August 2011 – Central Cross

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Nathan

This summer has been filled with lots of riding, plenty of running and I even swam a bit. I have only lived in Taiwan for 3 summers however it seems this year, we have experienced a very dry summer. Mid-month I was very fortunate to be able to slip away for a two day solo ride across the Central Cross of Taiwan. Here is a my quick review of the ride, some photos and Garmin Links.

Thursday morning, three days before the ride, I called the Kuanyun Youth Hostel. They said they had a place for me to stay on Sunday evening so I reserved some floor space. Dinner, breakfast, shower, and extra comfy futon – all for 650NT – can’t beat that. When I hung up the phone I knew I was committed to this ride. I did it last summer and I knew I was in for a big ride. Friday afternoon I had some errands to run in Taipei so I stopped by Taipei Main Station and picked up a ticket for the Sincheng train station. I was able to get a ticket for a train that departed at 7:10am and arrived in Sincheng at 9:35am.

Sunday morning I was very lucky – amazing weather the entire day! I started my ride around 10:00am. I will let the pictures do much of the talking. This year I did not have to wait at the road block, actually I think because it was Sunday there was no road block. However if you are planning to do this ride you might want to check on the road conditions. I was in Tiansian before noon – I was making great time, however I was just spinning up this big hill. I was carrying a lightweight backpack – around 3kg. The ride up the Hualien side of this mountain is one of the most beautiful rides in Taiwan, if not the most beautiful ride. The climb to the youth hostel the grade of the mountain is about 4% to 7% – a couple steep moments, however overall it is pleasant climb. Sunday afternoon I arrived at 4pm – a 5.5 hour ride, stopped to take a lot of pictures and bought a peach. Showered, dinner, chatted with a couple university students and hit the sack at 8:30pm.

Monday I was up at 6am. Breakfast was pretty simple – however my least favorite thing showed up on the table – hairy meat! I was on the road by 7:30am. The big hill – what a climb! From the hostel to the top, man this hill will rip your heart out of your chest and feed it back to you. Gruesome as it might sound, it is a beautiful ride, painful, and unforgiving. Not to mention the low levels of oxygen – at 3000 meters above sea level, even the plant life has adapted to live at such a high altitude. At the top of the mountain it was around 15 degrees, however clear skies – the entire trip I experienced zero rain. The downhill ride was plenty of fun, around Puli temperatures climbed back to 30 degrees. In Guoxing it was around 35. I arrived at the High Speed Rail Station in Wuri around 3pm. Awesome solo ride. I will do it next summer. Why don’t you join me?

Day 1:

Day 2:

Photos:

Posted in Cycling | 87 Comments

Summer East Coast Riding & Yangming-Shan Half Marathon

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Nathan

Wow! July of 2011 has been a knock-down-drag-out month filled with tons cycling and running. The heat is on and my cup is certainly full of sunshine and smiles. School is out and I have been dipping deep – looks like I might hit 1500km on the bike this month and run around 80km. As I write this my legs are toast due to running a half-marathon in Yangming-shan yesterday, I will get to that story near the bottom of the blog post. For first time readers, I am an American living in Taiwan. I am a gung-ho recreational cyclist, occasional sport-tif racer, and once a runner.

During July 4th – 19th 2011 I spent the entire time in a small Amis village on the east coast of Taiwan. I crashed at my wife’s parents place with my 4 year old daughter. The first ride was from Hualien to Changbin on July 5th. It was perhaps the hottest day of the summer. Temperatures at 11am reached the upper 30′s – maxing out around 37 degrees.

My objective during my trip was to explore more of the roads on the east coast and do a couple long rides. Nearly 90% of my riding was completely solo. I tried and tried to get a couple cycling friends to come down – however was unsuccessful, man I gotta change my deodorant.

In this post I want to share 2 or 3 specific rides. The first ride is one I have ridden nearly a dozen times. One landmark on the east coast that most folks might know is the Tropic of Cancer monument. Near the Tropic of Cancer – coming from Hualien at the 70km mark you cross a fairly nice sized red bridge, at this bridge is the beginning of Hua 64 – one of the most beautiful roads in Taiwan. Hands down. Majestic views of a river that empties into the ocean, white water, rock faces the shot into the sky, green lush earth – breathtaking to say the least. Here is the Garmin link:

I took Hwy 9 home and found the downhill to be complete bliss. 193 is also a great ride.

The second ride I would like to take a minute to introduce is the Donghe Loop. Hwy 23 from coast to Fuli is around 45km topping out around 700 meters above sea level. From my start point (Changbin) it was a 50km ride down to the mouth of Hwy 23. This road is complete genius! For around 15km you are climbing at an easy 3%. Totally beautiful, totally untouched. There is a bit of tough climbing for about 8km or 9km – nothing too extreme, but some steady 8% to 10% moments that can be a bit unforgiving. At the top of this hill I was saying – man, I want my downhill. I want my downhill. And what an awesome downhill – nearly 30km of downhill, Christmas in July for sure. From Fuli I rode down Hwy 9 and then headed up Yucheng Hwy – into the tunnel and then more downhill, to the Changbin 7-11, picked up a couple beers and headed home. Big ride, and was happy with my pacing. The numbers:

The last ride I would like to introduce is a no brainer. It was an out and back ride from Changbin to Taidong. Don’t be deceived by the flatness of Hwy 11 – trust me, plenty of rolling yumminess in the sun on 11 – just awaitin’ you. A tad under 150km and 870 meters of elevation gain. Saw a lot of touring Taiwanese on mountain bikes, heavy gear and totally covered head to toe in lycra – I imagine they were doing that infamous and actually hair-brain ride around the island. Notes and notes:

After I returned to Taipei I was a bit nervous about running a half-marathon – however I ended up doing just fine. About 6 days before the race I did a 7km run at 4min/50sec – completely flat run, a real good confidence builder. Here are thoughts about the race:

Well, first of all – what an amazing race! I entered this hilly half-marathon as a challenge. I am 84kg, so running up a hill is like pushing an elephant up a flight of stairs, and running downhill is also rather tough. I was surprised with the first four kilometer splits, all over 7 minutes, but I didn’t let it freak me out. The Garmin was giving a 10% to 13% grade reading – I thought it was suppose to be around 4% to 6%. Around the 5km mark we turned onto the military road and headed higher up the mountain. Turned around at the 10.5km mark. Amazing weather: hot, sunny, cloudy, windy and shade 85% of the run. Would have been nice to go under 2hr – however I am really satisfied with my time and felt great during this race.

Numbers:
10 Rides
925km
8220meters of elevation gain
37hr36min in saddle
max speed 63.6km/hr
beers drank – dude Garmin totally lost count…

Ok – enough lip smack – some tasty pics:

Posted in Cycling, Running | 24 Comments

May and June 2011 Quick Review.

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Nathan

Well, May and June have come and wow, they are almost gone! In Taiwan May is usually the first month of summer, plus some rain. Good times these two months. I did a couple races. Here is a short breakdown of how things went.

May 7th 2011 Balaka Hill Climb – TUAA
This was a cycling race on May 7. 2011. The race started in Jinshan at a fishing port and then went along a flat section of road for a good 22km. Great weather and high speeds. I rode to the race which was about 38km. I got up at 4:30am and hit the road at 5:15am. It is a nice ride. I was in the 35M category. Fast race on the flats. Average speed was 39km/hr. I had a lot of fun, however a lot of dangerous moments. Thank goodness there were no crashes in our race, however I did see a couple guys down in the other age groups. Around the 22km mark we started climbing up 101. The first climb I felt strong and stay near the front however at the entrance to the Balaka section of the race my thighs started to cramp up a bit. I had to slow down. I am happy with my race I made it to the finish line without cramping to the point of stopping.

May 21st 2011 – 5km Road Race.
The City of Taipei put on a 5km road race along the river. It was a simple and free event. There were no age groups, time chip or prizes. It was a flat race with about 700 people participating. I had a great race. I went out a bit fast however held it together pretty well. My average kilometer was 4min21sec – I finished in 21min49sec. Really happy with this. Lots of room for improvement however it is a great start.

June 4th 2011 – 22km Hill Climb/10km Hill Run – TUAA.
What a race! A challenge as well as a performance. Friday afternoon Marty and I set up for the race – we drove over Yangming-shan, massive fog in in the windshield, arrived safely and dropped off our shoes and then I left Marty in Jinshan. Saturday morning I was up around 4:45am – I drove from Danshui to Jinshan. A bit of chit-chat before the race then we were off! We had great weather – a bit humid and some mid-high temps, however great morning overall. I had a decent race, however cramped up a bit on the run. It was a challenging race. I finished in 2hr10min. I am not sure of my placing at the moment – however I know Marty had a great race. I think he finished 6th in his age group. Way to go Smarty Marty! I think I was in the top 20 of my age group.

June 18th 2011 Dongshan River Sprint Triathlon – CTTA
YES! Even though I felt a bit under the weather I still had an awesome race. I finished 13th in age group and most of all raced smart! It was hot, max temperature was 38 degrees! The sprint race started at 1pm on Saturday afternoon, blue skies, mild wind, and hot hot heat! I really dig the heat, even in the river the water was around luke-warm bath water temps – nuts! I had a great swim, great bike and probably my best sprint triathlon run yet. I didn’t get any pictures during the event however I imagine in the NRG2 Perform photographer got a couple. I finished the race in 1hr16min30sec. Considering the heat and the course – great time for this course. Extremely happy.

Other news:
Accidents! During a bike workout I witnessed a nasty car accident, then the next day I crashed. I hit a stray dog going downhill. I flew over the bars and then had a classic land and slide on the asphalt. Lots of road rash – however no broken bones and no head trauma! HELMETS ROCK! My bike is fine as well.

Some pictures:

Posted in Cycling, Running | 15 Comments

Running and Revival

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Nathan

Ain’t life grand? Everyday I wake up and I know something amazing will happen. I am sure of it. First time passer-bys to my site here is a quick blurb: I am a 34 year old American who has lived in Asia, (Japan and Taiwan) for the last 12 years. I currently live in Taiwan with my wife and daughter. I am recreational cyclist and a re-born runner. This blog post is about my recent running revival. A bit of history, a race report and perhaps a bit of get up and go!

The History:
I grew up in a sleepy little town in eastern North Carolina around 5pm every night I remember my father would run 3 miles. It was like clockwork. Sometimes I would follow him on my bike, as I grew older I joined him. My teen years I quickly came to understand I really disliked long distance running. However my sophomore year at a Kinston High School track meet early in the season I asked my coach to put me in the 400 meter race. From that race on – I was Kinston High School Track & Field Team’s 400 meter man. I anchored the 4×400 relay for three years and went on to win the open 400 meter event at regionals. I didn’t fair very well at State Championships however I was scouted out by a university and ended up running for UNCW for three years – an amazing time.

The summer of 1999 I graduated from UNCW and within six-weeks I had a landed a job in Japan as an ESL teacher. I was 22 years old. Thus the start of the long and unforgiving blur. For almost 10 years I did not really exercise. I ate and drank plenty. I gained a ton of weight. I have no regrets, it was a fun ride, made some life-long friends. Summer of 2005 I saw a road bike at a friend’s place. Later that summer I would return to the US and buy first bike.

The riding I did in Japan was completely recreational. I would do a 50km ride and honestly I would think I had ridden to the end of earth and back. However in retrospect – what a great way to break into cycling.

October 2008 I left Japan and moved to Taipei. Wow – what a great decision. Little did I know come August of 2009 I would start riding 800km a month. My love-hate relationship with long distance sports would soon come to an end.

Ok – the running. I started running in May of 2010. I would go out for an occasional 5km. Due to all the cycling I was doing my overall fitness had improved. I found I could run 10km without much fuss. I even did a 20km run for fun in October of 2010, however it really wrecked my legs – I had a cycling race the following weekend. I didn’t performed, cramped and actually fell off the bike, almost rolled down the mountain it was a sight I am sure.

December 18th 2010 I ran in the Fubon Half-Marathon. It was a great experience. I ran a great race, finished strong and felt great the entire time. I was hooked. I finished in 1hr51min.

Since December 2010 I have upped my running mileage. In April I ran 86km. I imagine I will hit 90km to 100km this month. I am comfortable at 5min/km now for a 10km. Did a track mile last week at 6min35sec. I think in the near future I should be able to click a couple miles at 7min/mile pace – it is all coming together.

As for Sunday’s race – the report is pretty simple. I went out a bit too fast and paid for it around 6.5km mark. Here is the Garmin Link:

Some pictures – thanks to my brother-in-law. He got up at 4am to make it to the race with us, my sister and me.

Posted in Running | 52 Comments

East Coast Riding & Miaoli Sprint Triathlon

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Nathan

Spring is here! The rain has stopped. Sunshine and warmer temperatures, not to mention the lovely humidity, which I actually do enjoy is slowing coming around. Recently in Taiwan we had a four day weekend. This holiday is similar to the Japanese Obon holiday, for lack of a wiki explanation – it is a day of the dead type of celebration, however the Taiwanese go about this simply by cleaning the graves of their ancestors (probably more involved then my observations…). My wife’s family is aboriginal and they don’t really take part in this activity however I think my mother-in-law did visit the cemetery in the village on a Monday morning, she carried with her a few handed picked flowers and her prayers. She is 80 some years old and dances, cleans, smiles, cooks, does it all – everyday. God bless her!

I made it down to the village for three days of great riding and some quality time with my daughter. The ride report is pretty simple:

Day 1: Hualien to Changbin 91km
Day 2: Ride with two Hualien guys 127km – a bit of racing. Jerry Chen and Yongge, those two guys are top notch cyclists. Check the photos. Thanks Jerry!
Day 3: 8km run. Cold and windy.
Day 4: Semi-epic-windy ride from Changbin to Hualien train station – sitting on 20km/hr was a task – a four hour workout in unpleasant conditions. 85km

The riding on the East Coast is always a blast – there is no doubt, if you are looking for something to shake a stick at, take you and yours to the East Coast of Taiwan. “It” will be found.

Moving right along – Here is my quick report of my second sprint triathlon race. The 2011 Miaoli Sprint Triathlon:

Man, the hills were alive. Honestly, it was a beast of a course!

I rented a car and drove from Danshui to Sanyi – West Lake Resort with a good friend. We arrived at the race venue around 10:45am. The athletes were checking in, setting up for the race and soaking up the lovely atmosphere. It really was turning out to be a perfect day. Little did I know we would be suffering up a couple 18% grade hills on the bike as well as in our running shoes.

At 1:08pm I jumped into a cold, yet refreshing lake to swim 750 meters. The swim was actually faster than I anticipated. I felt I was swimming zigzag, I was called down at the turn and told to make a hard left. Before I knew it I was out of the water in 15min 30sec – I thought it would have taken me around 18min or 19min. Happy with the swim, however plenty of room for improvement. No wetsuit, 400 meters above sea level, small fresh water lake, in Taiwan in April after a cold wet winter -to say the least, the water was cold.

From the swim to the bike – I lost a ton of time putting on my socks, who would have known! Well perhaps my 3 year old! I have seen her put on socks. Wet feet + tight running compression socks = time vampire. Lesson learned.

The 18.2km bike section was fun. Fast downhill. Windy. My only complaint – two guys sucked my wheel all the up the hill. No drafting rule? Anyhow – it was great cycle. There was a silly steep section of road – curious how they got the asphalt to stick to the mountain. I made it up without much fuss – however it was tough.

On to the 5.4km run. Man oh man! There was a hill that really tested everyone. It was around 15% for around 40 meters or so. It turned even the best runners into walkers, yours truly included. I finished the run without falling apart, however at the finish line I was toast. Amazing race, really glad I did it. Learned a lot. Triathlon – What an interesting sport.

The results are up: I finished 19th in a field of 195 folks in my age group. 1hr 30min 38sec. This was my second sprint triathlon.

Garmin link:

Photos from the East Coast riding and the Miaoli Sprint Triathlon April 2011.

Posted in Cycling, Running, Taiwan | 20 Comments

Double Header Sat: 5km/20km/5km Sun: 10km

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Nathan

Last weekend was a big race weekend for me. I am really fortunate to live in Taiwan where the weather is warm, the organizations put on hassle free events and everyone has a great time. My legs are still recovering as I write this, here is how the races went down.

Saturday March 19th 2011 Taoyuan Duathlon 5km Run/20k Bike/5km Run:

I got up at 5:30am and drove to Daxi. It was about an hour drive from Danshui. I made it to the race event without any problem, checked in and set up my bike. I was surprised and a bit disappointed because they did not use a time chip. The race started at 8:00am. The first 500 racers started then the second group of racers started 5 minutes afterwords. I was in the second group.

We ran 300 meters around the track and then did a good 4.4km on the Army University campus. It was a beautiful campus. It was not raining however the road was very wet. It was actually a pleasant but fast paced run. I was comfortable at a 4min30sec pace for this first section of the race. Maybe comfortable is not the right word – I was working.

On to the bike. I didn’t waste any time, I was out of my running shoes and on the bike in a matter of seconds. The first couple kilometers I spun at a high cadence to get my legs ready. The road was coned off, we had an entire lane to use for the race, however cars were still on the road. Danger did lurk however I didn’t see any accidents. I passed a lot of guys on the bike. In retrospect perhaps I should have worked a bit harder. I really had a good time on the bike, however the entire ride I was thinking – man, I gotta run 5km after this!

The last section it was around 4.4km. I held it together! I averaged around 4min40sec/km. Only one guy passed me. Crossing the finish line felt great. I ended up in 17th place in my age group with a time of 1hr26min.

I was back in Danshui by 1:30pm and spent the rest of the day with my daughter. I think I hit the sack around 9pm.

Strava Link:

March 20th 2011 Taipei Freeway Marathon 10km

Well I was a bit worried my legs would be toast. There isn’t much to say about this race other than WOW! I had a great race. We ran on an elevated highway. It was an honest run. No crowds to cheer us on, no barking dogs, no funky Taiwan smells – and the weather was awesome.

I probably went out a bit too fast however I was able to keep almost every kilometer under 5min. I won’t lie at the 7.5km mark I considered walking however I am glad I finished the race. I ended up in 105 place overall and 18th in my age group – 48.27.

Strava Link:

I had a great racing weekend. As for the coming two weekends – gonna spend them with my daughter and put some time in on bike.

Next race: Miaoli Sprint Tri April 9th 2011.

Posted in Cycling, Running, Taiwan | 11 Comments

North Coast Road Race 47km Stage 1

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Nathan

First of all – after living in Japan for almost 10 years, thoughts and prayers to those who are suffering due to earthquake and tsunami.

Well, I finally participated in a true cycling road race. I have owned road bikes for the last six years, so I guess it has taken me ‘years’ to finally step up and race. Sunday morning I got up at 5am, my bike was already loaded in the car and my gear was all set up and ready to go. The drive from Danshui to Jinshan was kind of chilly, the windshield kept fogging up, it was a bit troublesome, however I arrived at the start with plenty of time to spare – I got a great parking place! By 7:30am the Jinshan fishing harbor was packed with cyclists. I got my number, helmet sticker, and time chip. My race RM35 started at 8:15am – 240 racers in my group.

How it went down:

From the start we rolled over a couple small rolling hills and then a hard right turn to the official start. From Jinshan to Baishiwan we raced in a massive group at 40km/hr hitting 50km/hr at times. It was great fun. I stayed up front, to stay out of trouble. I was very comfortable with the pace however in retrospect and looking at the results we could have gone faster, especially during the return. It seems at the 25 minute mark the group slowed down. I am a very inexperienced racer so I too slowed with the group – perhaps that would have been a great time to attack. However it was a packed race and the two lane road was jammed side to side with cyclists. You had to be at the front of the pack if you wanted to attack. I was near the front however it seemed everyone was nervous and no one made any commitments. At the u-turn near Baishiwan things slowed down even more.

The return:

The group seemed to ride in spurts. They would pick it up and hit 43km/hr and then drop down to 35km/hr. I thought I will hang in the mid-front and let everyone do the work, there was a mild headwind. Perhaps that was mistake in retrospect. We rolled into Jinshan and had to make a hard right turn into the hills. In my group this is where the race and placing was decided. Marty, my cycling mentor and good friend gave me some great advice about the race the day before. About 2km before the turn I did try to get closer to the front of the group however like I said it was sardines! I fought a bit for a place up front but before I knew it we were turning to head up the hill. Please note this next sentence: Thank god there were no accidents!

The hill:

I had a great hill climb. I didn’t blow up. I didn’t soft pedal on the flatter sections. And I didn’t let the skinny lightweight guys get to me. Actually only a couple guys passed me on the hill. On the steeper section of the hill in the beginning I powered up it and felt great. It was an awesome race.

I finished 49th in my age group – racers placing 35th to 61st all finished in 1hr25min. I was 379th overall – 1500 racers.

Things I think I did right:

1. I stayed up front but did not attack and take off and blow up.
2. Found good placing during the windy sections of the ride.
3. Drank and managed endurance.
4. Practiced safety and didn’t yell at anyone.

Things I should have done:

1. Attacked about 3km before the hill turn.
2. Attacked somewhere.
3. Rode faster during the slow down moments.
4. Attacked.

The pics and Garmin link:

Posted in Cycling, Taiwan | 23 Comments

Post CNY, K-Swiss, Cycling Races to come.

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Nathan

Well, February came and went. I was really lucky, this Chinese New Year I was able to spend two weeks on the east coast of Taiwan. I cycled almost everyday. The weather was great, warm winter in Taiwan, most days I was in short sleeves with arm warmers. It really was a blessing. Check previous posts for pics and chit-chat.

On February 27, my sister and I woke up at 4:30am for a 10km road race in Taipei. It was not raining, it was not windy, and it was not that cold – awesome running conditions! We took a taxi to the Zhishan Park and waited for the start of the K-Swiss 10km road race. The first 5km of the race are up a hill, we covered about 180 meters of elevations from 2km to 5km. It was a tough run however I had a great day and felt really good. The Garmin report is below. I finished 197th overall and since this was my first 10km race – a PR! Official time was 49.09 – also the course was 10.4km. So really happy about this race. My next 10km is March 20 – on the freeway, it will be flat, I think.

In other news school is back in session. The life of working at a university is all that I thought it would be. I am really happy with my new gig. I have time to ride on Tuesday and Thursday – both solid 3hr to 4hr rides if I want to do some big rides. However getting up early and climbing a gradually 3% to 5% hill near my place is also an option. Today I got up and did the 136 hill, I think I have ridden it 3 or 4 times. It is a challenging hill, I dig it and now that I have a compact crank on the Selene it is not so extreme. Going up the 136 with a standard crank is a challenge.

This weekend will be a big weekend on the bike. On Saturday I will be part of a 9 or 10 man team time trail. We will be rolling at high speeds on flat land for 25km. I am really looking forward to the ride. On Sunday I will ride in my first real cycling road race. The race is 55km – a good 48km of mostly flat fast riding then a 7km hill climb. I am looking forward to it. Words and thoughts to come. Enjoy the pics.

Posted in Cycling, Running, Taiwan | 12 Comments