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Zilong Elementary School have had their graduation ride on the cards for a few months.
Their original plan was to ride all the way from their school to Kenting in the south. That would be a total of 185km. Quite a feat, even or the most enthusiastic of casual riders.
I think their was an immense amount of tension between the teacher who was so extremely keen to do the ride, and the other parties involved.
Parents in Taiwan are extremely worried about their kids safety. Understandable, but the school bends to the will of the slightest worry, which ends up with everyone doing the absolute safest things they can. No wonder that people are astounded by athletes here.
Anyways, after all that deliberation they finally settled on just riding the stretch of road from Fangliao to Kenting. In my honest opinion I think it was a very good choice. The last section has much wider roads, beautiful scenery and is beyond Kaohsiung and it’s ridiculous traffic.
So they rode their bikes from their school to Shanhua train station, then headed to Kaohsiung. They stayed in Kaohsiung for the night, then took the train to Fangliao the next morning.
That’s where I joined them.
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At 3:30 in the morning I set out along my usual route down south. Out to the coastal road, then hugged the coast all the way down. The alternative offered by Google Maps was to take the no. 1 through Tainan City and skirt Kaohsiung city on the east. But that would have been a new route and I chose the predictable route over Google Maps’s recommended walking route which is about 10km shorter.
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Going through Kaohsiung was quiet enough as I got there sometime before 6:00 I think. For the first time ever, I’ve had a working GPS plus map to guide me through the city, which meant much less losing my way.
I got to see the big stadium that was used for the Olympics (something like that) and the old gate in the traffic circle you see above.
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But by the time I got to the airport I was in the thick of morning traffic. Damn, I hate scooters.
Living in the countryside has made me realize how much I disliked riding in traffic. Although as a part of my day-to-day commuting I became accustomed to it, I now realize that it was not enjoyment, but just knowing that’s just how it is. Now with no traffic jams and short commutes I am spoiled. But it’s better this way.
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Fortunately there is a very long stretch of dedicated bike lane which gave me at least some reprieve for a while. The roads started to quiet up and I continued at a settled pace. I got to Fangliao at 9:15 where the support team were already waiting for our young heroes to arrive.
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True to their reputation, the train arrived on time, and within a few minutes the kids were bailing out of the cargo gate at the rear of the station.
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Everyone took another 15 minutes to get all their things together. Getting water, putting on arm warmers, applying sunscreen. I was a little shocked to see how many kids were wearing long pants. It was a HOT day. I was wearing sleeveless with the front zipper half open. With face masks, sunglasses, arm-warmers to protect from the sun, some of them were actually feeling faint from the heat.
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At 10:00 we headed off on our ride. The kids were very excited and super eager to make progress. They all had their race faces on, as well as their immense amount of protective gear to protect them from the sun. I was in short sleeved everything, while they had long pants, arm protectors, bandit masks and sunglasses.
From Fangliao station there is a short stretch of one-lane road, but quickly opens onto a double-lane with a large shoulder for motorbikes and bicycles.
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One of the parents in a follow vehicle commented on how she felt moved when she saw the kids riding in a long, single-file line. The feeling I got was that this is how kids should experience the world, with guidance, but doing it all in their own power. The look on their faces and their excitement when they saw things at sea gave a glimpse on just how much this meant for them.
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We made solid time and didn’t let the breaks sretch too long. In the afternoon, we made an unscheduled break in Checheng and ate some kind of local green bean soup. We continued shortly after and made a great stop at Nanwan.
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That second to last stop to put our feet in the sea really signalled that they had made it. Although their final destination was in Kenting, a short stretch away, it was the culmination of the day. Showers, followed by dinner together were to be the end of our day together. The kids went off to enjoy the Kenting night life and I left shortly afterward, at around 7 o’clock for my ride home.
From here on I simply pitted myself against the road.
By this stage I was totally exhausted (as is the case at the halfway mark in every long ride). I had managed a half hour nap at the hostel (I passed out within 30 seconds of putting my head down), but was still very tired. I trudged all the way home. The whole way was quiet. Getting to Kaohsiung I was almost falling asleep on the bike, a fairly unpleasant experience, which I usually circumvent by napping at the side of the road. However, as I really needed my full sleep when I got home, I attempted to push my sleep so that I could get a more full sleep at the end.
It started to rain just as I passed the airport and I took shelter under the entrance to one of the underground stations. I was only there for half an hour, but as I usually do (typical patterns) I weighed up the situation and wondered if sleeping in the park and taking an early train would do better. However, after half an hour the rain abated, and didn’t return.
I headed off on the usual track.
But I took a shortcut. Instead of taking the coastal road through Tainan, I went straight through the city on the No.1. There were no red lights at 4:00 in the morning, which made the flow easy, but with my eyes vigilant for the ever-present numbskulls in their cars giving a little “beep, beep” as they rush through intersections.
It was about five o’clock when I rolled in the door. The neighbors were already up, I stuffed my face with a whole lot of food, showered, then went to sleep until one, in time to eat and go to class.
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I was amazed at how great this trip was for the kids. Seeing non-cyclists pushing as hard as they can is really inspirational. Seasoned cyclist tackling ever-greater feats is great, but this lot were just pushing themselves in something completely new.
Well done to the whole lot. You all made a fantastic effort.