Weekend ride to Suzhou and Taihu

Having just got my driving license back, the only way i was going to spend my weekend was on my bike. It's still pretty cold up here so it wasn't going to be 500km a day, but an easy ride to taihu seemed perfect. I also picked up a riding buddy at friday night's bike meet, Wrangler decided he was up for some out of town biking too!

Getting out of shanghai by the back roads is no fun, but i don't have plates and therefore no choice either. We took a breather at dianshan lake, which is on the border between shanghai and jiangsu.

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Some lanzhou lamian just before we hit taihu...

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And then on our way to the dongshan peninsula. The road has been repaved since the last time i went, it’s now beautiful black top that winds its way between the lake and the mountain. So good to be back on a bike!

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I really to fix my sidestand.

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After getting our fix (and a nice scenic shit) we head back to Suzhou to go catch up with some old beers. The next day it’s off to Mr. Wang’s shop to go pick up my CJ750. Though it’s a CJ building shop, Mr. Wang’s is always full of lots of exotic bikes that I can only dream of one day licking.

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I leave the XTR at the shop, I’ll have to go back for it next week. I dearly missed my CJ!

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For the ride back to shanghai we take lots more little countryside back roads. The quick way is just a never ending river of factories and trucks, to be avoided at all costs. The route I’d planned takes us through the ancient water town of Zhouzhuang, what I’d forgotten is that it can only be done on two wheels. We tried to lift the fucker on its side to wheel it through but it was still too big and all I accomplished was to put a big scratch on my tank.

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The detour was enjoyable too, more tree-lined country roads. These roads do always come with their share of idiots who overtake on blind bridges however. On the way I stop to siphon some petrol into my spare can and stock up on as much as I can before we enter the city and they refuse to sell me some. This also gives us a chance to locate and extract a big piece of china out of Wrangler’s front tire and get that patched up!

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We also have a few videos from wrangler's headcam. Very nice setup!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DwRsWvc_ts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YFz4t1C_94

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRtIcQCDQQY


That's all folks, thanks for reading!

Riding with Felix was a pleasure. He's knowledgeable and gracious. Despite him riding a bit fast (ok, I mean I was riding slow), he would wait up for me and keep checking behind to see if I was there. But I guess they don't have mirrors on dirtbikes. Haha.

We also got to meet some of Felix's buddies. Overall, for such a short trip it was great. It was my first trip out and I loved it. Hope to ride with Felix again or with some of you other guys. It's unbelievable how many memorable events can happen in just a short trip! :thumbsup:

-Wrangler

Boys, I commend your spirit for cranking out some late winter miles.:thumbsup: Being a hater of the cold (and Shanghai), I feel you guys deserve some major applause. :clap:

Wrangler, that was a serious sphincter tightening moment in the last video :eekers:, shit man, must have only been a few millimeters to spare.

Felix, yes, you really do need to fix you sidestand :naughty:

Cheers!
ChinaV

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChinaV

Wrangler, that was a serious sphincter tightening moment in the last video :eekers:, shit man, must have only been a few millimeters to spare.

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Wrangler, I am very glad you were able to spare the old man in a wheelchair! (But who the hell does he think he is driving his rig out there in traffic!)

It goes without saying that your bike and Felix's Galaxy, not to mention your respective experience and skills, were very mismatched for this ride, which to be honest is a recipe for disaster. Looking over your shoulder, I could feel your anxiety, and that's not supposed to be what riding is about. Set your own pace, enjoy the ride, and live to tell the tale!

thanks for sharing!

cheers

ChinaV, after that ride, I commented on Felix's pace. His reply: You think I'm fast? ChinaV rides faster than me! :)

Euphonius, I appreciate your comment and agree. So now you see how I ride and what I ride I hope we can all take a ride together and I can keep up. (Probably not though).

-Wrangler

No need to keep up. I'm a total newb, and will not push myself beyond what I'm okay with. I've ridden with some amazing guys, on amazing bikes -- imagine the best riding club in Northern California -- and I never felt rushed. Someone was always willing to keep me in his mirror, and work with my pace. That's the great joy of a group ride. Riders caring for riders. You yourself noted that Felix never dropped you altogether, and was always there waiting. That's excellent decorum, good riding manners. You needn't ever feel you have to keep up when it's not comfortable. There's a vast difference in maneuverability between your bike and Felix's.

Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the ride.

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wrangler

ChinaV, after that ride, I commented on Felix's pace. His reply: You think I'm fast? ChinaV rides faster than me! :)

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I also crash faster than him :lol8:

I think the last helmet cam shots we have of Felix ended with my bike sliding off a bridge. :eek2:

Cheers!
ChinaV

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

Wrangler, I am very glad you were able to spare the old man in a wheelchair! (But who the hell does he think he is driving his rig out there in traffic!)

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Hey! That was ME in the chair!!!! :wheelchair: It was the only wheels I could get in Shanghai.

You damn young whippersnappers! Scaring us old folks! You're lucky I didn't whack you with my cane!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

Set your own pace, enjoy the ride, and live to tell the tale!

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We come into life, and leave life ... chubby, with no hair, in diapers, and being spoon fed ... the stuff in the middle is, at first, unknown; and thereafter, forgotten.

But I do remember a few things ...

Back in my wild days (early 1970s), one of my first bikes was a 2-stroke Kawasaki 750 triple, aka the "widow-maker". I was a completely insane rider with gallons of testosterone pumping through my body (and perhaps a few illegal substances), and unlike the misfortune of some people I rode with, managed to live to tell the tale. I then upgraded to one of the first superbikes - a Kawasaki Z1-900 - and rode it tip to tip, North / South America, learning "adventure riding" as I went (we used to call it "hippy discovery").

Dozens of bikes later, still alive, and with only Viagra pumping through my veins, I've learned the one truth that Mr Euph espouses ...

"set your own pace & enjoy the ride" and always ride with buddies who keep an eye out for each other. So true, so true, so true! That is really soooooo damn true!

These days, I'm certainly the slowest rider in my group (damn hard to get a wheelchair through the mountains), but I'm always smiling when I get wherever I end up. Yeah, I could probably still blow many riders off the road, but I'd be risking my dentures flying out of my mouth ... and then I wouldn't have such a charming smile!

If you ain't smiling, you ain't riding.

If you're ever in Beijing, we'll go for a nice leisurely ride.

Wow if I would drive like that in The Netherlands as that you would surly die. The cars here dont expect 2 wheelers (only bicycles but we got sepperate lanes for those) Even when I ride the same as the rest of the traffic. Also when you ride 500km in Holland you are in Germany of France :) But such a cool way to spend your weekend, with a nice landscape!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

Hey! That was ME in the chair!!!! :wheelchair: It was the only wheels I could get in Shanghai.snip

but I'd be risking my dentures flying out of my mouth ... and then I wouldn't have such a charming smile!

snipIf you're ever in Beijing, we'll go for a nice leisurely ride.

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be careful youngsters, they say old pansies with no teeth make the BEST of friends ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

These days, I'm certainly the slowest rider in my group (damn hard to get a wheelchair through the mountains), but I'm always smiling when I get wherever I end up. Yeah, I could probably still blow many riders off the road, but I'd be risking my dentures flying out of my mouth ... and then I wouldn't have such a charming smile!

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This image, Lao Jia Hou in the disguise of an old dragon with teeth flying out of its mouth, could be great material for a patch for the older members of MCM.

Cheers.

Nice ride report guys !

Would you care to show the roads you took, on Google maps ? The nice ones of course, around Tiahu lake and Zhouzhuang ? I think they will be my first destinations when I finally pick up my bike. Thanks in advance !

Fred

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fred

Nice ride report guys !

Would you care to show the roads you took, on Google maps ? The nice ones of course, around Tiahu lake and Zhouzhuang ? I think they will be my first destinations when I finally pick up my bike. Thanks in advance !

Fred

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Fred,

To save Felix a bit of trouble, here's a map he posted last year for a very similar ride.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1211/...dddd3fb2_b.jpg

cheers

That was good reactions and skill rather than just luck Wrangler, especially missing that last old bastard! You could guess or predict the traffic a bit, that the vehicles were going to veer or not but apart from a quick glimpse ahead, he just appeared. Good riding.

I spent a few km on the way back today playing (I get many km of empty road with clear vision for hundreds of meters and sometimes don't even see another vehicle), pretending that marks ahead on the road were vehicles or wheelchairs, weaving in and out of potholes at a pre-set distance, practising weaving in and out of the road markings and white lines at different speeds. The upright position and the knobbies on my D/S didn't help much, got the wobble more than I would have liked. I found I would have hit that bloke and probably most of the other vehicles too at those speeds on your video.

Maybe the focused area of vision in the vids makes it seem worse but nonetheless I am impressed. Either that or you are boody stupid, bloody lucky and Felix is just insane. Those conditions would tell me to sit up, throttle down, be twice as alert, and if I can, fang it at high revs past the fukkin lot of em in one go at high speed on the wrong side of the road! I tend to do that on the motorway in the car - when the monkeys play at all that ' in and out, slowly overtake, hang around in the wrong lane, creep up on each others' arse and drive to close' shit, all at ten km over the speed limit, I just hang back then wait for a stretch, fang it up to 180 and clean them all up and get some space form them so I can cool it again. Works out much safer in the end. Partly why I am seriously thinking of getting another bike, a fast one. the Kinlon is just too slow, you need that 'piss off out the way' speed and also manoeuvrability, for safety.

How come so many of those great (new) tarmac roads are relatively empty? Time of day or just little traffic on routes you chose? Or just the towns and cities get busy and insane?

Thanks euphonious, that is almost exactly the route we took indeed. The route back was roughly the same, with a couple of different roads in the countryside.

As for the mismatched speeds, i never saw it as a real problem. I made it clear early on that we could both ride at our own pace and i was happy waiting at lights and intersections. I prefer to ride at my own pace and wait than to drive slower. Most of all i am happier waiting than bringing a friend to hospital.

When weaving through traffic however, even on equal machinery/riding ability, it can be hard to be the one following. When you're in front, you judge the traffic, pick a route and go for it. When you're behind, the gaps that the front guy made it through often disappear and you find yourself stuck or trying to squeeze through really unsafe situations. This is what happened with that wheelchair; i had plenty of space to make it through but by the time wrangler got there he had to squeeze between the car and chair. Man that was close!!! The trick when following a rider through traffic like this is to give yourself a bit of distance and pick your own route through the cars. When you do that the passages and obstacles average out for both riders, you'll find it easier and safer to follow.

Jape, that lovely new road along the lake is empty right now because it's february and nobody wants to spend a weekend freezing their eggs off. Come summer, that road will be gridlocked with shanghai and suzhou cars. It's been getting worst every summer, which i'm not pissed about; other people are allowed to enjoy the lake! Last year though on a warm sunny weekend, it was almost not worth bothering to go as every corner you have to look forward to would have a bunch of cars parked in the middle. I doubt this year will be any better. Luckily for bikers, there's still zhejiang!

Thanks Euphonius for the map and Felix for the remarks about the traffic there, good to know.