It was with an extremely keen sense of trepidation that I edged the super powerful brand new Triumph from the Grand Palace’s carpark into the usual stream of scooters, buses and cars. Weaving slowly past the crowd then heading up the hill away from them, I relaxed into the bike’s seat a little more. My feet were on the pegs set back from the engine on an angle, my arms set down on the handle bars with pressure. It was not uncomfortable, but immediately brought back long forgotten feelings of being wrapped into the cocoon of the Ducati’s frame all those years ago. Hearing the engine purr as I teased the clutch and throttle into a second gear change, I jigged back in the seat, gripped the ergonomically designed tank between my legs and gave a little twitch to the accelerator. The Harley’s low down guttural torque is one thing: a full on bucking bronco that nearly rips arms out of sockets is another: I was off up the hill into Yangminshan with a hot trail of zinging engine screams behind me, hooting to myself wildly and unable to wipe a spreading grin from my face. So this is what it’s like to ride a proper motorbike in Taiwan!Obviously the highlight of the week/weekend for me was the ride on Greg’s new Triumph. He has been agonizing over this possible purchase for ages, but finally bit the bullet after months of research. The bike is absolutely outstanding in every way, but the realization that he firstly has not arranged any insurance, and secondly, I sensed he was going to ask me if I wanted to take it for a spin, was a little shocking! He knows I can ride a big bike of course, and I had spent many months discussing pros and cons with him and getting lots of vicarious pleasure from the whole adventure. We arranged to meet up out at the Grand Palace, and he initially took me for a white knuckle ride up the hill as a pillion. I got a first hint of its enormous power and acceleration when I nearly got flipped off the back when he gave it a bit of juice half way up! Back down to the carpark, I was very hesitant to accept, but agreed to take it for a little spin in the carpark: that was it of course, so I had to get up the hill after that!
We, yes we, went up the steps and along the monkey trail today, right to the end. I am still recovering from my sickness, so was keen to do my first bit of exercise for over a week, and Cass wanted to come along and try the steps. Both days of the weekend have been absolutely stunning weather wise, almost without fault. Full sun but with a touch of breeze, late 20s in temperature and not too humid, it was a great match today for a walk in the mountains. Cass had forgotten the steepness and unrelenting length of the steps, but she handled it very well and after we’d got our breath back at the top of the steps, we really enjoyed strolling the entire length of the trail. Eventually we passed the outdoor chicken restaurant of the free range chickens wandering around oblivious to their fate, but this time, a couple of piglets looked like they might have been starting their “fattening up” journey as well! We stopped by and checked out a beautiful example of Japanese brick housing from the colonial rule days, and we checked out a few different things on the way back down. I was pleased that she came along today, so now she can picture where I go when I set off often through the week. Cass is quite keen to go up again every now and then on the weekend, so we’ll gradually warm up to a few bigger and different routes both up and back down.
Cassy was stoked to get all her memoirs graded this past week: its quite a gargantuan undertaking, one which I try to change every year as it just seems to huge, but it always remains the same! She has parent conferences coming up at the end of the week, a time of the year neither of us particularly enjoys. I had mine on Thursday and Friday and they all went quite well, after which we headed off the Qiyan WooSo bar for a few beers. This turned into quite a party as not only Clarky turned up from Singapore (he was here watching his daughter play in a tournament) with Lewy, but Johnsy showed up fresh from his triumphs as a finisher (top 300) at the recent Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon World Championships. I had a good chat to him and got to secretly re-live some glory days from 11 years ago when I finished the Ironman in Australia. His achievement was really quite amazing: apart from qualifying for Hawaii and finishing way up in the field, he also has dealt with some very serious heart problems….amazing!
Photos: lots of bike stuff, lots of steps stuff, Japanese house and two little pigs.