From Elsewhere . . . .
Just before dawn on Mt. Alishan in Taiwan. Image by Jeremy Joslin. Some rights reserved.
From the Taipei Times:
A bicycle path along the nation’s only mountain railway opened to the public yesterday, allowing cyclists to enjoy breathtaking scenery on Alishan (阿里山), officials said.
The route . . . winds along Taiwan’s renowned Alishan Forest Railway . . . .
The 2,565m-long cycle path cost more than NT$20 million (US$609,000) to build.
It is constructed alongside the railway, on which trains moves at only 16kph, allowing cyclists to keep pace with passing trains, district director Yang Hung-chih (楊宏志) said at the opening.
Yang said the path would remind local residents of childhood days spent chasing trains on bicycles.
. . .
The Alishan Forest Railway ascends from 30m to 2,216m with the use of zigzagging mountain tracks. [Here's a plan of a loop in Alishan Forest Railway.]It passes through 72 bridges and 47 tunnels along the way.
Local residents spent their childhoods chasing trains up this thing? Why hasn't there been a Taiwanese Tour winner?
Bicycle Diaries has posted a 1961 video clip of a large British family heading out for a bike excursion on a bicycle-built-for-4 with a baby-car and two 3-speeds. Utterly charming, very odd, and quite funny.
When the sun rises just as I am embarking my second cup of coffee and seems to set before my coffee gets cold, it's time to think about next summer. The best place to find "winter dream food" is at Biking Bis. His collection of multi-day tours (this year he listed 98 in 47 states), charity rides, and selected touring blogs is unparalleled. The Touring category has even more.
Another blogger loves Phil Wood Tenacious Oil, the only chain lube that works for me, rain, snow, or shine. A few years ago, I tested every modern chain lube I could find in San Francisco's damp weather and, although my chain was undoubtedly tidier, the bloody thing would start squeaking after a day or two - usually when I was miles from home.
I saw this warning label for cars at Urbana-Champaign Cycling Ventures:
(I can't figure out from Sue's post where the warning label originally appeared.)As the licensed owner of this vehicle, I’m fully aware that driving such causes air pollution, noise, traffic and increases the likelihood of injuries to others, possibly death and property destruction. In addition, many of the dollars spent to propel this vehicle will be used by terrorist organizations with stated desires to inflict harm and possibly death to my fellow citizens and family members.
