Two weeks ago, I went to Taiwan with Sarah to give a presentation for a
Biketalk seminar organised by Friday Fitness and Bikegears. I also attended
the Taichung Bike Week 2012 held in Taiwan. While I was there, I went riding,
visited bike shops, met up with some interesting people and ate alot. =)
I
was really looking forward to this trip because this was my first trip to
Taiwan for a holiday and, I would also be giving a presentation about something
that is really close to my heart; bicycles. The main objective of the trip was
the Biketalk Seminar, in which I would be speaking about life as a cyclist and
custom bicycle frame building. It was a pleasure to be invited over by event
organiser Winston Tam, owner of Friday Fitness and Bikegears. During my stay
there, Winston and family hosted me and Sarah in their apartment.
The
first day we arrived, we visited Winston’s bike fitting studio. His studio is
really well-equipped, with state-of-the-art RETUL fitting system as well as the
MUVE fit bike. It was a very cosy environment which I am sure most of his
clients appreciate.
Bike
shops
I
also had the chance to visit some bike shops in Taiwan. One of the more popular
shop bike shops was Columbus Cyclist. The owner, Sean Huang a.k.a Huang Shuan
Xie, is a good friend of Uncle Kenneth from Cycleworx and they used to race
together in the Asian region. He was a ex-taiwanese national team cyclist in
the 90s and is now the top retailer of road bikes in Taipei. He carries popular
brands like Pinarello and Colnago. Sean is also a SICI certified bike fitter
and does bike fits in the basement of his store. He uses a SICI size cycle. We
had a good chat and talk about bikes, racing and fitting.
The man himself – Sean Huang.
Biketalk Day
The seminar was held on a Sunday (11/11/2012) at the Chinese Cultural University. I talked about my life as a cyclist, my team (OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team), and custom bicycle frame building. Was nice to see that even though I spoke in English, the people (70-80 of them) were still listening attentively and not falling asleep. It went really well and it was a great experience to share my passion with everyone.
Biketalk posters and flyers were printed for the event - designed by Steve Donohue.
Giovanni, one of the guys I rode with during my stay there. He is a very established dentist and won a free fit with Winston from the raffle draw.
The
four speakers who spoke were Vanden Tong (SRM and Training application), Winston
Tam (Overview of Bikefitting), myself and Stanley Song (an unconventional way of choosing a
bicycle).
Taichung
Bike Week 2012
Taichung
Bike Week 2012 was held from the 13th to 16th November
2012, and Winston and I went there on the 13th and 14th
of Nov. I was really excited to be attending my first bike show, and the
opportunity to meet some really interesting people from the industry. There
were all sorts of components and bicycle parts on display. It was indeed an eye
opener and great ‘food’ for the brain.
Aerospace
technology hubs – GOSIKO.
Meeting
with John Cobb
One
of the first people we met was John Cobb! He looked exactly like the same as in
the countless number of Youtube videos he’s been featured in. John was an easy
and outgoing guy that speaks his mind. He wasn’t afraid to share ideas and gave
us some really good and useful insights about the bike industry, how to expand the
fitting business as well as his new clothing line. It was a great pleasure to
be able to meet him, and of course to take a picture with him. I had always
wanted to learn from him as I know he has some crazy ideas about aerodynamics.
He also kindly extended an invitation to attend one of his wind tunnel testing
sessions. Will definitely keep that in mind!
We
also met the representatives from Rotor HQ (Winston had a crash earlier this month
as his stem broke due to mechanical failure and rotor had invited him over for
a meeting). The Rotor guys were a cool bunch. Besides talking about the
accident and broken stem, which Winston gave to them for investigation, they
showed us their new range of products, including a new powermeter with strain
gauges on both left and right sides, as well as a new Rotor crankarm and ring
that is more oval, called the rotor XL. They also had an interesting display of
coloured crankarms made for the past tour winners (pink, yellow and red).
We
had lunch with the Rotor Asian representative the next day and he bought us
some really nice Teppanyaki. What a great learning experience talking to the
people who make ovalized rings!
In
the evening, we went to this huge bikeshop (literally an entire building) that
sells Author (Taiwanese brand), Storck bikes and lots more. VANDEN TONG was
giving a bikefitting and SRM presentation at the shop, and Winston and I were
invited. It was an interesting talk and there were a good 10-15 people there.
Winston
and I also met Cheng Yong, a Retul certified bikefitter based in Tianjin,
China.
Some other people we met include Victor Mager, CEO of Velocite bicycles, and Daniel and Jennifer Carruthers.
Cycling
in Taipei
It
was really enjoyable cycling in Taipei. Almost everywhere I went; there were
either traffic or hills. That did not deter me from wanting to ride every day.
In fact, I looked forward to exploring Taipei and find new places to ride!
Traffic in the city area was also crazy. Taiwan has the most number of scooters
in the world and it was no surprise that when you stop at the traffic lights,
you are surrounded by at least 10 scooters and will be suffocated by the fumes.
The scooters and cars also have another issue; they are not very careful. On
several occasions, I witness cars colliding with scooters, and sometimes the
cars/scooters/public buses come very close to me. Crazy traffic! I also learnt
that I could have some good motor pacing sessions too! I have more than 10
scooters to follow every time I stop.
All
in all, cycling in Taiwan out of the city area is really nice. Cool weather (22
degrees thereabouts), nice uninterrupted terrain and great food and company.
What more can I ask for?
I
managed to hook up with a different local cycling group/cyclist every day!
Up
in the mountain.
Really enjoyed myself with these Rapha guys (and my good friend from Singapore;P) - Ah Sien and Vincent.
Food
Culture
As
mentioned earlier, the food in Taiwan is every tourist’s main attraction,
especially food at the night market or “Ye Shi”. The night market usually opens
at around 4pm and closes at about 1am. The vendors will sell their food from
carts all over the streets. It is usually packed with a lot of people and long
queues for the more popular stores.
Best drink in town - with pearls (they call it "frog eggs").
Sarah
and I set out to try as much as we could, so we bought food in small amounts
from every popular store. Winston also gave us some good advice on where and
what to eat. Food includes fried chicken, oyster omelette, etc. In total, we
went to 3 night markets. The infamous Shilin, Raohe (mango ice and ice cream
peanut wrap) and Shida (garlic fried chicken). Shida was the nearest to our
apartment (5mins walk) and we walked past almost every day! Nothing beats a
good piece of fried chicken chop washed down with freshly made bubble tea.
The
entire experience in Taiwan was great. I got great hosts - Margaret, Winston and Wesley. I got to meet new people, made new
friends, got some good contacts, did some good cycling, ate lots of good food
and had great company all the time. More importantly, I got to travel with my lovely Fiancee who made the trip really fun and easy. It would have been different without her there.
It was a really enriching trip and I hope
to head back there again next year for the Tour of Taiwan in March.
Happy Sarah, happy me.
