Back from Sun Moon Lake

Just came back from doing a Tour Taiwan story on cycling around Sun Moon Lake. It was quite nice cycling around the lake. I didn't get to ride the whole thing the first afternoon when we were filming, but the next morning, I met with Tingfa, our fantastic guide and he took me for a full tour. Without stopping, we finished the nearly 30km up and down ride in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. This is what Sportstracker on my phone recorded, then sent to Google Earth:



Watching the sun come up over the lake brought back memories of rowing with the team and mountain biking with Carrie. But the nostalgia quickly faded once the bigger hills started coming at us and I got real busy pedaling and feeding just enough oxygen to my brain so I could keep going and not blackout.



After everything was in the can, we quickly headed back to Taipei to cut the film. We managed to finish all three language versions and still get off work on time. But boy, was I exhausted. That was yesterday. I don't know how I made it through today. I'm again so tired, I'm nauseous, have a huge headache, one really swollen eye and a sore right jaw that hurts when I open it. Ack. My body knows I'm off tomorrow. Sometimes I feels like off time is sick time. Time for bed. No running tomorrow. I'll get plenty of cycling the day after when we go to film in Dapeng Bay, Pingtung. We're doing a story on cycling around there too.


Views from the balcony of the room I stayed in:



Dinner that night:

Yes, that was in a 7-11. It was my first time having a convenience store dinner, and inside of a CVS too. The guys suggested it and I did not complain. The food may not be great, but at least I know there isn't bacteria in it that I'm not used to... However, despite all that work during the day, I could only finish the salad, oden and sesame pudding. The oinari-san and hanjuku tamago ended up being breakfast.

Here are the scripts for the short version of the story. I haven't gotten around to writing and cutting the long version yet.

鐵馬日月潭

這幾年掀起鐵馬風，節能減碳又健康，因此國內旅遊景點也開始推動鐵馬行程。透過鏡頭，我們帶您到日月潭，體驗鐵馬環湖。##

台灣最美麗的高山湖泊，這裡是由山與水所共同交融、創造出來的南投日月潭！

[[stand-up: 來到日月潭 想觀光兼運動 騎鐵馬環湖剛剛好！]]

日月潭環湖道路和腳踏車步道，總長30公里，走路太慢，開車太快，因此越來越多觀光客開始騎單車。

[[美國人 因為沿著河畔騎 所以感覺很好 路面也很平 我覺得是個很好的路線 也有上坡下坡 一點都不會無聊]]

[[日本人 很有趣的路程 但是因為車道比較多 所以如果可以有更多自行車道可能更好]]

[[觀光局副局長謝謂君: 我們的構想是 在明年底之前 我們會有一條水上的自行車道 會把整個日月潭的日行車道串在一起 大約33公里長]]

[[解說志工 許廷發 對於一些喜歡騎腳踏車的老手來說 30公里不會太短 對於一些新手來說30公里又不會太長 而且整個坡度 最陡的才只有3%而已 所以騎起來會很舒服]]

[[STAND-UP 真是沒有想像中的那麼簡單 還要爬坡 啊...]]

如果想一口氣騎完、體能真的要好，不過您當然也能選擇只騎部份路段，或者上坡時，車子用牽的。

騎了一天的鐵馬，建議到了晚上，來伊達邵看表演，因為日月潭的特色，除了美景，還有原住民文化。

民視新聞 翁郁容 郭文海 南投報導

Cycling Sun Moon Lake

Cycling tourism in Taiwan has been picking up speed as more and more roads and trails are adjusted to be bicycle-friendly. There are five main destinations for cycling tourists in Taiwan, and Michella Jade Weng visited one of them - Sun Moon Lake.##

Nantou County's picturesque Sun Moon Lake is known as one of the most beautiful places in Taiwan. It’s enclosed by mountains on all sides and even has its own island in the middle.

Michella Jade Weng
And what better way to enjoy the scenery than by cycling around the lake!

There is a road and some bicycle paths that go around the lake and are about 30 kilometers in distance. Walking the entire way would take too long and driving would leave one feeling unsatisfied, so many tourists these days are choosing to take their bicycles and are enjoying the course's dynamic terrain.

American Cycling Blogger
You ride along the water, so it's a kind of a nice route. I thought the roads were nice, were smooth, they weren't broken up, it had good views. It was a good rolling kind of terrain. It was not boring at all.

Hsu Ting Fa
Volunteer Guide
For good bicyclists, it's not too short, and for new bicyclists, it's not too long, so everyone can ride here very well and can enjoy the ride here.

Challenging, yes. Not too difficult...that remains to be seen. You could always choose to cycle only a part of it or walk your bike up some of the steeper hills, but if you want to push yourself and go all the way without stopping, you better be fit or you're going to be sore like I was.

After taking in the stunning landscape, another unique way to enjoy Sun Moon Lake and a nice ending to any cycling holiday is to catch an evening performance by the indigenous Thao tribe.

Michella Jade Weng, Formosa TV, Nantou.