I had the unfortunate luck of falling off a bike today, because I tried to cross from the sidewalk into the porch on Zhongshan N. Rd where the underground walkway kinda takes away nearly all of the sidewalk space. Well there’s a section right before that at the porch where one portion was angled to allow wheel access, but another portion was a ledge that drops off about 1 inch. Well needless to say my bike front wheel hit that ledge at about a 5 degree angle, causing my handlebar to go where it shouldn’t go, but the momentum still carried me towards the porch… causing a slip and a fall. Some nice foreign couple stopped by to make sure I was fine. However, watch the ground when you bike… they have these ledge trap all over Taiwan that causes accidents. This is true with loose ground tiles too!
why are you riding on the sidewalk?
I’m having a hard time picturing the scenario. What do you mean by “porch”?
I did something similar when I first bought my bike…
I was on my way home from the bike shop and didn’t even last 15min when I hit a small ‘ledge’ on a bike path at a slight angle and fell/dropped the bike.
Didn’t help that the road was damp either.
Not going to work… Politicians drive around the city with servants who does all the work, they really do not get affected by the crappy sidewalk, which by Taiwan standard is actually pretty good in Taipei. If you ever go to Taichung or elsewhere its much much worse.
If you’re referring to my plea to ‘sort it out’, it was hardly a serious request. It seems the culture here is very much geared towards the car and scooter, so I am absolutely sure there is no incentive to pander to the grumblings of a minority of (foreign) toddler-pushing pedestrians. However, I cannot not register my concerns, as when I end up with a twisted/broken ankle my lawyers will be ready to pounce. ;0)
TAIPEI CITY GOVERNMENT
Dear Foreign Guests,
When visiting Taipei, attention should be focused on the big, pointy building and shiny underground trains.
Thank you for your cooperation,
The Management