It was my friends who told me about this bike race. A local bike shop in Fengyuan wanted to do some promotion and therefore there would be a time trial at Fengyuan. It would be a race in three stages and number one would get a nice price: a carbon wheelset for road bike. My Fengyuan friends said that I should do it and I took the challenge. I went to the store and registered. Ready to rumble!
Session 1: 17h of May: 9 minutes 29 seconds (no Garmin data)
This is the map of the Gonglaoping ride. It is somewhere around 3.8km with 220m of elevation gain. It is a famous route in Fengyuan. Every local knows it and has ridden it.
The first attempt was on May 17th. The race would start at eight am. I left Shalu cycling really calmly, just warming up, not getting myself to tired. In the Zhongzheng park of Fengyuan, I could see the organisation ready for action.
My Fengyuan friends came to assist me, letting me know in the corners if there would be incoming cars. The roads were not fully blocked for this race. Moreover, this place was crowded due to the Sunday market. Conditions were not ideal and they could have done a better job organizing.
When I left, I was immediately blocked by a car coming from the right, but after that I was good to go. I was a bit nervous before starting but once the timer ran I started pounding it.
I was giving my friends instructions on what to do.
Then I started racing. I knew the area, I knew the turns, all I had to do was pound it. I did not pay any attention to the elapsing time. I just tried to be as fast as I could. I cycled the whole thing without getting out of the saddle. Maybe I should have done that on the last steeper section. Anyway, I finished in 9 minutes and 29 seconds. A fairly good time.
A picture taken of me by my friends while I was racing. Funny to see myself in action, riding that Roubaix with Zipp wheels.
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When I arrived I gave my card to the organisation and they signaled the checkpoint. Honestly, I also lost some time because they were not able to tap out directly. So let's say my actual time was around 9:20. Something I could be satisfied with.
When I arrived I gave my card to the organisation and they signaled the checkpoint. Honestly, I also lost some time because they were not able to tap out directly. So let's say my actual time was around 9:20. Something I could be satisfied with.
After the race everybody wanted to have pictures with me, kinda funny.
It was a great day, everybody commended me saying that they were not able to match that time.
A-Shun, a guy who also does some crazy cycling. He informed me about some cool paths, which led to wonderful cycling trips.
You can see the table under the tent in the back. It is the checkpoint for the finish. I had some water there as well. Even though less than ten minutes, I raced the shit out of myself
Looking at ti like this, my bike looks fancy. I love it!
Mr. Cai and Steven riding his scooter so he could inform me in every turn about incoming cars.
This girl recently bought an orange Tarmac. She also participated in the race.
Thank you Fengyuan friends for helping me get a good number. Next time I will do even better.
A-Zhu and Steven
Bartman and Liao Shijie
We spent some time here waiting for other participants. Obviously I was curious about the other results. For a very long time I was number one, but near the end there was one cyclist who beat my time, by ten seconds even. At the time I kinda felt down about it.
Then our group went to Shigang to have some coffee at that Family Mart. We took Taichung-90 down.
Descending along Taichung-90 with the Fengyuan gang. After the coffee, I went to Taichung for my class at 10 am. I was well in time for it.
This is the complete table of results. I came in second in the overall rating, just after a guy called Li Mingjie. He did it in 9:18 which was super fast as well,. Looked like I would have some competition for getting that wheelset.
Session 2, June 14th: 9 minutes and 1 second
Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/803680640
There were some changes for the second attempt at Gonglaoping, one month later. For instance, they changed the beginning and end of the race, because last time we were obstructed too much by cars.
The store was advertising this second Gonglaoping trial a lot. This is a satellite view.
The starting point was moved past that street where cars kept coming out.
In order to maintain the same distance, the end mark was also moved backwards.
I had only practised Gonglaoping the week before the race, but I did do a Shalu - Hualien ride that month to compensate for it. Anyway, I went to bed early on Saturday because the race would start earlier this time, at 6:30 am. Again, I used the 20 km from Shalu as a warm up, not getting myself tired. When I arrived in Fengyuan, I noticed that my friends were already there. One thing I wanted to mention, a few participants could not make it because of other races and therefore the organization decided to have five attempts instead of three and the best three results would count. So I had four more attempts.
This time I did a lot of stuff differently. For starters, I had my friends checking in the card both at the beginning and at the end. Secondly, I pounded it really hard. Last time I felt I could have done more, this time I made sure I used up all my energy in these few minutes. I was keeping cadence high and going for it. I noticed after six minutes that I was ahead of my training schedule. I already knew I would beat my previous time.
A picture taken by the organization. This was the day I delivered on my promise: doing better than last time.
When I arrived at the end, I gave my card to one of my friends and turned back. I was told that I raced in 9 minutes and 1 second. Incredible! My friends were super impressed, they could not believe it. Neither could I. I smashed my previous time with half a minute. Legendary! This put me in pole position for that wheelset. Good job!
After the race, we again had coffee at Shigang's Family Mart. Everybody was discussing my legendary attack on Gonglaoping. Nine minutes and one second, they told me that this was an all time record. The only person that did it even better, is a professional cyclist. I told my friends that next time I would like to go under nine minutes. After the coffee I cycled back to Taichung city, smiling about it all day long.
The store published the results of the second attempt. I was number one this time, well ahead of number two. I needed one more good run and I might well be number one here.
郭睿橙 my Chinese name, 9 minutes 1 second. You can also check my Garmin activity to see it.
Another table comparing the results of the first two sessions
Session 3, July 19th: 9 minutes and 17 seconds
Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/837749608
The third ride also was my last ride: My time in Taiwan was running out and this ride was my last chance to collect three attempts at Gonglaoping. Once again, I headed out early and arrived in Fengyuan before 6:30. I was lucky to once again be able to count on my friends.
One of my buddies ready for departure
This time Steven drove his car behind me and begin camcording me. I was a bit slower than last time, on top of that, there was a scooter blocking me in the last three hundred meters. When I checked it with my card, the organization said it was 9:29. I knew this was impossible. Later it turned out the machine was wrong for 15 seconds. So a bit slower than my second attempt but still a good time. Hopefully it was enough to finish as number one...
The score sheet of the third attempt at Gonglaoping. I was still number one for the day.
I also met an old friend here: Wang Minqi. I met him in February during a ride on 136. It was cool to see him here. The atmosphere was really great.
Cyclists gathering at the finish of the Gonglaoping race.
Hanging around at the finish check point
Mr Cannondale, truly a nice bike
The finish line
Bart and Wang MIngqi. He had a new Cannondale bike
I made another new friend today.
Cycling boys
My official time: 9h17.
Attempt number 4 in August was cancelled due to Typhoon weather
There was one more ride in September but I could not attend it as I had already left Taiwan.
The final results of the Gonglaoping race. I came in first! The wheelset was mine! That felt so good! Only downside was that I was unable to get the wheelset myself. My buddy Liao Shijie went to pick it up for me.
The Iron Cycling store
A few snapshots of my price! Worth about 42,000 NT
The feeling of being able to compete and actually win was worth more to me than the price itself. Thank you Fengyuan for giving me this wonderful memory!
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