Winter in the Land of my Bikes & Wife
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
RNG1
Well-Known Member
Not sure if you got my email all the way over there...Just finishing up that 1017 page book in just about a week but I've been keeping up with the blog and not much else. That bridge thing is really cool. Looks like the paint is pretty fresh on it unless the weather there doesn't beat up on stuff. Is there a lot of salt water around to corrode stuff? Keep in mind I have no idea where on the planet you actually are.
That's a bummer. I was reading your old 2008 race recaps and noticed I used to beat the socks off of you in sport MTB before I knew you! I miss that feeling.
you said this to me, oh, i don't know, maybe three years ago. i was bitching about training and how road riding sucked...i was doing the ye olde 20 miler loop three or four times a week at that point.
that's when it clicked and when road riding actually got fun. i got out of the 'i'm only doing this so i can ride an mtb faster mode" to exploration and "wow, i never knew that was there" mode.
you're so right, keeping it fresh keeps the interest high. i need to move, new roads are too far away now.
rocknrollgirl
Well-Known Member
Stinky Tofu.....I do not even know what else to say.
Day 8:
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-8-behind-wheel.html
Ride link:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62280421
I started using corrected elevation on Garmin. Total climbing in 7 days is 13,819 feet. 14:26 in the saddle, and just under 200 miles. It's raining again today so I think my hope to go longer is dashed a bit. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
Newest experience yesterday was driving here. In the rain. Then in rush hour. Honestly it pales in comparison to riding a bike in morning school traffic.
Exactly right. And more, it appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Not really nowhere but this village can't be more than 500 people, if only 200. It was tiny. Google maps tagged it as a road. For bike purposes, it would be ok.
This is the kind of thing I love about riding here. Yesterday I saw some old woman washing her laundry in the town gutters on the side of the road as I was passing some small town up to the top of the hill.
That is something that I can't really explain. It does seem to be freshly painted. Not salt water but constant rain. So it does look to be maintained in that regard.
I'm somewhat cautious about how my riding will go when I get back. I won't be surprised to take 2 weeks more or less off. It's going to be hard to come from this and go into the crap weather of NJ winter combined with the sudden loss of new & exciting roads. Though maybe when my stay is up here I'll be done exploring this little corner of the island and looking to explore more of NJ. Who knows.
Word, it should.
Weak on the pics today. Not sure what's up with that.
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-8-behind-wheel.html
Ride link:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62280421
I started using corrected elevation on Garmin. Total climbing in 7 days is 13,819 feet. 14:26 in the saddle, and just under 200 miles. It's raining again today so I think my hope to go longer is dashed a bit. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
Newest experience yesterday was driving here. In the rain. Then in rush hour. Honestly it pales in comparison to riding a bike in morning school traffic.
Exactly right. And more, it appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Not really nowhere but this village can't be more than 500 people, if only 200. It was tiny. Google maps tagged it as a road. For bike purposes, it would be ok.
This is the kind of thing I love about riding here. Yesterday I saw some old woman washing her laundry in the town gutters on the side of the road as I was passing some small town up to the top of the hill.
That is something that I can't really explain. It does seem to be freshly painted. Not salt water but constant rain. So it does look to be maintained in that regard.
I'm somewhat cautious about how my riding will go when I get back. I won't be surprised to take 2 weeks more or less off. It's going to be hard to come from this and go into the crap weather of NJ winter combined with the sudden loss of new & exciting roads. Though maybe when my stay is up here I'll be done exploring this little corner of the island and looking to explore more of NJ. Who knows.
Word, it should.
Weak on the pics today. Not sure what's up with that.
antgold
Member
looks very intersting .
I see you are starting exploring all direction from the town .
you are lucky to be on the side that is relatively inhabitant .
are you planning on some epic circle ?
-7 south
-8 east
-9 north
well now looking on it is about 150 miles ...and the road does not look safe
have you seen this ? http://www.formosanfattire.com/feature/
I see you are starting exploring all direction from the town .
you are lucky to be on the side that is relatively inhabitant .
are you planning on some epic circle ?
-7 south
-8 east
-9 north
well now looking on it is about 150 miles ...and the road does not look safe
have you seen this ? http://www.formosanfattire.com/feature/
do you think you did more or less elevation than garmin reports?
For sure, less. It's basically like this. I'm climbing a 2000 foot hill. I start at 0 feet, I go up constantly to 2000, turn around, and go home. In the end Garmin says 3000 feet, even with the correction on. So there are a few, and really a few, spots where it might level off and even go down for a little bit. So I'd even give you 2100 vertical on that 2000 foot peak. But 3000, no way.
When I get home and turn correction on, I imagine most of the elevation numbers will be cut in half, or worse.
Not sure about a loop, but I do have some epics in mind. That 7 climb would be about 7-9000 feet of vertical I think, so it's more than just your garden variety 150 mile loop. But as you mention, there's a safety issue. 9 is actually illegal for bikes. Where 8 & 9 meet is Hualien, specifically Taroko Gorge. I'd love to do that climb up, but I'm not sure the logistics will work out this trip.
I would look to do something more like 7 south, then take the 7 extension west, towards Taipei. Then either head to my BIL's or back from the north, route 9 south.
Li shan and TaiPing shan are 2 other options. FYI, shan = mountain.
I've looked into that site, it's been dead for a few years. All the guys who used to run it moved back home, I think mostly to Australia. It's not the best weather to be riding dirt right now, since it's going to be predominantly mud.
Day 9 - 1/8/11
Post:
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-9-calvin-grace-show-up.html
Ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62410648
Weather:
Rain
Actually made a sort of loop out of this one. The rain was pissing down on me today, which was kinda crappy. Route was a combination of new/old roads, with 3 different temples thrown in the mix. Kept it on the shorter side because I didn't want to go long with the rain.
I found someone with an actual road bike today, which is pretty rare in these parts:
Post:
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-9-calvin-grace-show-up.html
Ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62410648
Weather:
Rain
Actually made a sort of loop out of this one. The rain was pissing down on me today, which was kinda crappy. Route was a combination of new/old roads, with 3 different temples thrown in the mix. Kept it on the shorter side because I didn't want to go long with the rain.
I found someone with an actual road bike today, which is pretty rare in these parts:
Norm- hitch a ride on this: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/news/15373/
Mushroom, fried, with something else under there, not sure what. It was more or less a standard Japanese meal, no more strange than you'd see in the US. I find Japanese cuisine to be pretty US-friendly in terms of strange things they eat (or don't eat, to be more precise). Japanese and Chinese cuisine is pretty dissimilar IME.
Interesting find Colin. Gotta say it's not a great time of year to be doing something like that.
RNG1
Well-Known Member
C'mon man you really think you can slip Mermaid hair in there among all that other stuff and think we're gonna buy that? Really bro...
I happened to be on the site when this posted and noticed the time said yesterday even though here it is today. That probably means you don't know that the jets pulled off a miracle win (Otherwise known as a not lose) against the Colts last night. The key to the game was them keeping Manning off the field for so long and the jets somehow using voodoo to have Manning think he should keep running the ball. I hope this doesn't spoil the game for you as I guess it will be broadcasted there today cause that is our yesterday but you can now bet on the jets and make some cash over there. Tell everyone that you predict that the jets win with a field goal with 3 seconds to go and maybe they will let you in one of those temples. I just realized that you probably won't see this post until tomorrow which at that point the game will be over where you are. Drat.
I happened to be on the site when this posted and noticed the time said yesterday even though here it is today. That probably means you don't know that the jets pulled off a miracle win (Otherwise known as a not lose) against the Colts last night. The key to the game was them keeping Manning off the field for so long and the jets somehow using voodoo to have Manning think he should keep running the ball. I hope this doesn't spoil the game for you as I guess it will be broadcasted there today cause that is our yesterday but you can now bet on the jets and make some cash over there. Tell everyone that you predict that the jets win with a field goal with 3 seconds to go and maybe they will let you in one of those temples. I just realized that you probably won't see this post until tomorrow which at that point the game will be over where you are. Drat.
rocknrollgirl
Well-Known Member
Enjoy the rain Normie....we really are in the crapper. I picked a shit winter to train for a long race. I am making friends with the trainer.
I'm 13 hours ahead, so I knew about the Jets way before you did. Figured it would be best for you to see for yourself.
Post:
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-10-monkeys-squat-toilet.html
Ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62599189
Highlight was seeing monkeys, and these cool little yellow & orange birds flying around in the forest. Got pissed on by the rain again. I'm going to be so unprepared for February when we get back.
Probably taking today off. All the riding is catching up a bit, and we have to be out of the house by 9:00 this morning and it's raining at 6:00 am. I'll go longer the next 2 days, then we're heading south on the high-speed rail for 2 days on Thu/Fri. So I'll be off the bike for those days as well. Back for the weekend I imagine.
The general weather on the mountain. I have a feeling this is pretty much the way it's going to be up there every day:
Post:
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-10-monkeys-squat-toilet.html
Ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62599189
Highlight was seeing monkeys, and these cool little yellow & orange birds flying around in the forest. Got pissed on by the rain again. I'm going to be so unprepared for February when we get back.
Probably taking today off. All the riding is catching up a bit, and we have to be out of the house by 9:00 this morning and it's raining at 6:00 am. I'll go longer the next 2 days, then we're heading south on the high-speed rail for 2 days on Thu/Fri. So I'll be off the bike for those days as well. Back for the weekend I imagine.
The general weather on the mountain. I have a feeling this is pretty much the way it's going to be up there every day:
Day 11 - 1/10/11
Yeah, I know. But it's hard not to be sick of it. Rain again this morning. Blah
Post, BYOB (bucket):
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-11-toilets-tea-farm.html
No ride. As usual, it rained.
As much as this makes it look like a biking wonderland, most of these bikes had rusted chains and don't appear to actually have been moved in quite some time. Maybe the kids ride these rust buckets to school. No wonder they ride so slowly:
Yeah, I know. But it's hard not to be sick of it. Rain again this morning. Blah
Post, BYOB (bucket):
http://normbrero.blogspot.com/2011/01/taiwan-day-11-toilets-tea-farm.html
No ride. As usual, it rained.
As much as this makes it look like a biking wonderland, most of these bikes had rusted chains and don't appear to actually have been moved in quite some time. Maybe the kids ride these rust buckets to school. No wonder they ride so slowly: