Today I didn't crash. That fact is amazing for two reasons: #1) Please reference the entries from the last two days, #2) The race organization seemed completely intent on keeping my streak alive. Let me explain. The course today was a 6km loop around a lake, just outside of Kaohsiung. For the most part, the roads were narrow and twisty, but really quite safe. But, there was one stretch of road that seemed like a fairly major thoroughfare and there was no traffic control whatsoever. Not in either direction. On the first lap, things were pretty slow, but it was obvious that the traffic issue would be a problem. But I think most of us were willing to assume that maybe the course marshals just hadn't quite figured out what they were doing yet. That was not the case. I got in a break on the second lap and when we hit the major road again, we found ourselves weaving through traffic going the same direction as us, only slower. It was a mess. At one point, we had to weave between a bus and a scooter, then dodge an old lady entering a crosswalk. Incredible. After one more lap of chaos, the commissaires finally put a stop to things and we went back to the parking lot while they figured out what to do. Eventually they found a way to barricade the road and divert traffic, so the race continued without any further incident.

Once the race got going again, Roman got in a break with two Asian guys and they didn't get caught until the last kilometer. Then we blew the leadout again and Kirk got second to the same Australian that won yesterday, Rob Mclachlan. Oh well, 5 more chances.

After the race we had 3 hour transfer to Taitung, where we'll be for the next two nights. The island of Taiwan really isn't that big, but there are some very large mountains in the center of it. To get here to Taitung we had to drive south from Kaohsiung along the Straight of Taiwan, then west over a twisty mountain pass, then back to the north along the Pacific coast. This area is much more rugged and scenic then Kaohsiung. We're in a steep little valley just inland from the coast. We got here at dusk, so I didn't get the chance to take many pictures. I'll try to get more tomorrow.

Tomorrow's stage is 220km and it's supposed to rain. It could end up being a very, very long day.