How was your ride today?

Using a straw, through the smoking hole.

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I went for a ride yesterday afternoon and many parts of the riverside parks near Gongguan on both sides of the river were mud covered. Had to turn around several times to avoid getting my bike dirty, but a water truck was already cleaning the paths. Most of the mud should be removed by now.

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I ride down to Bitan today and it was impassible. Absolutely covered with mud.

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Quick diversion: what are the rules of eating or drinking…

I like to drink and snack. Can I safely sit on a bench or curb away from people and leisurely drink my can of coffee or tea and eat my cookies.
Right now, I just remove my medical mask and put on one of those Chinese hat mask combinations where the mask just loosely sits in front of your face.
Seems kind of corny when the sun isn’t shining too brightly.

Yeah, I like to do this as a reward for reaching my destination. Ok. One of my small little pleasures…

You will die in hell sir. Back to isolation ward for you!

Regular use of road cycle track, just love the view.
Alnmouth Northumberland UK








emphasized text

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I am not sure whether I like the bike or the Guinness more. Can I haz both?

Note to self, after a typhoon, ride up a mountain instead of down to the river to avoid mud. As I was turning around before a muddy area, I saw people on Youbikes riding through the mud. No wonder those 1.0 Youbikes get old so fast. If people would cherish public bikes like their own, we’ll have better Youbikes. :roll_eyes:

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I’m not sure about the specific CDC rules on this. On the riverside paths and even in the city I would do a quick lift or pulling down of the mask for a squirt of hydration as long as I am not in close proximity to others. In the mountains I will pull down the mask under my nose when no one is around and then pull it up if passing some hikers. When eating a snack bar or one of those carb gels I’m always completely alone (at the top of a climb), so I will pull down the mask for that. But I’m not sure if that would technically put me at risk of a “fine” or not.

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I would advise staying in a day or two after a typhoon.

I have ridden a day right after a typhoon and some of the mountain roads do have plenty of leaves and twigs on the road. Easy to avoid going up, but coming down it gets a bit dangerous.

It’s just the gray area, but really, if there’s no one around and you take off your mask to drink water or eat something, who’s going to know? Police aren’t going to be in the mountains scouting for cyclists or hikers not wearing masks. At this point, it’s just being socially responsible and putting your mask back on.

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The wimp climb is in my neighborhood. At the top, keep going straight about 50 meters, then head up for a nice little 20% gradient fun! That segment is called “wimp climb, my ass!”

I did the ride just yesterday. I passed someone who had stopped for a bit toward the bottom to look at 101. He then stuck not too far from me the whole way up. I almost wanted to apologize to him at the top because I’m in bad cycling shape and I probably didn’t give him the workout he wanted.

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I plan to bring bike back to Taipei with me.

Guinness may spill a little but can try :grinning:

You stole his segment. Do 100 laps to apologize

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This morning: up Balaka and then Datunshan. Very pleasantly surprised by how little debris there was on the road - you wouldn’t have known a typhoon swept by a few days ago. No issues at all.

I need to get better at consistently pushing myself. I’m good on the 101 stretch, but on Balaka itself there are too many sections where I’m plodding along and should really be increasing the effort a little more - this especially happens when I slow down for a slightly steeper stretch, but then stay slow after that steeper part.

Thank you to the person who passed me going slightly faster - keeping up with them (slightly behind, not too close) was good motivation for a while, unlike last time up there, when someone shot past me around the same point and left me sobbing in emotional collapse at the side of the road in their dust.

And there was definitely that summer thing of feeling the temperature get hotter and hotter on the descent.

For what it’s worth, the newish water / washroom / military tank (?!) station at the start of the Balaka Road remains securely gated, despite the shift today to Level 2 restrictions. I don’t know what the stated policy is, and it is just the first day at the new level, so maybe it’ll reopen.

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Instead of stopping there, I stop at the Hi-Life just before and rest/stretch before letting Balaka kick my ass.

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I think your experience is normal. The 101 is a bit tougher to ride with its changing gradients than Balaka, so you have already spent a fair amount of your energy before starting Balaka. It doesn’t matter if Balaka gradient is only 3% over 10km, that’s still a long ass climb.

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Man my blood sugar dropped and I tried to hurry home. Then my phone decided to fall off in the middle on traffic of course :sob:. Thankful we both lived. Got to love the covid restrictions of not eating in public

Depending on where you are, I really don’t think you need to worry about those restrictions. I’ve been eating granola bars and drinking from water bottles throughout this whole thing - just not when standing near other groups of people. No lengthy meals outside, and just pulling down the mask for a minute or so at a time, but at that level I think you’re going to be fine.

Plus the restrictions do seem - seem! - to be looser now.

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Think about your Strava achievements. That’ll make you speed up. :wink:

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@lostinasia got right on the dot. I would not worry too much about rules since they have been relaxed, just be socially responsible and put the mask back on when you start riding again.

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