Photos by MJ Klein
Today I wanted to further explore an area that I had visited about a week ago on the Sinfong (Hsinfong) coast.
In Taiwan, this is the symbol for a bicycle trail. When you see this symbol either embedded in the road surface such as this, or on a signpost, you know you’re on a bike trail. I’ve geotagged this article at the beginning of this “Bike Path” as it’s called on the tourist information sign.
Photos by MJ Klein
Today I’m doing a new article called “Today’s Ride” followed by the date [YYMMDD]. I’ll use this format for any future articles about cycle riding. Rather than start a new series, I’ve added this article to the series “Riding” where I add anything cycling related.
I took a ride on the Yong An bicycle trail again, only this time I didn’t do my little 5KM circuit. I went to both ends (practical ends) of the trail and I took some photos to show you what it’s like. This time, the photos are taken from the trike, and not necessarily of the trike.
The only trike photo of the day, this shot shows the new Topeak bag/rack on the back. The end of the bag closest to the camera is the compartment where I keep the camera. It’s very convenient to have the camera with me when I’m out riding. One never knows what you might see, and today was no exception.
Photos by MJ Klein
When I bought my Artifice recumbent trike, it came with a rack that was installed by the factory. I wanted to install a Topeak rack like I had on my MTB but I wasn’t sure if the Artifice rack was too custom to replace with a consumer rack. After some investigation, I was able to install the rack that I wanted on the Artifice. Here’s what I did:
This is the rack that came with the Artifice and my Giant saddle bags. One thing that I didn’t like is how the saddle bags look, and the fact that they hide the beautiful alloy wheel.
Photos by MJ Klein & Hui-chen
After arriving back in Taiwan in the evening on Friday, we were welcomed Saturday morning by a glorious day! I’ve been waiting for fine bike-riding weather to return to Taiwan and I was ecstatic when Saturday turned out to be so perfect. We decided to take the trike down to the coast, to Yong An, for a nice ride.
I don’t yet have a car rack to transport the trike, so I just bungeed it to the car like this. I know what I need to get for a rack though, and I’ll be working on that in the next week.
Photos by MJ Klein
As some of you may recall, when I visited the Taipei Cycle Show, my friend Kevin Kao showed me a new bracket for the headrest on the Artifice recumbent trike. I asked Kevin to send me a bracket so I could install one on my own Artifice.
This photo illustrates the issue. There is a quick release (QR) lever in the center of this photograph. This QR is for unlocking the seat back for folding down. There is a rectangular hole in the aluminum mounting bracket for clearance for the QR. The hole isn’t large enough, and the headrest mounting bracket isn’t adjustable.
Photos by MJ Klein
By now, everyone knows that I have a new recumbent trike. But I’m no stranger to bicycle riding. I’ve had a Giant brand MTB for five years and I’ve enjoyed bicycle riding since I was a kid. But in Taiwan, there is a huge problem with stray dogs and the fact that you cannot go anywhere on the island and escape from them. While not wanting to deal with the issue of strays itself (I’ll do that in another article) I would like to open a discussion on bicycle riding in Taiwan, and dealing with stray dogs that want to chase, bite or otherwise harm riders.
This is a sight that I hate to see on the street – a stray dog. Undisciplined, wild and unpredictable, this dog is more than likely going to chase and attempt to bite, cyclists.
Photos by MJ Klein
I updated some of the equipment on the trike in the last few days, so I wanted to do an article about the updates.
I installed a Air Zound air horn on the right accessories bar. I needed a really loud horn for 2 reasons: 1: I’m low to the ground and in some traffic situations I need to make my presence known in an authoritative manner. 2: I need to give a blast on a loud horn to discourage dogs from giving chase.
Photos by MJ Klein
Last Tuesday was a very nice day, sunny, bright and with an almost warm wind. So I decided to take the trike out for a spin and to a park for some new photos.
I’m going to give you a really good look at it, and explain the details. The model is called the Artifice and is made in Taiwan by TW-Bents.
Photos by MJ Klein & Hui-chen
Yeah, I got bent, but not in the typical sense where I go drinking with my friends. This time my getting “bent” refers to my purchase of a recumbent tricycle.
MJ with Walter, the designer of the recumbent tricycle model shown here – The Artifice
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