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.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS