Taiwan KOM Challenge
Numbers, figures and reams of data from wind tunnels, computer fluid dynamics and multiple other mechanical testing procedures may be the way many companies like to give the consumer a good idea at how great a product they are making.
In many respects all this digital and controlled testing is great, but when it comes to the real deal, it’s out on the open road that shows weather a product really performs.
To test a product to its ultimate limit you need harsh and epic conditions. Usually people don’t like going out and suffering through these conditions, especially when it comes to that wet and cold variety of weather. When I found myself in a situation that accidentally and unfortunately allowed me and a friend to give kit we were using the ultimate test it’s not until after the event that you’re able to look back and see how well a product does its job.
Taiwan may not be the first place you think of when imagining great cycling destinations, I for one had never seen it as an ideal cycling destination. But an invite for a trip to the island to tackle the Taiwan KOM Challenge was to show me that this small country has some of the best roads for playing on a bike.
The Taiwan KOM Challenge consists of 105 km of tarmac that raises from sea level to 3275 m, one road straight up a mountain. Taiwan’s normally known as a place for mass manufacture, but away from these industrial estates is a land that is littered with gorgeous mountains, incredibly it has 286 mountains over 3000 m.
The days leading up to the Challenge had been bright and sunny, shorts and jerseys were regally worn and even the gilts were left in the hotel rooms. Taiwan was treating the riders who’d come from afar to some late summer sun, it’s not often-for a brit at least-that you get to top the tan lines up in November.
The weather though was lulling us in to a false sense of security. The forecast for the event on the Saturday was patchy rain but overall getting brighter throughout the day. This sounded good to me. An early start saw us prepare for what we thought was to be a solid yet slightly damp slog for the first hour of the ride. Instead we woke to rain, rain that we were told would subside.
Many on the start line were dressed with the mindset that this was very much a race, a light showerproof jacket or gilet were donned by a many of the 470 starters. I was wearing kit from the website that I usually write for cyclingtips.com.au, topped off with Castelli Nano Flex arm warmers and the Muur jacket were the i products of choice to keep me warm for the day or for as long as the rain was to pour for.
Let’s cut to the chase, that sun that had been promised by the weather man never arrived. Instead the temperature dropped with every meter climbed and the rain got harder and harder, the valley that we wound our way upwards through was constantly covered in dense cold mist, the views were limited to the road in font.
Apart from the weather not improving things were to get even worse for a friend and fellow competitor Jo Hogan. A crash early on while crossing one of the many gorgeous bridges that threw us from one side of the river to the other saw Jo hit the tarmac hard, damaging her ribs. The win Jo was aiming for in the women category was now put on the back burner, instead it would be a case of just suffering to the finish hoping that the ribs would hold up, this was now plan A.
Running on adrenaline Jo caught the group up not long after the crash it was obvious she was in pain. This adrenalin rush I knew would soon wear off and I decided to put myself to good use and t become Jo’s domestic for the day. I’d help with nursing her through the remaining 85kms of the race. waiting at the side of the road for the broom wagon would have been a guarantied long cold and wet wait, and the multiple hours of slow driving to the finish would have seen Jo and anyone else in the broom wagon suffer with the cold just as much as riding in it.
Keeping warm and dry when injured would be a true test for any kit. As the temperature dropped and the pain hit Jo it was not long till I decided that she needed the Muur jacket more than I did. Jo was shaking a bit and looked cold. Pedal strokes were laboured and moral was slowly ebbing away. She had got rid of her jacket early on in the race, passing it to a friend. She had had visions of racing hard to the top and a jacket would be excess weight up the mountain.
As soon as I passed my jacket to Jo I felt the cold bite. The only descending in the whole course is a 3 km section that comes just a short distance from the finish. The three kms deliver you at the bottom of the final 10 km of the course, these are by far and away the toughest section of the race. The slopes here kick up and never let up. Until this point it had been a gradual yet tough slope.
The three kms of down hill sapped the heat from us both. I knew that I’d need something to keep me warm, I was shaking and struggling to think straight. Lucky I spotted a parked car with two people stood near it. They were helping another victim of the cold. I pulled over and with luck they gave me a plastic bag to stuff under my jersey and a t-shirt, baggy but still an extra layer. Not quite a waterproof jacket but it would do.
Not long in to the last 10kms Jo pulled away from me, she looked warmer and more comfortable. Plus she had had a second wind, I on the other hand was feeling the cold. My chest was aching and the legs were far from turning in perfect circles. I shouted to Jo to look after herself and leave me to struggle on. I watch Jo and my jacket disappear in to the mist. When slowly entering a state of hypothermia ten kilometres seems a long long way.
The sound of the finish was a noise that raised my spirt. I could hear but not see it. The sound of the mega phone in the mist. With each pedal stoke I knew I was that little closer to a hot tea, and a seat in the van with the heating turned up full. Coming across the line I was shortly greeted by Jo. She was dressed in warm clothing and grinning. She’s managed 4th in the women category, she’d picked off several other women struggling in the closing kilometres. Plus no top of this she’d stretched out a huge 15 minuets gap over me in the 10kms that we had parted ways.
Apart from Jo being super fit and having the sight of women competitors she could pick off to gain vital placings on the overall classification I put some of her performance and the lack of mine down to proper clothing. Jo had kept warmer in the Muur jacket, I’m sure she still felt the cold but I’m also sure she’d agree that keeping warmer and dryer helped with performance. Comparing it to a plastic bag and a T-shirt is by no way a fair test but it just shows what a well designed rain jacket can offer when it comes to performance enhancements.
Out on the open roads products like the Muur can be a blessing, I just wish I’d had a second spare in my back pocket.
Photo courtesy: Taiwan Cyclist Federation, Daniel Simms