Well, my work travels led me to the island of Taiwan for a 3 week trip in March! Due to the long trip and the timing during some of my peak training for IM TX, I decided to take my own bike and trainer. I figured I just couldn't afford to be off my bike for 3 weeks! I bought a used bike bag based on recommendations from a few blogs/message boards I follow, and followed some great advice from DC Rainmaker on bike packing. Fortunately for me, I made it all the way to Taiwan and back (4 flight segments) without any damage and NO BAG FEES!!!
My first weekend in Taiwan, I met up with the Columbus Cycling Team in Taipei. I wasn't really too sure what to expect, but was looking forward to it nonetheless. I knew the experience of riding with the locals would be unbeatable, and much to my surprise there was probably 50 riders out that morning. I found the group by doing a little Google searching before I left, but never really got a straight answer from my contact, Craig, about pace...I was assured I'd be fine. Well, at about mile 2 or 3 I finally got a real answer. I was informed that after the 1 mountain climb the group would settle into a 40-45km/hr pace (25-28mph)!!! At that point, I knew I was in for a tough day.
We hit the climb, and as my Aussie friend Craig said, "The little buggers fly right up the mountain 'cause they only weigh 50 kilos!". I made it up the climb easier than I expected and didn't have to take a break along the way...that's not to say I kept up with the lead riders though. The descent on the other side was absolutely amazing. The road was pretty narrow and very curvy with lots of switchbacks which made for a very fun ride down. Unfortunately, at this point I had fallen back from the lead group but was still ahead of the intermediate group of riders. I knew we were just riding along the West coast for an out/back stretch, but wasn't 100% sure I was on the right road, so I waited up for about 5 minutes until another rider came by. Lucky for me, he spoke English and we rode a good 20 mile stretch together until we caught a few of the riders that had fallen off the lead group pace. We regrouped with the lead pack at the turn around and refilled our bottles at a 7-Eleven. I learned that Craig had embellished their pace a bit and was able to hang with the lead pack and even take turns pulling at the front of the pack for the return trip. It's amazing how deep you can dig down and not get dropped from a group when you know the alternative is trying to find your way home in a foreign country!
It was a great ride and I really enjoyed myself. Sadly, I didn't get to grab any pictures though! At the end of the ride I took the mass transit train/subway (with my bike) for about a 30 minute ride into downtown Taipei. I got off and biked to another station and got on a real train to make the 45min trek back to Jhongli where I was staying. I ran into a couple of hiccups though. First, I'd drawn out a nice little map to get me from one station to the other on my bike, but all the street names looked the same to me and I missed one of my turns. I knew I was still relatively close but had gone too far so I stopped off and tried to find someone that spoke English. They pointed me in the right direction and I eventually found the train station. Once I got to the station, I learned that the train that allowed bikes wasn't arriving for another 2 hours. Crap! I did all that I could to convince them to let me on and eventually they allowed me on if I took both wheels off the bike and put trash bags around the wheels and the gears/chain. They were concerned about getting other train passengers dirty. I couldn't really understand there concern...until I got on the train. The train was packed! I finally made it back to Jhongli, put my bike back together, and rode from the train station back to my hotel without too much trouble. This capped off a great day and a memorable experience for me in Taiwan.
I had planned to meet up with Nathan, another contact I connected with through Google searches, for a more scenic ride on the 2nd weekend in Taiwan. Unfortunately, it rained non-stop Saturday AM through Monday AM. We had to cancel our ride and also the 2nd ride I'd planned with the Columbus crew. This made for a pretty boring weekend around the hotel for me, but I was able to set a new distance PR on the dreadmill...11 miles! What a beating! I spent some time on the bike trainer on Sunday to keep myself occupied, but even watching movies while riding, I could only stand 3 hours 15 minutes.
A few other highlights from the trip...
The Tour de Taiwan professional bike race started my 2nd week there and came through the Taoyuan county, the area I was staying. In fact, my hotel was one of the hosts for the tour and some of the pro riders stayed there. I caught a glimpse of some of them as I was heading out of the hotel to work that morning...pretty cool!
I found a sweet rec center within walking distance from my hotel. I couldn't believe it, but they had a 50 meter pool, a 25 meter pool, and this gigantic swimming pool size hot tub. I got in a couple swims while I was there, but it cost almost $10 each time I went and the water was freaking freezing in the 50 meter pool!
I also tried the Taiwan sports drink...not bad at all!
And if you've never tried Bubble Tea, it is tremendous! It is basically milk, tea, and these tapioca balls to add a little bit of sweetness. I got them served hot and they were very good. You definitely have to get used to drinking the tapioca balls through the straw, but once you do, you're set.
One of my local Taiwanese co-workers took me out to the Tao temple in Longtan, the town where I was working. It was a cool experience and the attention to detail in these temples is absolutely amazing. It's heartbreaking though that they work so hard to please their gods. I'm so thankful that I am saved through faith and not by works. Jesus has already lived a life without sin and his death on a cross is payment for all my wrongdoings. Wow!
It was a good trip, but boy was I glad to be back home and hug Rachel after 3 weeks of being gone! She was a trooper having to stay by herself and take care of everything around the house.
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| Here's my bike packed up in the bag (minus the added bubble wrap) |
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| And here it is fully assembled in my hotel room |
My first weekend in Taiwan, I met up with the Columbus Cycling Team in Taipei. I wasn't really too sure what to expect, but was looking forward to it nonetheless. I knew the experience of riding with the locals would be unbeatable, and much to my surprise there was probably 50 riders out that morning. I found the group by doing a little Google searching before I left, but never really got a straight answer from my contact, Craig, about pace...I was assured I'd be fine. Well, at about mile 2 or 3 I finally got a real answer. I was informed that after the 1 mountain climb the group would settle into a 40-45km/hr pace (25-28mph)!!! At that point, I knew I was in for a tough day.
We hit the climb, and as my Aussie friend Craig said, "The little buggers fly right up the mountain 'cause they only weigh 50 kilos!". I made it up the climb easier than I expected and didn't have to take a break along the way...that's not to say I kept up with the lead riders though. The descent on the other side was absolutely amazing. The road was pretty narrow and very curvy with lots of switchbacks which made for a very fun ride down. Unfortunately, at this point I had fallen back from the lead group but was still ahead of the intermediate group of riders. I knew we were just riding along the West coast for an out/back stretch, but wasn't 100% sure I was on the right road, so I waited up for about 5 minutes until another rider came by. Lucky for me, he spoke English and we rode a good 20 mile stretch together until we caught a few of the riders that had fallen off the lead group pace. We regrouped with the lead pack at the turn around and refilled our bottles at a 7-Eleven. I learned that Craig had embellished their pace a bit and was able to hang with the lead pack and even take turns pulling at the front of the pack for the return trip. It's amazing how deep you can dig down and not get dropped from a group when you know the alternative is trying to find your way home in a foreign country!
It was a great ride and I really enjoyed myself. Sadly, I didn't get to grab any pictures though! At the end of the ride I took the mass transit train/subway (with my bike) for about a 30 minute ride into downtown Taipei. I got off and biked to another station and got on a real train to make the 45min trek back to Jhongli where I was staying. I ran into a couple of hiccups though. First, I'd drawn out a nice little map to get me from one station to the other on my bike, but all the street names looked the same to me and I missed one of my turns. I knew I was still relatively close but had gone too far so I stopped off and tried to find someone that spoke English. They pointed me in the right direction and I eventually found the train station. Once I got to the station, I learned that the train that allowed bikes wasn't arriving for another 2 hours. Crap! I did all that I could to convince them to let me on and eventually they allowed me on if I took both wheels off the bike and put trash bags around the wheels and the gears/chain. They were concerned about getting other train passengers dirty. I couldn't really understand there concern...until I got on the train. The train was packed! I finally made it back to Jhongli, put my bike back together, and rode from the train station back to my hotel without too much trouble. This capped off a great day and a memorable experience for me in Taiwan.
I had planned to meet up with Nathan, another contact I connected with through Google searches, for a more scenic ride on the 2nd weekend in Taiwan. Unfortunately, it rained non-stop Saturday AM through Monday AM. We had to cancel our ride and also the 2nd ride I'd planned with the Columbus crew. This made for a pretty boring weekend around the hotel for me, but I was able to set a new distance PR on the dreadmill...11 miles! What a beating! I spent some time on the bike trainer on Sunday to keep myself occupied, but even watching movies while riding, I could only stand 3 hours 15 minutes.
A few other highlights from the trip...
The Tour de Taiwan professional bike race started my 2nd week there and came through the Taoyuan county, the area I was staying. In fact, my hotel was one of the hosts for the tour and some of the pro riders stayed there. I caught a glimpse of some of them as I was heading out of the hotel to work that morning...pretty cool!
I found a sweet rec center within walking distance from my hotel. I couldn't believe it, but they had a 50 meter pool, a 25 meter pool, and this gigantic swimming pool size hot tub. I got in a couple swims while I was there, but it cost almost $10 each time I went and the water was freaking freezing in the 50 meter pool!
 |
| 50-meter freezing cold pool |
 |
| Ginormous hot tub |
And if you've never tried Bubble Tea, it is tremendous! It is basically milk, tea, and these tapioca balls to add a little bit of sweetness. I got them served hot and they were very good. You definitely have to get used to drinking the tapioca balls through the straw, but once you do, you're set.
One of my local Taiwanese co-workers took me out to the Tao temple in Longtan, the town where I was working. It was a cool experience and the attention to detail in these temples is absolutely amazing. It's heartbreaking though that they work so hard to please their gods. I'm so thankful that I am saved through faith and not by works. Jesus has already lived a life without sin and his death on a cross is payment for all my wrongdoings. Wow!
It was a good trip, but boy was I glad to be back home and hug Rachel after 3 weeks of being gone! She was a trooper having to stay by herself and take care of everything around the house.
Glad to have you back home safe, babe. You were missed.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get to hear about all of this when you got back! Glad I checked your post! That certainly was an adventure. Love you!
ReplyDeleteNot only an awesome athlete - a writer as well!
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up. Thanks for the heads up.
Best of luck with your next race.
Nathan
Taipei, Taiwan
Faith works, baby! Glad you made the best of your three weeks away... You guys (my children and children-in-law) are awesome!
ReplyDelete