Joys of cycling in Taipei

Cycling in Taipei is on the rise.  And there is the U-Bike - a pretty good city sharing bike system that is growing.
So, get your YoYo card, get your bike and off you go. At least in theory...

Today there was no rain so decided to cycle from Yong He to the National Library (my new office) and then back. Only about 5km each way so no issue. And the traffic was already picking up.

So here you go. 5km of non-existing biking routes and some of my route going through pretty busy dual-carriage road and plenty of busy junctions. What could possibly go wrong?

Lets start with taxis. They ensure your 5km delivers as much adrenaline as hurtling down some steep mountain track or skydiving. Life was never that exciting! They killer instincts are on a an par with Glasgow buses. The drivers seem to detest pedestrians, bikes and scooters (in that particular order) and ignore any legal or just social rule of driving. They constantly pull in front of bikes, scooters or other cars. They stop in the middle of a junction or on the crossing (you want to cross the road? just go around my little yellow (royal they seem to think) coach... Today 6 separate taxi-related incidents...

Then come the scooters. Being used to being the prey, they seem to enjoy their revenge by swooshing centimeters from your handle-bars. There is no '1.5m distance' here. 1.5cm maybe. If you lucky.
But this is not the worst part of mingling with the noisy herd. The worst are the busy junctions and waiting for the red light. The countdown gets to 10 second, rev your engine. I mean seriously? The squeaky noise is unnecessary! Hearing damaged, I guess I've also already passed any safe annual intake levels of poisonous gases and heavy metal fumes - just by doing 10km cycling in Taipei...

Last but not least are the silent assassins - pensioners on bikes with nerves of steel. They slow but deadly. They have nothing to lose (or so they seem) and so they just appear unexpectedly from the flanks and push you into the middle of the road, straight into the scooter-swooshing territory...

All in all, cycling here is good for adrenaline junkies or suicidal types. If you dodge the taxis - the fumes will kill you...

But more seriously, this could be a great place to get around on a bike. What would you need?
Well, some decent cycling paths to start with. It ain't fun on the main roads and pavements are non-existent due to the continuous land-grabbing culture of local shops and scooter owners.

But the biggest change that will need to happen is change of behaviours (you will hear that a lot here from me!) so the paths remain usable and not just another place to park when you getting your 7eleven coffee or a place for dumpling stand.