How long has it been since you have dared to dream? Dreaming is easy. All you have to do is move your lips, and it is as if visiting the heavens or the depths of the oceans is a walk in the park. However, dreams are often squashed by harsh reality. That is when the excuses begin. More often than not, dreams are like kindling in which the fire has gone out, unknowingly extinguished.
At five o’clock in the morning on January 9th, 2016, 56-year-old Taipei Mayor Wen-je Ko visited Taipei’s Guandu Temple (關渡宮) to ask for blessings, then did some warm-up exercises in the riverside plaza before departing Taipei on a more than 300-kilometer bike ride that lasted 19 hours and 52 minutes, ending with his arrival in Kaohsiung. Many people have expressed bewilderment about this, and have asked him why he wanted to do such a crazy thing. He always answers with just a smile. But, in his heart, his hope is that this display of willpower can help Taiwan’s people to reclaim their confidence, explaining by saying,“ The characteristics of maritime nations are that they take risks and overcome difficulties. The only difference between success and failure is willpower.”
One-Day Taipei-to-Kaohsiung Challenge, Entire Staff on Board
The origin of this “one-day Taipei to Kaohsiung cycling challenge” (一日北高，雙城挑戰) was a meeting to discuss how to market Velo-city Global 2016 and the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade. Ko proposed cycling between the far north’s Fugui Cape Lighthouse (富貴角燈塔) and far south’s Eluanbi Lighthouse (鵝鑾鼻燈塔) in one day. The staff members in attendance tried to discourage this plan, believing that it was far too ambitious. However, Ko did not fully give in. After heeding advice, he modified his plan to two cities in one day. This was how the Taipei-to-Kaohsiung cycling challenge developed.
Staff members first implemented a systematic plan and route survey. After this, a cycling coach from the Taipei City Cycling Association (台北市自由車協會) was introduced by the Taipei City Government’s Department of Transportation (台北市政府交通局), to provide Ko and those accompanying him regular professional training. The mayor used the breaks in his busy schedule to carry out strength training in a room next to his office, and trained regularly, three times per week, one
to two hours each time. His trainer praised Ko as one of his best students, always first to arrive and last to leave. In addition to his regular training, the mayor insisted on using the stairs to reach his office, on the 11th floor of Taipei City Hall. Climbing so many flights of stairs requires unusual willpower.
With Trust In and Respect For Expertise, There Is No Mission Impossible
Riding a distance of 380 kilometers means spending a lot of time on a bicycle seat. Sore buttocks is one difficulty that had to be overcome. In addition to wearing cycling shorts, Ko paid attention to his coach’s expert advice, such as on which sections of the route required gear changes as well as shifts in sitting position and pedaling frequency. He paid close attention during all of the training drills, not daring to deviate in the slightest. From these small details, it is not difficult to understand that Ko is a person who trusts expertise and respects professionals and, thus, was able to complete this “mission impossible.”
During this trip, among the people who volunteered to ride along, the one who most inspired Ko was a victim of the 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosions. He brought his bicycle to Taipei the night before the trip, and rode with Ko the entire way. After undergoing physical therapy for a full year, he has been gradually recovering. During this trip the pain from his injuries was indescribable, but he managed to overcome it, and was able to keep up because he believed that if Ko could do it, he could do it.
Ko hopes that, after January 9th, whenever anyone hits a wall when chasing a dream and there doesn’t seem to be any way to succeed, they think about an older fellow who persevered even when the whole world did not believe in him.
“You ask me: What does Taiwan need?” says Ko, “Actually, Taiwan needs hope. This hope comes from the confidence to take risks and overcome difficulties.” The future of a city is determined by the willpower of its residents. People become great when they dream. So start chasing your dream now!
Epilogue
One month later, during the February 28th Peace Memorial Day long weekend, Taipei Mayor Wen-je Ko took up a new challenge, this time cycling between two lighthouses. On the morning of February 27th, he set out from Taiwan’s northernmost Fuguijiao Lighthouse. Unfazed by the wind and rain, he arrived at Taiwan’s southernmost Eluanbi Lighthouse 28 hours later, completing 520 kilometers on bicycle. This earned him the title of “strongest old man of his age on Earth”.
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