Author: Jan-Willem Bobbink

Cycling in Taiwan – Tips & Tricks for the best bike trip!

Taiwan is rapidly becoming known as “The Island of Bikes”. The mountainous island has plenty of diversity in roads to offer and has been producing world famous bikes (eg. Giant) for a long time. Giant is the biggest bike manufacturer in the world based on revenue. During the past decade the attitude towards cycling next to only producing bikes has changed. What can this country offer to cyclists? In this guide you’ll find all information required to make most out of your cycling trip in or even around Taiwan.

Continue reading Cycling in Taiwan – Tips & Tricks for the best bike trip!

The Formosa900 ride Day 7 to 9: East coast rice, rain & headwind

After the long and wet rides of the previous days, we had to be compensated. Day 7 surely was breathtaking. The last three days of the trip were taking place on the East Coast, slowly rolling back up north into Taipei fighting rain and headwinds. Luckily there was always the #snackvan to cheer everyone up!

Continue reading The Formosa900 ride Day 7 to 9: East coast rice, rain & headwind

The Formosa900 ride Day 4 to 6: along the west coast into the mountains!

Day 4 would take us from Chiayi to the city of Kaohsiung. A scheduled 117km route would make it the longest ride of the trip. When we woke up at 05:45 it was already 25 degrees Celsius outside so that was a first sign of a long and hot day on the saddle. We raided the extensive breakfast buffet again knowing that we would need some energy today.

Continue reading The Formosa900 ride Day 4 to 6: along the west coast into the mountains!

The Formosa900 ride Day 0 to 3: Fast & Furious in the cities

As I always do at the beginning of the winter season, I went away for a few days of cycling in a warmer country then the Netherlands. I do not mind a bit of rain and cold, but going to Mallorca or Tenerife to finish the year is preferred more. This time no Spanish, since I was invited to ride around Taiwan! An amazing opportunity that turned out to be one of the most memorable rides I had in the past few years. I even slept in hotels the whole trip…

Continue reading The Formosa900 ride Day 0 to 3: Fast & Furious in the cities

Enjoying autumn weather – #IPWR Race Report: Day 1 to 3 – 1310km

5 days before the start I arrived in Perth so I had some time to get used to the weather coming straight out of the Dutch winter. Welcomed by a happy, Swedish taxi driver, I felt home immediately. Within 3 minutes she was warning me for all the dangerous wildlife that I would face during my stay. During preparation I did some research about the actual dangers and it seemed OK to just camp at the side of the road and not have to worry at all. Luckily the focus shifted from spiders & snakes to the notable increase in the number of deadly shark and truck driver incidents the past few years. This gave me some comfort, knowing I wouldn’t be riding in any known shark territories!

Continue reading Enjoying autumn weather – #IPWR Race Report: Day 1 to 3 – 1310km

Trans Am Bike Race 2017 – Bring it on!

Next weeks I’ll be racing across the United States of America! You’ll be able to follow me again through my social media and the GPS tracking can be found on http://trackleaders.com/transam17 Next to that the main Facebook group can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/524758520982933/ And I will try to post a few pictures on Instagram and upload my ride data on Strava daily.

The course will be though: 6730km and over 50.000 meters of climbing. I’m curious how my body will react to the lower oxygen levels when climbing into Colorado. We’ll be riding above 3000m heights, so lets see what happens. The weather forecasts are great for me: 16 degrees Celsius, Rainy and cold at night. The first big climb still needs to be cleared (see header image) so adventure is garantueed anyway 🙂

Trans Am Bike Race Gear list

No change in gear this time, so if you want to know what I’ll be using, check out Gear list Transcontinental Race

I love it when a plan comes together, also when it doesn’t – Transcontinental Race: Day 13 to 16

After a great night of sleep, I woke up a bit late without any real motivation to start riding like crazy. Anyway, tracker was working again so I had no excuse but to get on my bike and move my lazy ass. With 1030KM to go and four days until the finishers party and great weather, I expected it would be an easy ride to the finish.
Continue reading I love it when a plan comes together, also when it doesn’t – Transcontinental Race: Day 13 to 16

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – Transcontinental Race: Day 9 to 12

Waking up while knowing you could have a easy warm-up by descending 80 kilometres into Italy was good for the mind. After 60km I bumped into the Belgian TCR veteran Rudy Rollenberg and we agreed that we deserved some fresh cake, coffee and coke. Felt good being able to talk Dutch and exchange a few thoughts about the race.

New at the blog? Read the previous parts first:

Continue reading What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – Transcontinental Race: Day 9 to 12