobbled roads are legendary for shaking riders and their gear to pieces.

Although I have hardly trained, I felt well enough to give it a go and casually made plans to hit the Highway 17 South to Kaohsiung. I did this ride two years ago, but missed last year due to injury.

Erlin Prison

My plans almost immediately went awry. First, my camera stopped working. Then I took a construction detour in Yuanlin that landed me away from my planned route to Lukang, where I had anticipated hooking up with the Highway 17.

I could feel I was going away from my intended destination and stopped to ask directions. Nobody in Taiwan ever seems to have a clue regarding directions and often the obvious signs are absent, so I found myself meandering through Changhua County.

"Does this road head toward the Highway 17?", I would ask. "Yeah, just go straight." This conversation on three occasions led me to a T intersection.

To make matters worse, I was pedaling into a headwind. Talk about panic setting in.

As I blindly swiped at possible roads, led only by intuition, I was increasingly aware of how much time I was wasting and how much energy it was costing me to fight against the wind in a desperate search for a corridor to the coast.

I ended up spending 3 hours meandering around Changhua County trying to find the Highway 17. When I finally found it, I realized I would be fighting a steady headwind from the SE. I remember when I looked at the weather forecast, the prediction was for a wind from the NNW. I wondered if I had misread the information, and if it meant the wind was blowing TOWARD the NNW.

Now, this was bad. Not only had I wasted valuable time and energy making little progress in Changhua, but I would also be moving at a mere 25kph.

Yes, I cursed this situation aloud. I even thought of turning tail at the Zhoushui River. For some reason, maybe stubbornness and the fact that I had already posted my intentions on Facebook, I got in a tuck and lurched my way southward.

Zhoushui River

The Paris-Roubaix was dubbed the "Hell of the North" by the race organizers following a reconnaissance tour of the route following World War I. The devastation that had ravaged the French and Belgian countryside was enough to conjure visions of Hell.

Blight

Taiwan's western seafront along the Highway 17 could also be compared to a vision of Hell.

This is the proverbial carpet under which all the unsightly things in Taiwan have been swept. It is a desolate landscape of decaying infrastructure, smoldering industry-scape and the resulting eyesore of brothels, cheap motels and lurid KTV joints. The entire route between Yunlin and Tainan is a flat, windswept wasteland of rubble along with the piles upon piles of discarded oyster shells. There are mounds and stacks of shells dotting the entire area, some neatly bundled, others scattered in heaps.

This is by no means a scenic route.

Guy Shooting Rockets For Me

My legs were already burning by the 100k mark. I wondered if I had gotten myself in over my head again.

Then, at just around the fishing port of Budai, I was passed by a temple procession.

One little blue truck with three guys in the back passed me and they shouted a cheer for me. I saw the fat guy in the back frantically groping for something and I worried he might be getting ready to throw firecrackers out the back to wake me up.

I could see a puff of blue smoke as he lit a red box of rockets and I braced myself for the coming onslaught of exploding projectiles.

It wasn't an attack, but instead it was a cheerful salute as they rooted for me to keep going.

I looked down at my Garmin and I was cooking at 23mph.

Flooded Tombs

Shells

The wind had shifted to the NNW direction and I was rolling along making good time.

The temple flags confirmed that I would be finishing my ride with the wind at my back, soI settled back into the drops and blasted through Tainan.

Tainan City seems to last forever.

You know you're in Tainan when you the only hills you encounter are where bridges have been built to traverse the rivers and canals that cut into the pancake-flat plain.

Tainan Canal

Biking through Tainan I had more cheers of support from passing drivers. It really gave me a jolt of energy.

Oceanfront Bike Trail in Tainan

When I finally rolled into Kaohsiung, it was still earlier than I had anticipated. I was feeling ok, but clearly at the end of my riding day.

Kaohsiung

Before long I had my bike bundled up and was on the HSR to Taichung. I usually get business class because it affords more space for my bike behind the last row of seats. When I went to retrieve my bike, I noticed some asshole had put their luggage on my derailleur. There was plenty of space for it in the luggage compartment and in the cargo space above the seats. Totally stupid and unnecessary.

I sipped a coffee and let my legs decompress.

Bike, Stroller, Baby, Bag

I was back in Taichung in time to grab dinner and watch the real Paris-Roubaix. I felt better than when I did this ride two years ago. I have more miles in the legs with a new bike. I found I could ride in the drops longer and I took fewer breaks. I just wish I had been able to be in better condition. I have only one one other ride this year that was over 100mi.

I guess it was a good day of punishment.

Walking Dead

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!