Metric #2

Second metric for the year already! Headed back out toward the zoo, found a bike path that is newly finished, wasn't on the right part of it, so it dead-ended for me.

No worries, I got off onto the street, went toward the zoo, and chatted with three Chinese bikers who were headed to Maokong. I went that way for a bit, but then turned around and got onto a different bike path. It dead-ended, too, and once I got on the streets, I wasn't sure where I was, so I rode for about half an hour or so trying to find my way. I knew it was the wrong way when I saw the sign for Wulai and Ilan, so I turned around and found the Taipei sign. Kept on going the right way and eventually found my way back to exactly where I wanted to be.

It was a gorgeous day...blue sky, sun, warm enough to ditch both my jacket and arm warmers. Unfortunately the weather and Chinese New Year holiday brought many many bikers of all ages out to the bike paths. I decided to get off the path at the Grand Hotel and put up with street traffic the rest of the way home. This was a FUN metric!

This photo is of the Keelung River...pretty sparkly today with the sun out.



Here's the view I have of the Grand Hotel when I get off the bike path.

First Metric Century of 2009

It was a long time coming, but I finally got another 100 km today. It wasn't an easy day for a metric century...pretty chilly (for Taiwan) and darn blustery. I had winds coming at me from every direction, and at one point I could only muster 14.6 km an hour. That's slow even for a turtle like me.

Still, it was fantastic to get out on the bike and ignore all the weather forecasts that called for rain. I figured this was as good a day as any to stay out for hours. I should have eaten more, though. I started out with no breakfast, but stopped for some of Taiwan's famous healthy nuts and seeds that I had in my seat bag about 12 miles into my ride. After that, I stopped a few times for more nuts and portions of the Snickers Bar I had along with me.

The bike took me to the end of the Jingfu Bike path, a ride I haven't done in far too long. There have been a couple of new improvements to the path, which made it an even better ride than before. Since I knew my first goal of the day was to reach 80 km, I turned around at the end, rode back to one of the rivers, and turned left to head over to Guandu. Decided to stop at a convenience mart for more sustenance, then sat at the biker's rest area not too far from the temple.

As this is Chinese New Year's Eve, the temples can be pretty busy with people visiting. I was wondering why all the policemen were at the temple, and up and down the road, when I noticed a prison bus pulling in to the parking lot. When I left, two more buses had joined that one. I guess even prisoners are allowed a visit to a temple on this auspicious day.

Once I left the temple, I knew just heading back on the bike path wouldn't garner me my 100 km, so I traveled up and down the roads in Tienmu a bit until I made my goal. Now I just need to hit 5 more metric centuries for my 2009 goal.

Last Ride of 2008

I love the fact that I was able to ride outside yesterday and today in Nebraska, in December. Really lucked out with the weather, considering how frigid it was a short week ago. It was 46 degrees today...very nice! Today I went out with Robert, my former high school shop teacher. Over 65, he rides me into the dust. I went from my house to Hwy 47, met him, then we turned left just past Thirty Mile Canal, or what we call the south route. Rode to Jim and Dee's (Jim is my former high school English teacher), chatted with them for a bit, then headed back home. We had some wind out of the East, which slowed me down, but it wasn't nearly as bad as what I rode against yesterday.

I had my camera, but didn't take any pictures. Nebraska isn't all that pretty in the winter, although the blue sky would have turned out nice. The friendly folks here more than make up for the lack of scenery. I had one jerk honk at me as I approached the interstate bridge, but he was from out of state. All the other (maybe fewer than 20) drivers were their normal friendly selves, waving and giving us plenty of room. I love riding here. I love being here. Summer is only five months away and I'll get to enjoy the riding again. This time, with both Bob and Jim, as Jim and Dee are moving back permanently after they retire from teaching in California this year.

New Fuji

Finally got out for a bike ride today on the new bike. So far I like it a lot.

New Bike November 8, 2009

Just walked my new 2009 Fuji Absolute 1.0 home in the rain. Pictures to follow another day. It feels strange to have a bike brand other than Giant, but this looks to be a very excellent bike. And James, co-owner of the bike shop with his brother, was most helpful and had much better customer service than my local Giant shop. Had I purchased this bike in the states, I'd have definitely spent much more money. Now I hope the rain goes away so I can go get it dirty with a bunch of road grime tomorrow.

November 1, 2008

Solo Saturday since Karen is due to take off on her Starship trip sometime this morning. The road bike decided to take me up to Four Corners via Peitou. Man, I have not done hills for a long, long time. And with God as my training partner again, it was a tough little climb for me. Going up via Peitou is about 5 miles, all a gradual to not-so-gradual uphill. I didn't stop and rest going up, although I thought about it a few times when the wind blasted me as I rounded some of the corners. It was a nice accomplishment once I arrived at Four Corners. It was also sweet, because I passed four bikers also heading up the hill. Usually I am the one getting passed.

Had a bit of a break, then went down, this time via Cherry Hill. This way has much more of an incline, plus it is a shorter distance to the bottom. I actually stopped going down to give my braking hands a break. Once I got to the bottom of the hill, I just rode around on the streets for awhile. Short ride, but a pretty good workout. Doesn't get much better than this.

October 25

Today I did the River Loop ride with Karen P. Haven't done this ride for a long time. Nice to do something different. Not so nice to change a flat back tire. Man, am I slow at that! But, got it done, so Karen and I were free to continue training with God. Headwinds made Him our training partner today. And we enjoyed it by golly!

Weather Conditions: Some fine mist, some pretty blue sky, one full rainbow, some white clouds, some gray clouds, definitely wind in all directions. Temp 84°, 70% humidity, felt like 91°. C'mon fall...I am tired of being hot here.

Today's ride was somewhere around 23 miles. Don't know for sure because my computer is still not working all the time. I've talked to the guys at the bike shop three times, each time they look at it, spin the wheel, and pronounce it good to go. Guess I need to look at it myself. And boy oh boy, do I need to clean the bikes! I just never seem to have the ambition to do that, partly because as soon as they are clean, they get mussed up again from the gunk here. And partly because I don't have a good place to clean it, although since I moved furniture around again, I may be able to use the front balcony. I think there is even a hose out there. Guess that takes care of the place issue. Now to work on the laziness issue...

Solo Sunday

A nice sunny, solo Sunday ride this morning. Out to Dadaocheng Wharf and back. It was equal opportunity day with near misses by a car, a scooter, and a bicycle. Really close on the bicycle near miss. I don't keep count of the number of times I have to swerve to miss bikers, walkers, scooters, or dogs on the bike path. I also rarely count the number of times I have to swerve to avoid people who decide red lights don't count for them when I'm out on the streets. That's just life in Taipei.

First October Ride

Not much to say here...rather an uneventful bike ride with Karen P. out past the Grand Hotel to the end of the bike path and back. It was nice to be able to get out and not have a typhoon keeping us inside.

On another note, I just sent an email to the Larry King Live show. I started watching it when I got back this morning. There were four participants discussing the VP debate. Well, discussing is a rather loose term. Mostly there were two panelists butting in when the other two were trying to make a point, and I found it very caustic and contentious. I found it to be so annoying that I changed the channel and decided to send a letter. Sheesh, if you have people on the show, let them speak! Each of them has a voice, they should be allowed to use it. And Larry decided to just sit back and let the loudmouths speak out over the other two. But then he does that a lot of the time. I'd love to see him try to control a classroom full of enthusiastic students.

Another Weather Related No Saturday Ride

The streets are still wet after last night's downpour. That wouldn't keep us off the bikes, but the wind is howling, so we're taking a day off. Again. On a Saturday. Again. Oh yeah, and we're watching the next typhoon. Again.

Short Solo Sunday

Hmmm, strange how I had lots of energy yesterday, and not so much today. I had planned on doing some hill repeats up past the National Palace Museum, but I settled for the short donut (Jianaan Road) hill climb and back into Tienmu via the bike path and Chung Shan past the ACC. I did finally stop for a picture of the National Palace Museum from the hill...it is a more striking view in person, but I'm happy enough with this shot that I'm including it here.

Finally, a September Bike Ride

When I have to set the alarm to wake up for a Saturday morning ride, I wonder if it's worth it. I actually was hoping for rain this morning. But, it turned out to be a very nice morning, and a fantastic ride with Karen P. and Chen Li. We took off from school and decided to go up a hill. Not a big one, mind you!

Did the donut hill, then descended into Neihu, and rode over to the bike paths. After deciding we needed to extend our ride, we headed for parts left, walked up the elevator bridge, crossed the river, then headed home via the other side of the river.

I finally felt good and almost strong. Still coughing from being sick last weekend, but had lots of energy and the heat didn't fry me like it did the Saturday two weeks ago. I'm so happy this was a ride I enjoyed. Now I'm pumped to get back out and push myself.


Ya know, Taiwan does have it's moments, and today was no exception. We ran across a place along the bike path with some great looking flowers, AND the fountain was on at the dog park. Best part of that? No dogs.

The photos below are of Karen and Chen Li. Found some nice flowers along the bike path today, and the fountain at the dog walking park was on. If you look closely, you can see the Grand Hotel in the background.

Saturday Morning Ride

We decided to leave TAS at 6:30 yesterday, instead of our more established 7:00, in order to try and beat the worst of the heat. Since I had gotten overheated last week, I thought I'd try wearing a light cotton shirt instead of my ROC'n jersey. Mistake. I was early, so after I made a quick ride around the block, I ran back up to my apartment and put on proper bike clothes.

The air was so heavy with humidity that we could barely see the buildings across the river. I wasn't hopeful for a relaxing, fun ride. However, I was quite mistaken! Before Gretchen, Karen P., and I started out, two other new members of the TAS family saw us in front of school and came over to chat. After a bit of conversation and introductions, they decided to join us so we could show them how to get to the bike path. They stayed with us just to the "t" where the bike path splits. I'm hoping they will join us again, because one of the most fun things for me to do is to introduce people to the great biking in Taipei. Guess I'd better send out an all-school email and let people know we still explore on Saturday mornings.

Once the three of us got to Dadaocheng Wharf, we decided to stop in at Dante Coffee for a bit of a refueling. I very much enjoyed a wee pastry and a large frozen mango smoothie. Gave all of us enough energy to face the sea of humanity and the grueling sun on the way back home. Nah, it wasn't that bad.

Some days we get lots of waves and smiles. Yesterday was no exception. Seems almost everybody had to give us a morning greeting along with gigantic smiles. It was a lot of fun. Karen set a nice pace...we've decided (at least I have) that when the temp and humidity make the index over 100 degrees, that we need to slow our pace down. I'm looking forward to October when the temp is more humane.

Big OOPS. I've been reorganizing my photos on my computer and inadvertently deleted the photo with Gretchen, Karen, Tina, and Dan. Sorry guys! The one lone photo remaining of Saturday's bike ride is just a shot of colorful barrels from some sort of business near the bike path.

After School Ride

Nope, I didn't get up at 4:30 to ride with the early group, but I did get out after school. I got around 13-16 miles. Not sure because my computer went wacko. I had it wired to the back wheel last winter so I could use my trainer and count miles. Found out I hated the trainer, and the stand I park my bike on messed with the sensor so it was always out of adjustment. Stopped at Giant after a laborious ride out toward Dadaocheng Wharf and one of the nice young new helpers put the sensor on the front fork. Cost...about $1.50 US. Why would I do it myself for that price???

Traffic was whizzing this afternoon...one of the bad things about riding in the afternoon instead of in the morning. But at least I don't have to rush to get home in time for a quick shower and a bite of breakfast before heading to school. I only had a couple close calls...pretty typical for Taipei.

Today was rather nice because school was dismissed at 2:00 instead of our normal 2:30. (now don't go thinking them's all the hours we work, cuz we routinely work till 5:00, get to school before 7:00 am, take work home with us and work on the weekends)

Taipei was holding an air raid drill, which means all traffic stops, and nobody is allowed out in the city streets. School buses needed to run earlier in order to get the kiddos home. I got a bit of work done, visited with a former 5th grade student who will soon be on her way to a boarding school in Switzerland, and left school at 3:30. It was nice to be on the bike by 3:50. It wasn't nice because I had a bonker of a ride...sore muscles from Jillian's workout, plus not having had much lunch (not enough time) and the heat did me in again. At least I got out, and I expect the heat will improve day by day, so I won't have that excuse to whine before too long.

Bloody hot ride yesterday!

Yes, I like the blue sky. No, I don't like to ride in the sun in Taipei when the temperature is 95 degrees and the humidity is 49%, which makes the heat index 105. It feels hotter than that because of all the concrete and asphalt...not like in Nebraska where I ride in wide open spaces. Yesterday was a tough ride for me. Karen P. and I took off from TAS, and met up with Chen Li at Guandu.

Keeping up a pretty good clip, we rode around the Archaeological Museum and stopped at the Giant bike shop before heading back to Bali. I started feeling the heat just before we got to the wharf, so stopping for cranberry juice and Pocari Sweat was just what I needed. Once we rested, we took off again for home, but I couldn't keep the pace that Karen was setting. Heat was just too much, so I finally stopped, Karen and Chen Li came back and I told them to go on ahead. After that I stopped in the shade occasionally, and kept a slow, steady pace home. I didn't get overheated that way, and I recovered quickly when I got home.

Other than the heat, it was a nice ride. We're going to start going out at 6:00 am next week, though, to avoid some of the worst of the heat.

Karen and I saw this dead little critter just as we were turning a corner to get onto the bike path. I had to turn around and get a picture because we rarely see these things in this kind of condition. That's my cell phone beside it.



Karen and Chen Li in action on the bike path.



When it's hot and sunny here, nobody stops right at the intersections to wait for red lights. We all stop and wait far behind, wherever there is a hint of shade.

Riding in the country

I really do love riding my bike in this area of Nebraska...the people are friendly, there isn't a lot of traffic, the sky is incredibly blue, and I've got miles and miles of paved country roads. I think this first picture is of the road north of Brady.



This is a shot of another open road.

ROC'n Jerseys

This photo shows five of us in Taiwan wearing Randonneurs of China cycling t-shirts. They are definitely eye-catching, especially here. Yep, they even come with a rendition of the Chinese flag on the back. A guy hollered at Meredith and her group when they returned to their apartment building to NOT wear the Chinese flag. Hmmm, seems some Taiwanese folks still don't like China. I may yet cover up the flag on my t-shirt, since I'm not too fond of China's politics and policies myself. Uh oh, I mentioned Taiwan and China in the same post...will this blog now self-destruct???

Take a Kid Biking Day

A couple of guys who rode regularly with Dave Wittry decided to put together this ride as a memorial and fund-raiser for his family. It was a beautiful day in which to ride, and about 30 people showed up, including plenty of kids. Dave's wife Jody, and his two children were also in attendance. The ride went from Guandu to Tanshui and back again, not a great distance, but plenty for all the kids. The first photo is of all the riders.



The second photo is of me leading Tru back to Guandu.

After School Ride

In trying to ramp up my miserly miles, I've tried to get out after school a few times a week, and before school (at 5:00 am) a few times as well. One of my favorite after school places is to ride the bike path that goes in front of the Grand Hotel along the Keelung (I think) River. It's easy to get to without having to navigate too much insane traffic, and after school it's not ridiculously busy. I was riding happily along two weeks ago when I saw these kayakers out practicing. I like the colors of the kayaks and Taipei 101 in the background.


And this is an amazing photo because there is no one in it! It is not often there is a stretch of clear pavement.

Weekend Rides

Talk about a weekend of contrasts. Saturday's weather was glorious and virtually wind-free. Two brand-new people joined our regular Saturday morning bike path ride, and one old-timer joined us, which gave us six riders for the morning. The bike paths weren't even too crowded, so consequently, we had a completely enjoyable morning. This first photo was taken "on the fly" and I was able to capture the group as they were rounding a corner passing a few other riders.


We found some rowers who had finished their practice, and one happily took this group photo of us. From left to right: Adelle, Brenda, Gretchen, Karen W., Karen J., and Karen P. This was under the bridge at the Dragon Boat racing/practice area.


And imagine our surprise when we came to the end of one path, only to find this blockade "preventing" us from crossing the intersection to get onto the path that connected with the one we just got off. Karen P. ran up ahead to see if we could go around three different barriers, and she happily reported that all was clear once we cleared them. Funny part? As we were going through one area, one of the construction crew members came and held the tape for us so we could get through easier.


Sunday is my solo, usually long-distance day. However, I settled for 30 miles today due to the crowds on the roads, the wind along the coast (and everywhere else), and the hills that crushed me. I am happy to say I kept a good attitude and just enjoyed the last of the ride once I decided to pack it in. I've been eying this rice for sometime, and today was the day to capture it with the camera.