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.