Taiwan LCSG Tour 12th Dec day 6

Route: Ang Tong Old train Stn PCN - Yushan mountain reserve part ending at start of Walami trail

Map link
Photo link

Route for day 6

taken from Google map

Shot of Gary's Go Pro mounted on the front of his bike

Yah, its abit chilly. Don't forget ur camera!

power stick to rev up the engine... 

We visited the old Antong train station. It has been converted into a bike path but perhaps business was slow. The Giant rental shop had closed for some time (judging from the wear on the wall paint)

abit crummy 

Riding on the old train PCN. Looking over the padi fields and mountains. 

Eliasha with his troll nearing the bridge 

Still it was great to be able to cycle slowly; to see the rice fields and mountain at the horizon.

what a view!

The smaller blocks are supposed to slow down the flow of the water during the floods. 

The dry river bed with lots of sediment

Geography lesson on what happened here

one for Janny

brief break at the PCN. 

As we rode towards the river, it was meeting point of two tectonic plates, which shifted during the 1999 earthquake The Taiwanese authorities had to realign the train path and the former station was abandoned until it was repurposed as a cycling path.

I chatted with this nice ah ma, She was astounded that we came all the way from SG to cycle. And she was happy to see us!

At Yuli Red Bridge

Enjoying the country side.... 

cycling and soaking everything in

We also went to Yu Shan national park which we rode all the way up the old Walami trail. This trail is an ancient trail which connects to Batongguan.  Lunch was on the top of the mountain pass and really was a nice experience. 

This concluded the super nice LCSG ride to Taiwan. Tomorrow we head back to Taipei and some would be flying off to Singapore. I am very thankful for the opportunity to be riding along side some really nice folk. Its the company that made is so fun. Also very grateful for Encik George and Cindy for their leadership and efforts. Taiwan Tourism Board, he is your man to bring more SG cyclists to Taiwan :) 

going up towards the Naan vistor centre

Why a support vehicle?  Because we can have a break where ever we want and have bananas or snacks. 

even hot coffee!

So that you can enjoy the views in quiet and slowly zip coffee. Its a wonderful feeling!

The small things in life. They are so beautiful. If u stop and see

Totally no cars... just us and nature!

The waterfall along the way

Every where is just beautiful

Entrance to Yu Shan National Park

Makan at the Nature park

Chatting invariably will turn into a poison session.. Pei Sze cannot believe how light Nixs wheel is!

Ride and enjoy the sights by Pathlesspedaled

I like to ride, but I don't like to kill myself riding super long distances and be so tired that I can't chat with people on the ride and places...  Call me soft, wussy... whatever... I think riding should be fun and be what ever u want to be ... and floats your boat.  My "boat" happens to be the relaxed version...:)  Bicycle touring doesn't need to be "ass" breaking...  See how Russ and Laura of pathlesspedaled.com combines regional bus travel with bromptons to explore the sights from Portland to Tillamook.  Oh... I can even taste the bubblegum icecream!  Check out the wonderful intro and video by Russ and Laura...:)
Do visit their website @  http://pathlesspedaled.com/ and support them in what ever means possible! I think what they are doing is super cool!

Life lessons from my bike

Papa Mike@ Bintan spinning away

For those who know me, I am not world tourer nor a long distance rider. Not by a long shot. The longest ride I did was the ride from Kluang to SG. Around 120km. The experience did scarred my bum some what and I couldn't  bend my knee for almost a week after the ride(a knee condition -RCL). But strangely having done the ride with my friends, I felt good. People laughed/gasped at my "stupidity" to do it..... and I also think there is something wrong with my head.  When I close my eyes, I could still see the slopes and KC's mantra- "The slopes are my friend!" Apparently, there is pleasure in pain and overcoming ur "limitation"....   With this... I share with you a very nice story by a lady rider... enjoy! 

Nancy Sathre-Vogel  "This bike of mine – it’s taught me more than a thousand classrooms. I think back upon all my years of touring the world on bicycle and am amazed at all I’ve learned from my iron companion. But one experience I had on my bike – one bad decision I made – quite literally changed my life...."

Continue reading on Examiner.com  >> 

  http://www.examiner.com/world-bike-touring-in-national/life-lessons-from-my-bike

Steve's way of carrying stuff with Dahon Boardwalk D7

Steve cruising along...

Dahon front truss bag. Mounted low which makes it a stable ride

Steve and Bernice with their Dahons... nice!

This is Steve who rides a super duper Znged(modified) Dahon Broadway D7. The engineering knowledge inside him is very obvious when u see the bike up close and personal. The rear sprockets is specially selected to match his power output. He is the person to go to if u need technical advice on the parts setup and tuning.. What he knows and can do is amazing. 

For day trips,he uses a Dahon specific front Tour bag which he find is just right size. As the bag is mounted low near the front wheel, the ride feeling is very stable. And you can read more in detail on Steve blog too. 

No detail too small to Zng

Ultergra Rear D with Golden Anodised pulley wheels... Installed himself

Matt and his steel horse

Matt and his beloved D7

Matt riding the nice quiet roads at Pengarang

Watching the world go by....

This is Matt, one of the lovecycling kakis, good friend and fellow photographer.  He has a dream which is to ride Taiwan countryside. I believe he is now well prepared for the ordeal. However, the toughest part awaits.. getting the "visa" from CEO(wife) :) 

His ride is a Dahon jade green D7, souped up with a 105 Crank, good bearings. For tyres, it is Big apple front and marathon supreme on the rear. This makes for a nice comfy ride. Carrying the load is done by a sturdy Dahon rear rack and lotus pannierbags.  Visit his personal blog to see more of his photos and ride acount. http://mattchia.com/blog/   Ride on brudder!

Bintan ride - My first bicycle touring journal

Riding brings people together... I mean how likely can u find 3 Doctors, 1 Tennis Coach, 1 Pastor and 1 Product designer together? Well that is exactly what we did, because we all lover to ride our bicycles. Simple as that. 

Meeting at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, we took a ferry to Bintan Bandan Bentan Telani. For all u people reading, this is me, Steven and Joshua virgin touring ride. All not knowing if we will make it to the resort alive... only 70 clicks...which from the youtube video...seem really fun....... right... 

Wonderful Bintan sky

Wonderful Sea and sand

Rolling start

Bintan showed hand early in the form of hills.. we dropped to our lowest gearing cranking up the hills. When it was too much, we walked.. tongue sticking out and dripping with sweat. I also learnt lots from the old birds like Al(love the fold) and Kelvin who taught me to Zig Zag up the hill and look just ahead one step at a time. The rain came down and was a nice respite from the heat. Slowly and surely we made it to the Ocean Bay Resort.  What a lovely place! Kampong style, creaky planks, clean and eco friendly rooms .No air cons, just a mosquito net and good old fan. This is not 5 star accommodation but I really like the undecorated and very honest feel to the whole place.  The food that was served up was fabulous, Crabs, fish, Sotong...etc, cooked simply and to perfection. The staff are friendly and helpful.  I know one thing for sure... I am bringing my little girl and wife to experience this again!



After dinner, we simply sat along the planks chatting, looking at our bikes, our friends bikes, the sea, the sky which changes colors so wonderfully. Simple pleasures of life.. and just 1 hour away from Busy Crazy Singapore.  One of the hight light of the evening was Kelvin pre-occupation with the ipad. He was playing international chess and raving on how cool the Ipad was... to the extent he taught us how to read the stars. I finally saw Scorpio for the first time.. very cool!


Pushing up the hills.... and putting on a brave front:)

Brother AL of love the fold pumping it up!

What goes up must come down.. push on!

Steamed flower crab with lots of garlic..bbbaaaggggus!

Papa Mike showing true grit and spirit! 

The next morning, it was riding to Tanjong Pinang. Roads were ok and what I like most is that the friendliness of the people. Cars, bikes, lorries hooted nicely as they passed, smiling and waving. The villagers waved and thumbs up... we waved back and smiled too...even though our behinds are quite sore...  but must act cool... :) 

Nearer to the city, traffic was brisk and wasn't as fun. We stopped midpoint for Otak otak and drinks and visited a fish market. The sea food sold was electic.. Sting ray and shark.. I mean very big shark... also If u fancy shark fin, this it the place to visit.  Reaching our objective at Ramayama - Tanjong Pinang "Takashimaya", we found the restaurant - Bundo Kanduang  which was fantastic... 17 dishes in all and we finished it!  Some of the group went for massage and Joshua, Kelvin and myself chose to roam around the place and drink coffee.





Otak Otak, small but very nice...we ate tons 

Shark lovers will not be pleased... found at the fish market

That's what i call a balanced meal

Magical sunset moment

Joshua at Ocean Bay Resort, we actually rode to our rooms!

Time passes so fast when u having fun...soon it was time to leave. We chose the coastal route this time which was flatter and nicer to ride. We passed by some fishing village and snapped more shots.. and even bought wild honey to bring home. 

The sun was up already and getting really hot. Still we pressed on, stopping several times to cool off have some drinks. On one steep down slope, I was bombing down the steep slope along side Alvin and at the bottom it was loosed gravel. I could feel my bike sliding side ways and it was an "oh oh" moment. Somehow, we both rolled passed safely... but it was close.  

One take away from this it that don't take things for granted and always wear helmet and gloves and look ahead. 

Soon we reached the ferry terminal. Yeah! I survived the Bintan ride and met some really cool friends. I guess I will be doing touring more often now....live to ride, ride to eat! 

In the mood to sleep...zzz

 Star gazing lesson from Kevin using Ipad