Prep Round-China Bike trip, 2-up, April-May 2012

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fred

Haha, very nice comment Dipstick, thanks a lot !

One year ago, I was in your exact shoes with the first commuting in Shanghai with the 250, so I can understand ! I don't know where you live/work, but please be extra careful all the time, even more so when it rains. Some roads like the Hongqiao lu (which I call the U-turners road) are especially dangerous because fast and people are indeed making U-turns there every 50 meters or so...

I'll be in Shanghai from June 15th to 30th, so maybe we can meet !

Cheers,

Fred

---

I guess I am a disaster waiting to happen: I work downtown near Jing An temple and I live in Hongqiao. So I do have to take a large portion of the U-turners road twice a day. I am very careful though.

I am encouraged to learn that after only one year of driving in Shanghai, you felt like you could take on this big cross-China trek. Maybe it is true when they say one year of driving experience in Shanghai is worth 10 years experience in Europe or North America!

Would love to meet. Maybe there will be another no-bike night in Shanghai before you leave the country, but even if not, we could arrange something.

Stay safe!

No idea what my post is showing up twice. Weird.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DipStick

No idea what my post is showing up twice. Weird.

---

:lol8:

I finish work and officially begin my summer holiday on Friday the 15th, next week.
I've a crazy idea about riding down to Shanghai to see Fred off before he goes. The three of us could grab a beer together if everyone has the time.
I've several other friends dotted around Shanghai and I've promised them all I'd get down there one day: I could kill half a dozen birds with stone.

I'd like to ask Fred for info on the route he took down from Qingdao back to Shanghai but he's pretty busy right now.

Hey Pete, sorry for not having replied to your email yet, as you wrote, we've been busy... drinking Tsingtao in Qingdao !
I will send you all the pics, no worries.

From Yiyuan to Qingdao, we took first the S329, which in a few months or maybe 1 year will be perfect blacktop. Right now... let's say that if you want to practice your off-road skills, it's the best ! :mwink:
We have around 20km on dirt, but it was a "nice" dirt road, flat, without holes, so you could go around 50-60 km/h on it all the way.
Except for the bridges, when you have to go through very very small villages and mud roads to avoid the "future bridges" they are building as we speak. Then after Zhucheng we took the S217 to Jiaozhou, then all the way around the bay and into Qingdao, to the far south until the beaches where our hotel is.

In QD, some roads are clearly forbidden for bikes with signs, but otherwise we didn't have any trouble riding through it (except the traffic, as in every big chinese town...).

I'll update you later on the roads from QD to SH, we're leaving tomorrow morning !

Cheers,

Fred

Fred,
Have you considered the S293 (sometimes it shares the name S329) from Huangdao?
It looks pretty big, clean and clear all the way through to at least Po li zhen and maybe a bit beyond that according to Google maps ancient satellite pics.
You mentioned avoiding the coastal roads due to obvious traffic reasons but this one might be worth a look.

How about the ferry from Qingdao to Huangdao? I hope they'll let your bike on. I don't see why they wouldn't.

...from what I can see, those coastal roads look a damn sight better than the inland alternatives.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by soberpete

:lol8:

I finish work and officially begin my summer holiday on Friday the 15th, next week.
I've a crazy idea about riding down to Shanghai to see Fred off before he goes. The three of us could grab a beer together if everyone has the time.

---

I'm up for it. Depends on day and time ( I have a couple of out of town trips coming up) but I could go for drinks after work. It would just mean that I would have to take the subway that day! :-)

Hey all,

We're now in Suqian, Jiangsu province.

Pete, from Qingdao, we tried to go straight to Huangdao by the tunnel/ferry, which ever we could find. We followed the road in Qingdao right up to the point the ferry/tunnel should be : the road turned to dirt, then a big wall... I guess they are building something so I guess a tunnel, but there's no way available for now... So we took the long way up to Jiazhou and then down again to Rizhao.

From Qingdao to Rizhao, we took the G204 (which is currently under work close to Rizhao, still some dirt parts), but we also took very small farming roads, perfect blacktop in the countryside, it was perfect ! If you want Pete, I could try to show them to you on a map.

And why Suqian now ? In fact, because we are still ahead of our schedule, we will go to Nanjing after all, which we will try to reach tomorrow.


Dipstick (and Pete maybe !), we're all up for a drink/dinner in Shanghai after the 15th ! And while I'm at it : we didn't publish yet a ride report here, but we do have a blog running (you'll need a VPN to access it), which we update almost daily on the road. For now (and sorry to all the others...) it's only in French, so maybe only Dipstick can read it.

Cheers,

Fred

One update for those who might be interested : when coming from the North and heading to Nanjing, let's say for example from the city of Huaian, Jiangsu, the motorcycle friendly G205 suddenly becomes an expressway about 70-80km north of Nanjing, without toll gate !
So of course you do have the big "forbidden to motorcycles" signs, but as there're no toll gates, no one to stop you, it's fair game !
We took it today, a nice dash to Nanjing at approximately 100 km/h average speed, perfect road, nobody on it.

Might help some.

Dear Fred and co,
I see the road (G205/ expressway) on Google maps and it looks pretty smooth; well spotted!
I plan on getting to Rizhao via Yiyuan and then through Yishui. I'll stay in Rizhao one night then make my way south to Shanghai.
How was Suqian? Is it laowai friendly? Still have the number of a hotel there? I don't think I'll stop in Suqian unless you think the roads along the way were really nice.
If and when you have the time, I'd love to know the black-top farm-road route that you guys took after Rizhao.
Was the construction on the G204 north or south of Rizhao? Or both?

Safe riding. Sounds like you're in Nanjing already. Enjoy it!

Fred, you've been hiding this blog the whole time?? What a shame!
Maybe MCM folks can run it through Google Translate... Might get some funky results, but I think it would be worth it! (Besides, most people here translate TaoBao, so they must be used to it).

Anyway, there is so much in there (with lots of great pics to boot!) that I only had time to read a bit. The part about your meeting with Soberpete, and the latest post, including with the classy smoking bride in the Qingdao seafront.

Suffice it to say, I've bookmarked it for later reading :thumbsup:

Thanks! :icon10:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by soberpete

Dear Fred and co,
I see the road (G205/ expressway) on Google maps and it looks pretty smooth; well spotted!
I plan on getting to Rizhao via Yiyuan and then through Yishui. I'll stay in Rizhao one night then make my way south to Shanghai.
How was Suqian? Is it laowai friendly? Still have the number of a hotel there? I don't think I'll stop in Suqian unless you think the roads along the way were really nice.
If and when you have the time, I'd love to know the black-top farm-road route that you guys took after Rizhao.
Was the construction on the G204 north or south of Rizhao? Or both?

Safe riding. Sounds like you're in Nanjing already. Enjoy it!

---

Hey Pete, yes we're in Nanjing right now, and celebrating the near-accomplishment of the 12,000km trip by offering ourselves some "luxury time" with nice hotel, nice drinks and nice food ! :naughty:

Suqian is a typical normal Chinese city, we went to the Hanting Express hotel (always a good choice in China). It's either this or the Jinjiang Inn (also always a good choice).

The construction on the G204 was before and also a bit after Rizhao, but with a bike you can get through quite easily.

About the small farm roads we took, it'll be impossible to pinpoint exactly the ones we took. All we know is that it was West of Jiaonan city, we left the G204 towards the West on some small roads, found ourselves on the S329 too, but sorry, I will not able to help more than that...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fred

About the small farm roads we took, it'll be impossible to pinpoint exactly the ones we took. All we know is that it was West of Jiaonan city, we left the G204 towards the West on some small roads, found ourselves on the S329 too, but sorry, I will not able to help more than that...

---

West of Jiaonan? Well then, don't say sorry mate because I won't even be going near any of those roads :icon10:. I'm heading into Rizhao from the west and then going south from there.
I'd like to say I could follow in your tracks but you both headed slightly inland whereas I might take more of a coastal route.
The G204 looks like a nice, big, clean road around Yancheng so I might travel that way after Rizhao. This whole ride probably won't be a lot of fun so getting onto the bigger roads will make it less of a pain. Nevertheless, I'm doing this because I love riding.

Fred and Dipstick;
When I do get to Shanghai, how will I find you guys? :lol8:
The city isn't really small and I literally know nothing about it.

P.s. Fred;
I regret not asking you before, during our ride: How do I get that cool GPS app of yours for my HTC? Did you download it or it came with the phone?
I really need a better GPS tracker before undertaking this ride otherwise I'll be out of my depth.

Pete, when you reach Shanghai I'll come to you to guide you through the city if I still have my bike at that time. If not I can still come by taxi to meet you outside of the town, then hop behind you to guide you ! :mwink:

About the GPS : when Celine bought me this phone as a gift, she insisted to find the smartphone with the best GPS software, and that's the only thing I can tell you ! It is really a matter of the GPS system and software already in the phone, nothing you can really do about it, at least it's my understanding...
As you saw, the only thing I'm doing on the road is :
- put on the internet mobile and the GPS
- open the Google Maps app

And yes it's true that the localization is very precise, without any offset (which is not the case with others maps app like OruxMaps).

About Shanghai : we're terribly sorry with Celine, but we will not be able to welcome you in our apartment and offer you a room, as we do not have an apartment anymore ! We stopped the rent when we left for the trip, and a friend will welcome us in his place when we arrive tomorrow until we take our plane on July 1st... Just thought you should know, sorry mate...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fred

Pete, when you reach Shanghai I'll come to you to guide you through the city if I still have my bike at that time. If not I can still come by taxi to meet you outside of the town, then hop behind you to guide you ! :mwink:

About the GPS : when Celine bought me this phone as a gift, she insisted to find the smartphone with the best GPS software, and that's the only thing I can tell you ! It is really a matter of the GPS system and software already in the phone, nothing you can really do about it, at least it's my understanding...
As you saw, the only thing I'm doing on the road is :
- put on the internet mobile and the GPS
- open the Google Maps app

And yes it's true that the localization is very precise, without any offset (which is not the case with others maps app like OruxMaps).

About Shanghai : we're terribly sorry with Celine, but we will not be able to welcome you in our apartment and offer you a room, as we do not have an apartment anymore ! We stopped the rent when we left for the trip, and a friend will welcome us in his place when we arrive tomorrow until we take our plane on July 1st... Just thought you should know, sorry mate...

---

Meeting me and showing me the way? You are the best, thanks Fred.
So what area should I aim for? I can always contact you when I'm getting close... like Yancheng.

You were thinking of putting me up for a night? :eekers: You are way too kind to me. I wouldn't even dream of inviting a guy I'd only met once to stay at my place; I guess I just don't know how good an impression I made on you guys between Taian and Yiyuan but thanks so much for the thought.
Pointing me in the direction of a hotel would be more than hospitable :thumbsup:.

I had assumed that about the phone. My HTC is a dinosaur now (the old G3) and the GPS system is temperamental at best.
I might invest in a new phone before I leave. I like HTC so I'll probably get another one.

Final stretch tomorrow! Take it easy, the most dangerous part is right at the end of the journey (so they say) :weary:.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DipStick

Fred, you've been hiding this blog the whole time?? What a shame!
.........
Anyway, there is so much in there (with lots of great pics to boot!) that I only had time to read a bit. .........................including with the classy smoking bride in the Qingdao seafront.

Suffice it to say, I've bookmarked it for later reading :thumbsup:

Thanks! :icon10:

---

Dipstick:
My god, you didn't mention that that smoking bride was actually in a squatting position. Precious picture, worthy of an entry in the TIC (This Is China) thread!!! I have seen more than once that young ladies in high fashion and 10-inch heels squat at Shanghai Pudong airport waiting lounge, but this bride tops them all.

Fred:
Can't wait to see your MCM report IN ENGLISH. Thanks for sharing your story.

Hehe, I will Milton, I promise !


And it's also time for an announcement gentlemen...

After exactly 11,570km and a little bit more than 2 months on the chinese roads, we arrived yesterday in Shanghai and successfully finished the round-China trip !
To be honest, we do not realize it yet, we'll need some time for that I guess. Yesterday was a 8 hours riding madness between Nanjing and Shanghai, we're exhausted...

As mentioned, I'm now trying to sell the bike and the plates ASAP before leaving China.

Cheers,

Fred

Dear Fred,

Huge congratulations to you and Celine for completing this ride around China! What a fantastic accomplishment.

Several of us are setting off on a 15-day ride next Thursday, but would love to celebrate your ride (and lament your imminent departure). That means this coming weekend 16-17 June would be the only chance to meet. We also have some newcomers who are keen to meet.

Would you be available for a (No-)Bike Night on Saturday (tomorrow) somewhere in Puxi that features cold beer and, if you insist, French plonk? All the better if Soberpete is in town!

cheers!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by euphonius

Dear Fred,

Huge congratulations to you and Celine for completing this ride around China! What a fantastic accomplishment.

Several of us are setting off on a 15-day ride next Thursday, but would love to celebrate your ride (and lament your imminent departure). That means this coming weekend 16-17 June would be the only chance to meet. We also have some newcomers who are keen to meet.

Would you be available for a (No-)Bike Night on Saturday (tomorrow) somewhere in Puxi that features cold beer and, if you insist, French plonk? All the better if Soberpete is in town!

cheers!

---

Euphonious, Sir,
I can't leave Zibo until the 25th, by which time you'll be on your way into your 15 day ride :sad:.
Does your trip take you anywhere north of Shanghai around the 26th? I doubt it, but it would be cool to see you along the way.
I'll likely be gone before you even head back to SH too :sad:; I need to be back before the 9th for a summer school (unless it falls through... fingers crossed).

Also, Fred and Celine, very good work getting across China with so few scratches. It will probably take a while to sink in: I imagine it will hit you hardest while you're on the plane, relaxing and reflecting on recent events. Right now you have other things on your mind like selling the red beast and catching your flight.

Thanks Pete !

There's one thing I'd like to tell you : I understand your desire to come to SH to see us and Dipstick, and we would love to see you again, but please be very very careful and weight carefully the decision.
Why : as I wrote here before, chinese roads (and by roads I mean drivers...) are extremely dangerous. Yesterday, on our way to Shanghai, we saw yet again another poor guy who certainly crossed the G312 without looking, but this time unfortunately a truck just ran over him... Poor bastard was certainly dead, lying on the street with no-one helping or caring about him (police & ambulance were at the scene...).
We saw too many accidents, avoided too many too, including few very close calls...

Driving education, trainings, road-sharing spirit is a HUGE problem in China right now. And it's even worse towards bikes. Bikes should yield, should not even be on the road, which is only for big black SUV with teinted windows as everyone know.
Most Chinese unfortunately do not say anything to those drivers and just keep being bullied, while bending their spine. So of course when we yell when a very dangerous piece of driving occurs, the drivers do not even understand why we do this, one even telling us "you're on a motorcycle, you should yield !" when he almost hit us head-on while passing another car (this time as you know Pete, it was one too many that particular day and this driver has one less rear-view mirror to use...).


To cut this short, I lived for 10 years in China, know very well Chinese driving, but it'd be foolish not to pause and reflect after the tenths close calls and thousandth of daily emergency actions to take to avoid cars, bicycles, ebikes, pedestrians, all those with only one common point : they look only where THEY want to go, nothing else...

So please Pete, if you want to come to Shanghai, look where you want to go AND anticipate where everybody else want to go, because they would not look for you...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fred

Thanks Pete !

Most Chinese unfortunately do not say anything to those drivers and just keep being bullied, while bending their spine.

---

I believe this is all related to the all-important 'Chinese face' --> ':icon10:'. Wouldn't you agree? Of course, but probably not with implementing ':icon10:' into your life! Life is more important and we're gonna shout about it! :gerg:...or sing about it :kumbaya: ...which I'm sure will make us all more popular than a bunch of angry, shouting foreigners but we don't get the chance to prepare a song while we're being pushed off the road by the asssh*les (or plain, ignorant idiots) out there who shouldn't be driving in the first place.

Before I agree with you, Fred, I just want to get a few things off my chest (that I experienced this morning on my 180km ride back from Mengyin). This isn't the first time I've seen this kind of thing but, for now, these ones are fresh memories:

- An E-bike riding, middle aged woman (baby girl riding pillion) plowing straight across a duel-carriageway and into my 80kph path without looking:
I was going slowly enough to stop (I learn from my mistakes), but it just sickens me how so many middle aged men and women can be so careless with their lives. How did they make it that far in the first place? They'd do well to set good examples to the younglings of today's China but instead they just drag them into the path of random speeding vehicles.

- A selection of cars that want to play chicken with me... which, if you count injuries, would me I'd loose every time:
Some will gradually overtake, only consuming about 50% of my side of the road and I still have the hard-shoulder; these one's don't bother me any more. The ones that try overtaking around blind corners are the ones that piss me off the most.

- Another E-bike riding, suicidal middle aged woman looking to take child with her to the Chinese afterlife:
This time she saw me as she was half-way across the duel-carriageway and stopped, leaving me just enough room to get by in-front of her. I, however. stopped right in-front of her and waved her on in a polite but very eccentric way (I was very angry and my sense of humour pops-in to prevent me from shouting). She smiled as hard as she could (barely masking her fear) and went on her way.

Now that's out of the way: Fred, thank you for your kind words, advice and wisdom. I don't think I've seen as much as you but rest assured that I've seen enough. I won't be riding crazily down the roads to Shanghai. Most importantly, I always take it easy down roads that I don't know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fred

So please Pete, if you want to come to Shanghai, look where you want to go AND anticipate where everybody else want to go, because they would not look for you...

---

Don't worry man, I'm a fighter pilot, expecting everything to come at me from all angles :weary:.

I've been riding in the Sanghai streets for a couple of weeks now. Always the same route home-work-home. I haven't tried much else, I feel naked without my GPS. At any rate, an expat friend asked me today (after of course the inevitable "are you insane??") if I have had a "close call" yet.
Everyday, many times a day, I answered.
He had nothing to say back...

I read somewhere on this Forum (can't remember who or what thread) that one should stop expecting other drivers/riders/pedestrians to act rationally and start considering them as mindless drones or cows in a herd, or some words to that effect. The point being that, if you do not expect them to behave rationally, then you will not be surprised by their behaviour. This is supposed to help you 1) expect the unexpectable and 2) not get angry at these poor drones.
I have to admit after my first few days on 2 wheels on the road: truer advice has rarely been given. Spot on!

Stand near a place in Shanghai (or anywhere in China) that sells cigarets, and watch the next guy who buys a pack. He'll tear open the pack, and the plastic wrapping and foil liner will tumble from his fingers to the sidewalk as if there are only laws of nature involved. No thought involved.

It is with precisely this same natural ease that the driver of a truck or bus or car or bike or scooter or bicycle, or pedestrian for that matter, will suddenly turn directly into your path. The thought that there might be a YBR250 hurtling in their general direction with someone's father and husband as pilot simply does not occur to them. The thought does not occur, yet the act of turning into your path does -- with harrowing regularity. Plan for it, always.

TIC. Getting angry won't change it.

cheers!

Dipstick,
Euphonious,
Indeed! What more is there to say? :lol8:
I'm going to try and imagine that they are a herd of cows and see if that helps with some of my disappointment/ anger.

Euphonious,
I imagine that guy dropping his ciggy box wrappings all over the floor and it infuriates me :gaah: even though, ultimately, these feelings are pointless and my burden to bare. I think the thing that gets to me is the fact that they all have the ability to learn... but they've failed/ chosen not to do so...

...but there's naught I can do about it and it's not my problem :rolleyes1: so I can finally relax.

Let's not turn this thread into a psych evaluation. What's important is that we can blend in without getting hurt or picking up any bad habits.

Yeah Dipstick, I read that thread too and it's helped me quite a lot with maintaining a rational state while driving. I don't know that it's got a name but I consider it the "rolling rock mantra" in which all vehicles are considered inanimate rocks which are simply rolling around without any consideration to their course or safety. Once you get comfortable with this idea, it seems silly to be irritated and distracted by crazy drivers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by euphonius

Stand near a place in Shanghai (or anywhere in China) that sells cigarets, and watch the next guy who buys a pack. He'll tear open the pack, and the plastic wrapping and foil liner will tumble from his fingers to the sidewalk as if there are only laws of nature involved. No thought involved.

It is with precisely this same natural ease that the driver of a truck or bus or car or bike or scooter or bicycle, or pedestrian for that matter, will suddenly turn directly into your path. The thought that there might be a YBR250 hurtling in their general direction with someone's father and husband as pilot simply does not occur to them. The thought does not occur, yet the act of turning into your path does -- with harrowing regularity. Plan for it, always.

TIC. Getting angry won't change it.

cheers!

---

i always throw my rubbish in those handy little rubbish baskets fitted to the front of all the bicycles

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zhu

i always throw my rubbish in those handy little rubbish baskets fitted to the front of all the bicycles

---

Now that's a thought...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Maux

Yeah Dipstick, I read that thread too and it's helped me quite a lot with maintaining a rational state while driving. I don't know that it's got a name but I consider it the "rolling rock mantra" in which all vehicles are considered inanimate rocks which are simply rolling around without any consideration to their course or safety. Once you get comfortable with this idea, it seems silly to be irritated and distracted by crazy drivers.

---

That will work for me while I'm on the road, however, when I'm eating in a restaurant and I overhear one of those rocks boasting that he's 'a very good driver' I will definitely feel a little frustrated.