Fujian for beer

So Felix mentioned something about hitting Fuzhou, and then something about the possibility of beer there, so I figured what the hell, let's give it a go. Four days of riding and roughly 2500 kilometers took me over the following route.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_035.jpg

Many months since the Wee Strom had seen action, I was so happy to be back on the road with her.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_001.jpg

I've never seen traffic as bad as what I experienced in the first few hours of the ride. Multiple traffic jams, accidents and thousands of vehicles stuck and going nowhere. Sometimes I could see the toll highways as they passed overhead and even they were at a complete standstill. Something terrible is happening to the roads here in China, and I live in fear of having to drive anywhere in my car as traffic has reached a crisis level.

It took me a few hours to get back in the groove of China riding, but I soon returned to the flow of dodging obstacles and incessantly honking my horn. Finally I made it into the countryside, and stopped for a little break. Seems like the countryside has gotten so much further away than it used to be.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_002.jpg

Tried to make the trip mostly X and S roads, and enjoyed a nice mix of sweepers and twisty's as I made my way north out of Guangdong.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_003.jpg

I spied a group of large bikes and decided to join in. We eventually stopped for a chat and they invited me to tag along. I'm not a big fan of riding in large groups, but it was late in the day, and I figured it would be fun to hang out for the evening.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_004.jpg

We made it up to the town of XiaYang, just over the Guangdong/Fujian border. All of my new found friends were local "Guangdongren" so they quickly located nice accommodations and delicious food.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_005.jpg

And plenty of ice cold beer! :goodtime: Splendid group of people and a fun time was had sharing tales, as all bikers do. Thanks for the great dinner guys.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_006.jpg

It had been a long day for everyone, so we were off to bed fairly early. I went back to my humble abode to swim some laps in the ridiculously huge bathtub. It's quite amazing what a couple hundred Yuan gets you for a night :thumbsup:

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_007.jpg

The next morning was sunny and warm. (note to Sabine... I don't think it ever got bellow 20ºC all four days.) Felix and I had agreed on meeting in JianOu, so I was up early and rolling by 7:00.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_008.jpg

I decided to stick to my plan of S and X roads which started out well enough as I passed through the rural countryside. This was a nice little sugar cane farm that I stopped at for a peek.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_009.jpg

Fujian is quite mountainous and I was pretty much going up or down all the time.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_010.jpg

Then the roads got bad, and I mean really bad. Lots of construction and mud with plenty of obstacles to keep things interesting.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_011.jpg

I passed this cool little covered bridge, something I'd never seen before on previous journeys.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_012.jpg

The scenery was good, but the roads were really taking their toll on me. I figured I had plenty of time to get to JianOu, but at this point, I was struggling to make 30-40 kilometers in an hour.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_013.jpg

Stop for a rest.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_014.jpg

Finally reached JianOu and was happy to find Felix and his friend DaoFei had only been waiting about 10 minutes. We found lodging for the night and then hit the town for some beers and boasting.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_015.jpg

JianOu is a river town, and lots of local people enjoy eating crayfish. I'm not a fish fan, and I had also seen the condition of the river, so decided to pass on the local delicacy.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_017.jpg

None the less, we manage a big feast with plenty of cold brews and lots of good conversation.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_016.jpg

That was the trip up, try to get the return journey posted soon.

Cheers!
ChinaV

Goodness, you guys over there certainly have fun! I wish I was young again. You are probably in China at the best time when still ancient and traditional rubbing shoulders with the modern. And bang for the buck so to speak. Sounds like gridlock and peak oil are about to coincide, could get really nasty. But of course with that number plate you will be fine! I'd get a gun as well though, people get hungry in three day, hundred kilometer road jams and fat (relatively) foreigners will be first on the spit. Probably tastier than polluted prawns too.

I am a bit jealous of the Wee Strom. Noticed the license plates in the front and back symbolize your attention to the details of Chinese culture in more ways than one! Enjoy the trip!

The number plate thing is just a photoshop trick. If you go back through all the various ride reports I've done on my V-Strom, you will see that the number changes in almost every picture. Just one of those little things I do because...well...I'm weird like that. :crazy:

Cheers!
ChinaV

I found it hilarious to see the reference to good luck numbers, especially number 8. I also thought maybe you had maybe found a circular route to registering a Wee Strom.:bowdown:

Nice Ride!

too bad I couldn't hook up with you guys. We missed each other for just one day. I arrived in Fuzhou on Monday. Looks like you passed through Yongtai Valley south of Fuzhou? Pretty nice area... That's where I had my "frog experience" recently... Nice pictures - looking forward to see the return ride.

Cheers,
AW.

PS: Gonna be at HWB2 in Dongguan tonight.... Wanna come? :goodtime:

We were up early (some earlier than others..cough..cough), and after a couple bits of bike tweaking, took off towards Fuzhou. I wasn't planning on hitting the coast, so I told Felix I would probably head back towards Guangdong around MinQing. We headed south on S303 and hit a little rain and gravel in the mountains, but overall, not a bad road.

Felix winding it up in the corners.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_018.jpg

Followed by Dao Fei. Dao Fei's bike is completely custom, and he's done an amazing job of picking components from several different kinds of bikes. It's a nice blend of trick little gadgets and common sense upgrades that are a huge improvement on what you see from most of the factories here. They should hire this guy, they could learn a lot from a passionate rider like him.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_019.jpg

The rice is ready for harvest and everything has a beautiful yellow glow.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_020.jpg

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_021.jpg

We stopped in GuTian for a quick breakfast.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_022.jpg

A traditional breakfast of eggs, pancakes and sausage…er…dumplings I mean.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_023.jpg

Followed by more nice scenery.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_024.jpg

This is the MinQing Hydro power station on the MinJiang river. I stopped to grab a photo and wait for the boys to wish them well on their journey. They didn't notice me as they whipped past and that was the last I saw of them. They headed towards the coast as I continued south.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_025.jpg

Which started out pretty well. I had learned from the previous days to avoid the X roads in Fujian and stick to the S roads. They don't have the tight twisty's, but at least they would most likely be in decent condition.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_026.jpg

Or so I thought. This is when everything went to shit. So I'm coming through one of those little towns where everyone with a sense of entrepreneurship has set up some kind of roadside business, effectively cutting traffic down to a lane and a half. There's a bus in front of me that's stopped for no apparent reason, so I move left to go around. Just as I start to pass, a passengers head comes out of the bus window spewing barf in all directions. It's unavoidable, and she manages to cover a good portion of the bike and my helmet. Naturally, my face shield was open due to the traffic jam, so I got a good face full. Yuck, it was almost making me puke. I stop a couple hundred meters up the road and try to de-puke my bike and riding gear. I seriously debate throwing my helmet away as the smell was just revolting. Just a little after the puke incident, the road turns into a construction project gone wrong and my mood is not getting better.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_030.jpg

I asked people about the construction and they said it was only about 20 kilometers, they were wrong, as you can see the sign in the picture bellow mentions something about Kilometer 255 through Kilometer 344 being a mess. I never saw this sign, as I came from the north, and I guess they forgot to put one up there. These 4 people riding a 125 didn't seem to mind and gave big smiles as they passed.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_028.jpg

Shortly after this picture, the adventure really began. As I reached another spot of congestion, I slowed down to figure out the best attack for a deep mud hole. I decided to go right to avoid the water and as I made my way through, some idiot on a scooter comes up the middle, bounces off a rock, and whacks my front wheel. I'm in shallow mud with no stopping power going 5 km/h at most. The hit is just enough to send me off course and I start going down. The natural reaction when you fall is to put your arms out, and as I'm falling, my hands don't hit ground, but rather, pass through some loose vegetation and bamboo. I realize I'm falling into a ditch. A very deep ditch, but I never made it to the bottom. The bike has pinned my foot and now I'm hanging upside down trapped by my motorcycle. Not good, as this is China, and it's fairly normal for people to avoid those in need, less they get blamed. I struggle to get upright, but there's just no possible way I can get up or pull my foot out of my boot. After three monumental efforts, I'm getting dizzy and start yelling out for some help. A few minutes later, I finally feel the pressure on my foot subsiding as someone pulls the bike up and I go crashing down on my head into what is basically a garbage ditch. Oh well, it's nice to be free again and I thank my new found friend for helping me. He's reluctant to shake my hand as I smelled like puke and trash at that point. I finally manage to get on my way again.

It was getting a bit late, probably around 5:00 or so, which meant I only had another hour of light. I had managed 35 kilometers in the last hour and a half, and I still had more than 50 to go before I would intersect another major road. Never ride at night, never ride at night, was starting to creep into my head as I lumbered on. I looked at the GPS and came to the grim realization that I was going to be riding through this crap in the dark. Another hour passed and another 25 kilometers covered. I could see my headlight beam now and the sky was starting to go black. The traffic had decreased to the occasional motorcycle or small tractor and I noticed the road was getting very narrow. I looked up ahead and saw there was no road. Just a huge mound of dirt and a tiny trail to the left that looked barely passable on foot. I walked it over a couple times, removed the hard luggage and squeezed through. Again I came to a another mound and barely managed to get through after removing the luggage, this was getting exhausting.

About this time I started to come full circle on the Kübler-Ross model. Those are the five stages motorcyclists usually go through when dealing with a crappy ride.

Denial - This road can't possible be under construction for 90 kilometers.
Anger - How can a road possibly be under construction for 90 kilometers.
Bargaining - If I can just get to an intersection, I will gladly go anywhere else.
Depression - This sucks, why did I ever take this route.
Acceptance - It's not so bad, at least my bike is running fine and I'm not hanging upside down covered in puke.

I stopped for a few minutes and sat there in the pitch black and silence. I finally started moving again and as I rounded the next corner, realized I was at the summit of the mountain. I could see lights and a city off in the distance, and a huge feeling of relief washed over me. I slowly plodded along down the mountain feeling like there just may be a chance I would get off that stupid road. Another 15 or 20 minutes passed and I reached a couple vehicles that were stuck. There was another impassable mound and I wondered (A) how the hell did they get there and (B) how many days had they been stuck in that spot. I was in no mood for conversation and quickly pulled the luggage and managed to wiggle through. I imagine those people are still sitting in that spot.

That was the final obstacle. A few kilometers later my headlights struck concrete and I realized I was finally on a regular road again. Hallelujah! Onward into the town ZhangPing, where I stopped at a hotel, and then another, and then another and jeez... will this day never end. At last I found a room at a dirty little Bingguan and called Felix. How was your day?.... Mine was pure hell. We chatted for a bit and then I headed into the shower with all my riding gear on. The stream of filth was astounding and a half hour later I finally felt human again. I bought a couple beers and pulled a granola bar from my bag for dinner.

What a day. :eek2:

Here's the section that kicked my ass. It's S203 between XiangHu and ZhangPing. Give it some time and I'm sure it will be a lovely ride when the road is completed.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_036.jpg

The next morning I woke up feeling a bit sore and abused. I decided I wasn't going to take any chances and would hit the very first G Road (national highway) that I could find and head straight to Guangdong. Started out with some lovely coal country.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_032.jpg

And a few kilometers of torn up roads from the coal trucks.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_029.jpg

But finally I hit some decent high speed sweepers on G205 and just let it rip. It was so nice to be cornering again.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_027.jpg

Many hours later I was back in familiar territory and enjoying the serenity of northern Guangdong.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_031.jpg

Home at last! Time for a bath and some TLC for my Wee. I love this bike, seems like she always comes home looking like this, but still goes back out for more time after time.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_033.jpg

Trip Log:
Day 1 523km Time 08:32 Average Speed 71.37 km/h
Day 2 597km Time 10:17 Average Speed 67.42 km/h
Day 3 493km Time 13:17 Average Speed 48.23 km/h
Day 4 838km Time 11:00 Average Speed 82.72 km/h
Total 2451K

Cheers!
ChinaV

Your bike looks better after this ride than mine does after a 300KM day on a very boring island. You must be a very good rider to keep things running after the ditch crash. The puke incident is priceless, only in China! Let me know if you are ever near Nanjing, no one ever comes here but if you do, you have a place to stay.

ChinaV,

Awesome ride report, as ever, and you may want to borrow one of those superhero outfits from Sabine's crew. Much appreciate your candor and humor as well. I don't think just everyone who got puked on while overtaking a bus would necessarily include that bit of flora and fauna in their reports.

As for your tumble, wow -- the perils of soloing in China! I had a very similar getoff on the G104 in Jiangsu, trying to tiptoe down a very narrow singletrack with a big dropoff on my right. I came out alright, but shudder to think how much worse it could have been if there were not a tree just right there to catch me and the bike as gravity had her way with me. Hope the foot wasn't too badly bruised.

Fantastic only-in-China ride and glad you survived to tell the wonderful tale. Puked on while overtaking a bus!! OMG.

cheers!

WOW!!!

you have warned me before about that second part by phone - but I have never expected this:

- Road construction and difficulties - well adventure, at one point you'll get the hang of it...
- Being puked on from a bus - HELL!!!
- Hanging upside down, remote place in China - NIGHTMARE (at least you can call for help in Chinese...)

Great adventure, beautiful report. I especially like this picture below:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChinaV

...

Many hours later I was back in familiar territory and enjoying the serenity of northern Guangdong.

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_031.jpg
...

---

Thanks for all... I truly enjoyed this RR.
Cheers,
AW.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChinaV

... This is when everything went to shit ... There's a bus in front of me ... so I move left to go around. Just as I start to pass, a passengers head comes out of the bus window spewing barf in all directions. It's unavoidable, and she manages to cover a good portion of the bike and my helmet. Naturally, my face shield was open due to the traffic jam, so I got a good face full.

---

:puke::scooter:

This absolutely has to be the worst road hazard I have ever heard of. Definitely nominated for the 2010 TIC-RR awards.

If only you had your helmet cam turned on?? Errr, maybe not, I like my keyboard vomit-free.

Perhaps the bus-girl ate the crayfish?

Lovely stuff as always ChinaV!

Was great to meet in fujian. You never told me on the phone that you went through all that hell whilst covered in another human's PUKE! That is just hilarious.

I'll get my side of the story up here in a few days!

More first class photos and reporting from the V man! I don't friggin believe you got puked on from a bus passenger... I wonder if they knew, or even felt bad about what they did?

If nothing, the place teaches you patience and tolerance!

CC

this pic is AMAZING! I love it! although IMO it would look better without the fake vignette..

Felix told me about your trip when i was in Shanghai, but reading it first-hand was definitely much better! i'm glad you made it back safe and sound though!

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_031.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ekkicore

this pic is AMAZING! I love it! although IMO it would look better without the fake vignette..

Felix told me about your trip when i was in Shanghai, but reading it first-hand was definitely much better! i'm glad you made it back safe and sound though!

---

Glad you enjoyed it, looking forward to your trips and photos when you get a bike :mwink:.

Low grade photographer here, but sometime in 1992 I started using photoshop and at times get carried away :icon10:. Vignettes seem all the rage these days on the Chinese photo sites. :puke: Rule of thumb for poor photographers... shoot often and learn photoshop, most people will never know the difference. I've travelled with good photographers like CrazyCarl, Supersignet, Franki and Felix and you can see that some people just have the eye. You obviosly have it, as I've seen your work on Flickr.

Cheers!
ChinaV

thats true, but then lomo is quite a big hit with chinese photographers / hipsters as well and those cameras will give vignettes.
if you added a film-grain texture to digital photos as well as the vignette, it would be hard to tell the difference.. :mwink:

i really can't wait to get my bike.. heart is most definitely set on the qingqi! if they don't release it soon i might have to go down and steal yours! :dirtbike:

thanks for taking a look at my photostream by the way, i'm flattered :)

"Shortly after this picture, the adventure really began." Understatement of the year. After being barfed on the adventure really begins???
Great RR.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChinaV

http://www.contactdi.com/Processed/nd_015.jpg

---

Impressive. All that rurality everywhere and then suddenly that kind of very, eh, lost the word now. Darn!

Anyway, thanks of the interesting and inspiring report and pics.

that is awesome thanks for sharing, My last trip to China in Nov 2010 I was only there for 2 days and had to head back to Hong Kong the remainder of my visit i loved the Tsingtao beer in the warmer days and my Guinness at night. didnt have a chance to ride out there but i hope for my next trip I will

Thank you again

I now I really think Gardo is a mole.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MJH

I now I really think Gardo is a mole.....

---

Hey man I was brought up on Shaw Brother's movies and Bruce Lee, I learned to eat with chop sticks by the time I was 3... wait maybe i am a mole

This was such a great ride report. I really enjoyed reading it.

Got a couple questions, though. How did you get the maps looking so fancy? And also, if I make it to your neck of the woods, would you introduce me to Dao Fei, because that dude seems awesome.

Thanks a ton!

Hi Hans,

Daofei lives in Suzhou, not guangdong. On that trip he rode with me from suzhou down to fujian. It's a bit confusing as there are two ride reports that connect in the middle! Here's the ride that daofei and i did to go meet chinaV:

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ll=1#post17463

And yes, that dude is cool!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GRF_Hans

This was such a great ride report. I really enjoyed reading it.

Got a couple questions, though. How did you get the maps looking so fancy? And also, if I make it to your neck of the woods, would you introduce me to Dao Fei, because that dude seems awesome.

---

Glad you enjoyed the ride report Hans.

Fancy maps are a combination of GPS tracker, Google Earth, Google Maps and Adobe Photoshop... mixed with a bit of time.

Cheers!
ChinaV

Nice! I really like the multicolor day-by-day thing you got going on. Just downloaded google earth and have been trying to get everything going, but it's a bit rough on the Cambodian internet. Oh well.

Thanks, though.