A group of 10 visually impaired cyclists, each accompanied by a sighted coach, began an 11-day bike trip around the nation early yesterday.
Amid loud cheers from spectators, the cyclists, dubbed the “Knights in the Darkness,” departed from the plaza in front of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, to start the journey around the island on tandem bicycles.
“We would like to encourage everyone, especially those with disabilities, to push their limits and not hold back,” said David Chang (張文彥), a 48-year-old, blind athlete and chairman of Taiwan Ah Gan Spiritual Development Association, which organized the event.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Although it is the seventh time that Chang has either run or ridden around the country, it is the first time for the other athletes, who are challenging themselves to accomplish a “seemingly impossible task,” Chang said.
After two months of training to develop mutual trust with his coach, Jack Lai (賴智傑), 45, said he was very confident of completing the challenge.
“I want to prove that even a visually impaired person can do this,” said Lai, who has participated in many sporting events, including marathons and swimming competitions.
Lai also asked his wife to bring their two-month-old on the journey, saying the trip would be full of memories he could cherish forever.
Meanwhile, Zano Huang, 31, one of the four female participants, expressed her excitement about the trip, saying she was looking forward to trying different local delicacies on her first trip around the island.
“I’m ready and I’m not nervous at all,” she said, adding that she would do her best to endure the physical discomfort of cycling for long periods of time.
A total of 48 staff members will accompany the riders during the journey, including a team that will document the whole experience via social networks and video posts.
Daily updates and scheduled itineraries will be posted online and members of the public are invited to cheer the riders on either online or in person, the organizers said.
The first leg of the journey will take the group to Hsinchu City, after which the riders will head to Greater Taichung today. They are scheduled to return to Taipei on Nov. 29, after completing the 1,050km trip.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS