They close the gate to enter the property unfortunately.
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Ok, thanks. Darn, I’d grown quite fond of that cold-water fill-up.
What idiocy to close off those sorts of facilities. My respect for how Taiwan has handled COVID is plummeting rapidly. “Hey, much of the rest of the world learned last year that all this stuff was bad or pointless to do! Let’s do the same thing!”
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No excuses, just ride harder and faster up 101 and Balaka. 
Ride faster = more suffering = less time riding = less water consumed
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My current not-completely-irrational fear is passing out from dehydration because I go for a ride on a “non-shopping” day (ID-determined), and an empty 7-11 won’t let me in to buy a bottle of water. Or descending into Jinshan and discovering the locals have set up a road block, so I have to go back up over the mountain. And I’ve got no water. And the monkeys eat me.
I know, I know, as far as we can tell the ID-determined shopping days don’t apply to convenience stores, or even New Taipei City, nor are monkeys devouring cyclists. Yet.
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If you have two water bottle cages and are used to using one for water and the other for tire repair tools, it might be a good idea to ditch the repair bottle for an addition bottle of water.
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Thanks - I’ve normally got two full bottles (one water, one sports drink). But in summer I go through about one bottle every 90 minutes - if less, I wind up vaguely “hungover” and out of it for the rest of the day. Tire tools are in a saddle bag.
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A consideration for me lately has been to not bring too much water, or else I may need to use a restroom during the ride. All the convenience store restrooms I’ve seen (along with others) have been closed.
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I’m glad it’s not just me. I get this even with a 3L camelbak that gets drained most rides.
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They make them that big?
Doubted myself for a second there.
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Oh cool. I was imagining a huge bottle!
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They do make bladders that size. Osprey does as well in a slightly different shape.
Not sure if you’re a guy or a gal. If you’re a guy, this shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve taken leaks along the road where cars drive by. Just be sure you face the right direction.
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The ubiquity of dashboard cams make me more uneasy about doing this than I once was. The occasional times I see televised Taiwan news … wow, are they ever starved for content. For a video of a foreigner urinating roadside to be considered “newsworthy” wouldn’t shock me.
But presumably these days there’s enough other stuff going on to keep news shows busy.
And, at the right time of year (mainly fall), watch out for those spiders in the mountains! More than once I’ve taken a step or two off the road and then my eyes have suddenly shifted focus to just in front of my eyes - and, oh. I’m pretty sure they’re not dangerous. But the sudden surprise may make your toilet stop a bit more, er, substantial and sudden than intended.
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Yes please! Especially since cycling shorts have no zipper and so are somewhat revealing.
My mask today. Bought at Poyo. For now, this is my preferred brand. Almost no fogging up of my cycling glasses and I could breathe. I felt no urge to pull the mask down to my chin because lack of air.
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PITTA masks fulfill the mask requirement, but only filters PM2.5.
Your chance of contracting COVID is relatively the same if you aren’t wearing this mask. 
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Ha, ha! I’m glad you brought that up in case anybody buys these for the wrong reasons.
You know where I live, ranlee. I get up early and I’m basically by myself on that mountain. There are walker/hikers (actually their number has gone up in recent weeks), but I pass them while leaving a big distance. So the mask is basically on my face to avoid the mask fines.
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Yeah, it’s kind of grey area, along with the whole bunch of rules right now.
Just be careful out there!
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No, not even PM2.5. It only filters out pollen and dust particles. The one advantage of Pitta mask is that it’s washable (up to 3 times, by hand).
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Haha, says the wildlife observer 
Glad that I’ve never encountered that on the occasions I stepped into the woods when nature called. Getting bitten by mosquitoes and getting dirt in my cleats were my main concerns.