On Double Tenth Day I rode up to Taichung to join a group of local riders for a ride up to Sun Moon Lake and back again.
Early Start
The kids were booked in for mommy’s care for the day so I was ready to get an early start.
Google Maps estimated my trip to around 130km for the ride from my house to the meeting spot in Wufeng. I estimated that I could average 25km/h for that whole stretch.
Just to be on the safe side I intended to start at 1:00, but that didn’t work out and I left at 2:00 on the dot after going to 7-11 to pick up food for the trip. This turned out to be only just enough time, and most of the riders were already there waiting as I pulled up at 7:20.
Eating on the Road
Part of the early morning was to test my ability to eat while on the bike. My aim was to stay on the bike for the entire trip to Taichung and eat the goodies I had bought to keep me nourished along the way.
As this was just a test I had, a few days earlier, set up a plastic bucket for holding food at the front of the bike. I took a plastic container, cut the front section to a slightly more aerodynamic (non-square) shape and zip-tied it to the underside of my aerobars.
The result is a very ugly contraption for carrying stuff. It works extremely well though.
I filled it with 4 seaweed wrapped rice triangles and a sandwich from 7-11. That was enough for one on the hour, every hour. Note that I’m also playing with the quantity of food I need to ingest while riding too.
Two issues came up during the ride.
Firstly, I hadn’t put any padding in the basket. This was okay as the things I was putting in were soft. If anything harder needs to be placed in there it makes a knocking sound the whole time. This happened with a roll of Frutips later in the ride.
Secondly, and more seriously, I didn’t have a cover.
I knew that the roads I was riding were in good condition, but it doesn’t take a big bump for things to fall out a shallow basket. I placed my arm warmers in the basket, and placed my rice triangles inside those to try and keep things together. They fell out twice. I’ll make a cover for the next time. Although it doesn’t look slick, there’s something quite satisfying solving a problem for only NTD45.
The Ride There
Was uneventful. Took some new roads, was pleasantly surprised, and might be tempted to take them again in the future.
I thought it was a little strange how good the roads were. It’s actually a bit misleading to look at the category of road to decide what it’s surface will be like. The roads of this category on the way to Alishan were quite messed up, but the coastal road of a slightly higher category is not better kept and in many places worse.
Arrival
Outside the 7-11 there was a small crowd of people waiting to get started.
They had gotten there early, some at 6:50, so had already been waiting half an hour when I got there. I had to eat so I scoffed down a quick meal before setting off.
The ride set off quickly, with some of the riders heading off before I was quite finished eating. Just after the first bridge, as I caught up, the majority of the pack set off on a slightly different route to what had been arranged before.
But Mike, who was eating when I set off and said he’d catch up was not with us yet. So we waited by the turnoff. He didn’t see us and went off on the original route, so Domenic and I chased him down and headed to the spot where we’d meet the others.
I quickly figured out that Mike would be my riding companion for this ride. As the others set off to conquer each climb, we’d tag along and play catch-up. I was quite grateful for the company, as I prefer to stick with at least one other person for conversation on social rides. Mike is also quite new to cycling and I know from when I started riding years ago, I always appreciated someone sticking with me while I was at the back.
Lots of Climbing
The route along the 14 was a gentle climb, and then a lot of the group decided to just follow that road up to the lake. But seven of us took to the smaller roads for the very pleasant and steep back roads to the top of the hill.
The route was No. 14 -> right onto 147 -> left onto 131 -> right onto No. 21 -> eastward around lake until ItaThao village -> 63 over the hills -> No. 16 westward.
The hills were all a challenge, but the really great payoff was the final decent down the 63.
Roads in great shape, perfect corners for speed, mirrors on every bend (to check for oncoming traffic), with a final straight section taking the speed up into the 60s. Nice.
Bicycle Repair Man
As Mike and I started the long, lonely stretch along the No. 16 back towards Taichung we spotted a rider pushing his bike.
As is my custom I pulled over to check on his situation.
He told me his tire had burst and he was pushing until he could call for a ride. He told me his tire was completely busted.
I accepted his answer and went on for a bit, but hesitated, so I stopped and asked him for more details. He showed me his wheel and as it turns out, he just had a nail in his tire.
He had all the necessary tools with him, so I just grabbed his stuff and started doing my thing.
Off with the back wheel, tube out, tire check, new tube in, pump up the tire. Done. Couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes.
He expressed lots of concern that his tire had been destroyed and wasn’t usable. I told him he could have a glimpse at my rear tire if he wants to see just how much abuse a tire can take. My rear slick has a large flat spot in the middle and multiple holes. The tubes with clusters of patches have their own story to tell too.
I’d forgotten just how much I’ve really learnt about how to fix my own bike. I consider taking tires off without tire levers to be quite a simple affair, whilst many people gawk in amazement at the feat. Fixing a puncture takes me 10 minutes using a patch, that also accounts for re-tightening the cones with my hands before putting the wheel back in.
Heading Home
Shortly after the tire repair, Mike and I parted ways. He was heading back towards where we started the ride on the day. But I thought I’d just head straight home, seeing as I had over 5 hours of riding ahead of me.
The ride home was much like the ride out, a little busier, and I still needed to consult Google Maps on my phone to avoid wrong turns. Mostly through the small towns, where the roads would take unexpected turns.
At Dounan I hunted down a McDonalds and filled myself with a huge number of oily calories for rest of the ride. After this, saddle pain started to set in and 34 hours without sleep started to take its toll.
At around 20:30 I rolled up at my inlaws place, scoffed down everything on the table, then headed home for a quick shower and then bed. A 6:30 morning was waiting the next day.
Lessons Learnt
Don’t eat too much rice.
As much as rice does well for my stomach compared to noodles, I need to get calories without the bulk. I was too full from all the rice, but still needed more calories.
I’m wary of “energy” foods because of their high sugar contents. I need to investigate this more, but here are some ideas for next time.
- Sandwiches with peanut butter and honey (both high in calories, less bread, more spread)
- Some sports drink (I only had water this time round, but this is also simple sugar)
- Other 7-11 foods (main source of sustenance on rides, I had some chips last time)
Adjust handlebars
Stem needs to be shorter. Aerobar position is too far forward. Without a shorter frame, a shorter stem is the only choice. My neck gets too sore in the current position. Especially for any ride that’s going to last longer than 10 hours.
Riding Glasses
When on the aerobars I’m looking over the tops of my lenses. In the day it’s not essential that I have clear vision. I can ride without my glasses just fine. But at night I need the glasses so I have to rise my head to look through the lenses, this is too tough on the neck. Contact lenses perhaps?
For now I need to make these changes and get focused on my round-the-island trip.
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Tired and happy,
Peter