Short ride to Taihu Lake

Hey all, after spending so much time reading the ride reports by others, it's finally time I participate too !
Don't set your expectations too high though, I just had the bike a few weeks ago, so nothing spectacular in terms of ride reports, no I didn't ride it all around China and back ! :lol8:

Took a day off yesterday, followed approximately the same itinerary posted by Felix here : http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ll=1#post18033
Thanks Felix !

It was my first whole day ride and everything went perfectly well. This kind of ride is an amazing training for everything China may throw in your way on the road (trucks, dogs, children, bicycles, and even a motorized forklift entering on the Huqingping expressway just in front of me and so fast the guy lost control of it just in front of me....). Riding 500km in China = 5,000km in Europe or USA...

I made it as far as Dongshan (Taihu Lake), they have a brand new road there, perfect asphalt all around the coast, no cars, it was soooo enjoyable to take those turns at speed and leaning the bike quite a bit.
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Saw some strange sights along the way, including this one on Dianshan lake :eekers: :confused1:
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An aircraft carrier, on a lake... yeah, why not... TIC...


Achieved a (small) milestone (check the odometer)
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Totally the trip was maybe around 350km (not sure, I didn't check the meter before, duh..), I'm at 700km total, really time to do the service maintenance which was supposed to be at 500km... :rolleyes1:


Some sights along the way (nothing impressive, just the lake...) :
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From the middle of April, I will have a lot more time on my hand (negotiated a deal with my boss to work 3 days/week), so there will be more trips (2 or 3 days trips) and of course farther away. Zhejiang, here I come ! ;-)

Dear Fred,

Great to see you out there doin' it! But you are too modest not to have framed your bike with the aircraft carrier! (Incidentally, I think the aircraft carrier is made of concrete.)

Be super careful and aware on any new road in China, as they are far more likely to have manholes without covers and other "rough edges" that could prove catastrophic to a bike.

Envy!

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Originally Posted by Fred

Attachment 3598
An aircraft carrier, on a lake... yeah, why not... TIC...

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:lol8::lol8::lol8:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

(Incidentally, I think the aircraft carrier is made of concrete.)

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Euphonius, do you have any info about this carrier ? Why on earth would they bother creating a full size replica in concrete ??
I imagine the secret meeting in the PLA : "we'll build a concrete carrier to fool those damn Yankees and their spy satellites !" and proceeding to build it on a lake.....

Hahaha...

Nice one Fred. Good to see you getting out and about on your new wheels. :riding:

That's an absolute master stroke you pulled at work blagging a 3 day week. :thumbsup:

All being well i should have my license mid to late April so hopefully i can join you on that Zhejiang run. (I can also easily blag time off work :naughty: )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fred

Euphonius, do you have any info about this carrier ? Why on earth would they bother creating a full size replica in concrete ??
I imagine the secret meeting in the PLA : "we'll build a concrete carrier to fool those damn Yankees and their spy satellites !" and proceeding to build it on a lake.....

Hahaha...

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Google helps us out a bit with the replica aircraft carrier but not a lot...

http://www.cnngo.com/sites/default/f...ge/Carrier.JPG

Rofl I could almost say it is used in some propaganda footage and pics :lol8:

Hey Fred,

Awesome ride! Congrats. Did you keep to your break-in requirements? (I didn't =) )

That aircraft carrier replica is part of an amusement park.

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Here's a link: http://www.murdoconline.net/chinese-...80%94-revealed

Cheers,

dan K.

There's a theme park with aircraft carrier in Tianjin as well.

Went to a party on that one 2 years ago. Here you go!

Dan, good luck for the license, I bet it's hard to wait with the sunny days we're having in Shanghai, huh ?

Ed, no I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the break-in requirements I must admit. I'm generally quite kind with "machinery", not over-revving the engine for example. But when I came back to Shanghai from Taihu I averaged on good 85 km/h on a 50km portion of the G318, not sure it was very good for the engine during the break-in... ;-))

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Originally Posted by Barry

There's a theme park with aircraft carrier in Tianjin as well.

Went to a party on that one 2 years ago. Here you go!

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Yup, That's the ex-soviet "heavy aircraft carrying cruiser" Kiev. What's more interesting is the current retrofit of the ex-Ukrainian carrier (Never commissioned) Varyag. She was originally sold to a Macau invester about 10 years ago with the stipulation she'd never sail as a military vessel again. Was supposed to be turned into a casino/hotel. However, she's nearing the completion of a retrofit and will serve as China's first active aircraft carrier. Her purpose is to train China's future carrier pilots. There's a complete write-up on Wiki.

Sorry, I won't hijack the thread anymore. . . :rolleyes1:

Cheers,

Dan K.

Nice one Fred, good to see you getting out there. That new road on dongshan is lovely, Wrangler and i had the chance to ride it last february too.

You are one jammy fucker to have blagged your way into a 3 day week! Seriously, that's just class.

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Originally Posted by felix

You are one jammy fucker to have blagged your way into a 3 day week! Seriously, that's just class.

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Short story : I've worked for 7 years for the same company in Shanghai. Last year was no fun AT ALL as I had to cope with the sick leave and maternity leave of the Managers I have under my supervision. Result : I had to manage all the daily work of the staff of those departments, leaving me no time to do what I really like (and what is in my job description) : making improvements, developing new systems, working on new projects. I've had enough of this, really really enough. So to avoid a meltdown I asked my boss to work only 3 days/week, completely removed form the daily management and daily stupid issues and to focus only on improvement projects during my working time. I'm lucky enough that he accepted right away, so that's that.

Best idea I had in a long long time I can tell you. All my friends are quite jealous.... ;-))

I'm delighted for you sir, sounds like a much better deal indeed! Enjoy the riding!