What happens when your trustworthy training route becomes mundane? Most of us will just keep slogging through it for decades, losing that former feeling of motivation. Most people will just stay within their comfort zone, unsuccessfully searching to breakout of this death-spiral. What if there were a prescription to cure the banal, or what I call the “Suffermechanism?”
Professional counselors recommend breaking out of that same boring routine. For the ‘A-type’ personality, a dynamic change is sometimes what’s needed. I found my cure cycling Taiwan.
Scott revitalizes that old spirit
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Cyclist Federation
Five years ago I began browsing through magazines, books and blogs, hoping to revitalize that old spirit. I ran into Lee Rodgers at a cycling industry trade show in October of 2014. Lee, the international marketing manager for the Taiwan King of the Mountain (KOM) Challenge, told me about the event and I became intrigued.
The Taiwan KOM Challenge is an annual race that sees cyclists from all over the world scale some of Taiwan’s toughest peaks. The cyclists set off from Cisingtan (七星潭) in Hualien County, and travel 105km to Wuling (武嶺) on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou City.
After thinking it over back in my hotel room, I decided to throw down the gauntlet and join the event.
Photo courtesy of OBG Cycling Club
The first 18km is a neutral start and feels like just another race. That mundane feeling is still present. However, as the race peloton turns left off Hualien County’s Taroko Gorge Bridge, a warm fuzzy feeling fills me from my head down to my cleats. It dawns on me that this race is going to be the most epic experience of my life. It was not until we enter the actual gorge, cycling under the overhangs, taking in the amazing scenery, crossing bridges, looking down at the river below, listening to the sounds of nature, viewing the signs that mark the changes in elevation that it suddenly hits me — we are all going to ride to an elevation of 3,270m above ground level, into and above the clouds.
When I cross the finish line and receive my finisher’s medal, I am greeted with applause from strangers, race staff and other riders. Then someone hands me a small cup of hot ginger tea. There was the cure in front of me.
I keep returning to Taiwan each year to participate in the Taiwan KOM Challenge, which this year starts on Oct. 20.
Photo courtesy of Scott Ellinger
Brett will return
Last year, I came to Taiwan for a third time to participate in the Taiwan KOM Challenge. I met Scott who tells me that he first discovered the country in 1988 while studying Chinese. On a trip in his car from Taipei to Hualien, the US expat told me stories about Taiwanese cycling culture from the perspective of a localized foreigner, who is well known on the Taiwan cycling circuit and seems to know the nation’s every cycling route.
During our car ride, he explained the most striking part of Taiwanese cycling: that clubs are welcoming and accepting of just about anyone.
I’ve discovered this myself. Taiwanese are always there to assist in time of need whether it be roadside motivation during a race, giving you an extra energy gel packet or top up of water, help changing a flat tire or just stopping to take a photo with you. The fellowship is unmatched anywhere else. There will always be someone to put a smile on your face and give you support whether during a race or just on a normal ride.
Will I return for a fourth time to the Taiwan KOM Challenge? Almost certainly.
It was only after my third time that I really understood: the people of Taiwan, the breath-taking beauty of the island, the ethos of the cycling community, the unique friendliness of Taiwanese cyclists and most of all, the beef noodle soup.
Cycling in Taiwan is not only magnificent but also addictive for anyone who discovers it.
Complete details of the Taiwan KOM Challenge can be found at the English and Chinese-language Web site: www.taiwankom.org.
The depressing numbers continue to pile up, like casualty lists after a lost battle. This week, after the government announced the 19th straight month of population decline, the Ministry of the Interior said that Taiwan is expected to lose 6.67 million workers in two waves of retirement over the next 15 years. According to the Ministry of Labor (MOL), Taiwan has a workforce of 11.6 million (as of July). The over-15 population was 20.244 million last year. EARLY RETIREMENT Early retirement is going to make these waves a tsunami. According to the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), the
Many will be surprised to discover that the electoral voting numbers in recent elections do not entirely line up with what the actual voting results show. Swing voters decide elections, but in recent elections, the results offer a different and surprisingly consistent message. And there is one overarching theme: a very democratic preference for balance. SOME CAVEATS Putting a number on the number of swing voters is surprisingly slippery. Because swing voters favor different parties depending on the type of election, it is hard to separate die-hard voters leaning towards one party or the other. Complicating matters is that some voters are
Sept 22 to Sept 28 Hsu Hsih (許石) never forgot the international student gathering he attended in Japan, where participants were asked to sing a folk song from their homeland. When it came to the Taiwanese students, they looked at each other, unable to recall a single tune. Taiwan doesn’t have folk songs, they said. Their classmates were incredulous: “How can that be? How can a place have no folk songs?” The experience deeply embarrassed Hsu, who was studying music. After returning to Taiwan in 1946, he set out to collect the island’s forgotten tunes, from Hoklo (Taiwanese) epics to operatic
Five years ago, on the verge of the first COVID lockdown, I wrote an article asking what seemed to be an extremely niche question: why do some people invert their controls when playing 3D games? A majority of players push down on the controller to make their onscreen character look down, and up to make them look up. But there is a sizable minority who do the opposite, controlling their avatars like a pilot controls a plane, pulling back to go up. For most modern games, this requires going into the settings and reconfiguring the default controls. Why do they
RSS