Beware of free fish sandwiches.
We just got back from Taipei Cycle 2010 in Taiwan. It just surpassed Interbike in Las Vegas to become the second largest bike trade show in the world. Yeah, you may be surprised to know that Taiwan is the leading manufacturer for most of the world’s best bike companies.
A local favorite
The Taiwan trade show is very different from those in America. The hosts of the show were kind enough to give all foreign visitors a complementary lunch for one of the days of the show. I wish I could have taken some pictures of the free sandwiches. We could either choose between some kind of corn and mayo salad sandwich or a fish sandwich. After not being able to identify the components of the corn salad we decided on the fish sandwich. I was brave enough to take one bite of the sandwich and that was about it. I stopped as soon as I opened the sandwich to see the pockets of oil between the skin and meat of the fish. I then spent the rest of the time watching Dale, our buyer, choke down this “fish” sandwich. He spent about a minute chewing on each bite deciding if it was worth eating. Needless to say, we did not go back for seconds.
Duro Fixie Pops
It was nice to see the positive attitude by those in the industry after a tough year in the economy. Some companies took this time to show off some of their new products. Two of my favorites were the new Fixie Pops by Duro Tires and the Metropolis crank by FSA. The Fixie Pops are designed for fixed gear riders who like to skid and look good while doing it. They come in a number of cool colors with sweet graphics. The Metropolis Crank is designed to be the ultimate crankset for avid big city commuters. It gives the rider the ability to shift quickly and smoothly under heavy loads by using two internal planetary-gears. This eliminates the front derailleur and allows the rider to bike while wearing nice dress slacks without worrying about getting them stuck in the chain or dirty with grease.
One hiker, one lane, two cars
After the show we were able to hike 12 miles up Taroko Gorge National Park (a road listed as number 7 in the world’s top ten most dangerous roads). The Gorge was beautiful and, as you can see from some of the pictures, huge boulders are capable of falling at any time and killing drivers on the road. We saw monkeys and were able to find a nice little swimming hole along the way. It was a great trip and we look forward to going back to Taiwan in the future.
Do you like Taiwanese food? What is the scariest road you’ve ever been on (in a car or on a bike)?
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