A City Bike Tour at the End of the Fall

Two weeks ago I received a mail that promoted a bike tour in the Taipei City. My attention was captured. It said, “Come to have a city bike tour to enjoy the beauty of Fall before winter comes. The activity includes a lot of programs in addition to biking.

It was just what I needed; riding a bike probably for the very last time of the year, breathing in fresh air, appreciating beautiful scenery, exploring some beautiful parks and many more. I missed the excitement and joy I had while biking in Seattle with my sister. So, I made a quick decision and registered. I don’t have a bike, but I can borrow one. From whom? I thought of Pamela and Moses immediately. They both joined a T/Ms biking group and they have good bikes. It was pity that Pamela was still in China, or she would definitely join me.
I didn’t forward the information to other goldies as I was 100% sure that none of them could or would join it. We had to get up very early before 6:00 a.m. Unlike me, they are not crazy about biking enough to sacrifice their beauty sleep. And they don’t have a bike. The first and foremost reason was that though the program looked interesting, what if it turned out the opposite?

At Kate’s Birthday party, I asked Moses to lend me the bike. To assure him that I borrowed the bike for a good course, I e-mailed him the flyer of the activity. Hey, why not invite him to join? He was experienced enough to tell if the activity was worth attending or not. If he joined, it’d further encouraged me and I would not be alone. Whenever it comes a time like this, I’d feel sorry for myself that no one in my family could join me for the activity that I like.

Hooray! Moses wanted to join the biking. What a spirit! I didn’t bother to think whether he did find the activity interesting or he was actually worried about my biking skill. I planned to meet him at 7:20 a.m. to get the bike. Moses proposed 6:20 a.m. to play safe. We settled it finally at 6:40 a.m. I had to get up at 5:30 the latest. I just hoped it would not kill me by getting up so early as there was no way for me to go to bed early.

Things went swell. I had no problem to get up, arrived at Moses’ in time and followed Moses to the gathering spot way before others. I didn’t know there was a biking trail right starting from Moses community. We made a little detour, yet the unexpected forty minutes ride in the early morning was extremely uplifting. I just loved biking.

The only disappointment I had for the activity was that we waited for almost an hour for others to come. The weather that caused others to hesitate to come didn’t bother me at all. On the contrary I liked it cloudy and drizzling on and off. We should have felt lucky it was not hot at all
The rest was just easy and relaxing. We were divided into three groups. We rode in a slow pace keeping waiting for others. I was OK with it, but I was afraid that it was too slow for Moses. Comparing with us, he was a true biker.
Except all the benefits I mentioned above, I also learned some tips of riding a bike properly, history of the areas we toured, some good hiking trails introduced by the leader. I will definitely try these hiking trails as hiking is also my cup of tea, too.

The whole trip was easy. The real challenge was the long biking before and after the activity. It took Moses and I another 40 minutes to ride back to his home. That back and forth ride gave me the sweat I need.

Well, actually there was one minor thing that made the whole activity not so perfect. Right in front of Moses home, just when we were only about 20 meters away to get off the bike, both us had a small accident. When I saw Moses fall of his bike suddenly, I couldn’t believe it and panicked. Then it came my turn when I tried to clutch the brake. Who would know that the sidewalk was so slippery with rain? I fell really hard and it took me probably five minutes to get back on my feet completely. I think it taught us a lesson, always keep an eye on the road you take. You can never be too careful.

Trini