July 19, 2007

  • Lewis
    Hamilton

    Many
    years ago, back in those years spent in the Bundesrepublik, I was
    working for a company in Munich that also had a branch upp north in
    the far reaches of the country in a town called Munster, famous for
    its cheese, although not really, because that is not the same Munster
    that I am talking about. I would spend a lot of my time there, for
    training as well as for sales visits, and one evening the company
    organised a karting session at the local Michael Schumacher indoor
    course.

    One
    of my northern colleagues was an amateur racer, and would soup up his
    car so that it would tonk along the Autobahn as fast as it's Opel
    engine would take it. Because of his hobby he was very confident
    about winning the big race that evening, as we all zoomed over to the
    karting hall after work.

    First
    came – Formula One style – the open session, everyone getting
    used to the karts, followed by qualification for the 10 lap mega
    race. It was therefore no surprise when Adam Opel qualified in pole
    position, lapping a good ¾ of a second faster than your humble
    chronicler who was second on the grid. The other 8 guys were all
    considerably slower, but nothing was to be taken for granted, and in
    a race like this, anything could happen. One crash in to the tyres on
    the side and you're screwed.

    As
    we sat on the grid, after the final warm up lap, Adam Opel turned
    around and looked at me, pointing his finger Bill Clinton style and
    saying "You're not getting past me."

    However
    unlike Bill Clinton, I believed him. His qualification laps had been
    much better than mine, and although there was a large gap between me
    and the 3rd place guy, the gap between me and Adam Opel
    was just as big. But I also had nothing to lose...

    The
    red lights came on, counting down to the green and off we sped.
    Through the first corner, I was right up behind Adam Opel, in to the
    second, along a small straight, in to the third corner...

    The
    problem with a course like this, at the speeds we were talking about,
    is that there are very few opportunities to overtake, and although I
    was matching Adam Opel in speed, I was going to have to rely on a
    mistake from him if I was going to get past him.

    Thankfully
    I did not have to wait very long. On the fourth corner he went just a
    tad too wide, leaving me a gap that I could get my kart through, if I
    timed it right. I left my braking to the last second, took him on the
    inside and knew I had – for the moment, at least – taken the
    lead.

    The
    fifth corner was right up, and the sixth was immediately after that
    one, so after I had got through it, and on to a small straight, I
    looked behind me. There was no one there. Round the seventh and
    eighth corners, and he was still nowhere in sight. As I went finished
    the first lap I looked up at the electronic board and could see I had
    built up a lead of about 4 or 5 seconds, which grew each lap to about
    10 seconds by the time I started my final lap. When you have such a
    comfortable margin on the last lap, you take it a little slower, not
    taking as many risks as you possibly would before, and so I ended up
    winning the race by about 5 or 6 seconds, with the third placed guy
    half a minute or so behind that.

    "What
    the hell happened to you?" I asked Adam Opel, as we got out the
    karts. I have to be honest, I was expecting a lot more of a fight
    than that.

    "When
    you overtook me," he replied, "I was so shocked. I just
    couldn't believe I made a mistake!"

    Nor,
    I have to admit, could I. Indeed, the other guys from the office were
    also in awe – no-one had expected anyone but Adam Opel to win. Most
    of the guys started to take the piss out of poor Adam, who was still
    looking as though he had just lost the biggest race of his life. He
    was truly gutted. And you certainly would not have caught Michel
    Schumacher leaving a gap like that during his days in the cockpit.

    Riding
    my mountain bike up Da Tun Shan the other day, for the first time in
    about a month, I noticed my fitness levels had decreased, whilst my
    fatness levels had increased in direct inproportion. Having taken a
    break in Bei Hsinchuang for some welcome Pocari Sweat, my body was
    ready for the big climb. The road from this small town takes you up
    about 10 kilometres in distance and 650 metres in altitude. After
    that you reach – if you are a man, and not a wimp who turns back –
    the visitor centre, where you can – if you are a REAL man, and not
    some kind of poofter – take a semi-tarmacced road for another 2.4
    kilometres, which will also take you up another 220 or so metres. If
    you weren't cream crackered before you made it to the visitor centre,
    those final two and a half kilometres will certainly do the trick.

    Heading
    up the 10 km section, I saw ahead of me a younger guy on a much
    nicer, newer, lighter, better mountain bike than my own. He also
    looked a lot fitter than your humble narrator, but with him firmly in
    my sights, I decided that I did not need a rest, and that I would
    plough on, despite the heat and humidity draining liquids from my
    body in a constant stream of sweat. I sucked on the nipple of my
    drinks bottle, the by now rather lukewarm Pocari offering me very
    little refreshment.

    After
    a few minutes I caught up with the aforementioned rider, and overtook
    him. He was surprised to see me go past. Not that he had not seen me
    earlier – just that he did not expect such a fat bastard as me to
    be quite as quick as I was. A few hundred metres further on I turned
    to look for him, but he was not there. As I hit the 5 km marker on
    the road, I turned to look again, and he was visible again, not too
    far from me, but as I got to 7km he was once more nowhere to be seen.
    I stopped around 8km for a quick breather, the humidity and lack of
    exercise recently not helping me at all, but still no sign of the
    youngster. I was beginning to wonder if he was actually a wimp.

    I
    made it to the visitor centre, bought a couple of bottles of Pocari,
    and there he was, coming up in to the parking area. One of the things
    I love about biking here in Taiwan is that when you see someone else
    riding up the mountain, there is a lot of mutual respect, and you
    will greet and be greeted as you see other cyclists. I asked him
    where he had come from, and he told me Danshui. Where was he off to?
    Apparently Jinshan.

    "So
    you're not going to the top here then?" I asked, pointing up
    along the small track that lead to the peak above us.

    "I
    have never been up there," he said.

    "It's
    a tough climb, but you should do it," I informed him. "The
    view from the top is awesome."

    So
    he did. We met again at the summit, the clouds covering what would
    have been a stunning view – once again the cloud cover started
    around 1000 metres, the mountain peak being at 1080 metres. I had
    needed a rest half way up that final section, and so got there after
    he had, but we greeted one another once more before I turned back for
    the nice easy descent home.

    Down
    to the visitor centre, and along the 101 road, back down towards Bei
    Hsichuang I caught up with a BMW X3 (crap car) driver who was
    poddling along, assuming for the moment that the road was his and his
    alone. When he saw a mountain bike coming up behind him, he was not
    going to lose face by letting me past, and so off he zoomed, taking
    blind bends on the racing line, imagining for the moment that he was
    Sebastien Loeb, not that Sebastien would drive such a heap of shite
    as an X3 of course.

    I
    didn't think I was going to see him again unless he caused an
    accident, but a little later I did catch him, as he was stuck behind
    two other cars. As this is a narrow and winding road, it is no place
    for a car to overtake, but there are places for a mountain bike to
    get past, and so rather simply I made it past all three cars in one
    rather neat manoeuvre. A couple of kilometres further on, I was
    surprised as hell when the aforementioned Beemer tonked past me,
    hurtling along the road that you really need to be a lot more
    cautious on, obviously having made a rather daring overtaking
    manoeuvre of his own.

    On
    my previous trip up the mountain I was heading down towards Danshui,
    coasting along, when I passed another guy on another MTB, also
    coasting. As I came alongside him I just looked over and shrugged my
    shoulders, not knowing how come I was going down faster than him.

    "I'm
    fatter, so I have more downward movement," I joked. He may have
    laughed, but by that time I was so far in the distance, he was eating
    my dust.

    When
    we got to a red traffic light a little later, I asked him where he
    had come from, and he told me he had just done a 120km circular tour
    from Banchiao out to Keelung, over to Jinshan, and he was heading
    home.

    I
    was in awe. That is one heck of a trip.

    "What
    about you?" he asked.

    I
    told him I had just been to the summit of Da Tun Shan.

    He
    was in awe. There was a huge amount of mutual respect there – I
    wish I could ride 120km in one day and live to tell the tale, he was
    amazed that I would ride to the top of that mountain. He's obviously
    been there himself – as a seasoned biker you get to know the tough
    climbs around here.

    I
    may be getting fatter, and less fit, but I am still enjoying biking
    and will so continue to try to get as fit as I can to attempt He Huan
    Shan one more time before my next trip to Europe, which is coming in
    just 4 weeks time. I have set myself a goal, and that is one mountain
    I would love to conquer. It would be almost like standing on top of
    the world. I remember going up the mountain last year...but I
    absolutely adored the ride back down again! Now that's a lot more
    fun!