Taipei driving has taught me there is NO SUCH THING AS AN IMPOSSIBLE GAP – it’s just an optical illusion requiring a little spatial adjustment from the Aussie driver! A recent visit from my mother reminded me of how far my driving has come, and how objectionable it would now be in Australia. As the cling-on endured her first terrifying city rides, her legs gripped my backside so tightly I had to remind her we weren’t married. After the first six trips, she began to loosen her hold however, and open her eyes. Feeling more in control, she began to use the grip in a more motherly way – two sharp grips to indicate my scootering was unacceptable, and the occasional rapid grip series to ensure I knew she was there. My father in more Asian style, held tightly to the back of the scooter, keeping his white knuckles out of view, and commenting just once “shit, you get close!”
Nonetheless, I too remember my first impressions of Taipei’s roads, and clearly recall the first time I got on a scooter. The concentration of pulling out from the curb was too much for me; I forget to do a mirror check, and nearly swiped a passing police officer. At the time I thought it was a pretty bad move, but in retrospect, no one in Taipei is using mirrors or looking behind them. You are only responsible for not hitting what is in front of you, and I was in front – it’s very simple really.
To learn how to scooter, Miss Canada and I ventured out in fevered spirits (and in opposition to all public advice), on a three day road trip around the north of Taiwan. We barely got off the bike for three days, as we moved from the breakneck mountain highways, to the deserted back-roads that carried us through lush, green tea fields and hidden valleys, and finally down the monstrosity of a freeway that links Taipei to its closest port city. I’m still not entirely sure how we made it all the way – it must have been sheer will, because it sure as hell wasn’t our bumbling, unskilled attempts at controlling the bike (it had only belonged to us for a week before the trip).
A fair example of our general ineptitude is an incident in which I took us out at high speed onto the wrong side of a busy mountain highway heading straight for a raging onslaught of trucks. It was a slow motion moment, and I can still feel the adrenalin pumping through my arms, that just managed to pull us back to the right side, before we became another betel-nut stain on a Taiwanese road. Still, there were no pansy little rides around the block for us, no circles in empty car-parks at midnight. No Sir – you need to back off! We’ve got enough balls for the entire Taiwanese army!
Nonetheless, I too remember my first impressions of Taipei’s roads, and clearly recall the first time I got on a scooter. The concentration of pulling out from the curb was too much for me; I forget to do a mirror check, and nearly swiped a passing police officer. At the time I thought it was a pretty bad move, but in retrospect, no one in Taipei is using mirrors or looking behind them. You are only responsible for not hitting what is in front of you, and I was in front – it’s very simple really.
To learn how to scooter, Miss Canada and I ventured out in fevered spirits (and in opposition to all public advice), on a three day road trip around the north of Taiwan. We barely got off the bike for three days, as we moved from the breakneck mountain highways, to the deserted back-roads that carried us through lush, green tea fields and hidden valleys, and finally down the monstrosity of a freeway that links Taipei to its closest port city. I’m still not entirely sure how we made it all the way – it must have been sheer will, because it sure as hell wasn’t our bumbling, unskilled attempts at controlling the bike (it had only belonged to us for a week before the trip).
A fair example of our general ineptitude is an incident in which I took us out at high speed onto the wrong side of a busy mountain highway heading straight for a raging onslaught of trucks. It was a slow motion moment, and I can still feel the adrenalin pumping through my arms, that just managed to pull us back to the right side, before we became another betel-nut stain on a Taiwanese road. Still, there were no pansy little rides around the block for us, no circles in empty car-parks at midnight. No Sir – you need to back off! We’ve got enough balls for the entire Taiwanese army!
.nic and i riding through the backwaters of taiwan's north
*
