[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-VVKvmmRkWCc/Ua7l7JCPquI/AAAAAAAALdY/K4dwWZ4VmWE/s144-c-o/IMAG1742.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885894567220194018″ caption=”The Sun Rising Over the Central Mountains on my Commute to the Start” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1742.jpg” ]
June the 2nd marked my first ever randonneur. It was nothing like I expected.
My ongoing excuse to myself had been how complicated the online form for entering the race had been. But I put my ridiculousness aside and went ahead and slowly filled out the form and emailed to confirm missing details and anything I wasn’t sure about. So all was well and a few days before the race I received confirmation of the starting time and a GPS map of the route.
[pe2-image src=”//lh4.ggpht.com/-0CxgksTcyk4/Ua7m2f0wHxI/AAAAAAAALfg/xpDDjnYfpxc/s144-c-o/IMAG1759.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885895586949898002″ caption=”Zengwen Dam” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1759.jpg” ]
The night before the race was just like many of my long rides – sleepless. I fiddled with my bike for much of Saturday afternoon with Christopher as my sidekick. As he wrapped electrical tape around various parts he declared, “a new bike.” After kids were in bed I went to do some Google mapping to check out all the details of the ride.
Much of the route is on roads I have ridden before. Although the start was not nearby, a lot of the route was on my regular mountain roads. This, I suspect, gave me some false confidence in my abilities.
The strangest part of the preparation was getting everything ready. Typically I ride with tools for repairs and other essentials. This ride forced me to expand that list dramatically.
- front helmet light
- rear helmet light
- front bike light
- rear helmet light
- helmet
- relective vest
- bell (it’s the law)
and most tragically… no tribars.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-HFhiaopg_lI/Ua7mISzv6XI/AAAAAAAALd4/f21aj30DN7s/s144-c-o/IMAG1746.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885894793182046578″ caption=”Matthew waving past my helmet-mounted light” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1746.jpg” ]
My lightest lights went on my helmet. I found a light that had been given to me a week or so before. The rear lights I have plenty of. The bell I borrowed from Christopher’s bike. I got a stern warning the next day that I had not returned it to him. Quite a load in the end.
So at 2:30 I lay down for an hour’s rest. An hour later I was out the door and on my long commute to the start.
One of the things that I always have to account for is distance and the time it takes to do things by bike. I’m pretty set on the bike-only lifestyle, but there are definitely limits. In this case it meant a 47km ride to the start line. It is a long, flat ride which I did in a very slow 2 hours and 20 minutes. A warm up for the day.
However, the one thing that the commute alerted to me to was that I wasn’t feeling great. I wasn’t sick or anything, but I certainly wasn’t feeling peppy. I kept double-checking my speedometer to make sure I wasn’t riding too fast, but I was maintaining an even slow pace.
I arrived at the venue right on time along with some of the early birds.
[pe2-image src=”//lh5.ggpht.com/-KB3y3UpH9Qs/Ua7l9heQK8I/AAAAAAAALdg/-nBlhm_3k9Q/s144-c-o/IMAG1743.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885894608139856834″ caption=”The Start” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1743.jpg” ]
The 200k rides attract quite a number of riders. The distance makes it a good introduction to the world of long-distance riding. They also separate the first-timers from the veterans by giving all the first-timers white numbers. There were a lot of white numbers that day.
After giving a hardy “good morning” to a few folks two other foreign chaps showed up. Small world, but as it turns out I had already met Mark Roche on Facebook and he had brought along his friend Matthew for his first 200k. We got to chatting and sort of settled on sticking together for the ride. They had both come up from Kaohsiung and stayed in town for the night.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-0oPNFmgFChE/Ua7mCtl-ruI/AAAAAAAALdo/iPxEGO3i1bY/s144-c-o/IMAG1744.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885894697292836578″ caption=”New Friends: Mark and Matthew” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1744.jpg” ]
The ride set off along the flats, with everyone sticking in a big group. One thing about the group is that they are not as tight as road races. The distance involved means that the longer term strategy is important. People tended to keep a bit of distance between their wheels. This doesn’t help the pace much so I tried to keep close and then move into any gaps that formed, while still keeping within my comfort zone.
In a comment to Mark I quipped that I’ll try to suck as much wind as possible, to which he replied, “I usually stick behind the biggest guy I can find. Today, that’s you.” And to tell the truth he was completely right. Looking at pictures after the event I am almost upright on my bike. Setting up my bike for extensive aerobar use has the bars set high. Perfect for when on the aerobars, but I couldn’t use those one the day.
[pe2-image src=”//lh4.ggpht.com/-YBMgn_NETEc/Ua7mF–GMoI/AAAAAAAALdw/H6fQ4TUu4CE/s144-c-o/IMAG1745.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885894753497002626″ caption=”Flatland Cruising” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1745.jpg” ]
An hour or so on the flats and we were heading towards the hills. The first compulsary 7-11 stop was a traffic jam or riders buying something and getting their cards stamped. We took a short break then pressed on.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-dBfOPvG70C4/Ua7mM9Dt9AI/AAAAAAAALeI/Y1tzQ2oG8K4/s144-c-o/IMAG1748.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885894873242792962″ caption=”The First 7-11 Checkpoint – Long Queues” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1748.jpg” ]
These were some steep hills into Guanziling. This area, famous for it’s hot springs, rises up above the plains, a precursor to the massive central mountain range. The hills went by soon enough and I was grateful for my MTB gearing that still allowed me to pedal smoothly up the hill, although very slowly. I can’t really remember if I hit granny gear, affectionately called “hero gear” by one roadie I’ve met, but I got a chance to pop some easy wheelies on the way up.
The climbing continued for quite a while and suddenly I noticed that it wasn’t as hot as I had expected. I spoke too soon and realized that it was only 9:00 and the temperatures would only soar from there.
[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-Wr2lHQlMnBc/Ua7mQnclWgI/AAAAAAAALeY/VEaekCbBQRw/s144-c-o/IMAG1750.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885894936160983554″ caption=”Tailing Two Other Riders” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1750.jpg” ]
Once up onto the hilly roads the traffic calmed and the great views began.
This area is a stretch of hills that are a prelude to the main mountain range further East. It’s pretty quiet all the time. I’ve been out there to explore before.
We hit the 175 coffee road which I had been on before and quickly proceeded to a non-compulsary stop point. What a pleasure. There was water and xian-cao drink for us. Very refreshing. But we moved on quick.
[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-tfiM-ORcIEE/Ua7mVnapwNI/AAAAAAAALeo/1jsMgo9eJOs/s144-c-o/IMAG1752.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885895022052229330″ caption=”Matt and Mark coming into the rest area (one of the only times I was ahead of them)” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1752.jpg” ]
A bit more climbing and we were speeding down toward the mango town of Yujing. This town is know for it’s mangoes which are now in season. We didn’t have time for them and pressed through a long, flat section towards the 7-11. On all the flats I just stuck to someone else’s tail. I was not feeling good and I felt like I was holding the others back. So with all my might I tried to hold their tails.
[pe2-image src=”//lh5.ggpht.com/-_QaB24fl1IM/Ua7mZdjZADI/AAAAAAAALe4/bLTmR4zUpew/s144-c-o/IMAG1754.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885895088124002354″ caption=”Cruising Downhill” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1754.jpg” ]
We retraced our route into town and then headed north along the number 3.
The number 3 is a provincial road that runs north to south in the lower hills of Taiwan’s mountains. Not all of it is beautiful but the section from here is breathtaking. Mark told me that a really beautiful route is to take the road up Alishan then turn onto the number 3 and head down. I have to try that sometime.
Most of the traffic died out, aside from the boys on their scooters racing through the hills. Although the scooters are noisy, I do prefer them to the big bikes. Little would-be-racers on 125s are okay. Take that same pathetic skill and plop them on a 1000cc monster and you have a recipe for disaster.
These hills would take their toll with heat. As the sun peaked in the sky, so the forests that lined the road dropped their suffocating humidity on the road. I was sweating profusely and getting drained by the heat.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-Wti7wJZ3Rb0/Ua7mbp-eJ_I/AAAAAAAALfA/DtSqIhixFuw/s144-c-o/IMAG1755.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885895125818550258″ caption=”Construction Crews Doing the Smart Thing… Resting” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1755.jpg” ]
By midday it was peeking at 37 degrees Celcius according to one guy’s Garmin. Yikes.
Speed slowed. Breaks at the tops of hills became more common. The compulsary stop at the 7-11 turn around point turned into a half hour break. I was really surprised when Matt told us we needed to get going as the cutoff was only an hour away.
What?
I had estimated that finishing this ride would be a piece of cake. It was turning into a challenge I had not expected. DNFing was not something I had even considered and I was feeling the pressure to move on. The break also marked a huge earthquake. As Matt and I were sitting outside we felt a small shake followed by a big shake that lasted for a few seconds. Later it was confirmed that there were casualties closer to the epicenter and roads had been covered. There was a flurry of cellphone activity after the shake as everyone phoned their relations to tell them everything was fine.
On we went. We knew that we were retracing our tracks and that we had to climb everything we had just come down. Overall it was more down, but still lots of climbing.
The heat was relentless and the spur of energy after the stop quickly dissipated as the heat pressed down on us once again.
From this point on I was just holding on. I knew I could finish and I just had to stick with it. Thankfully my two wonderful companions were sympathetic and waited for me to catch up every once in a while.
[pe2-image src=”//lh3.ggpht.com/-HWR0Tv93Jic/Ua7m0HbgL8I/AAAAAAAALfY/FC0iCJa0WnY/s144-c-o/IMAG1758.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885895546041806786″ caption=”Getting to the Zengwen Resevoir” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1758.jpg” ]
A quick pass by Zengwen dam was followed by the last big climb of the day. I had thought the climb was worse, but I just put my head down and pushed on through to the other side. Although I wasn’t feeling super I also wasn’t close to cramping which is a good thing. Cramping was set as my upper barrier. Just don’t hit that point.
[pe2-image src=”//lh6.ggpht.com/-TL-mE_2pG7c/Ua7m4QdiZ8I/AAAAAAAALfo/89snxWjBRqY/s144-c-o/IMAG1760.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5885895617185736642″ caption=”Final View of the Hills” type=”image” alt=”IMAG1760.jpg” ]
Spin, spin, spin to the top and we were on our way. From here only some rolling hills escorted us back to the flatlands and the 30km flat section to the finish. We reached the bottom and then tucked in.
I was having hard time keeping up. Mark would start to pull ahead when we were in a group and I would slowly fall behind. So it was Matthew and I until Mark held back a bit.
We made the final 7-11 stop and set out on the last section with three other guys. They led us through the last part into Chiayi and right to the finish. We finished up at a famous chicken rice restaurant, with a complimentary dish that was included in our entry fee.
I was completely exhausted and decided that trying to commute the 50km back home was a terrible idea. I asked around and finally found someone with space to give me a lift back to near my home.
Mark posted some pics of me.
[pe2-image src=”//lh5.ggpht.com/-XE9FNBZ1mrU/UbmAo7sQ6OI/AAAAAAAALh4/-DP6sGwinVg/s144-c-o/tropic-of-cancer-chiayi-randonneur-200k-5.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110249026098208712655/ChiayiTaiwanRandonneur200K#5888879428470106338″ caption=”Wheelie – I’m really out of practice” type=”image” alt=”tropic-of-cancer-chiayi-randonneur-200k-5.jpg” ]
Looking back at the ride, I’m trying to figure how to handle things better next time. This ride was way too difficult, far more than I expected, and far more than it should have been.
Next time…
Less clothing. I pretty much go without a shirt on daytime rides nowadays. Perhaps just the compulsory safety vest next time. Anything more is just too hot. The helmet doesn’t help either, how to make it cooler?
Lighten the bike. Take off the heavy-duty fenders, carry more water instead. Get more water bottle holders, two is not enough in summer.
Get fit. As I’ve been focusing on my general fitness and body strength I’ve been neglecting my riding. Perhaps I need to throw a little more riding back in there. I need a weekly training schedule, but not too hectic.
Overall…
This was an awesome experience. Good riding with other folks. Good riding in a race/ride format I have been interested in for a few years now.
And a big shout out to Matthew and Matt, you guys rock for sticking together (and staying back with me). Thanks! See you at the 300k.