Riding Bicycle at an advanced Age (1) - my Background

I can't remember the first time I rode my bike because I was too young. However, I do recall my father attaching a pair of training wheels, which helped me start pedaling. Since I had to share the bike with my sisters, the training wheels became unbalanced, causing me to pedal from side to side. A few months later, I managed to ride my small bike without them and had my 'look Mom, no wheels' moment. While this might seem like a minor milestone in a child's development, it felt like a significant step toward my independence. My newfound freedom was initially confined to the area in front of the house between two stairs, but as soon as I could, I ventured out to explore my surroundings, giving my parents quite a few worries.

Throughout my younger years, various bicycles served as my main mode of transportation for exploring my neighborhoods and visiting friends and family, such as my grandmother. Occasionally, I would ride further to see my dad at his trucking company. When I was 15, I took over the paper route from our neighbor living upstairs and became quite skilled at cycling, earning money with my bicycle for the time - like professional bikers!

When I was 16, I successfully completed a written exam for a small 49 cc motorcycle license. Using half of my savings and the other half from my parents, I purchased a brand new Hercules Supra 4 mokick, or a 'moped with a kick-starter,' in Irish green. Consequently, my orange road bike was relegated to the basement to collect dust.

This tiny motorcycle offered me new possibilities to escape from my irreparably fractured family. It was clear that my alcoholic Catholic father and my Nazi Christian mother did not have such different personalities, but both were too obstinate to forgive each other. Instead of seeking common ground, they repeatedly fell into the same selfish errors and exchanged insults rather than solving problems. Instead of getting involved in my parents' issues, I chose to concentrate on my newfound freedom with my small motorcycle and found means to escape simply by twisting the throttle. But, looking back, I lost my interest in moving my body; the small motorbike was just too convenient.

In 1980, after graduating from secondary school, I began working at a Volkswagen dealership, spending three days a week working in the company and two days studying at a vocational school. I owned a white Peugeot racing bicycle for daily errands, which I sold to a colleague. Despite earning a low salary, I managed to upgrade to a real used blue Yamaha XS360 motorcycle. My sisters left first and helped my mother to move out, a few months later, as my parents were in the process to get a divorce, I left my parent's home.

My first own apartment in a basement came with a parking spot, where I eventually parked my 'new' second-hand Suzuki GS550 Katana, named after the sword of a Japanese samurai. For some beers, a friend helped me to paint my original silver bike into dark purple, the other refurbished the seat with a white cover.

However, I found myself riding my motorcycle less frequently—the Southern German weather wasn't very accommodating for bikers and the power of my Katana could be quite intimidating at times. I once I rode on an unlimited part of the German Autobahn over 180 km/h - my mind was nearly blown away! I thought that, if something like the chain would brakes, my life would be over in an instant! I loved my life more than my motorcycle and ended up selling it to a neighbor just before receiving my draft notice for the mandatory 15-month German military service.

After completing my military service, I planned to travel the world. To fund this, I worked three different jobs a week, every day from Monday to Sunday. From Monday to Friday in an antenna factory, Saturday morning cleaning a Bosch factory, Saturday afternoon and Sundays I worked at a McDonalds. When I felt ready, I sold everything and set off on a new journey. Unfortunately, I faced some challenges on the way and had to return to Germany. Nevertheless, during my travels, I met my a kind girl from Taiwan.

After my return, I relocated to Mannheim and stayed with my sister for a while. To earn some money, I secured a position at a photo wholesaler as a salesman The job was decent; I had some knowledge of photography and could distinguish between films. I signed up for a class in developing black and white film and photos in my free time. I enjoyed the work, but, unfortunately, the boss turned out to be a remnant from the German Nazi era - something I really disliked.

One day I received a call from my sister that a Taiwanese girl is looking for me. We met again and, without hesitation, I moved to this 'beautiful Island' in 1989.

View from LaLa Mountain in Northern Taiwan

I secured a position as an international salesman at a Taiwanese trading company and initially experienced some success. However, I was shocked when my Taiwanese boss and his wife deceived me. In my youth, I foolishly agreed to work solely on commission without a basic salary. Despite having good clients, the company rendered me obsolete. By that time, I was married and couldn't be legally expelled from the country, despite my bosses' demands. Rather than complaining, I concentrated on myself, my wife, and our newborn daughter. I was confident about my future in Taiwan and, with the support of some family members, I started my own company.

With all these thing happened in my life, it took me more than 20 years to re-discovered cycling. I bought a bicycle but the environment plus the air pollution was not very biker-friendly at that time in Taiwan. A few years ago, the Taipei City government started to see cycling as an outdoor activity and recreational sport and invested in new cycling routes. And indeed, every weekend crowded bike paths are a sign that the efforts paid off and other Taiwanese cities and towns started to build their own bike-friendly system of roads.

In 2016 my wife bought me some jogging shoes. I still don't understand why, because at that time I did not have any interest in sports. I focused on my own trading company, wanted to be a good family guy, and enjoyed Chinese food. Usually, I am the photographer and take pictures of others until one day when I lent my camera to my daughter. She took a photo on which my belly showed under a jacket - and was shocked about me. I went back home, got on the scale and it showed 114kgs (251.32 lbs.) by 183 cm (6.0 ft.). Suddenly, I understood what to do with those jogging shoes.

While my daughter and wife watched TV, I started to jog along a nearby newly built road, a roundtrip of 8 km. The first few times I nearly died - could not jog for even two minutes! I ran slowly until I was done and walked until I could breathe again. I started to jog again until I ran out of gas. It took me 45 minutes to finish my 1. roundtrip of 8 km. I started to lose some weight until I came to a point where I seemingly hit a wall. I was sweating but my weight stayed the same. Later, I realized that I should weigh myself without a sweaty T-shirt - an astonishing weight difference of 2 kgs.

As my jogging time improved from 45 to 23 minutes for the same 8km, a friend asked me if I would like to join a triathlon event. I knew that I could run and ride a bike, and with some training, I could survive the swimming part of the shortest triathlon distance somehow. So I started to run three evenings and swim 2 evenings per week.

My wife and daughter attended the Yilan Meihua Lake National Triathlon challenge as visitors in 2017 as part of spectators, cheering me on whenever I passed them during the swimming, cycling, and running competitions. Seriously, I was not our to break some records but I wanted to challenge myself - see if and how I could do it. I was surprised about the 50-plus-year-old of mine.

Swimming was the first, and, as expected, my weakest point. I had fun on the bike and the running part was ok. A few corners before the finish I literally ran into a much younger female out of breath, full of sweat, and very pale. I stopped and asked her how she felt. She did not feel good, wanted to vomit, and felt no power to continue. I told her that the finish is very close and I would like to run with her, that she can follow my short but steady footsteps. She agreed and together we, slowly but steadily, came closer to the finish line and passed it together. After I hugged my family and friends the out-of-breath competitor was lost in the crowd. I felt great about myself - about the challenge went but mostly about my encouragement for this person in need during the race.

Later, as we went through the videos and photos of this challenge, my wife remarked, 'You look happiest on the bike.' And she was right! During the competition, I felt like I could ride all day. On my converted, inexpensive alloy mountain bike, I overtook many competitors on their much pricier triathlon and carbon road bikes. During the ride, I felt as I should have during my swim—like a fish in its natural habitat.

This one picture of me, a smiling and overweighted rider during my short triathlon challenge marked the beginning of a journey on which I re-discovered my 'new' old passion for cycling. Since that moment, numerous bike-specific components have been upgraded, enhancing my ride. I've made mistakes, learned from them, formed friendships, and gained experiences I never could have imagined before.

Looking back, I realize that I should have returned to cycling much sooner. I've raised my family, and both my wife and daughter are independent in their own ways.

I've gained a lot of knowledge about bicycles, which has taught me much about life in general. Instead of simply purchasing bikes, I assemble them by selecting and buying components online, even importing some parts from Europe. This interest in bicycles led to a fascination with accessories like clothing, shoes, and nutrition, including gels, powders, bars, and recovery drinks - and ultimately, this homepage where I share my experiences.

(to be continued)

Ride carefully, Gerhard