David on Formosa

Bike Day is an annual event in Taiwan held on the first weekend of May. It was held for the first time last year and is organised by the Cycling Lifestyle Foundation (自行車新文化基金會). Events were held in every city and county of Taiwan and I attended the Taipei City event. The ride began at Dajia Riverside Park with  Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and King Liu (劉金標), the founder of Giant Bicycles leading the ride.

There were all different kinds of bikes participating in the event, but my award for the most interesting goes to this tricycle.  

The ride took a fairly direct route south along lovely tree lined Zhongshan Road to the finishing point at the Presidential Building. About 6,000 cyclists took part in the ride. It was great to see many children riding with their parents.

At the end of the ride Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin was joined by his predecessor and soon-to-be President Ma Ying-jeou  (馬英九). Last year Ma cycled from the southern tip to the northern tip of Taiwan.  Ma said that he hopes cycling around Taiwan can become a coming of age ceremony for all young Taiwanese.

Ma also presented an award to a group of women who had just completed a ride around Taiwan. They started their ride on 22 April (Earth Day). Another group of riders from the A-Team set off on a ride around Taiwan today. The A-Team is a group of owners and managers of leading Taiwanese bicycle companies.  

It was a beautiful sunny day for the event. The models pictured above were promoting Shiseido sunscreen.

*more photos in the 2008 Bike Day set at flickr.