New Bicycle Trailer

Have been busy for the past few weeks designing a trailer for the Bicycle Cafe business I want to start this summer. The trailer has to be strong enough to haul about 100 - 120kg and be wide enough between the wheels to fit a Taiwanese-style steel icebox.

Had originally thought about making a trike after seeing this picture of Dr. Szmodics online. The attention to detail and quality of construction is really quite amazing. Finding a trike like this in Taiwan proved quite frustrating, as many of them are made here, but are unavailable for sale domestically.

The closest I could find for sale in Taiwan was this trike made by Ta-Han; a restaurant supply business based in Tainan. $55,000 a unit was more than I wanted to pay though, and they wouldn't sell me just the bare trike.

Then, I saw this picture of Bicycle Coffee in Oakland and it gave me the idea to do a trailer instead.





























The icebox I have is 50cm wide , 67cm long and 70cm tall (without the wheels), so I decided upon a width of 65cm between the wheels. Combined with 2 x 10cm axles and 2 x 2.5cm square tubing on the outside, this gave a total width of exactly 90cm. Too wide to go through a standard door, but still safe enough to maneuver in traffic.

The closest I could find to a design I liked was this one from instructables:

The metal fabricator I found to build the trailer turned out to be really good at his job and a cycling enthusiast himself. He gave me some very helpful suggestions to modify my design. Specifically, to move the wheel axles further to the back to reduce swing on the rear corners and make it track behind me better. Nice one.

A few days later he delivered the trailer to me to try, so I loaded it up with my 45kg icebox and took it out for a spin; handled the load no problem.

The only problem has been the hitch. I decided to connect at the seat post because I already have a hitch there that I use for my son's Trail-a-bike. Also, it makes the cart easier to maneuver like a handcart than when you connect to the rear axle.

The problem is that the trail-a-bike has only one wheel and can lean with the bike. The 2-wheel trailer can't and was putting a lot of twisting pressure on the hitch. The builder explained his idea to fix the problem and drew me a picture of it, only to show up a couple of days later with something completely different.

It works, and can allow for a full range of movement, but the tiny bit of slack between the two metal loops makes quite a racket when rolling along. It'll do for now, but I have to think of another solution. Maybe a rod-end (heim joint) like they use in Japan. Anybody with suggestions, let me know.

Now, off to see my carpenter friend to build the wood box.

Gangshan Loop

Just perfect weather for riding this afternoon; clear blue skies and a balmy 26 degrees.
Rode the MRT north for 20 minutes to the end of the Red Line: Ciaotou Station.

The Nantze Industrial Zone that I was avoiding riding through by taking the MRT.

Ciaotou Sugar Refinery 

Turned right out of the MRT station, and travelled north on Highway 1 for a couple of minutes before making a left when I saw the purple bridge.

The MRT line continues north to the still unopened Ganshan Station.

Followed a quiet riverside bike path west to a red bridge and headed north to Gangshan.

So much nicer riding through this than along Highway 1 with all the big trucks.

The town of Gangshan used to be called Agongdian until the Japanese renamed it in 1920. The Agongdian reservoir is just to the east of the mountain in the photo above and the Agongdian river flows west to the ocean right through the center of town. 

Following the river through Gangshan.

Riding through Gangshan only takes about 5 minutes and soon the road was quiet again as I fought a headwind toward the coast.

Under the busy Highway 17.

Looking south toward Kaohsiung.

The ocean at last.

Sadly, much of the coastline on this 5km stretch was covered with concrete jacks; not quite the escape from the concrete jungle I had hoped for. The sound of the ocean and a strong tailwind kept my spirits up though.

The Yuanfugang Wetland Park just north of the naval base in Nantze is the last bit of greenery on this ride as the road soon spits you out onto Highway 17 which I followed back into the city.

Route Map

Total Distance: 42km

Good Reviews

More and more people seem to be discovering what those of us lucky enough to live and cycle here already knew; Taiwan is a great place to tour by bicycle.

The National:
Top 10: See the world on two wheels with the best cycling holidays
"Taiwan remains an unsung cycling destination"

WorldBiking:
Why Taiwan Deserves a Spot on Lonely Planet's Top 10

The Hungry Cyclist:
The Hungry Cyclist in Taiwan

Kaohsiung Bike Shops

There are not many bike shops in KHH with English service, but I've had good experience with these:

John's Craft Cyclist's Bike Shop  
This is by far the best bike shop in town. Run by Justin Wang; an excellent mechanic and all around nice guy.
Located near downtown Kaohsiung in the Lingya district at #77 Szwei 4th Road
(A few blocks north of the 85F Tuntex Sky Tower building)
(07) 336-0734 / 0931-747-428  open Mon - Sat  1:30 to 9:30p.m.

Giant Bike Shop - Tsoying ( Zuoying)
I'm not a big fan of Giant bike shops as they just have ... well ... Giant bikes. But, the fellows who work here speak English well, know their bikes, and do good work. Plus, it's really close to the Tsoying High Speed Train station and my house.
(Head east out the front entrance of the station, past the 7-11 and Linda's Thai restaurant and turn right at the first big intersection (HuaXia rd) and it's on the right just past the Highway 10 overpass - 769 HuaXia)
(07) 341-6972  open 10a.m. to 10p.m. everyday

The closest bike shop to the main train station is also a Giant store. Exit from the rear (North) of the train station onto Juoru rd and turn right. It's a couple of blocks down Juoru on the lefthand side opposite a big BINGO place.

The only Giant shop in Kaohsiung that has touring bikes for rent is the one just south of the Wufu road / Love river bridge.

Highway 28 to Cishan

Left the house at 6:30a.m. and headed up past the Sugar Refinery to Yanchiao for breakfast.

Some classic wheels out for a Sunday drive pulled up in front of the Family Mart.

Was very nice weather for riding this morning in KHH - about 27 degrees with overcast skies.
The two moderate climbs on highway 14 and 37 flew by and I was feeling strong.

I was feeling so strong, that I decided to alter my route and finally ride highway 28 out to Cishan - land of the banana. This is a 4-lane highway with virtually no shade that requires a nice overcast day like today. The first couple of hills went by alright and then, just when the only way back was forward, the clouds suddenly disappeared - the trap had been sprung.

The "Cishan 7km" sign turned out to only tell the distance to the district line and several more punishing climbs still stood between me and Cishan. It's no coincidence that overheat and defeat form a rhyming couplet.

The closer look at the sights of Cishan will have to wait for another trip on a cooler day when I'm not a puddle of my former self.

 

RIDE SUMMARY:   36km

1) Sugar Refinery MRT - Yanchiao : 8km totally flat

2) Yanchiao - Tianliao via road 14 and 37 : 12km with a couple of 6-8min. climbs.

3) Tianliao - Cishan on highway 28: 5 or 6 short but steep climbs; each a bit longer than the last.

To see this ride on Bikemap:
Ciaotao - Cishan


Orchard Alley

Did something really foolish yesterday - turned my phone to vibrate while in the bookstore and never changed it back so it could wake me up for my ride this morning. But, with all the missed rides recently due to rain, I wasn't about to cancel a ride just because of a late start. So, in the blazing 9am sun, I set off for a ride down Orchard Alley.

Things were pretty busy when I got off at Ciaotou Sugar Refinery MRT Station with a second hand market going on.

There was also an unusually large number of cyclists on my route today. Seems there was some sort of big group ride going on that had started in downtown KHH and was going to circle the reservoir and then back again.

They went left and I went right in search of a quieter road with a little more shade. Country road #40 was the answer.

This took me down to major highway 22. Then went east on the 22 for a couple of km to the KUAS campus, which is where you turn south again and enter Orchard Alley. The ridge in the background was shielding me from the chaos that is Fo Guan Shan Temple on a Sunday.

As you can see by the shadows on the road, the sun was all but directly overhead by 10:30 a.m. and it was getting rather hot. This quiet road is wonderful riding though, despite the heat.

Being of seafairing stock, my knowlege of farming is limited to say the least. So, when I saw this cactus being grown in rows, I wasn't sure what to make of it. A quick search with Google revealed it to be a Pitaya cactus or Dragonfruit tree. It should start to bear fruit next month I think.

Then came across this odd structure. An abandoned amusement park from days gone by?

A little further along, my quiet lane came to an end and I was thrust out in front of E-Da World. When will this monstrosity get abandoned? I would normally turn left here and drift down the hill to the Goaping river and enter the city via the back side of Niaosong, but the heat was getting to me. Therefore, took a shortcut down to highway 10 and got out of the sun under the elevated highway.

Victoria is Canada's Most Bikeable City

Read an interesting article today about my old home - Victoria.

Researchers at UBC and SFU have recently declared it to be the most bikeable city in Canada. The system they use is an offshoot of WalkScore. It uses factors such as cycling infrastructure (Ex: bike lanes), topography, desirable amenities and road connectivity to give cities a score on how bikeable they are.

*They don't include statistics related to cycling accidents or probability of bike theft in their calculations. I guess they assume that more cycling infrastructure means safer cycling.

I wonder how the cities in Taiwan would compare - Kaohsiung certainly has lots of bike lanes, though connectivity is a problem. It's topography is very cycling friendly, as it's almost totally flat. And desirable amenities are everywhere:

Can read the original article at Victoria: Canada’s most bikeable city
Also, a connected article: From bikeability to bike score that included this graph:

Average Bike Score for 10 Canadian Cities vs. % of Commute Trips by Bike

The Cycling Route Planner for Vancouver was also pretty cool:
I especially like the google function that allowed you to superimpose the data you were interested in onto the map - stuff like designated bike routes and truck routes.

Over the hill to Meinong

I reached an important marker in my training this week: 600km of base miles.

As explained at Cycling Base Miles 101:
Base miles aim to gently increase cycling specific muscle/tendon/ligament strength, build capillaries, get your butt used to saddle time and improve your cardio vascular conditioning.

At 43 years old and 125kg (now 120kg) I was a bit worried about injuring myself if I hit the hills too soon, so I made a rough plan:

a) After 600km: Begin to challenge hills under 300m
b) 1,200km: Challenge hills under 500m
c)  2,000km: Knock yourself out.

So, with 600km under my belt, I set off for my first real climb of the year:
A 240m hill en route to Meinong.

All week, when I had no time to ride, the weather was great and I started to grumble about it being another weekend of rain, lightning and thunder. But as the saying goes: "Be careful what you wish for!"

At 6:30am when I left the house it was already pretty warm. At 7:30am when I stopped for a drink in Yanchiao it was a getting a bit hot. I passed a farm woman riding a bike with her body covered from head to toe and thought to myself:  "Lady, do you know something I don't?"
To which she of course answered in her best Benicio Del Toro as Freddy Four Fingers accent:
"Andy, I probably know a lot you don't."

At the 3-way hub in central Yanchiao where I like to stop at the Family Mart for a drink. With a temple on one corner, fruit and vegetable market on another and a convenience store it's quite a busy spot.

Before you actually get to the real climb though, there are about 6 short but steep hills that give you a taste of what's to come so that you can chicken out and take the easier route modify your route if need be. The first of these climbs takes you right in front of Cock’s Comb Mountain.

Though not a very long climb ( about 2.5km ) the grades were very steep. I just couldn't find a gear low enough to prevent myself from getting winded. I know Rule#69: It is strictly prohibited that under any circumstances a cyclist should walk up a steep incline. Luckily, my will to live is stronger than my pride, so I hoofed it up a few of the nastier sections. Luckier still, was that no fellow cyclists came along and caught me in my moments of shame.

I was ever so glad to reach the top of this climb, but really should have studied the topographic a little more carefully - I then would have known that this camel had two humps. There's a small temple at the top of the second peak with a nice rest area. Met a group of 4 oldtimers taking a break there, who had brought along with them a full sized tea kettle and campstove and proceeded to whip up some lao ren cha; one of those very pleasant little surprises that make riding in Taiwan so enjoyable.

A quick descent brought me down to highway 21 where I proceeded north for 10 minutes to the bridge at highway 28 and turned right.

By the time I finished grabbing something to eat in Meinong it was already 10:30am and I couldn't stop visualizing the mountains on the north end of town as being the lip on a giant frying pan. Decided to leave exploring Meinong to another day and caught the bus back into KHH.