{"id":4914,"date":"2014-11-12T18:36:21","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T18:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankpunk.com\/?p=4914"},"modified":"2014-11-12T23:08:51","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T23:08:51","slug":"crankpunk-comperes-the-2014-taiwan-kom-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2014\/11\/12\/crankpunk-comperes-the-2014-taiwan-kom-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"crankpunk comperes the 2014 Taiwan KOM Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"the
the KOM posse! (far right, a happy crankpunk)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

if i told you there was a mountain that was 105km long and that the last 8km averaged 17.5% would you believe me? unless you’ve heard of the Taiwan KOM Challenge<\/a>, probably not. but yes, such a beast exists. this Saturday, the 15th of November, a bunch of hardy, wonderful and essentially mad souls are gonna race up the monster that is Mt. Wuling in central Taiwan.<\/p>\n

\"official
official poster of the 2014 KOM Challenge<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

i’ve raced it twice and trained up it against my will one other time and let me tell you, this is open heart surgery without anaesthetic. from just about ground zero to 3,275 meters, this is, and i say this without hesitation, the hardest mountain climb in the world. the last km averages over 20%. when i last raced it in 2012, a guy came up to me after and said “oh i almost caught you, i was only 500m behind.” i looked at the time and he was 4 minutes plus behind. that is jut about how long the last 500m takes. \"P2120919\" i keep banging on about this race because i am the Director of International Communications of it and also the official coach, but also because as a cyclist, i know that this achingly beautiful and painful mountain really should be ridden once – just once – by anyone who has ever slapped arse lube into their shorts. today was the official press conference of an event that has a total prize pot of over $100,000US and a first prize for the hombres of $38,000US. we also have dope testing and an official policy that bars any rider who has served a suspension for doping at any time in his or her past.<\/p>\n

\"P2120940\"
the Cookester!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

you’ll hear a lot more about this race because it will become the Unofficial World Hill Climb Championship in time, attracting the world’s very best climbers. today was the official press conference, featuring the invited riders and journalists, including the 2014 Tour of California KOM and Stage 4 winner Will Routley, Specialized-lululemon’s Tiffany Cromwell and, as a journalist, former World, Olympic, women’s Tour de France and Giro winner Nicole Cooke. enjoy the photos, more to come as the week goes on.<\/p>\n

\"Will
Will Routley & Tiffany Cromwell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"the
the Kenyan Riders team<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"New
New Taiwanese Lampre-Merida signing Fang Jun Kai and Taiwanese climbing sensation Wang Yin-Chi<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tony<\/a>
Tony Routley and his son with Marg Fedyna, also of Canada, winner of the 2014 and 2013 Haute Route Pyrenees.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jo
Jo Hogan<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

if i told you there was a mountain that was 105km long and that the last 8km averaged 17.5% would you believe me? unless you’ve heard of the Taiwan KOM Challenge, probably not. but yes, such a beast exists. this Saturday, the 15th of November, a bunch of hardy, wonderful and essentially mad souls are gonna race up the monster that is Mt. Wuling in central Taiwan. i’ve raced it twice and trained up it against my will one other time and let me tell you, this is open heart surgery without anaesthetic. from just about ground zero to 3,275 meters, this is, and i say this without hesitation, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40955418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[199074576],"tags":[19867,597088,1181827,767233534,1662368,37216547],"class_list":["post-4914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-taiwan-kom-challenge-2","tag-challenge","tag-kom","tag-nicole-cooke","tag-taiwan","tag-tiffany-cromwell","tag-will-routley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2OfoS-1hg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5211,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2014\/12\/15\/rabottini-suspended-for-epo-and-to-think-we-almost-had-him-at-the-taiwan-kom\/","url_meta":{"origin":4914,"position":0},"title":"Rabottini suspended for EPO, and to think we almost had him at the Taiwan KOM…","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"12\u6708 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"last year, when I was looking for KOM winners of the Grand Tours of recent years to invite to ride the Taiwan KOM Challenge, i received a mail suggesting i get in touch with Matteo Rabottini of Neri Sottoli. Rabottini had shot to fame with a victory Rabottini on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"dopepunk","block_context":{"text":"dopepunk","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/dopepunk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/matteo-rabottini_2225068b1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/matteo-rabottini_2225068b1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/matteo-rabottini_2225068b1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15487,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2023\/06\/28\/road-to-taiwan-kom-challenge-2023-photography-pt-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4914,"position":1},"title":"ROAD TO TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE 2023 \/ PHOTOGRAPHY \/ pt. 2","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"6\u6708 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"2nd part of my images from the Road to Taiwan KOM Summer edtion.","rel":"","context":"taiwan cycling","block_context":{"text":"taiwan cycling","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/taiwan-cycling\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/c5147-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.42.15-am.png?fit=907%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/c5147-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.42.15-am.png?fit=907%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/c5147-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.42.15-am.png?fit=907%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/c5147-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.42.15-am.png?fit=907%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4994,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2014\/11\/18\/2014-taiwan-kom-challenge-official-photogtaphy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4914,"position":2},"title":"2014 Taiwan KOM Challenge: Official Photogtaphy","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"11\u6708 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"some crackers here.","rel":"","context":"TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE","block_context":{"text":"TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/taiwan-kom-challenge-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/14421_838178952868963_7838093065680355964_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/14421_838178952868963_7838093065680355964_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/14421_838178952868963_7838093065680355964_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/14421_838178952868963_7838093065680355964_n.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15431,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2023\/06\/27\/road-to-taiwan-kom-challenge-2023-photography-pt-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":4914,"position":3},"title":"ROAD TO TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE 2023 \/ PHOTOGRAPHY \/ pt. 1","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"6\u6708 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Some photographs from the recent Road to KOM, Summer 2023.","rel":"","context":"taiwan cycling","block_context":{"text":"taiwan cycling","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/taiwan-cycling\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/55a14-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.39.32-am.png?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/55a14-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.39.32-am.png?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/55a14-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.39.32-am.png?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/55a14-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.39.32-am.png?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/55a14-screenshot-2023-06-27-at-11.39.32-am.png?fit=1200%2C895&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5586,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2015\/01\/27\/the-official-taiwan-kom-challenge-2014-film\/","url_meta":{"origin":4914,"position":4},"title":"The Official Taiwan KOM Challenge 2014 Film","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"1\u6708 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here it is, the official film of the 2015 Taiwan KOM Challenge, produced by Po Lin Hsu. Truly an epic, epic day! Well done to John Ebsen and Marg Fedyna for winning, fantastic efforts, and for all who managed to finish. See you again next year?! http:\/\/youtu.be\/SU1pHCdMISc And lastly, if\u2026","rel":"","context":"TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE","block_context":{"text":"TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/taiwan-kom-challenge-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/screen-shot-2015-01-28-at-00-35-55.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/screen-shot-2015-01-28-at-00-35-55.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/screen-shot-2015-01-28-at-00-35-55.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/screen-shot-2015-01-28-at-00-35-55.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21421,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2025\/01\/04\/new-taiwan-kom-challenge-2025-training-plans-available\/","url_meta":{"origin":4914,"position":5},"title":"NEW TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE 2025 TRAINING PLANS AVAILABLE","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"1\u6708 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, pre-written training plans at a great price, to get you ready and willing for the Taiwan KOM Challenge!","rel":"","context":"crankpunk coaching","block_context":{"text":"crankpunk coaching","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/crankpunk-coaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-20-at-3.25.47-PM.png?fit=923%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-20-at-3.25.47-PM.png?fit=923%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-20-at-3.25.47-PM.png?fit=923%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-20-at-3.25.47-PM.png?fit=923%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Lee Rodgers","author_link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/author\/crankpunk\/"},"rttpg_comment":3,"rttpg_category":"TAIWAN KOM CHALLENGE<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"if i told you there was a mountain that was 105km long and that the last 8km averaged 17.5% would you believe me? unless you’ve heard of the Taiwan KOM Challenge, probably not. but yes, such a beast exists. this Saturday, the 15th of November, a bunch of hardy, wonderful and essentially mad souls are…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40955418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4914"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17263,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914\/revisions\/17263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}