My friend R-Tone’s first 100K epic ride

It’s been a while since this event (27^th February 2023) already; I am always busy with my work, training and study. However, I still want to record this event on my blog. It was a sunny but windy day. We rode all the way from Taoyuan to Taipei along the Dahan River, in total 100KM.

Our government had built a decent bicycle trail all the way from Daxi to the Tamsui River’s estuary; it also connected to many beautiful riverside parks. It was a crazy windy day. Generally, I can hold my cruise speed with my lovely Giant R1000 on 30 KM/H around, but with the wind speed around 7-10 (m/s) it could only be around 23 – 25 KM/H.

R-tone is a good coach of strength and conditioning

This dude could deadlift 140kg weight easily for 5×5, but his muscle and stamina are never built for the long distance ride, it was also his first time. Therefore, I rode with 18KM/H and tried to ride against the wind all the time just to make R-tone drafting behind me and got 20% aero benefits from me.

I also monitored his heart rate all the time, I made it lower than 150 bpm (beats per minute), and stayed in zone 1,2.

After three hours of bike riding, we arrived in Taipei !

R-tone was amazed by the bicycle trails, which brought us from Taiyuan to Taipei. I asked him” How do you feel?” R-tone responded” Fantastic! “. I lifted my chin up and squeezed the water out of my cycling bottle and said “I call using these trails to get on the highway. Because you don’t have to stop for the red light and worry about traffic, you can ride as fast as you want.” R-tone “Legit! “

We passed by the office of president and stopped by Taipei First Girls High School. It’s the best girl’s high school in Taiwan, it’s founded during the Japanese colonial period, just like our office of president, but generally if I and R-tone talk about that school. It’s mostly about our male fantasy. I apologize that, as a gentleman I can’t really tell you what we normally say, because there might be ladies reading here.

We rode till the end of the Guiyang Street, took a break on Liberty Square (CKS Memorial Hall) and then rode around 2- 3 km to National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. That’s the place where we commemorate our founding father Dr. Sun Yat-sen. I and R-tone grew up in Zhongli not Taipei, we haven’t been to this Memorial Hall. We were both amazed by the style of traditional Chinese architecture.

Hong Kong Restaurant + delicious cuisine!

After our short break at National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, we found a really nice Hong Kong restaurant. We had a couple of traditional Hong Kong meals there, watched many different movie posters, saw Bruce Lee and enjoyed the Vibe of old time Hong Kong, which had its amazing movie industry in the 1980s –mid 1990s. Unlike the Generation Z who grew up with more technology. We are the generation fed by television. Back in our youth in the 1990s, it’s full of Hong Kong movies and we didn’t have computers to play. So those classic movie lines became a part of our life. We often quote those movie lines when a similar scenario or emotion happened in our life, and we laugh at it.

The Return

The return trip from Taipei to Taoyuan was amazing as well, because when we rode to Taipei, it was basically against the wind. Now we are using the downwind, the speed was boosted easily up to 35 km/h. We had a wonderful time with it; also we stopped by some beautiful open space along the bicycle trail, laid down on the grass and enjoyed sunshine. Life is just like modern Arthur Morgan ( RDR2- Wild west cowboy game), stop by anywhere and rest. It is considered super cool in Taiwan, especially because it’s a place highly urbanized.

When we rode back to Taoyuan, we took a bit of an uphill walk; because we were both exhausted and I wanted to stay with him to make sure my friend R-tone was safe. It was R-tone’s first time 100km, before that his longest challenge was around 50-60 km. Therefore, I had to make sure his body condition is okay.

Luckily, we made it in the end. 100km might be a small number for a pro cyclist, but for someone who has never challenged that long, it is definitely an epic ride and a milestone in life. That’s something you will never forget. What I really like about cycling is it grows your muscle, both real muscle and spiritual muscle. It gives people a feeling like “Oh my gosh, it’s so hard I couldn’t make it.” And after you start practicing push a little bit more and more, and then your spiritual muscle grows. “Oh, I didn’t think I can do it, I made it!” It’s like igniting tinder (Not that APP! Gentlemen) and the fire will burn ferociously. This “keep pushing, I can do it” mindset will help you in all aspects of your life.

That’s what I learned from cycling and that’s why I love cycling.