A group of 10 US motorcyclists embarked on a week-long “dream ride” around the nation yesterday, aiming to spread the message that people are never too old to realize their dreams.
Headed by documentary filmmaker Peter Starr, the group set off on a 500km-plus ride from Taichung early yesterday morning.
“I came over here a year ago, based on seeing a video,” Starr said before the ride.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
“I was so impressed with everything that happened, not only with the riders and the ride, but the people of Taiwan generally,” he said.
Starr, who came to Taiwan and took a 1,100km ride around the nation then, said he hoped to increase the level of communication between Taiwanese and US riders.
Of the 10 US riders, five are more than 65 years old and the average age of the whole group is 72.
The eldest of the 10 US riders is Gerald Larson, 79, who said the trip would be a great way to commemorate his 80th birthday on Friday.
“The [Taiwanese] ‘grandriders’ epitomize the dreams and the energy of seniors,” Larson said. “It’s a great pleasure and honor to be with them.”
The US riders will take a shorter route, heading south to Chiayi County and Alishan, before turning east to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County and then to Hualien and Yilan counties.
Their route will then wind from Yilan County back to Taipei on Monday.
Starr said the trip was organized to pay tribute to Taiwan’s “grandriders,” the group of elderly motorbike enthusiasts who inspired him and other US motorcyclists to pursue their dreams.
An editor at Motorcyclist Magazine and a producer at the Discovery Channel, Starr visited Taiwan last year to interview the Taiwanese “grandriders,” who became well known after a video of a bank commercial commemorating their trip around Taiwan was posted on YouTube.
Five years ago, the 17 men, with an average age of 81, embarked on a 1,178km journey around Taiwan by motorcycle to fulfill their dream of seeing every part of the country.
This year, their adventure was made into a 90-minute film, Go Grandriders (不老騎士), which has taken in NT$4 million (US$136,900) at the box office so far, according to the film company.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
RSS