24-Oct-08: Freezing Over
China: Lanzhou to Homestay
128km, 6h 56min ride time
After the last riding day being snowy and miserable I was a little apprehensive about getting back on the bike after having been resting up for a few days. I was prepared with all my cold weather apparel but it turned out to be quite a mild morning by comparison at around 5 degrees.
There was no concession in the riding conditions for my first day back with the day comprising quite a lot of climbing. Having fresh legs probably had a lot do with it, but I felt good and the climbing did not actually bother me as much as it could have.
The descents however were freezing and without any knowledge of how long they were to last you are caught between the 'I'll be climbing again soon and will warm up' and the 'should I stop and put on some more clothes' thoughts...the former winning out most often and detrimentally so for the final 10km descent of the day after which there was no climbing to warm up at all! I spent half an hour on arrival at the homestay literally sitting on top of the heater trying to defrost enough to attempt changing.
25-Oct-08: Game Crazed
China: Homestay to Jingning
101km, 5h 00min ride time
Despite the lack of showers, the homestay hotel was heated and the cosy room and heavy bedcover had all the ingredients for a good night sleep. The morning trip to the outhouse was enough to tell that we were in for a cold start. After dusting the frost off our bike seats we set off in zero degrees and pedalled hard in an attempt to get the blood flowing and warm up. I seem to have figured out an appropriate level of clothing to wear now so that I can leave comfortable but not overheat in the first 5 minutes...although my fingers seem to be in their own little microclimate because they are always screaming in pain from the cold!
The ride today was a very pleasant one with rolling hills and nice scenery for most of the day. We had one slightly nerve wracking incident with a guy on a motorbike recklessly herding a couple of donkey at break neck speed along the road and straight through us and a couple of ladies walking on the side of the road. I was run off the road by one donkey and both donkey's went either side of Dan leaving him little space to move, before they then hustled the ladies off the road and out of their way!
We had a short relatively steep climb before lunch and a long descent after lunch...this time I was prepared for the descent and put on my jacket and enjoyed the ride a hundred times more because I was warm. With the days having been quite long since our entering China, any day under 110km is considered a short day and so today at a predicted 105km was practically a rest day. We rolled into town at about 2.30pm leaving us with a good 7-8 hours of time before having to get sleep for tomorrow.
Jingning is a small city but feels more like a large town...I'm sure there must be a statistical definition for the difference, but Zabi our translator assures us that it is a city not a town. In any case it has all the necessities for a mid-ride-week stop, being internet and a supermarket. I went to the supermarket to buy supplemental supplies for breakfast and stopped into the internet cafe which to my amazement was more like a Wall Street trading floor...there were people everywhere! There must have been 200 computers, many with 2-3 people per terminal and a further 20-30 people gathered at the desk waiting for a place. Our best guess is that computer games are the thing to do on a Saturday night...
26-Oct-08: Inching My Way
China: Jingning to Pingliang
103km, 5h 23min ride time
I found today a tough day. When we got in all I could do was lie on my bed for about an hour before having the energy to get changed. The route had us climbing for the first 50km and although only a very slight incline most of the way, was enough to knock you about as it makes you feel as though you are getting little in return for all the effort you are putting in.
At the top of the climb we had fried eggs on bread for lunch and were escorted by the lunch van through a 2.4km long tunnel afterwards. With one lane in each direction and room for little else we wondered what the consequence of an accident in the tunnel would be like as we rolled quickly through with the downhill in our direction. The downhill continued for the remainder of the day to varying degrees and so was reward in part for our morning of effort. All the same I was tired and pleased when we finally covered the distance to the hotel.
The highlight of the afternoon was on a short detour to avoid going through another tunnel. The detour was really no longer than the tunnel would have been but took us through an interesting and tiny little village positioned and hidden away directly beside the tunnel. The village was home to a small monastery which was established in the late 1800's. Inside the monastery were a few small Buddhist shrines with some interesting looking statues inside them and having a look was a nice little distraction from the ride.
Many of the others rushed about on arrival or took a detour en-route to visit a mountain top Taoist Monastery...I was far too tired to contemplate going anywhere and it seems just as well I didn't as the group I would have gone with have missed dinner and are presumed to have missed the last gondola down the mountain and now to be walking their way down in the dark!
27-Oct-08: Sore Eyes
China: Pingliang to Changwu
117km, 5h 45min ride time
Those thought to be potentially stuck up the monastery mountain made it home, late, but well. They had not been stuck but had taken a different way down the mountain, but did end up having to wait half an hour to for a taxi to collect them and return them to the hotel. From what I have been told the monastery was quite picturesque but did include a very high gondola ride and climbing many steep and dangerous stairs...neither of which sounded appealing to someone with vertigo!
Although starting out a little warmer due to cloud cover, today did not warm up in the absence of the sun and by lunchtime the temperature was still hovering around 10 degrees. The terrain was a little kinder than yesterday with a mostly flat to slight downhill all day with the exception of one 8km steep climb in the middle of the afternoon.
Pollution in the air is becoming increasingly noticeable and for the past few days the consequence has been very sore eyes at the end of a day of riding. Breathing was noticeably affected today and uncomfortable enough to now prompt digging out the carbon filter breathing mask and starting to use it from this point forward. We are in for a tough day tomorrow with lots of climbing and 140km to cover, so I am off to bed to try and get in some good preparatory sleep.
28-Oct-08: Not So Bad
China: Changwu to Chunhua
137km, 7h 11min ride time
After being built up for a really difficult day today turned out to be not so bad. The route was new for this year, having been discovered last year by the support vehicles which had to detour around a tunnel backed up for 20km with coal and apple trucks. The day included 4 challenging climbs but otherwise was predominantly flat and so allowed us to make good time between the climbs.
As I had resolved to do, I tried my face mask today but abandoned it 20 minutes into the ride when it became soaked in sweat and just too hot despite the cold weather. I think I will just have to battle on and accept that I may die in future of some chronic lung condition!
29-Oct-08: Survived the Stretch
China: Chunhua to Xi'an
93km, 4h 13min ride time
Our last day of cycling into a double rest day turned out to be a short and relatively easy one. Aside from a flat tire which slowed me down a little, everyone arrived at our lunch stop in good time. We gathered in small groups for the final complicated route into town. The traffic was crazy!
There just does not seem to be any hard and fast road rules...if the light is red cars still go...if the light is green they just go faster! There were cars doing U-turns in the middle of roundabouts and trucks driving towards us the wrong way up the road! To a point it is just a matter of close your eyes, go and hope for the best. And it will only get crazier from this point onwards as we get closer to Beijing.
30-Oct-08: A Bit of the West
China: Xi'an - Rest Day
Xi'an is by far the largest city we have come across since entering China. Historically, it was the capital city and the end of the silk trading route. The old city walls standing 4 stories high and surrounded by a water filled moat are still in place and surround the primary city centre. We went for a walk from our hostel into the walled city area and generally wandered around.
There are 4 major gate entrances into the city walls, one at each compass point. Each gate is marked by an elaborate architectural structure. Unfortunately we had very poor weather today and the pollution combined with rain made visibility very limited and especially so for photographs.
We had lunch at the first Pizza Hut we have seen in as long as I can remember...it was pretty ordinary but the ease of ordering won out over having a language battle. And lunch was topped off with a McDonald's ice cream sundae. Despite the existence of many fast food chains, the Chinese still don't seem to have mastered the art of 'fast' food...it took about 20 minutes to get 2 ice cream sundaes!
After lunch I returned to a massage parlour that I located in our wanderings. I walked inside and saw 2 lounge chairs, one of which was occupied by a sleeping Chinese lady. I tried to rouse her with a few repeats of 'hello' and 'ni hao' but could not wake her and was not really all that sure if she was staff or a customer so did not really want to forcefully wake her. Searching upstairs also did not rouse anyone and so I noisily made my way back to the reception area, at which point the lady awoke, wiping the drool which was running down her chin and groggily inviting me upstairs again. She proceeded to give me a fantastic massage which was very attentive to any area which did not respond the way in which she knew it should and painful as a result. At one stage she was pressing so hard on my skull that I thought her thumbs would go through it like an egg shell and pierce my brain!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
EFI No More
15-Oct-08: Too Much Chocolate
China: Jiayuguan – Rest Day
During our time in the ‘stans we developed a habit of stocking up on rarely found chocolate wherever and whenever we came upon it. Now that we are in a more civilised country chocolate is in relative abundance and yet the habit of stocking up remains and so results in gorging on chocolate...I have made a mental note to start kicking the habit or I will explode once I get home and am not burning calories at such a rapid rate!
We found a smaller restaurant for lunch today and had much more success ordering from pictures, so much so that we decided to stick with a good thing and went back to the same place and ordered the same food for dinner!
16-Oct-08: No Boring Bits
China: Jiayuguan to Yuanshanzi
134km, 5h 35min ride time
The scenery drought seems to be breaking. From the moment we set out this morning our surroundings were notably different from that of the past few weeks. The primary difference being that there were many signs of life. One town seemed to just roll into another as the road remained active with scooters, bicycles and tractors and the roadside developed with rural crops and housing. The major crop of the day was corn which had recently been harvested from the fields and was laid out to dry on the front yard of every second house and even on some rooftops.
To our right for most of the day was a snow capped mountain range which we gradually rode closer to throughout the morning until they towered up beside us. The snowy peaks behind trees and crop fields in Autumn colours made for some very pretty and much appreciated scenery. The afternoon was less populated and markedly less scenic but no less interesting with a raging tailwind blowing us into camp at a speed that negates any scenery as the ride is too much fun to consider stopping for photos anyway!
17-Oct-08: Dry Nights to Come
China: Yuanshanzi to Zhangye
111km, 5h 02min ride time
Our penultimate night of camping did not go by without memorable activity. After settling in to our tents for the night we were startled by and a little apprehensive at the sounds of a not so happy group of animals in very close proximity to us. Most of us stayed in the relative safety of our tents too nervous to investigate where the noise was coming from but a few ventured out to discover the source of the murderous cries was a truck load of not so happy pigs. Thankfully after about 20 minutes of torturous squealing the truck moved on and left us in peace to sleep.
During the night the clear blue sky clouded over and brought rain with it. We have had our fair share of riding in the rain but in all this time we have yet to have been unfortunate enough to have to pack up in the rain. Unfortunately this morning broke that drought! Although not heavy the rain had been consistent enough throughout the early hours of the morning that everything was thoroughly wet and even the small amount of rain still falling did not help improve the situation. The one saving grace was the knowledge that we would be staying in a hotel tonight and so even if we were to remain wet we would at least have somewhere dry to sleep.
Starting out wet is never great but combine it with a temperature of about 5 degrees and an immediate fast 5km downhill stretch and it was miserable...freezing cold...I thought the blood in my legs was going to freeze. To our relief the sun did eventually break through the cloud to dry and warm things up a bit...finally being able to feel your fingers and toes brings so much relief.
With the aim of finding a sheltered location, lunch was set up in the covered forecourt of some type of public building. We drew an extreme amount of attention and within a matter of 15 minutes there were about 30 men standing about in a group just staring at us. I try to understand the mentality of incessant staring but fail to see how we can possibly be interesting enough to captivate an audience of so many for so long!
The afternoon was a battle once again against a headwind determined to slow down our arrival into our hotel for the night, but we did make it and I for one was well pleased with the piping hot shower which washed away the day. Once again I am convinced that there is very little a hot shower cannot improve!
18-Oct-08: Out With a Bang
China: Zhangye to Fengcheng
106km, 5h 35min ride time
The challenges today started at about 20km when we tried to make our way on to the expressway and were turned away by some overzealous toll gate guards. Ordinarily the highways have had big signage clearly indicating that no bikes are allowed, but regardless we have been allowed to pass onto all of these roads. This expressway had no such signage but the guards would not let us past...go figure!
And so after waiting through a short moment of indecision we carried on along the secondary road resigned to attempt getting on to the expressway at the next opportunity. The opportunity came 15km further on where a new on ramp was being constructed and was pretty much complete with exception of the large pile of dirt to stop traffic and the absence of toll gates...the pile of dirt was not an obstacle for us and the absence of toll gates a sign that we were meant to be on this road after all. And so back on the direct route we made our way steadily towards lunch which ended up 10km further than expected due to the confusion with accessing the expressway.
TDA staff made more than expected effort in locating a place for our final night of camping, having actually physically scouted the route yesterday. Camp is alongside the remains of the great wall which we have seen frequently since Jiayuguan. The location is just outside a small village and our presence did not go unnoticed and before long we had many visitors, mostly children, from the village.
Our final night of camping is a big milestone and to celebrate we marked the occasion with a campfire party after dinner. TDA staff had supplied some nice big chunks of coal for our fire and everyone brought party food to share. Dr Joan marked the occasion by handing out awards to mark specifically notable characteristics, such as the ‘haut couture’ award for notable fashion and the ‘energiser bunny’ award for determination. After the awards came the fire crackers which were a bit concerning, given those in charge were not really very sure what they were doing! But the noise from the successful crackers had the children from the town running back down to see what was going on and join in for a while. The party wound up in preparation for a long riding day tomorrow and to escape the plummeting temperature...it was going to be a cold night.
19-Oct-08: Nonchalantly...
China: Fengcheng to Wuwei
145km, 6h 26min ride time
Having had trouble yesterday with accessing the expressway we set out this morning as a group so that we would all take the same route whatever it may be. We rode the few kilometres to the expressway entrance and stopped for further instruction...which was to ‘just ride nonchalantly through the closed toll lane...act dumb’...which somehow 20 of us in single file did without any trouble whatsoever despite the very obvious no bicycles sign!
The route started with about 20km of climbing, after which we descended for most of the day. Despite the downward trend and feeling as though we were maintaining a good pace most of the time, the day dragged on and towards the end felt as though it would never end.
As the hotel did not offer any, after settling in we went in search of a laundry service rumoured to be located nearby. After peering curiously into every shop on the street we found a small shop with a frontage of about 1.5m and depth of about 2.5m containing what looked like a twin tub in the back corner and clothes covered racks hanging around the perimeter of the ceiling. Having obviously been through the routine with someone else from our group the lady saw us and motioned if we were looking for washing...we said yes and what ensued was a physical inspection of our laundry to weed out the ‘I don’t do them’ items, specifically underwear and socks, followed by ridiculous charades about when we could collect them...in the end we had to just assume that 3pm the following day would be okay.
Dinner was another ordering disaster...we sat down and went through our we have no idea what do you recommend routine and not surprisingly they recommended the most expensive dish on the menu. But at $10 each we figured it was worth a shot...what a mistake. After another table of people left we were the only customers with 4 chefs in the kitchen and 4 floor staff all sitting about watching a Chinese soap opera on television. It started well with a soup and went downhill from there.
After having one large bowl of soup taking us 15 minutes or so to drink, literally, we were served up with a second bowl of the same soup, which we didn’t really want but took anyway. After another 15 minutes and a third offer of soup, which we declined, we started to wonder if we had just ordered bottomless broth for dinner. The staff could tell we were getting restless and tired as we laid our heads on the table whilst waiting and so brought us a bonus grated potato dish to tied us over before the main dish finally arrived, at least an hour after we ordered it. And it was terrible.
We felt so bad for the staff who had all slaved away preparing the gigantic roasted plate which contained a few potatoes, some noodles and some greens thrown about with every inedible part of a chicken carcass you could name...no meat to speak of but every bone, including the feet and this time the head! We picked our way through the edible parts of the dish which made very little impact on its appearance before declaring we could make no further impact and left the restaurant. We were barely 10m down the street as the staff locked up the restaurant and left...they had been about to close when we entered and for some reason had recommended the most difficult dish to prepare and we didn’t even like it...we felt terrible!
We now carry a little piece of paper on which one of our translators have written the following requirements: not spicy; meat with vegetables, no heads, feet or bones; noodles, no soup; eg. sweet and sour pork. I am told it works quite well, although have not had the chance to test it myself. On returning the hotel after dinner I started to feel quite ill and a night of sleep did not improve the situation.
20-Oct-08: Sick Day
China: Wuwei – Rest Day
I woke this morning feeling pretty lousy but did attend the hotel breakfast of which I managed to eat a bowl of rice slop made into quasi rice pudding by the addition of sugar. After breakfast I went back to bed and aside from two visits to Dr Joan two rooms down the hall did not move all day. I developed a fever which despite my room being at least 25 degrees and my wearing a down jacket under a blanket and a doona had me shivering incessantly unable to warm up.
For the balance of the day I ate half a banana and had so little energy that the process of packing for departure tomorrow went very slowly. The mere act of rolling up a pair of socks required a 10 minute nap to recover from. For the first time since Paris I conceded that I would be physically unable to ride tomorrow. Dr Joan agreed, having a viral infection was not worth the risk of over taxing my body.
21-Oct-08: EFI Status Lost
China: Wuwei to Tianzhu (Huanzangsi)
135km, No Riding
After having maintained my EFI (Every Fabulous Inch) status and battled through illness before now I thought I would be more upset at having to ride the ‘bus’. But I think the harder thing to do was to make the decision to quit rather than continue when the risk of continuing outweighed any benefit. And so feeling a little better but still extremely weak I rode the bus today with Trine who also has the same illness.
It took the van about 3 hours to do the journey including stopping for half an hour to help set up the riders lunch stop. Seeing the background works in motion was quite interesting...at every turn in the road the driver stopped without instruction and Miles would jump out of the van and flag the turn...at lunch the 4 Chinese staff and 2 TDA staff went into a flurry of silent activity, each undertaking their own allotted tasks...Mr Mu washed the apples while Frank purified the water and made up the Gatorade, Zabi cut the tomatoes while Shanny boiled the water for noodles.
On arrival at the hotel I went back to bed and slept for another 2 hours and have finally worked up the energy to sit down and catch up on my diary. We only have one more riding day until another rest day and so I have made the decision to skip riding tomorrow in favour of letting my body recover and effectively getting 4 straight days of rest by only missing 2 riding days. The stretch of riding out of our next rest day is likely to be a long 5 or 6 day run and to push it too early would risk my not making it through that stretch.
22-Oct-08: Snowy Start
China: Tianzhu (Huanzangsi) to Lanzhou
150km, No Riding
After seeming to be on the improve my well-being index, like that of the share market, plummeted last night as I spent 50% of it in bed with painful abdominal cramping and the other 50% in the bathroom. And so I ‘woke’ exhausted and certainly unable to ride making my decision to take it easy for another day the correct one.
On an up note, more so for those of us not riding and for those of us from sub-tropical climates (i.e. me), it had snowed overnight and was snowing when we set out. I did not envy the riders in any way as they set out in the cold and wet for what would surely be a long and uncomfortable day. The morning temperature was minus 2 degrees and by lunch it had only warmed up to zero degrees and reached a high of 10 degrees by late in the afternoon.
Once again the van stopped and helped set up lunch, this time in the front yard of someone’s house. As everything was wet the lunch truck got stuck in the muddy ground and had to be towed out by our other support van before we got back on the road towards Lanzhou. Lanzhou is apparently one of the world’s most populated cities and is certainly the most developed city we have seen since Western Europe. It is built around the shores of the ‘Yellow River’ which gets its name from its muddy complexion caused by the amount of suspended silt. By comparison to the notoriously polluted Nile river, which has 1.4kg of silt per cubic metre of water, the yellow river carries 25kg of silt per cubic metre of water.
Having started to feel better during the journey and having not really eaten much for 2 days, both Trine and I were absolutely starving and craving some ‘normal’ food. So the news that Lanzhou had a KFC was music to our ears and we made a beeline directly for it as soon as we had put our bikes and luggage away. On our walk to find KFC we passed a couple of other ‘fried chicken’ vendors selling a selection of fried chicken parts, including bucket loads of fried chicken feet...disgusting! We had a short moment of despair thinking ‘I hope this is not someone’s idea of KFC!’...but then we saw the shining neon sign a hundred metres down the road and we were saved!
After inhaling a chicken burger and fries I went back to the hotel and caught up on some much needed sleep before braving the cold and heading out again to find a supermarket for some lighter and healthier dinner food. Our hotel is about 1km from a major department store containing the biggest supermarket we have seen in China so far with just about anything you could want. So I stocked up on some supplies and returned to the hotel and watched a few English language cooking programs while eating my DIY dinner.
China: Jiayuguan – Rest Day
During our time in the ‘stans we developed a habit of stocking up on rarely found chocolate wherever and whenever we came upon it. Now that we are in a more civilised country chocolate is in relative abundance and yet the habit of stocking up remains and so results in gorging on chocolate...I have made a mental note to start kicking the habit or I will explode once I get home and am not burning calories at such a rapid rate!
We found a smaller restaurant for lunch today and had much more success ordering from pictures, so much so that we decided to stick with a good thing and went back to the same place and ordered the same food for dinner!
16-Oct-08: No Boring Bits
China: Jiayuguan to Yuanshanzi
134km, 5h 35min ride time
The scenery drought seems to be breaking. From the moment we set out this morning our surroundings were notably different from that of the past few weeks. The primary difference being that there were many signs of life. One town seemed to just roll into another as the road remained active with scooters, bicycles and tractors and the roadside developed with rural crops and housing. The major crop of the day was corn which had recently been harvested from the fields and was laid out to dry on the front yard of every second house and even on some rooftops.
To our right for most of the day was a snow capped mountain range which we gradually rode closer to throughout the morning until they towered up beside us. The snowy peaks behind trees and crop fields in Autumn colours made for some very pretty and much appreciated scenery. The afternoon was less populated and markedly less scenic but no less interesting with a raging tailwind blowing us into camp at a speed that negates any scenery as the ride is too much fun to consider stopping for photos anyway!
17-Oct-08: Dry Nights to Come
China: Yuanshanzi to Zhangye
111km, 5h 02min ride time
Our penultimate night of camping did not go by without memorable activity. After settling in to our tents for the night we were startled by and a little apprehensive at the sounds of a not so happy group of animals in very close proximity to us. Most of us stayed in the relative safety of our tents too nervous to investigate where the noise was coming from but a few ventured out to discover the source of the murderous cries was a truck load of not so happy pigs. Thankfully after about 20 minutes of torturous squealing the truck moved on and left us in peace to sleep.
During the night the clear blue sky clouded over and brought rain with it. We have had our fair share of riding in the rain but in all this time we have yet to have been unfortunate enough to have to pack up in the rain. Unfortunately this morning broke that drought! Although not heavy the rain had been consistent enough throughout the early hours of the morning that everything was thoroughly wet and even the small amount of rain still falling did not help improve the situation. The one saving grace was the knowledge that we would be staying in a hotel tonight and so even if we were to remain wet we would at least have somewhere dry to sleep.
Starting out wet is never great but combine it with a temperature of about 5 degrees and an immediate fast 5km downhill stretch and it was miserable...freezing cold...I thought the blood in my legs was going to freeze. To our relief the sun did eventually break through the cloud to dry and warm things up a bit...finally being able to feel your fingers and toes brings so much relief.
With the aim of finding a sheltered location, lunch was set up in the covered forecourt of some type of public building. We drew an extreme amount of attention and within a matter of 15 minutes there were about 30 men standing about in a group just staring at us. I try to understand the mentality of incessant staring but fail to see how we can possibly be interesting enough to captivate an audience of so many for so long!
The afternoon was a battle once again against a headwind determined to slow down our arrival into our hotel for the night, but we did make it and I for one was well pleased with the piping hot shower which washed away the day. Once again I am convinced that there is very little a hot shower cannot improve!
18-Oct-08: Out With a Bang
China: Zhangye to Fengcheng
106km, 5h 35min ride time
The challenges today started at about 20km when we tried to make our way on to the expressway and were turned away by some overzealous toll gate guards. Ordinarily the highways have had big signage clearly indicating that no bikes are allowed, but regardless we have been allowed to pass onto all of these roads. This expressway had no such signage but the guards would not let us past...go figure!
And so after waiting through a short moment of indecision we carried on along the secondary road resigned to attempt getting on to the expressway at the next opportunity. The opportunity came 15km further on where a new on ramp was being constructed and was pretty much complete with exception of the large pile of dirt to stop traffic and the absence of toll gates...the pile of dirt was not an obstacle for us and the absence of toll gates a sign that we were meant to be on this road after all. And so back on the direct route we made our way steadily towards lunch which ended up 10km further than expected due to the confusion with accessing the expressway.
TDA staff made more than expected effort in locating a place for our final night of camping, having actually physically scouted the route yesterday. Camp is alongside the remains of the great wall which we have seen frequently since Jiayuguan. The location is just outside a small village and our presence did not go unnoticed and before long we had many visitors, mostly children, from the village.
Our final night of camping is a big milestone and to celebrate we marked the occasion with a campfire party after dinner. TDA staff had supplied some nice big chunks of coal for our fire and everyone brought party food to share. Dr Joan marked the occasion by handing out awards to mark specifically notable characteristics, such as the ‘haut couture’ award for notable fashion and the ‘energiser bunny’ award for determination. After the awards came the fire crackers which were a bit concerning, given those in charge were not really very sure what they were doing! But the noise from the successful crackers had the children from the town running back down to see what was going on and join in for a while. The party wound up in preparation for a long riding day tomorrow and to escape the plummeting temperature...it was going to be a cold night.
19-Oct-08: Nonchalantly...
China: Fengcheng to Wuwei
145km, 6h 26min ride time
Having had trouble yesterday with accessing the expressway we set out this morning as a group so that we would all take the same route whatever it may be. We rode the few kilometres to the expressway entrance and stopped for further instruction...which was to ‘just ride nonchalantly through the closed toll lane...act dumb’...which somehow 20 of us in single file did without any trouble whatsoever despite the very obvious no bicycles sign!
The route started with about 20km of climbing, after which we descended for most of the day. Despite the downward trend and feeling as though we were maintaining a good pace most of the time, the day dragged on and towards the end felt as though it would never end.
As the hotel did not offer any, after settling in we went in search of a laundry service rumoured to be located nearby. After peering curiously into every shop on the street we found a small shop with a frontage of about 1.5m and depth of about 2.5m containing what looked like a twin tub in the back corner and clothes covered racks hanging around the perimeter of the ceiling. Having obviously been through the routine with someone else from our group the lady saw us and motioned if we were looking for washing...we said yes and what ensued was a physical inspection of our laundry to weed out the ‘I don’t do them’ items, specifically underwear and socks, followed by ridiculous charades about when we could collect them...in the end we had to just assume that 3pm the following day would be okay.
Dinner was another ordering disaster...we sat down and went through our we have no idea what do you recommend routine and not surprisingly they recommended the most expensive dish on the menu. But at $10 each we figured it was worth a shot...what a mistake. After another table of people left we were the only customers with 4 chefs in the kitchen and 4 floor staff all sitting about watching a Chinese soap opera on television. It started well with a soup and went downhill from there.
After having one large bowl of soup taking us 15 minutes or so to drink, literally, we were served up with a second bowl of the same soup, which we didn’t really want but took anyway. After another 15 minutes and a third offer of soup, which we declined, we started to wonder if we had just ordered bottomless broth for dinner. The staff could tell we were getting restless and tired as we laid our heads on the table whilst waiting and so brought us a bonus grated potato dish to tied us over before the main dish finally arrived, at least an hour after we ordered it. And it was terrible.
We felt so bad for the staff who had all slaved away preparing the gigantic roasted plate which contained a few potatoes, some noodles and some greens thrown about with every inedible part of a chicken carcass you could name...no meat to speak of but every bone, including the feet and this time the head! We picked our way through the edible parts of the dish which made very little impact on its appearance before declaring we could make no further impact and left the restaurant. We were barely 10m down the street as the staff locked up the restaurant and left...they had been about to close when we entered and for some reason had recommended the most difficult dish to prepare and we didn’t even like it...we felt terrible!
We now carry a little piece of paper on which one of our translators have written the following requirements: not spicy; meat with vegetables, no heads, feet or bones; noodles, no soup; eg. sweet and sour pork. I am told it works quite well, although have not had the chance to test it myself. On returning the hotel after dinner I started to feel quite ill and a night of sleep did not improve the situation.
20-Oct-08: Sick Day
China: Wuwei – Rest Day
I woke this morning feeling pretty lousy but did attend the hotel breakfast of which I managed to eat a bowl of rice slop made into quasi rice pudding by the addition of sugar. After breakfast I went back to bed and aside from two visits to Dr Joan two rooms down the hall did not move all day. I developed a fever which despite my room being at least 25 degrees and my wearing a down jacket under a blanket and a doona had me shivering incessantly unable to warm up.
For the balance of the day I ate half a banana and had so little energy that the process of packing for departure tomorrow went very slowly. The mere act of rolling up a pair of socks required a 10 minute nap to recover from. For the first time since Paris I conceded that I would be physically unable to ride tomorrow. Dr Joan agreed, having a viral infection was not worth the risk of over taxing my body.
21-Oct-08: EFI Status Lost
China: Wuwei to Tianzhu (Huanzangsi)
135km, No Riding
After having maintained my EFI (Every Fabulous Inch) status and battled through illness before now I thought I would be more upset at having to ride the ‘bus’. But I think the harder thing to do was to make the decision to quit rather than continue when the risk of continuing outweighed any benefit. And so feeling a little better but still extremely weak I rode the bus today with Trine who also has the same illness.
It took the van about 3 hours to do the journey including stopping for half an hour to help set up the riders lunch stop. Seeing the background works in motion was quite interesting...at every turn in the road the driver stopped without instruction and Miles would jump out of the van and flag the turn...at lunch the 4 Chinese staff and 2 TDA staff went into a flurry of silent activity, each undertaking their own allotted tasks...Mr Mu washed the apples while Frank purified the water and made up the Gatorade, Zabi cut the tomatoes while Shanny boiled the water for noodles.
On arrival at the hotel I went back to bed and slept for another 2 hours and have finally worked up the energy to sit down and catch up on my diary. We only have one more riding day until another rest day and so I have made the decision to skip riding tomorrow in favour of letting my body recover and effectively getting 4 straight days of rest by only missing 2 riding days. The stretch of riding out of our next rest day is likely to be a long 5 or 6 day run and to push it too early would risk my not making it through that stretch.
22-Oct-08: Snowy Start
China: Tianzhu (Huanzangsi) to Lanzhou
150km, No Riding
After seeming to be on the improve my well-being index, like that of the share market, plummeted last night as I spent 50% of it in bed with painful abdominal cramping and the other 50% in the bathroom. And so I ‘woke’ exhausted and certainly unable to ride making my decision to take it easy for another day the correct one.
On an up note, more so for those of us not riding and for those of us from sub-tropical climates (i.e. me), it had snowed overnight and was snowing when we set out. I did not envy the riders in any way as they set out in the cold and wet for what would surely be a long and uncomfortable day. The morning temperature was minus 2 degrees and by lunch it had only warmed up to zero degrees and reached a high of 10 degrees by late in the afternoon.
Once again the van stopped and helped set up lunch, this time in the front yard of someone’s house. As everything was wet the lunch truck got stuck in the muddy ground and had to be towed out by our other support van before we got back on the road towards Lanzhou. Lanzhou is apparently one of the world’s most populated cities and is certainly the most developed city we have seen since Western Europe. It is built around the shores of the ‘Yellow River’ which gets its name from its muddy complexion caused by the amount of suspended silt. By comparison to the notoriously polluted Nile river, which has 1.4kg of silt per cubic metre of water, the yellow river carries 25kg of silt per cubic metre of water.
Having started to feel better during the journey and having not really eaten much for 2 days, both Trine and I were absolutely starving and craving some ‘normal’ food. So the news that Lanzhou had a KFC was music to our ears and we made a beeline directly for it as soon as we had put our bikes and luggage away. On our walk to find KFC we passed a couple of other ‘fried chicken’ vendors selling a selection of fried chicken parts, including bucket loads of fried chicken feet...disgusting! We had a short moment of despair thinking ‘I hope this is not someone’s idea of KFC!’...but then we saw the shining neon sign a hundred metres down the road and we were saved!
After inhaling a chicken burger and fries I went back to the hotel and caught up on some much needed sleep before braving the cold and heading out again to find a supermarket for some lighter and healthier dinner food. Our hotel is about 1km from a major department store containing the biggest supermarket we have seen in China so far with just about anything you could want. So I stocked up on some supplies and returned to the hotel and watched a few English language cooking programs while eating my DIY dinner.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Rough Patch
11-Oct-08: One Big Buddha
China: Dun Huang – Rest Day
The focus of our rest day today was a tour of nearby tourist sites which was arranged for us by our translator. We started with the Thousand Buddha Caves which were once a series of a thousand caves carved into the rocky face of a mountain and now number half that. Each cave was created by different individuals or consortiums as a form of worship and varied in size from small head sized caves to gigantic caves reaching 7 stories in height. Historically, the location of the caves was at the western most point of China and certain caves were created in order to ensure luck for an ensuing silk route journey around the desert and/or to give thanks for a safe return from such a journey.
Each year only 8 caves are opened to the public with a further 2 being opened exclusively to western tourists. The first cave we visited was the most awesome...we were told we were about to see a big Buddha statue and as I walked through the 10m high entrance archway I thought to myself ‘I can’t see any Buddha, what is he talking about?’...at the end of the archway I looked up and realised that I had been eyeballing the big toe of the Buddha which towered an impressive 35m high. The entire statue inside the cave had been carved in-situ out of the mountain in the 7th Century...very impressive. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside any of the caves.
The remaining caves were all of varying ages and degrees of repair and in themselves quite interesting, but compared to the gigantic Buddha seemed a little small! Our final cave was where a secret cave housing thousands of manuscripts and artwork had been discovered. The documents which were initially not given adequate recognition of value and therefore not protected were taken over time by various explorers and are now housed in museums all over the world.
After leaving the Buddha caves we were treated to a lunch in one of Dun Huang's best local restaurants. The food was tasty, interesting and plentiful and refuelled us for a busy afternoon...back on to the bus and on to the desert dunes just outside the city. After riding for so long around the edges of the desert we had been looking forward to seeing some real sand dunes and so were happy to find that we were able to see them so easily. Being so close to town the dune ridge has been thoroughly commercialised for tourists but was still impressive. We took a camel ride through the dunes...sitting on a camel is not comfortable...and so when all our site seeing was over I headed straight back to the massage centre and got a second massage to undo any damage the camel had done!
12-Oct-08: Lost in Space
China: Dun Huang to Yuanquan
136km, 6h 01min ride time
I am finding it an effort not to just let riding days of late slip by unacknowledged. Today I was restless and feeling ready for this trip to be over...after giving it some thought I acknowledged that my restlessness comes from the relative nothingness of the past few weeks. I came on this trip expecting the unknown to an extent and it has delivered with a variety of challenges from torrential rain to blistering heat and everything in between. But I had not expected the nothingness that has been the past few weeks. It is hard to not look back upon the weeks we have spent cycling through the deserted nothingness as a waste of precious time, achieving nothing, and by no means so extraordinary in any experience as to have any chance of outweighing the ‘ordinary’ that I was trying to break away from in signing up for this.
So I was reminded to return to the process of acknowledging milestones and our progression towards the end. On the 18th of November we completed our last border crossing...on the 18th of October we will have our final night of camping and beyond that will no doubt have a few more ‘lasts’ before our last day of riding will be upon us. Beyond that there will be an inevitable element of nostalgia which will look back on endless days of riding with a degree of longing. And so now I must try to fuel a future longing with a present enjoyment of a nothingness that will somehow evolve in retrospect into a something.
13-Oct-08: From Bad to Worse
China: Yuanquan to Chinjinxia
130km, 7h 02min ride time
The events of today did not help me in my decision to try and find enjoyment in each day. A cold start made for a slow start (at least we are not in Turkmenistan stuck on a ferry in 50 degrees)...followed by rolling my sunglasses up inside my tent and consequently breaking them (at least I was carrying a spare albeit inferior pair)...and topped off by a headwind (hmmm, sorry but cannot think of any riding condition that a headwind on a cold morning with 140km to cover is preferable to).
Our directed route today was to follow a secondary road alongside the major highway...the secondary road being narrow, rough and longer than the visible highway which was smooth and had a nice wide and safe shoulder to ride in...a no-brainer that all bar 4 riders abandoned the prescribed route and scrambled their way up onto the highway. This plan was foolproof provided we returned to the prescribed route before the lunch stop at 75km...unfortunately for the majority of riders lunch was pulled forward to about 70km, about 1km prior to the off ramp everyone took and not visible from the highway. Luckily for a couple of us the lunch truck spotted us on its way back to camp and stopped to hand us supplies which were gratefully accepted. The ironic conclusion being that a change of instruction was issued at lunch...get onto the highway!
We all ultimately made it to camp after having also ‘missed’ the instructed exit off the highway, which did not exist, and had to scramble down an embankment and through barbed wire fences to physically get to camp. The ultimate good news story of the day being that tomorrow can only be a better day with the distance to our next destination being reduced from 145km to around 100km, tomorrow’s prescribed route being to follow the highway and that at the conclusion of the days riding we will be in a hotel and will wake to another rest day.
14-Oct-08: A Hot Shower...Eventually
China: Chinjinxia to Jiayuguan
111km, 5h 35min ride time
Today did not start with my breaking my sunglasses and so started relatively well. The weather was chilly but calm with no wind and combined with the smooth highway gave us a good chance to get going. As we head into the populated oasis region the landscape has finally started to show some signs of life with a covering of Autumn coloured vegetation and the occasional waterway in the foreground of a snow capped mountain range.
As lunch today was on the highway we had no chance of missing it and so refuelled for the afternoon of riding into a headwind which had developed throughout the morning. Knowing we were riding into a hotel and a rest day got me through the afternoon.
After settling into the hotel, which included letting the shower run for 15 minutes to kick start the water heaters, we spent some time in the internet cafe across the street before finding dinner. Despite a picture menu, dinner was a disaster with us ordering 2 very chili hot dishes, one being mostly very fatty meat and the other being half weird mushrooms and half chili. We could not finish it and opted to move on and fill the remaining hole in our stomachs by sourcing safer fodder from a nearby supermarket.
China: Dun Huang – Rest Day
The focus of our rest day today was a tour of nearby tourist sites which was arranged for us by our translator. We started with the Thousand Buddha Caves which were once a series of a thousand caves carved into the rocky face of a mountain and now number half that. Each cave was created by different individuals or consortiums as a form of worship and varied in size from small head sized caves to gigantic caves reaching 7 stories in height. Historically, the location of the caves was at the western most point of China and certain caves were created in order to ensure luck for an ensuing silk route journey around the desert and/or to give thanks for a safe return from such a journey.
Each year only 8 caves are opened to the public with a further 2 being opened exclusively to western tourists. The first cave we visited was the most awesome...we were told we were about to see a big Buddha statue and as I walked through the 10m high entrance archway I thought to myself ‘I can’t see any Buddha, what is he talking about?’...at the end of the archway I looked up and realised that I had been eyeballing the big toe of the Buddha which towered an impressive 35m high. The entire statue inside the cave had been carved in-situ out of the mountain in the 7th Century...very impressive. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside any of the caves.
The remaining caves were all of varying ages and degrees of repair and in themselves quite interesting, but compared to the gigantic Buddha seemed a little small! Our final cave was where a secret cave housing thousands of manuscripts and artwork had been discovered. The documents which were initially not given adequate recognition of value and therefore not protected were taken over time by various explorers and are now housed in museums all over the world.
After leaving the Buddha caves we were treated to a lunch in one of Dun Huang's best local restaurants. The food was tasty, interesting and plentiful and refuelled us for a busy afternoon...back on to the bus and on to the desert dunes just outside the city. After riding for so long around the edges of the desert we had been looking forward to seeing some real sand dunes and so were happy to find that we were able to see them so easily. Being so close to town the dune ridge has been thoroughly commercialised for tourists but was still impressive. We took a camel ride through the dunes...sitting on a camel is not comfortable...and so when all our site seeing was over I headed straight back to the massage centre and got a second massage to undo any damage the camel had done!
12-Oct-08: Lost in Space
China: Dun Huang to Yuanquan
136km, 6h 01min ride time
I am finding it an effort not to just let riding days of late slip by unacknowledged. Today I was restless and feeling ready for this trip to be over...after giving it some thought I acknowledged that my restlessness comes from the relative nothingness of the past few weeks. I came on this trip expecting the unknown to an extent and it has delivered with a variety of challenges from torrential rain to blistering heat and everything in between. But I had not expected the nothingness that has been the past few weeks. It is hard to not look back upon the weeks we have spent cycling through the deserted nothingness as a waste of precious time, achieving nothing, and by no means so extraordinary in any experience as to have any chance of outweighing the ‘ordinary’ that I was trying to break away from in signing up for this.
So I was reminded to return to the process of acknowledging milestones and our progression towards the end. On the 18th of November we completed our last border crossing...on the 18th of October we will have our final night of camping and beyond that will no doubt have a few more ‘lasts’ before our last day of riding will be upon us. Beyond that there will be an inevitable element of nostalgia which will look back on endless days of riding with a degree of longing. And so now I must try to fuel a future longing with a present enjoyment of a nothingness that will somehow evolve in retrospect into a something.
13-Oct-08: From Bad to Worse
China: Yuanquan to Chinjinxia
130km, 7h 02min ride time
The events of today did not help me in my decision to try and find enjoyment in each day. A cold start made for a slow start (at least we are not in Turkmenistan stuck on a ferry in 50 degrees)...followed by rolling my sunglasses up inside my tent and consequently breaking them (at least I was carrying a spare albeit inferior pair)...and topped off by a headwind (hmmm, sorry but cannot think of any riding condition that a headwind on a cold morning with 140km to cover is preferable to).
Our directed route today was to follow a secondary road alongside the major highway...the secondary road being narrow, rough and longer than the visible highway which was smooth and had a nice wide and safe shoulder to ride in...a no-brainer that all bar 4 riders abandoned the prescribed route and scrambled their way up onto the highway. This plan was foolproof provided we returned to the prescribed route before the lunch stop at 75km...unfortunately for the majority of riders lunch was pulled forward to about 70km, about 1km prior to the off ramp everyone took and not visible from the highway. Luckily for a couple of us the lunch truck spotted us on its way back to camp and stopped to hand us supplies which were gratefully accepted. The ironic conclusion being that a change of instruction was issued at lunch...get onto the highway!
We all ultimately made it to camp after having also ‘missed’ the instructed exit off the highway, which did not exist, and had to scramble down an embankment and through barbed wire fences to physically get to camp. The ultimate good news story of the day being that tomorrow can only be a better day with the distance to our next destination being reduced from 145km to around 100km, tomorrow’s prescribed route being to follow the highway and that at the conclusion of the days riding we will be in a hotel and will wake to another rest day.
14-Oct-08: A Hot Shower...Eventually
China: Chinjinxia to Jiayuguan
111km, 5h 35min ride time
Today did not start with my breaking my sunglasses and so started relatively well. The weather was chilly but calm with no wind and combined with the smooth highway gave us a good chance to get going. As we head into the populated oasis region the landscape has finally started to show some signs of life with a covering of Autumn coloured vegetation and the occasional waterway in the foreground of a snow capped mountain range.
As lunch today was on the highway we had no chance of missing it and so refuelled for the afternoon of riding into a headwind which had developed throughout the morning. Knowing we were riding into a hotel and a rest day got me through the afternoon.
After settling into the hotel, which included letting the shower run for 15 minutes to kick start the water heaters, we spent some time in the internet cafe across the street before finding dinner. Despite a picture menu, dinner was a disaster with us ordering 2 very chili hot dishes, one being mostly very fatty meat and the other being half weird mushrooms and half chili. We could not finish it and opted to move on and fill the remaining hole in our stomachs by sourcing safer fodder from a nearby supermarket.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Toughest Stretch...Done!
03-Oct-08: Chicken Feet
China: Turpan – Rest Day
We seem to be uncovering a trend...not entirely surprising but always unpleasantly, the feet of chicken keep turning up in our dinner! No matter how much you expect them to be there the sight of a recognisable body part is always more than a little disconcerting and has the effect of making one question the origin of every mouthful which in turn can completely turn you off your meal. Having said that we did have success last night with our hand-over-the-eyes-and-randomly-point-at-the-menu approach in order to communicate that ‘our only option unless you work with us is to choose blindly’, after which we then use hand gestures to communicate ‘just bring us what you think is good’ and hope for the best...which in this case, feet aside, worked well.
Turpan is another silk route city which if my mind were not entirely consumed with laundry, internet, massage and resting would probably hold a little more of my interest. But as per the norm our rest days are completely consumed with anything other than touristic pursuits. Our simple needs were generally met by a bathtub, a-100-computer-smoking-permitted internet cafe, an ice cream sundae from Best Food Burgers (Red Rooster meets McDonalds) and a supermarket (which stocked the rare commodity, M&M’s) and fell a little shy by not being able to locate a massage.
04-Oct-08: Deadly Bread
China: Turpan to Qiktim
134km, 7h 20min ride time
After a good start for the first hour of today’s riding we faced battle with a brutal headwind which reduced us to covering 52km in 3.5 hours despite being on mostly flat terrain. By lunchtime everyone was exhausted and hungry and so tempers were tested by being served with bread which was so tremendously hard that I am sure you could have rendered someone unconscious with it.
I have probably mentioned it before, but, if we had to choose a meal ranking it would most certainly be dinner as a clear winner with breakfast second, its placing bolstered by reasonable camp breakfasts despite sometimes abysmal hotel ones, and lunch on the whole being a very distant third...today was another example of such. Admittedly sometimes it is the consequence of availability which we readily recognise and accept but when we ride past a market selling fresh bread only 3km before lunch and get served with jaw breaking stuff we find it hard to have any understanding and excuses have very little weight.
So teeth remarkably still intact, we hit the road again and were relieved by a drop in the intensity of the wind. Even so the effort of the morning had taken its toll and overall made for a very long day with most arriving into camp at about 6pm, a whole 2 hours later than our ‘usual’ arrival time for such a distance, but glad to have some minor concerns about potentially having missed a turn allayed.
05-Oct-08: Enjoyment = Zero
China: Qiktim to Yiwanquan
138km, 8h 20min ride time
I am surprised I have found the energy to sit down and write an account of today...one of the worst. After over 8 hours in the saddle battling an extreme cross wind I have very little left. The wind was so strong today that we struggled to simply stand up on occasions let alone stay upright on a bike. I was blown about like a feather as I pedalled along, sometimes barely reaching 10kph, leaning the bike on an angle in order to balance out the effect of the wind battering us from the left. On 4 occasions the wind picked me up and blew me about to the point which required me to make an emergency stop and dismount or be blown off the embankment, which at times reached 20 feet in height. The draft from passing trucks was so incredible that it was like riding into a brick wall every time they went past. Another day of challenges that we have somehow survived...
Our spirits were lifted by a good lunch which had us all praising Joan for her organisation...the bread was soft, we had hot noodle soup, bananas and the Gatorade for once tasted like Gatorade and not like flavoured chlorine (a slip in the quantity of water treatment). But aside from that and a good dinner at camp there was little of today that I would be able to look back upon with fondness...perhaps a sense of achievement but little else.
06-Oct-08: A Little Rest
China: Yiwanquan to Hami
139km, 6h 09min ride time
I am finding that as we face more and more challenges on this trip that each one becomes relative to the other...in the days of the Orient Express today would probably have been a difficult one...by comparison to yesterday it was much easier. The wind stayed about but other than a couple of short stretches of road which gave us reminders of yesterday it did not hinder us too badly and we finished the day in comparatively good time.
We are staying in a hotel and the very fact makes a huge difference on both a mental and physical level. To have a bed and a hot shower to look forward to is a huge mental boost and just being able to rest up in comfort leaves you feeling more rested. I spent a few hours watching Chinese game shows and a Jackie Chan movie which was quite entertaining, albeit in Chinese. Those few hours made the day feel like a partial rest day and recharged me to a great extent, although I was well and truly ready for an early night as the past few days of riding have definitely taken their toll.
07-Oct-08: Deadly Stunts
China: Hami to Desert Camp
135km, 7h 13min ride time
I woke this morning after a poor night of sleep having developed a head cold overnight and very unhappy to find that there was no hot water for a reviving morning shower. So I hit the road drugged up and prepared to just see how it went. It started out badly with the 75km to lunch being into a headwind which had us averaging about 16kph on the flat despite riding pretty hard but not going crazy knowing that we could have a whole day of the same ahead of us.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in this part of China...we look left and see a vast flat barren plain which meets with a distant snow capped mountain range and we look right and see a vast flat barren plain ending only where it meets the horizon. The most exciting things we saw today were the occasional roadworks and roadworkers and some men dangling from telephone lines making repairs in the middle of nowhere.
We are all desperate for the wind to let up as it drains us physically and mentally...some more desperate than others. In what was the stupidest and most dangerous thing I have ever seen anyone on a bike do, one rider made his day easier by drafting behind a fully loaded 16 wheel truck as it travelled at speeds of up to 60kph. I for one don’t want to be picking up the pieces and so was not too impressed at the behaviour whilst others were prepared to laugh it off. As far as I am concerned we are at risk just doing things the safe way let alone elevating the risk by doing something so stupid.
The wind did eventually die down and so after lunch the riding was not so difficult and we were pleasantly surprised when camp arrived about 10km earlier than we had thought it might. Tomorrow we are facing another long day and one with hilly terrain...fingers crossed that the current lull in the wind sees us through the next 24 hours at least.
08-Oct-08: Cold Start
China: Desert Camp to Desert Camp
139km, 6h 50min ride time
Each day that passes now brings us one day closer to winter and this morning reminded us of the fact. It was cold. Not quite as cold as we experienced in Kyrgyzstan but not far from it and a little more unexpected in a way. As we started to ride it was 6 degrees and considering the chill of an icy wind blowing, probably a whole lot colder in effect.
We have figured by now that this part of China is known for being windy. Something about the trucks carrying the component parts of power generating wind mills gave it away. Today was quite a long day but even including the slow climbing for the first half seemed to me quite rhythmic. I managed to get a rhythm going in my pedalling and despite feeling weak in body my legs felt quite strong...I reflected upon the past few difficult days and wondered if they have not had some positive physical effect.
As we covered the last few kilometres the wind picked up again and once again made putting tents up more than a little challenging, especially considering the ground was too hard to use tent pegs. Having been in a similar situation more than once, we have now become pretty good at successfully utilising rocks in lieu of pegs. As the last of us juggled tents and rocks a few set about starting our first camp fire of the trip...using a few random pieces of wood, including pieces soaked in creosote, a mop head, shoes and other random but flammable items salvaged from the surrounding piles of garbage. Steering clear of the potentially deadly smoke, it did bring some welcome warmth over dinner but was not enough to sway me from seeking refuge in my wind free tent as soon as possible.
09-Oct-08: Tailwind...for a While
China: Desert Camp to Dun Huang
138km, 5h 20min ride time
A windy night ensured a very chilly morning. The wind picked up quickly and was soon raging to the point of making it difficult to stand again...the upside this time being that it was blowing in much the same direction as we were travelling. For the first 70km we cruised along at speeds in excess of 30kph with very little effort and were pleased with our good fortune at the end of a difficult week.
After lunch the wind turned slightly so that it was blowing from a 45 degree angle behind us...the benefit of the tailwind cancelled out by the drag of the crosswind. We were still able to travel at a reasonable speed but by comparison to the morning had to work a great deal harder for it.
The scenery began to change as we drew closer to town...we passed field after field after field of cotton and trailer after trailer full of cotton being taken to the processing centres with yards piled high with fluffy cotton mountains. As I looked at the mountains of cotton I wondered how many man hours had gone into picking it and how very little the monetary return must be in comparison.
Dun Huang is to be our home for the next 2 days as we get a rare double rest day. The city is famous for its sand dunes and Buddhist caves, both of which we plan to tour on our second day off. Tonight however was spent settling in to the hotel and eating at the ‘Friendship Cafe’ across the road...which despite being tourist friendly was not tacky and served up a great meal to end what has been one of the most difficult riding stretches to date.
10-Oct-08: Task 1, Find a Massage
China: Dun Huang – Rest Day
My number one task today was to find a massage. After a short time of looking for one as per the hotel’s directions, which was closed, I managed to stumble upon another ‘massage centre’. The centre was located on what was clearly a very tourist friendly market street and as with everything ‘touristy’ had me a little apprehensive about its quality. Having little else to choose from I decided anything was better than nothing and was pleasantly surprised, although not top of my list it was certainly well worth the <$20 I paid for an hour. Chinese massage seems to follow a routine flow starting with a great deal of spinal manipulation, on to legs, arms and finishing with a head and neck massage.
After an afternoon in another ‘smoking permitted’ internet cafe and another meal at the Friendship Cafe we wandered the night markets. Stall after stall selling jewellery, postcards, stuffed camels, food stuff, thermal underwear, socks, artwork, carvings, etc kept us wandering for well over an hour until our legs started to protest and the effects of another long day made bed seem like a better place to be.
China: Turpan – Rest Day
We seem to be uncovering a trend...not entirely surprising but always unpleasantly, the feet of chicken keep turning up in our dinner! No matter how much you expect them to be there the sight of a recognisable body part is always more than a little disconcerting and has the effect of making one question the origin of every mouthful which in turn can completely turn you off your meal. Having said that we did have success last night with our hand-over-the-eyes-and-randomly-point-at-the-menu approach in order to communicate that ‘our only option unless you work with us is to choose blindly’, after which we then use hand gestures to communicate ‘just bring us what you think is good’ and hope for the best...which in this case, feet aside, worked well.
Turpan is another silk route city which if my mind were not entirely consumed with laundry, internet, massage and resting would probably hold a little more of my interest. But as per the norm our rest days are completely consumed with anything other than touristic pursuits. Our simple needs were generally met by a bathtub, a-100-computer-smoking-permitted internet cafe, an ice cream sundae from Best Food Burgers (Red Rooster meets McDonalds) and a supermarket (which stocked the rare commodity, M&M’s) and fell a little shy by not being able to locate a massage.
04-Oct-08: Deadly Bread
China: Turpan to Qiktim
134km, 7h 20min ride time
After a good start for the first hour of today’s riding we faced battle with a brutal headwind which reduced us to covering 52km in 3.5 hours despite being on mostly flat terrain. By lunchtime everyone was exhausted and hungry and so tempers were tested by being served with bread which was so tremendously hard that I am sure you could have rendered someone unconscious with it.
I have probably mentioned it before, but, if we had to choose a meal ranking it would most certainly be dinner as a clear winner with breakfast second, its placing bolstered by reasonable camp breakfasts despite sometimes abysmal hotel ones, and lunch on the whole being a very distant third...today was another example of such. Admittedly sometimes it is the consequence of availability which we readily recognise and accept but when we ride past a market selling fresh bread only 3km before lunch and get served with jaw breaking stuff we find it hard to have any understanding and excuses have very little weight.
So teeth remarkably still intact, we hit the road again and were relieved by a drop in the intensity of the wind. Even so the effort of the morning had taken its toll and overall made for a very long day with most arriving into camp at about 6pm, a whole 2 hours later than our ‘usual’ arrival time for such a distance, but glad to have some minor concerns about potentially having missed a turn allayed.
05-Oct-08: Enjoyment = Zero
China: Qiktim to Yiwanquan
138km, 8h 20min ride time
I am surprised I have found the energy to sit down and write an account of today...one of the worst. After over 8 hours in the saddle battling an extreme cross wind I have very little left. The wind was so strong today that we struggled to simply stand up on occasions let alone stay upright on a bike. I was blown about like a feather as I pedalled along, sometimes barely reaching 10kph, leaning the bike on an angle in order to balance out the effect of the wind battering us from the left. On 4 occasions the wind picked me up and blew me about to the point which required me to make an emergency stop and dismount or be blown off the embankment, which at times reached 20 feet in height. The draft from passing trucks was so incredible that it was like riding into a brick wall every time they went past. Another day of challenges that we have somehow survived...
Our spirits were lifted by a good lunch which had us all praising Joan for her organisation...the bread was soft, we had hot noodle soup, bananas and the Gatorade for once tasted like Gatorade and not like flavoured chlorine (a slip in the quantity of water treatment). But aside from that and a good dinner at camp there was little of today that I would be able to look back upon with fondness...perhaps a sense of achievement but little else.
06-Oct-08: A Little Rest
China: Yiwanquan to Hami
139km, 6h 09min ride time
I am finding that as we face more and more challenges on this trip that each one becomes relative to the other...in the days of the Orient Express today would probably have been a difficult one...by comparison to yesterday it was much easier. The wind stayed about but other than a couple of short stretches of road which gave us reminders of yesterday it did not hinder us too badly and we finished the day in comparatively good time.
We are staying in a hotel and the very fact makes a huge difference on both a mental and physical level. To have a bed and a hot shower to look forward to is a huge mental boost and just being able to rest up in comfort leaves you feeling more rested. I spent a few hours watching Chinese game shows and a Jackie Chan movie which was quite entertaining, albeit in Chinese. Those few hours made the day feel like a partial rest day and recharged me to a great extent, although I was well and truly ready for an early night as the past few days of riding have definitely taken their toll.
07-Oct-08: Deadly Stunts
China: Hami to Desert Camp
135km, 7h 13min ride time
I woke this morning after a poor night of sleep having developed a head cold overnight and very unhappy to find that there was no hot water for a reviving morning shower. So I hit the road drugged up and prepared to just see how it went. It started out badly with the 75km to lunch being into a headwind which had us averaging about 16kph on the flat despite riding pretty hard but not going crazy knowing that we could have a whole day of the same ahead of us.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in this part of China...we look left and see a vast flat barren plain which meets with a distant snow capped mountain range and we look right and see a vast flat barren plain ending only where it meets the horizon. The most exciting things we saw today were the occasional roadworks and roadworkers and some men dangling from telephone lines making repairs in the middle of nowhere.
We are all desperate for the wind to let up as it drains us physically and mentally...some more desperate than others. In what was the stupidest and most dangerous thing I have ever seen anyone on a bike do, one rider made his day easier by drafting behind a fully loaded 16 wheel truck as it travelled at speeds of up to 60kph. I for one don’t want to be picking up the pieces and so was not too impressed at the behaviour whilst others were prepared to laugh it off. As far as I am concerned we are at risk just doing things the safe way let alone elevating the risk by doing something so stupid.
The wind did eventually die down and so after lunch the riding was not so difficult and we were pleasantly surprised when camp arrived about 10km earlier than we had thought it might. Tomorrow we are facing another long day and one with hilly terrain...fingers crossed that the current lull in the wind sees us through the next 24 hours at least.
08-Oct-08: Cold Start
China: Desert Camp to Desert Camp
139km, 6h 50min ride time
Each day that passes now brings us one day closer to winter and this morning reminded us of the fact. It was cold. Not quite as cold as we experienced in Kyrgyzstan but not far from it and a little more unexpected in a way. As we started to ride it was 6 degrees and considering the chill of an icy wind blowing, probably a whole lot colder in effect.
We have figured by now that this part of China is known for being windy. Something about the trucks carrying the component parts of power generating wind mills gave it away. Today was quite a long day but even including the slow climbing for the first half seemed to me quite rhythmic. I managed to get a rhythm going in my pedalling and despite feeling weak in body my legs felt quite strong...I reflected upon the past few difficult days and wondered if they have not had some positive physical effect.
As we covered the last few kilometres the wind picked up again and once again made putting tents up more than a little challenging, especially considering the ground was too hard to use tent pegs. Having been in a similar situation more than once, we have now become pretty good at successfully utilising rocks in lieu of pegs. As the last of us juggled tents and rocks a few set about starting our first camp fire of the trip...using a few random pieces of wood, including pieces soaked in creosote, a mop head, shoes and other random but flammable items salvaged from the surrounding piles of garbage. Steering clear of the potentially deadly smoke, it did bring some welcome warmth over dinner but was not enough to sway me from seeking refuge in my wind free tent as soon as possible.
09-Oct-08: Tailwind...for a While
China: Desert Camp to Dun Huang
138km, 5h 20min ride time
A windy night ensured a very chilly morning. The wind picked up quickly and was soon raging to the point of making it difficult to stand again...the upside this time being that it was blowing in much the same direction as we were travelling. For the first 70km we cruised along at speeds in excess of 30kph with very little effort and were pleased with our good fortune at the end of a difficult week.
After lunch the wind turned slightly so that it was blowing from a 45 degree angle behind us...the benefit of the tailwind cancelled out by the drag of the crosswind. We were still able to travel at a reasonable speed but by comparison to the morning had to work a great deal harder for it.
The scenery began to change as we drew closer to town...we passed field after field after field of cotton and trailer after trailer full of cotton being taken to the processing centres with yards piled high with fluffy cotton mountains. As I looked at the mountains of cotton I wondered how many man hours had gone into picking it and how very little the monetary return must be in comparison.
Dun Huang is to be our home for the next 2 days as we get a rare double rest day. The city is famous for its sand dunes and Buddhist caves, both of which we plan to tour on our second day off. Tonight however was spent settling in to the hotel and eating at the ‘Friendship Cafe’ across the road...which despite being tourist friendly was not tacky and served up a great meal to end what has been one of the most difficult riding stretches to date.
10-Oct-08: Task 1, Find a Massage
China: Dun Huang – Rest Day
My number one task today was to find a massage. After a short time of looking for one as per the hotel’s directions, which was closed, I managed to stumble upon another ‘massage centre’. The centre was located on what was clearly a very tourist friendly market street and as with everything ‘touristy’ had me a little apprehensive about its quality. Having little else to choose from I decided anything was better than nothing and was pleasantly surprised, although not top of my list it was certainly well worth the <$20 I paid for an hour. Chinese massage seems to follow a routine flow starting with a great deal of spinal manipulation, on to legs, arms and finishing with a head and neck massage.
After an afternoon in another ‘smoking permitted’ internet cafe and another meal at the Friendship Cafe we wandered the night markets. Stall after stall selling jewellery, postcards, stuffed camels, food stuff, thermal underwear, socks, artwork, carvings, etc kept us wandering for well over an hour until our legs started to protest and the effects of another long day made bed seem like a better place to be.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Below the Ocean but Nowhere Near It
28-Sep-08: Playing Dodgem
China: Kuqa (Kucha) to Yengisar
154km, 6h 15min ride time
As a cyclist it is not often that I have shared the road with anyone other than your regular run of the mill traffic, however, in this region of China we are sharing the road with the likes of semi trailers with loads of cotton and other types of produce piled 4 times higher than the sides of the trucks allow and strapped in with sheets and ropes, double-decker trucks carrying sheep or goats, oil tankers, donkey carts carrying produce or people, scooters and other bicycles. To see a regular variety car is actually pretty rare in this area.
The ride today was pretty bland with little by way of scenery but was flat and for some of the day we had a tail wind and so were able to cover the distance with little to slow us down...except for my second flat tire of the trip. My rear wheel must have been feeling a little left out and so evened out the tally by also getting a flat to now draw even with the front wheel.
We are camped within the walls of a compound style complex which appears to be set up for some sort of cattle purpose. My tent is pitched in a large concrete holding tank with a ramped entrance, assumedly designed to hold cattle at some stage...but hopefully not tonight!
29-Sep-08: How Long is a Piece of String
China: Yengisar to Korla
133km, 6h 06min ride time
We set out today with the expectation of riding a relatively short day compared to the recent trend. The scenery was once again bland and so we set ourselves the mission of counting cars, trucks, donkey carts and ‘other’ vehicles, the latter including motorbikes, scooters, bicycles and farm machinery. The mission was abandoned early on when we realised that the ratio was staying constant regardless of number and so settled on the conclusion that the ratio of donkey carts to ‘other’ vehicles to cars to trucks was 1:6:15:45, with a total of 90 trucks passing us by in the first 15km/40minutes.
As often happens when we get a shorter day there is always something to hinder it from being a fast day. Firstly, we had a headwind for the first 100km and secondly, the directions for the day had been wrong and it turned out to be 133km instead of the expected 120km. A tailwind for the last 35km offered some consolation as we cruised into town. We are staying in a hotel tonight and have made the most of the hot showers and the television which was showing ‘The Fugitive’ in English when we arrived. Dinner was served up to us at a nearby restaurant and after a slow start we were served with more food than we could consume and all rolled out of the place stuffed to the brim and content to make it an early night.
30-Sep-08: Tempers Tested
China: Korla to Uxxaktal
121km, 5h 56min ride time
With respect to riding today was mostly just another day except for our route taking us off the nice smooth highway and onto a rough back road which warmed us up quickly with a 10km climb to start the day. As I reached the peak of the climb I was greeted by a large group of cyclists which numbered more than those that I knew were ahead of me and turned out to include half a dozen local road cyclists who were more than excited to come upon us on their ride. After a few obligatory photos we bid them ‘bye bye’ and enjoyed the downhill that we had worked hard to get. The day led us to camp which is on a dirt road servicing a vineyard.
The greater stories from today come from 2 sources...firstly, the misdirection of Max and Trine who missed a turn and rode themselves 100km off route and eventually turned up to camp having covered 220km...Secondly, one of the more senior riders took advantage of an opportunity given to him to address the group about a few issues he felt were not being adequately dealt with and wound up launching a personal attack on another rider and one of the staff members. His underlying points were wholly valid but the way he went about it was completely inappropriate and achieved nothing more than an uncomfortable 15 minutes for all involved. The underlying point of TDA generally being lax in their response to anyone’s concern about anything was highlighted by the fact that Max and Trine were refused their request to have the support vehicle pick them up as the error in missing the flagged turn was of their own doing...never mind the fact that the directions for the day were out by 5km!
01-Oct-08: Rocks at the Ready
China: Uxxaktal to Quarry Camp
121km, 6h 18min ride time
As I sit in my tent I become increasingly worried that I am the only thing holding it down and that one of the many rocks I have weighting things down is going to work its way free and somehow come flying through my nylon walls and into my head! A gale force wind has picked up and is battering us about in our camp which conveniently is in an area resembling a quarry and so at least the supply of large rocks is not limited. If we were to be riding it would be one hell of a headwind and so hopefully it wears itself out before morning when we set out again.
Today’s ride was quite tiring as we spent most of the day gradually climbing with a headwind in our face. The one small advantage was that we were back onto the highway which offered a smooth surface and a wide shoulder to ride within. Our daily instructions indicated that after lunch would be hilly and at first I was hopeful that it may have been a white lie as the first 20km out of lunch was a steep descent tempered in its level of enjoyment by a headwind which prevented us from really getting the most out of the downhill. My hopes were dashed as we started a gentle but very long ascent to reach our camp which is located only half way up the climb and therefore leaves us with no doubt about what the morning has in store for us!
02-Oct-08: Against the Odds
China: Quarry Camp to Turpan
135km, 5h 25min ride time
Statistically it only rains once every 100 years in the Taklamakan desert but somehow riding on the edge of it we have managed to get 2 rainy days in under 2 weeks. Today started out quite cool after some rain overnight and continued blustery winds both of which gave us grief during the day also. The sky started out clear and blue and as we climbed for the first 20km we were blown about by a strong wind which then went on to hinder our 50km descent, so much so that at times we were struggling to reach 30kph when we should have easily been reaching 55kph!
My good record for few flat tires is now starting to look a little less impressive with one striking me half way up the climb and another half way down the descent! As I changed the tire on the descent dark clouds rolled in and gave us a good soaking as we continued our way down towards the depression 80m below sea level in which the city of Turpan is situated. As we ate lunch the sky cleared up and the sun came out in force which made for a hot and sticky afternoon of riding. After spending so much of the morning changing tires we were determined to make good time and so rode hard into town to start on our period of rest sooner rather than later.
China: Kuqa (Kucha) to Yengisar
154km, 6h 15min ride time
As a cyclist it is not often that I have shared the road with anyone other than your regular run of the mill traffic, however, in this region of China we are sharing the road with the likes of semi trailers with loads of cotton and other types of produce piled 4 times higher than the sides of the trucks allow and strapped in with sheets and ropes, double-decker trucks carrying sheep or goats, oil tankers, donkey carts carrying produce or people, scooters and other bicycles. To see a regular variety car is actually pretty rare in this area.
The ride today was pretty bland with little by way of scenery but was flat and for some of the day we had a tail wind and so were able to cover the distance with little to slow us down...except for my second flat tire of the trip. My rear wheel must have been feeling a little left out and so evened out the tally by also getting a flat to now draw even with the front wheel.
We are camped within the walls of a compound style complex which appears to be set up for some sort of cattle purpose. My tent is pitched in a large concrete holding tank with a ramped entrance, assumedly designed to hold cattle at some stage...but hopefully not tonight!
29-Sep-08: How Long is a Piece of String
China: Yengisar to Korla
133km, 6h 06min ride time
We set out today with the expectation of riding a relatively short day compared to the recent trend. The scenery was once again bland and so we set ourselves the mission of counting cars, trucks, donkey carts and ‘other’ vehicles, the latter including motorbikes, scooters, bicycles and farm machinery. The mission was abandoned early on when we realised that the ratio was staying constant regardless of number and so settled on the conclusion that the ratio of donkey carts to ‘other’ vehicles to cars to trucks was 1:6:15:45, with a total of 90 trucks passing us by in the first 15km/40minutes.
As often happens when we get a shorter day there is always something to hinder it from being a fast day. Firstly, we had a headwind for the first 100km and secondly, the directions for the day had been wrong and it turned out to be 133km instead of the expected 120km. A tailwind for the last 35km offered some consolation as we cruised into town. We are staying in a hotel tonight and have made the most of the hot showers and the television which was showing ‘The Fugitive’ in English when we arrived. Dinner was served up to us at a nearby restaurant and after a slow start we were served with more food than we could consume and all rolled out of the place stuffed to the brim and content to make it an early night.
30-Sep-08: Tempers Tested
China: Korla to Uxxaktal
121km, 5h 56min ride time
With respect to riding today was mostly just another day except for our route taking us off the nice smooth highway and onto a rough back road which warmed us up quickly with a 10km climb to start the day. As I reached the peak of the climb I was greeted by a large group of cyclists which numbered more than those that I knew were ahead of me and turned out to include half a dozen local road cyclists who were more than excited to come upon us on their ride. After a few obligatory photos we bid them ‘bye bye’ and enjoyed the downhill that we had worked hard to get. The day led us to camp which is on a dirt road servicing a vineyard.
The greater stories from today come from 2 sources...firstly, the misdirection of Max and Trine who missed a turn and rode themselves 100km off route and eventually turned up to camp having covered 220km...Secondly, one of the more senior riders took advantage of an opportunity given to him to address the group about a few issues he felt were not being adequately dealt with and wound up launching a personal attack on another rider and one of the staff members. His underlying points were wholly valid but the way he went about it was completely inappropriate and achieved nothing more than an uncomfortable 15 minutes for all involved. The underlying point of TDA generally being lax in their response to anyone’s concern about anything was highlighted by the fact that Max and Trine were refused their request to have the support vehicle pick them up as the error in missing the flagged turn was of their own doing...never mind the fact that the directions for the day were out by 5km!
01-Oct-08: Rocks at the Ready
China: Uxxaktal to Quarry Camp
121km, 6h 18min ride time
As I sit in my tent I become increasingly worried that I am the only thing holding it down and that one of the many rocks I have weighting things down is going to work its way free and somehow come flying through my nylon walls and into my head! A gale force wind has picked up and is battering us about in our camp which conveniently is in an area resembling a quarry and so at least the supply of large rocks is not limited. If we were to be riding it would be one hell of a headwind and so hopefully it wears itself out before morning when we set out again.
Today’s ride was quite tiring as we spent most of the day gradually climbing with a headwind in our face. The one small advantage was that we were back onto the highway which offered a smooth surface and a wide shoulder to ride within. Our daily instructions indicated that after lunch would be hilly and at first I was hopeful that it may have been a white lie as the first 20km out of lunch was a steep descent tempered in its level of enjoyment by a headwind which prevented us from really getting the most out of the downhill. My hopes were dashed as we started a gentle but very long ascent to reach our camp which is located only half way up the climb and therefore leaves us with no doubt about what the morning has in store for us!
02-Oct-08: Against the Odds
China: Quarry Camp to Turpan
135km, 5h 25min ride time
Statistically it only rains once every 100 years in the Taklamakan desert but somehow riding on the edge of it we have managed to get 2 rainy days in under 2 weeks. Today started out quite cool after some rain overnight and continued blustery winds both of which gave us grief during the day also. The sky started out clear and blue and as we climbed for the first 20km we were blown about by a strong wind which then went on to hinder our 50km descent, so much so that at times we were struggling to reach 30kph when we should have easily been reaching 55kph!
My good record for few flat tires is now starting to look a little less impressive with one striking me half way up the climb and another half way down the descent! As I changed the tire on the descent dark clouds rolled in and gave us a good soaking as we continued our way down towards the depression 80m below sea level in which the city of Turpan is situated. As we ate lunch the sky cleared up and the sun came out in force which made for a hot and sticky afternoon of riding. After spending so much of the morning changing tires we were determined to make good time and so rode hard into town to start on our period of rest sooner rather than later.
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