Taiwan Charity Cycling Tour - July 2004
English Teacher in Taiwan
July 2004
What was it all about?
During July 2004, I was given the opportunity to be one of 5 foreigners to cycle around Taiwan for the Red Heart Foundation, in order to raise funds and increase awareness on behalf of the Red Heart Foundation, a local Taiwanese NGO, who attempts to minimize the suffering and stigma attached to the families of convicted criminals in Taiwan.
We cycled approximately 1000 km in 11 days from Taipei to Taipei, anti-clockwise around the island. Some of the notable town along our route included: Hsinchu, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Taitung, and Hualien.
The huge local Bicycle manufacturer on Taiwan, Giant, agreed to sponsor our bikes, clothing and Bike equipment for the trip. The participants of the tour included me, Toby Wilsdon from Britain, Nakajima Kensaku from Japan, Huang Jin Bao from Taiwan, and Ron from Australia.
The event was extensively covered across Taiwan and even an article in a South African newspaper mentioned my participation in the tour.
Where is Taiwan?
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| Where Taiwan is in Asia |
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We started in Taipei cycling South along the West coast,
and then returned North back to Taipei along the Est coast |
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| The South African flag on my bike that accompanied me on the tour |
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| Beautiful East Coast scenery |
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| The cover of a Taiwanese cycling magazine. Front: Toby Wilsdon from the UK; I'm second in line. |
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| Press conference in Taipei at the start |
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| Group photo |
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| July 15, 2004, at the start |
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| The core group, posing at the starting line with Taipei 101 in the background |
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| Collection of pics of me circumnavigating Taiwan |
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| Solitary figure |
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| Huffing and puffing in the heat and humidity |
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| Leading the pack in a climb |
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| Enjoying rural Taiwan nature scenery |
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| Slowly, but surely, we're getting there |
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| Lots of time to converse with a fellow cyclist, Toby Wilsdon from the UK. |
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| "xiū qì", meaning rest in Mandarin, quickly became my favorite word |
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| a quick stop to freshen up |
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| Near the end, we could give our muscles a spa date in this natural hot spring |
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| With Nakajima Kensaku's little boy at a spot along the road |
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| Ron and Huang jin Bao admiring the view at a mountain retreat rest stop |
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It was hard work getting back in the saddle day after day...
I also had a bout of Bronchitis to deal with during the tour |
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| The support van taking us from behind |
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| Ron, Toby, and Kensaku in hot pursuit |
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| Rural Taiwan |
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| Breathtaking natural beauty |
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| Singular focus reaching the top |
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| Across many rivers and streams closer to our goal |
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| Addressing a crowd in Hualien to explain our goal and trying to raise funds |
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With the opposition leader of Taiwan at that time,
who cycled a couple of kilometers with us |
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| Meet and greet, arriving at a new town |
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| Partners and locals |
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| Locals and cycling enthusiasts who joined on one of our East coast shifts |
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With Huang Jin Bao at the onset of another shift near the end of the tour
... some tired faces |
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| On our last stop before our victorious entry into Taipei |
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| Enjoying the view at a scenic rest stop |
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| Almost there ... only 30 km to go |
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| Our last group photo before entering Taipei |
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| My 15 minutes of fame |
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| I won ... rather, I persevered |
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| Interview with a news reporter |
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| Media coverage: local and in my native SA |
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| Taipei Times article and a local paper covering the tour in Chinese |
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| Taipei times article - Sun, July 04, 2004 |
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| Local newspaper article. In the picture, Huang Jin Bao and I 'toughing' it out |
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A Taiwanese cycling magazine,
featured us in one of their editions |
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Afrikaans article in a South African newspaper,
Die Beeld, covered my exploits in a small article |
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Toby Wilsdon and I featured on the cover of a
Taiwanese Cycling magazine |
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| Exhausted faces at the press conference, being 'drilled' by the media ... |
So what happened after the tour?
I went back to Luodong to teach English for another 6 months. Then I packed my bags and moved to mainland China for another adventure. I bought several touring bikes in China, and with colleagues .... or by myself continued to explore rural places of natural beauty where few foreigners dare to tread. The Taiwanese tour, however, stood out as a great event and milestone in my life, overcoming many obstacles and challenges to achieve a goal.
