How was your ride today?

:rofl:

I had a really awful ride today, partly my fault. I’m not very technologically efficient and can’t get Google maps to recognize local park paths unless I’m directly on them. Nonetheless, I’ve actually never used Strava and decided to give it a whirl.

The results were pretty embarrassing.

Got half way, going a decent cruising speed around 23km/hr. Suddenly the bike route signs disappeared, I tried going down the nearest bridge but that lead nowhere. And I really didn’t want to just turn around. So I plugged my destination into Google Maps using the pedestrian option.

Horrible idea. I got routed left and right through nearly every main road and I’m pretty sure I was riding where I shouldn’t have for a little while. Sucking down vehicle exhaust the whole way. I’m more upset that it cut down my average speed to 17km/h though.

The first half was pretty fun though. I normally begin riding in the opposite direction. Most areas were pretty empty, so I was able to keep a nice steady cadence.

The bike path to Sanxia is pretty nice by night, and less crowded than more in the north.

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The paths are all about experience. Once you get used to it you’ll laugh at how you used to not know your way around and those short cuts to skip traffic.

Can you tell how hot it was by just looking at the picture?

I was hoping to link up with a few guys from the (Unoffocial) Forumosa Cycling club, but everyone’s idea of “early” was different, so we all went off to do our own thing.

I was up at 4:30AM to meet up with a few other local friends at 5:30AM and I felt pretty damn horrible going to sleep and waking up in darkness. Nonetheless, I thanked myself later for setting an early meet up when it was “only” 27C when we started to climb.

We went up to Wu Fen Shan via Da Hu and then down FGZ (@the_bear finally got it right) and planned to ascend Leng Shui Keng for the final peak. Time got the better of me and I had to rush home after the first section of the climb. So my ride got cut short by 6-8km.

It was my first time on a 50/34 crank on my new bike and it definitely feels much better for injury recovery (and climbing) than the ol 52/36.

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Ta. My mistake - knew there was a better place… :stuck_out_tongue:

I got you covered! :smiley:

That’s what I’m here for.

Yesterday I went to ride in GuangYingShan (again!) and wanted to climb it by one of the roads starting near BaLi. I manged to take one of the steepest roads I’ve ever seen in Taiwan, which fucked me to the point that I was breathing like a dying haunted beast, and eventually I had to get off the bike. Each pedal stroke was lifting the front wheel and the descent wasn’t better as my left hand was having cramps due to the continuous braking (and well, I have a problem in a finger…).

When I took the normal road up to the visitor center, I was slow but felt much much better…

Bonus: I had to stop to say hi to this lady;
P_20170726_192655

I told myself I was only going to do a quick 30K run up Zhong She community and then roll back down to go home. I ended up heading up to Leng Shui Keng with the guys. Roads were surprisingly clear despite it being a day after the typhoon.

We decided to take the scenic route and roll down the infamous Yong Gong Road and it’s 5 stingers. A 10 minute descent turned into a 20 minute photo shoot…

永公假掰_170801_0017

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Classic. Great piece of tarmac also.

Hi
My boy (15 yo) and 1 classmate (2 at the start, but one gave up mid way)
just finished his second Tour of Taiwan by bicycle.
Despite / thanks to the typhoons, they finished in 13 days.
He has so much potential.
Keep posting your rides in central Taiwan! Wish he can join you!

How was my ride today?
Well, actually yesterday … Something like ur photo shoot above… But ending a bit more serious :sob::sob:

First serious bike-encounter with the Taiwanese pavement in 20 years, so I guess statistically I am still on the good side …
Luckily nothing broken, but the most painful I ever encountered from everything I have broken and fractured in my life.

20452056_1703805579925683_6066135159035838451_o

Sorry to see that, I’ve always heard collar bone injuries are some of the most painful in the whole body.

How’s the accident go down?

Ooops! I hope you’re well… yesterday I also went to the ground, second time in a bridge under the rain in less than 2 months. This time there was a patch that was repainted with paint not designed for bikepaths… zero adherence if wet. I was seriously considering to sue somebody, but then I thought that it would get nowhere (“please walk your bike”)… motherfuckers…

so what happened to you?

Damn that sucks, hope you get well soon! I’m scared of looking at collarbone x-rays nowadays…

It is (or actually was) a dislocated shoulder, bones around it are fine.

As said, by far the most painful experience I ever had, and that includes quite some … I am still not sure if I got full anastatia before they pulled the shoulder back, or if I just passed out once I left the X-ray room. :frowning_face:

I was on an early morning YMS downhill when a dog rushed on the road, not chasing me, maybe just his own shadow.
I saw him coming, braked off most off the speed, but still went over the handlebar when I hit him.
I landed breast forward, and felt the shoulder snapping upon impact, all very clear.

Bad thing is that I was fully conscience of my situation, but hardly could do anything because of the pain, just laying on the pavement.

A passing scooter guy called 119.
Heads-up for him, he stayed the full time till the police and later the ambulance arrived.
Trying to trace him as he deserves a cold 6pack for sure.

That’s exactly why I try to avoid riding in the rain, but I guess that is a luxery problem.

Well, I’m sure I wouldn’t have had any problem yesterday if they had used the right paint.

Oof, I’m glad your okay. Wishing you a swift recovery my friend.

I have a very wild guess that your accident happened on Dào xiāng Rd. The road that cuts from Fuxing Gang MRT over to the 101.