Our beautiful LTF E-Adventure decal done by Taiwanese artist Alice Ko.
Both pics above fm Yee Chao
Drinking coffee at 250kmh and more, onboard the excellent Taiwan Hi-Speed Rail.
Whether we like it or not, age creeps up upon all of us and as invincible as we sometimes feel as cyclists, our performance is affected as the years go by and as our bodies wear down slowly. This means that some of the tough routes we have done when we were younger, could possibly be precluded as we age. But is there a satisfying alternative and hope for us young Seniors?
One of the most beautiful bike rides I have encountered in my 15 years of bicycle touring is the route from Puli to Hualien on Hway 14 across the 3275m mountain pass of Wulin through the breath-taking Taroko National Park, Taiwan.
Prof Celia Tan on her trusty Bike Friday Pocket up Hway 14, 8km from the peak. 2012
My first time in 2012 doing this tour organised by George Lim of LCSG changed my life. The 50km climb was super tough especially near the end and my knees were out of action for 3 months. My second experience through this route was on a Kymco 180 Scooter in 2017 and that was a breeze but somehow, not as fulfilling nor memorable as doing on a bicycle.
The itch to do it again, this time with friends new to cycling needed to be scratched but how do we go without dying from sheer exhaustion and pain? A cyclist friend Yee Chao posted about a tour he did along the East Coast of Taiwan on a Giant E-bike with his wife and this sparked something in me... Was it possible to scale the daunting Wulin on an Ebike? Nobody as far as I know have done this before and I could not get any advice despite thorough research. But I was all game for a challenge. It would be like scaling Everest wearing an Exoskeleton Robot if you were a Mountain Climber.
This would be an amazing experience if it all worked out to plan and we actually tried this out some years back in Ibaraki University of Health Science in Japan.
Yee Chao was very kind to share his experience of his tour on the E-bike and it was encouraging to know that a full charge, if ridden carefully, could give a touring range 60-70km. Perfect for a typical LTF tour. However, climbing a steep mountain pass was a different story. The Ebike gobbles heaps of power going uphill and this is what Yee Chao shared...
"This climb (10km, 800m) alone for my weight already used 60-70% of the battery."
The first stage of climb up from Puli to Cingjing is already 28km and from CJ to Wulin is much steeper and about 25km. One solution was to carry an extra battery but the cost of renting a Giant E-bike is not cheap. This was the 2018 rates pick up from Hualien. 7 days rental will cost S$200 and an extra battery would be another $80.
As we wanted to start out from the West and cut across to the East, the hard work and research kindly done by our buddy Ying Chang indicated picking up the bikes from Taichung was possible. After a flurry of emails and phone calls, the deal was made however Giant only had 8 Ebikes available. Furthermore, this would cost us 30% more due to the fact they have to transport the bikes back from our drop off point in Taitung. To put this rental cost in perspective, a scooter costs only $10 a day or is 4 times cheaper and a car is about $50 a day - the price of our Ebike!
However, Yee Chao's words resonates - "The E-bike rental is not cheap. The price can rent car already but the experience is priceless!"
Though this made no financial sense, some things in life must be experienced regardless. I managed to rope up a team of 8 who was game to give this tour a try and I applaud them for their keen sense of adventure!
Missing Alice!
With that, we flew to Kaoshiung on Apr 15 and caught the speedy HSR bullet train to Taichung with so much uncertainty. Can we do it with just one battery? What would the weather be like? Would the E-bike have enough power to bring us and our luggage up those long and steep climb?
The plan was to train from Taichung to Ershui, then cycle to Sun Moon Lake. Then down to Puli, Cingjing, Wulin, Hualien and along the beautiful coast to Taitung. The unknowns, adventures and dangers that awaited us beggared belief.
But on a wing and a prayer, we began our first E-bicycle tour trusting Him who hold us in His good hands!
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