Pinkbike at the Taipei Cycle Show
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 Dark clouds and heavy rain greeted us in Seattle as we prepared to embark on our 18 hour journey to Taiwan for the 2013 Taipei Cycle Show |
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| The weather in Taipei was the opposite of what we had left - high humidity, hazy sunshine, and temperatures around 30 Celcius. |
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| Scooters are everywhere in Taipei, darting in and out of traffic, and even onto the sidewalks if it's more convenient. |
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| This delivery driver was only transporting two propane tanks, but there were other riders with four tanks precariously lashed onto the back of their motorcycles. |
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| In addition to the motor scooters, bicycles are also prevalent in Taipei. The city even has a bike rental program in collaboration with Giant bicycles, where bikes can be rented for less than $1 an hour and returned to any of the stations scattered throughout the city. |
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| The National Palace Museum houses hundreds of thousands of Chinese artifacts. Jade carvings, bronze sculptures, rare books and calligraphy fill the rooms of the museum. |
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| We managed to get into the Lamborghini dealership, but photography wasn't allowed, and the cars were a little out of our price range, so we settled for Crunky candy bars from a corner store. |
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| Some assembly required. We wandered around the convention center where the Cycle Show is being held and took in the half assembled booths and displays on every floor. It's going to be a long night for the exhibitors as they get everything in order for the show's opening day. |
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| Products of every color, shape and size were being unpacked and prepped in preparation for the start of the show. |
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| This might not be an OSHA approved technique, but the 'straddle the ladder and lean out really far' method seemed to be popular amongst the construction workers. |
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| Taipei City is the bustling capital city of Taiwan, with a population of over 2.6 million people. |
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| Stairs on the edge of the city lead to a scenic overlook offering views of downtown and the Taipei 101, which was the world's tallest building (at 509 meters tall) from 2004-2010. |
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| When the sun went down we headed to the Shilin Night Market, a sensory overload of bright colors and strange smells. |
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| Booths with carnival style games line the streets. Levy tries to win some prizes with his bow and arrow skills. |
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| Karl Burkat tries his hand at the ring toss. There might be a slight size advantage at play here... |
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| Although it was Mike Levy who came away the big winner, earning a plastic lamp for his efforts. The booth girl wasn't excited about parting ways with this prize. |
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Member since Feb 1, 2009
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You Sir, are going to eat very well! Oh, don't forget all of that beer and snacks that's all over the place! Yeah, Baby...
- Old dude on Motorcycle
When's it going on the block?