Bike to Shenkeng (The first year Anniversary of my Taiwan Stay)

The First Year Anniversary of my stay in Taiwan

Activities/Actions:
Biked to and from Shenkeng, and walked Shenkeng Street.

Stat & Course condition:

Bike to Shenkeng

Date: 01/11/2009
Start Time: 16:55:00
End Time: 17:28:00
Time Taken: 00:33:00
Route: Sinica 2 Shengken
Total Distance: 5.16 mi.
Burned: 143 (kcal)
Laps: 1
Pace: 06:22 (avg)
Speed: 9.38 (mi/hr) (avg)

walk shenkeng

Date: 01/11/2009
Start Time: 17:30:00
End Time: 18:05:00
Time Taken: 00:35:00
Route: ShenKeng St.
Total Distance: 0.44 mi.
Laps: 2
Burned: 76 (kcal)
Workout Weight: 139.0 lbs.
Laps: 2
Pace: 79:31 (avg)
Speed: 0.75 (mi/hr) (avg)

Bike back.
Date: 01/11/2009
Start Time: 18:18:00
End Time: 18:46:0
Time Taken: 00:28:00
Route: Sinica 2 Shengken
Total Distance: 5.16 mi.
Burned: 143 (kcal)
Laps: 1
Pace: 06:22 (avg)
Speed: 9.38 (mi/hr) (avg)


How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)
Physically 4
Mentally 5
About my nutrition 4
About my sleep 4.5


How hard did I work? 7
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
Since the sky was bright and temperature was relatively warm, I decided to ride from the office to Shenkeng (a.k.a. Dieter's Kingdom) in the evening. However, I started rather late (around 4:50 PM). The road climbs up over a mountain with the elevation gain around 210 and 190 meters on Nangang and Shenkeng sides, respectively. Also, the distance on Nangang side is longer than that on Shenkeng about 700 meters. Thus, I spent time climbing up from Nangang longer than from Shenkeng. This is probably one of the reasons that I saw many of riders coming from Shenkeng instead of going from Nangang. Even though the wind was relatively cold, the ride up the hill warmed me up well.

This is the third visit to Shenkeng and the first with my bike [see the story of my first Shenkeng visit: An Adventure on Formosa: Eating shenkeng tofu and visiting Zhinan Temple kick off my Chinese New Year]. I spent about 30-40 minutes walking the old street filled up by a good size crowd. By the time, I prepared to ride back, it was already dark. After dropping a postcard to a mailbox, I biked up to the hill. The moon was very bright and large over the ridge of the mountain--very pretty scene. When I was approaching the top ridge, I saw two fellow riders ahead of me. I said "Ni Hao!," as I biked pass by them. They replied, "Jia Yo!" Then, I just let the bike rolling down hill until I arrived at the office.

It was a good decision to bike out to visit Shenkeng on the first year anniversary day of my stay in Taiwan!

Photos:

Many people taking a photo in front of this Chicken Restaurant on Shenkeng St.

The full moon viewed from the top of the mountain on my way back from Shenkeng