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1 Jun 2008, this is the day that begins it all …
Similar to all riders who are about to embark on the journey, sleep for the previous night is very shallow. Tossing and turning … and waiting for that moment to come.
We will be taking a anti-clockwise route. The logic is simple; getting used to the ride and bike before we face the toughest part of the journey. From various sources, we come to understand that the toughest parts are in 旭海 to 壽卡 via route 199 & 200, then the biggest fear of all cyclists doing round island … 蘇花公路! Even though there are cyclists that recommends a clock-wise route to ride the toughest part first when you first have the energy but we decided otherwise.
One picture before we hit the road ...
0530 – We gathered in front of the Taiwan office, making last minute preparations. The plan was to leave by 0600, getting an early start on the first day.
It was a cloudy day, little did we know it was a sign of what is to come in the next few days.
Not knowing what to expect and excited about the trip, the feeling then was one of “untouchables" … we can conquer anything. Again, little did we know what lies ahead of us waiting. On hind sight, it is not us that conquer the journey but it the journey that has humbled us. We do not conquer anything, we have no power to conquer but to accept what was thrown at us and push forward. In a sense, the only thing that we managed to conquer, is ourselves. OK, enough of this profound babble.
First day and we are already faced with the issue of which route to take. We need to get out of Taipei City and there are several routes to take. Patty, at this moment said: “I know a way, it is nice and relaxing … just follow me". After all, she is the only Taiwanese in our team, other than her, who can we rely on? So follow her it is.
Day 1 - Breakfast
If you notice the time that was mentioned above, you would have realized that we did not have time for breakfast. Soon enough, hunger creeps up on us and we are looking for a place to satisfy our need for food. Like all 1st day trips, we are still very polite “What would you like to eat?", “Anything la", “I am OK with anything …". Since Jacky has not been back to Taiwan for such a long time, and he did mentioned that he missed the ever famous traditional soya bean breakfast, we decide to look for it. Somewhere near 新店we found such a shop. First meal on the first day of riding. As a newbie in touring, we took all our luggage down during the meal. Later on, putting ti all back on the bike again. This is something that we do less and less as days goes by. It was just too much trouble. However, at this moment, spirits was still high and we have not seen anything yet. At the same time, I did notice that a heavy loaded bike is making riding somewhat more difficult (what a redundant comment). Things are able to get tougher.
First hill of the ride with rain
True enough, it started to rain as we enter the first small hill of the trip. Taipei is basically a basin, no matter which direction you head, you would have to climb some sort of hill to leave Taipei. So here it is with the first hill. Carrying about 15kg of stuff and my less than ideal physical condition, that little stretch of uphill was killing me, “What am I doing?", “Are you sure?" … the first of many such thoughts to come start to float in my mind. To top it all up, it started to rain. Yup, bring it on … bring it all on!
After this hill, we will be leaving Taipei City. At that time, no thoughts are crossing my mind … hahaha … was too out of breath, too busy drinking water to think of anything else. Even taking photos becomes a tedious task. That is why in this entire blog, you will see that we have less photos than others who have done the same. A combination or rain and catching of breath is preventing me from taking more photos.
My bike in 三峽老街
After the “little" hill, we slide our way down into 三峽 and make our way into 三峽老街. The first “tourist" spot. Have more photos taken here. As a foreigner in Taiwan, heard of this place many times but never got around to visiting it. Usually during weekends, all these so-called tourists spots are filled with people, which did not help to motivate me to visit. We arrived at 三峽老街 early that day, most of the shops were not opened yet. We just walk through the street briefly, within minutes we were come to the end of the street. Moving forward …
Looking around
The destination for the end of 1st day is 新竹. A mere 70km+ out of Taipei City, thought that it would be an easy and relaxing ride. It was not! Arrived at 新竹at about 1600. Checked into one of those drive-in motel and get ready to go out for dinner.
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Round Taiwan 環島 logo
This is the logo that we have design for this journey …
Just felt that it is appropriate to have one. Nothing special but we ought to ride like a team and a team would need a logo.
Ok ok , we did copy “frog" a little. They had a logo and specially printed t-shirts, so I wanted one too.
So here it is … We have also printed it on t-shirts … hopfully it looks good.
Previous: #4: 裝備
Next: #6: Day 1 “The Journey Begins”
[Addition after trip]:
Our logo on shirt
When Charles showed us the shirt that were printed in Hong Kong, the logo actually looks very good on shirts. In fact, we were surprised on how good it looked. The first compliment is that the printer shop manager would like to have one too. On the very last day, when we entered Taipei City, a young man on bike came up to us and ask if he can have a shirt too. He was planning a round Taiwan island trip as well and thought that our shirt would look very good. That was a nice touch to the end of our journey
This is the bike that is going to help me achieve my goal.
It is a Gary Fisher Nirvana, seldom seen in Taiwan. It is what is commonly known as hybrid or urban bike. It has a mountain bike frame but designed to fit 700c wheel. But I feel that the frame is a bit small for me, it is a 17.5″ frame and I am 183cm tall. So I added a stem extender to compensate for the small frame.
Other items fitted:
- Shimano XT set
- Thomson Elite seat post
- Thomson Elite X2 stem
- Truvativ TEAM Raiserbar
- WTB Dual Duty XC 700c
- Allay Normad 1.1 saddle
- Sigma BC 1606L DTS wireless bike computer
- NiteRider MiNewt X2 LED night light
- Ortlieb handlebar bag
- Ortlieb Classic Backroller pannier bag
- Ortlieb saddle bag
Hopefully this bike will live through what I am about to put it through.
Previous: #3: 期待 …
Next: #5: 環島 Logo
2 more weeks before we ride. Anxiety is building. Questions in my mind …
“Can I do it?"
“What if it becomes too difficult for me?"
“What if my butt is too sore?"
“What if my legs cannot take it?"
“What if I cannot make it up the hill?"
Too many uncertainties … too many questions …
Thinking back on how it all started … It was because of this website http://eyetaiwan.frogfree.com/
These guys got me started and thinking. I have got to do something before my body fails me. Everything just comes together and clicked. “I am going to round Taiwan Island!"
According to the many articles and blogs, it would appear that rounding Taiwan Island is not difficult (yeah right …). But it is not going to be easy either. At least it is a start … the beginning of a new journey in my life? I don’t know but I am willing to find out. Let’s see.
Previous: #2: 延時間 …
Next: #4: 裝備
OK … it is decided!
I will do it. I want to do it. Not sure if I can do it but I am going to do it!
Picking the dates is an issue. What am I going to tell my bosses? That I really need this trip to “find" myself? How do you communicate “find myself" to the people that pays you to work?
“I need to do this …", I said.
She looked at me with a look that resemble that she understands. As she shift her eyes away, a few words came out: “Then go do it … if this is what you have to do then get it done and over with."
It is “approved"!
Originally, the trip is planned to happen end March. The evil work schedule creeped up upon me, making the trip looked virtually impossible. “Ok … then let’s postpone it. Only once, not too far off …", I silently thought. “End April to early May looks good, there is a holiday there. I can take that opportunity …", happily I planned.
“You are riding too!!?!" My buddy from work is also riding? This is incredible! I told him about my trip. True enough, it is very contagious …. “I want in!", he jumped in without hesitation, “I will get Charles to join as well …"
From a singles event, we became a tag-team of 4.
Now comes the hard part … timing. Charles is pretty alright with any timing that have been proposed. Jacky is a bit more problematic. “June … end June … yeah, it is better for me", Jacky wrote on MSN after moments of silence. “But … but … it is too hot then", I continued with the hope of an earlier ride. “Wait for me la …", he plead. “Ok, ok … end June it is … no more postponement", I tried to say in a firm tone.
“I am going first …" I wrote on my MSN to Jacky, “I don’t want to wait that long, I will go with you again when you come". “In that case, let me see … end May?" Jacky asked. Back and forth we sort out the timing … The final decision: “We ride on 31 May".
That’s it! We are good to go, set for launch, ready to ride … whatever phrase you want to use, this is it!
Previous: #1: 又一個環島故事
Next: #3: 期待 …
Why do anyone want to do something like this?
It is stupid, waste of time, waste of energy and torturing … not to mention hazardous to your health.
So why?
I asked myself the same question as well.
You would be thinking that there must be a better way to spend my time then to devote one’s time and energy to such a mindless act. Consider that I have not been active in any form of sports for a long time. The last time I was madly in love with cycling was about … er … [counting with fingers] almost 20 years ago.
Yes … I was once in love with cycling!
My hero then was Greg Lemond.
The bike that I was drooling over was Colnago & Bianchi.
I was fastinated with Look clipless padels.
It was Campagnolo Record (it is still THE crankset to get today) that I wished I was padeling on.
I bought myself a Okleys Razor Iridium then as it was the only thing that Greg Lemond has and I could afford with my misarable pocket money.
Also …
I was about 25kgs lighter then and was able to maintain a speed of 35km/h without much serious effort.
About 4 years ago, 15 years since I last cycled, I decided to get back into cycling. Bought myself a Giant Yukon as the latest fashion then was to have a moutnain bike.
Why mountain bike?
I really don’t know but one thing is for sure, I was not about to climb any mountain with it. Don’t think I could even handle street road, needless to say off-road. The moment I cycled home with my spanking new bike, there was the immdeiate dissappointment (you thought I was going to say satisfaction, right?). Yup, you heard me right … great, great dissappointment!
Why? … There was no wind in my face, no satisfaction of speed. No matter how hard I pedal, the speed remains at 25 km/h. The immediate thought was that: “Could I have been that bad in my physical health that I could not relive my days of youth again?"
I tried a few more times, taking the new bike on short (really short) trips. Every time, it was the same conclusion. It was terribly de-moralizing.
A year later, the condition of my bad back worsen. I had to undergo surgery. Hence, I sold my Giant Yukon on Yahoo! Bid to a young chap. And have not been really on a bike ever since, doctor said so … “It is not advisable …"
Yet the desire and yearn to cycle laid silently to be re-kindled …
Next: #2: 延時間 …
近期迴響