2011 Easter Ride

Hi friends,

time to take the JH600 out for a ride around Fujian. My wife and me could take 4 days off and we plan to pay a visit to the famous Wuyishan area. As usual we take our time and try to avoid big roads - X-type of roads preferred.
This time I report "life" so the pictures will be smaller due to uploading speed on the road.

Here a rough map of our 300km trip today:

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We left my factory this morning and had a nice farewell committee. It was raining a bit so we put on the rain gear. Somebody even distributed white napkins... are they really sad that I'm leaving?

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We are passing most of Fuzhou city on the north on familiar roads. For some traffic members, roads were obviously not too much known...

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After Fuzhou we got on a stretch of roadwork and traffic. Not worth to take pictures. The bike and gear quickly got an appropriate road look:

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Following the Mingjiang River west, the scenery got nice and soon it was lunch time already. Thanks to our almost non-existant Chinese language skill, we ordered somehow a bit too much...

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The restaurant staff gathering around the bike - and later us - curious people in China...

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Crossing the river here and heading north on small roads, the landscape and roads just got better. Pictures sometimes say more than words even tough weather conditions does not clearest images.

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Coffee break at a bridge. Weather dried up... Look, we got some chocolate!

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Ah, I havent published the latest modification yet - so here a preview. It's not finished yet. Someone recognizes where I got the part from? Had to do a bit of welding too and the whole thing is just a test so far. All I can say, it feels great:riding: !

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Rain-gear off, and ride on. Another "minor" incident on the way...

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Another small crowd tries to "communicate" with us on another break:

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A slightly over-loaded truck. Try to find the drivers seat...???

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Here it is:

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We hit some gravel road...altitude was above 1000m at that pass.

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At 1200m we were in the clouds.

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Tea plantations everywhere and sweet smell in the air.

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It was getting late - and dark. We had to rush to the next town of Jian Ou, another 50 km. Nonstop, no pictures taken on that leg. We found a nice hotel and the guard asked us to park the bike right in front of the entrance - nice!

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Ordering dinner was fairly easy this time - look at that large illustrated menu:

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I have spent now more that 1 hour here... time to sleep. More tomorrow.

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Cheers,
AW.

AW,
Love your RR and photos. Please keep them coming.
What are those tree trunks on the slightly overloaded truck?

Thanks AW, you two certainly are not going to lose weight on that trip! Thank you, as always, very interesting.

Great report AW, thanks! Lots of smiles in those pics, so it must be great times! I'm envious of all the green - we're just starting to see leaves up north. The tea plantations look very interesting - is there really much of a smell from them? Does it smell like tea?

And the common sight of "trucks off the road." Tow trucks & lifting cranes must do a booming business in China.

Hi barone,

those are bamboo... big business in this mountain areas.

Richard, we must have hit the right timing - the smell is from Jasmine tea plants, forgot to mention, everything is blooming around here. Just nice. Hope the weather clears up a bit more.

AW.

That is an awesome RR, thanks for posting. Fujian is one of my favorite provinces for riding with all the hills and friendly people. In past I've done zillions of trips in the countryside there on a bicycle, maybe it's time I also tried it on a motorcycle

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pfaelzer

Ah, I havent published the latest modification yet - so here a preview. It's not finished yet. Someone recognizes where I got the part from? Had to do a bit of welding too and the whole thing is just a test so far. All I can say, it feels great:riding: !

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2..._t5942DR-L.jpg

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I think that's a Galaxy footpeg? :mwink:

Awesome report and lots of great pictures, looking forward to the rest. :clap:

Cheers!
ChinaV

Great RR.
I found the following picture very interesting:

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They don't bother clearning up the board before pasting over with new ones, do they. There were obviously some weddings, a picture of chairman Mao as "bright red sun" for protection, and last but not least, "May God be with us" (以马内利) for future insurance with our Christian God. You probably missed the last one, those 4 Chinese characters are to be read from right to left, if you can read Chinese at all, unlike other posters.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!

Thanks for the write-up Pfaelzer! I'm almost sure i took the same road last october with ChinaV and Daofei, but we were going the other way from jianou to fuzhou. Looks like we had the same weather too!

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Those footpegs are definitely off an XTR. I know them well, they put a giant hole hole through my cheapo boots after 2 weeks of riding last year.

Hi Felix and ChinaV,

seems we really took the same road...we should call it "foggy Peak Road". Yepp, Galaxy foot-pegs - putting holes into soles? I hope not in you new boots Felix...
AW.

OK, 2nd day on the road.

The sun came out, a good night sleep, next destination: WuyiShan. Following up the river north - 88km. Our plan was to explore the area there so we took the main road, which was busy at times, industry but also nice towns.

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Getting near Wuyishan, the landscape becomes again nice with tea plantations and mountains. The city has basically two areas. The main city and the "scenic are", where most of the tourist hotels are located and from where it is quick to reach all "scenic spots, which are located in the west of the town.

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We discovered on the way, that we lost the cap of the rea-break fluid container. Luckily, the rubber inside was still there and we had not lot all the oil so the break system didn;t draw air in. A quick fix had to do it until the next repair shop.

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There are several really busy tourist spots, but being independent on a big with a GPS it is not hard to find very nice little country roads.

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We found the repair-shop and I went through their trash in search of a fitting cap-replacement.

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Didn't take long to find one, which was almost perfect.

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Done.

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Of course we gathered the usual crowd and I showed them how to fill up the container, using a paper funnel. The shop-owner sold me his last bottle (1 liter!!!) of break-fluid for "san-she wu quai". I know what I will do back in my work-shop, but for now this has to do it.

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" I WANNA BE A BIKER DADDY!!!"

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We decided to make another loop into the mountains before looking for a place to stay. Word was out, that most hotels were booked and were over-charging due to many visitors. Let's see - first some more scenery...

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Modern stone carving. I guess with the electric grinder it takes this guy far less time for some rock-lyrics than in ancient times.

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We saw a nice pagoda with a little dirt road leading to it. Turned out that this one wasn't finished BUT - at this time it was totally for our own - nobody around so we climbed up. Great views...

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Guess I will not get this view of my bike easily again.

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What a day again - only flying might be nicer but somehow it just doesn't work. Maybe the guy is too heavy and how the f... does this thing fire up?

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Some more scenery.

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time for lunch, even a bit late. Nice road-side restaurant with "outdoor dining area". As usual the crowd with the usual questions: Where do you come from? Where does this bike come from? How much is the bike? How many "shi-shi"? Good chance also, to go online and find a hotel. Why not using technology, when it is available?

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We found a nice hotel (4-star, and really not that cheap - but clean). Dropped our bags and went on for another loop...

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It was getting dark, but we just enjoyed too much riding those small country roads between mountains and tea plantations, passing by small tea-villages.

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Buying water and snacks...we suddenly realized, that we were still 50 km away from the hotel - OK - time to set the GPS to end the day.

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40 km on small concrete roads up and down some hills in the darkness. Fun ride, no traffic at all but the show was over. Arrived at the hotel late - too tired to go out this night.

Back tomorrow with more. Hope you like the pix.

Cheers,
A+A.

Another awesome report, Pfaelzer, and I'm sure I'm not the only one awaiting Sunday's episode!

So I see you are filing via Macbook Air. I can't imagine there's wifi in those little restaurants. Are you getting online via GPRS? Bluetooth tether to your mobile phone? Or a separate GPRS USB modem? Whatever you are using, it's effective!

I'll be interested to hear your final verdict on hitting such an "officially designated scenic area" during a high-season weekend. I guess on the one hand it's nice to have friendly people around to help with repairs and logistics, but on the other it must be vexing to have to dodge those fleets of tourists dutifully following their flag-waving tour guides and snapping "I was here" pix at every turn...

Ride safely!

Thanks of the very good report and pics.

Friends, what a day!!!

First of all, it is late again and we are tired. I will summarize the events of today and edit some more after the trip. Gotta get some sleep, soon you will understand why.

Here the story:
Started from Wuyishan and it was warm and sunny right away. North/east of of town... all I can say is X825 and X 824 - unbelievable country road. Fresh concrete over all sections and very remote places. We had a blast..and a quick electric fix. Check our lunch time pictures - basic food but perfect "ambiente"...
Hit the G205 north, fast and smooth as silk, good for some different kind of fun :riding: , hence no pix of this section.
Then Mount Jiang Lang! Never seen something like this. There is a tiny road up to the base of the mountain and we took it. There was a toll-booth but people were sitting inside. I didn't really want to stop, just to hear maybe, that motorcycles are not allowed up there so we just went through - unharmed! Guess it's early in the season... it was worth it and I actually wanted to ride one more time up and down - if not time was already tight.
We now started to make our way back south/east, more beautiful mountain roads and very remote. Took a wrong turn but continued but continued just to find out after 8km that it was a dead-end. We didn't regret it though. That road was not on my GPS.
Took the "right road" and then, coincidently it got dark again - the day is already over? We started to question the GPS for the next hotel - surprise! 40km back OR 120km in our direction.
Back we went to Jiangshan. Since we gotta be back in Fuzhou tomorrow, this location is not exactly good. The GPS says: 480km tomorrow - probably without X-roads. That's the price - but never know. I'll hook up some pictures now and say good night.

A+A.

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Ah, can't decide. Took 280 pictures today so you got more now than planned. Stay tuned and good night again.
AW.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

Another awesome report, Pfaelzer, and I'm sure I'm not the only one awaiting Sunday's episode!

So I see you are filing via Macbook Air. I can't imagine there's wifi in those little restaurants. Are you getting online via GPRS? Bluetooth tether to your mobile phone? Or a separate GPRS USB modem? Whatever you are using, it's effective!

I'll be interested to hear your final verdict on hitting such an "officially designated scenic area" during a high-season weekend. I guess on the one hand it's nice to have friendly people around to help with repairs and logistics, but on the other it must be vexing to have to dodge those fleets of tourists dutifully following their flag-waving tour guides and snapping "I was here" pix at every turn...

Ride safely!

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Thanks euphonius.

I am actually using a Unicom WCDMA modem at 80RMB/month. Not bad. It delivers even skype video in decent quality. Besides that, some of the hotels in bigger towns do have internet access in the rooms.

I agree, for us it is not too nice, when things are getting crowded during high season, but TIC and the people in this country seem not to be too sensitive about it. Sometimes I think they even like when it is crowded. For us, we expected it to be more busy and it it would have been too much, well, we have bikes, we know how to escape.... It seems we were really lucky at Wuyishan for being there early in the year. There were toll booths at some places, but people didn't seem to bother. They cashed in on cars at some places.

Hope all is good with you Jeff,
greetings,
AW.

Oh man that all looks like so much fun. It's been too long since my last big ride, i cannot wait to get back out there!

We need to ride together someday.

Ps: love the picture of you guys reflected in the fish-eye mirror, very clever!

Thanks of the great report and WTF, do they hand made tarmac in China.

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TIC :lol8:

Hi,

we arrived back today safely in Lianjiang, Fuzhou and had some fun again. 480km from Jiangshan (Zhejiang) in 11 hours including short breaks. Like yesterday, we are too tired to post now. You have to wait a little for the final report of this trip. For now we need some sleep.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220955-L.jpg

Thanks for joining.
Cheers,

A+A.

Wow - this is a really great ride report - thanks!

You're really getting out and exploring some interesting spots.

I am soooo envious of all that green down South. You southerners are so lucky. Maybe a few more weeks and we'll see the same up North (today, in Beijing, we had "mud rain" ... rain during a sand storm).

I was happy to see your temporary fix of the missing cap ... once again, duct tape to the rescue! And it was good that the inner cap didn't fly off and let air in.

You've got some great pic-taking ability there! Some very creative & interesting shots. I especially liked the shots of the straw (or thin sticks) that is tied together by green ribbon - what are those used for?

Again, thanks for sharing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pfaelzer

Hi,

we arrived back today safely in Lianjiang, Fuzhou and had some fun again. 480km from Jiangshan (Zhejiang) in 11 hours including short breaks. Like yesterday, we are too tired to post now. You have to wait a little for the final report of this trip. For now we need some sleep.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220955-L.jpg

Thanks for joining.
Cheers,

A+A.

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Lol this is the best pic :lol8:

Waiting for the final part of the report.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by moilami

Thanks of the great report and WTF, do they hand made tarmac in China.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220489-L.jpg

TIC :lol8:

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Hi moilami,

they are boiling tar here with wood-fire to fill it into the gaps of the concrete road, using those kettles...

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220490-L.jpg

I have seen other places, where they really are cooking tarmac for road-building for example in Bhutan - unbelievable hard work...

Cheers,
AW.

Hi,

I am back at work again but before things are getting too busy, here the story of the last day of our trip.

As you may have seen, we got quite far up north, crossing the provincial border into Zhejiang after loosing our direction a bit on day 3. We tried to start earlier and managed to leave the hotel at 8am.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220729-L.jpg

We have programmed the GPS for the fastest way south, avoiding highways of course. Clearly the GPS does not "know" of any road conditions... you will see later. On the way to the G205 nice scenery again. A bit scary that we had to do 480km on this day.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220735-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220736-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220737-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220739-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...opie%202-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220742-L.jpg


The G205 in the area close to the Fujian border is really nice and fast. Black tarmac, smooth bends makes the going fun and fast.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220743-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220744-L.jpg


Sunshine and a nice place to take a short rest.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220745-L.jpg


Crossing into Fujian we turned on the S302 (!!! - wait...). Tarmac turned into a concrete road, nice and wide and very little traffic.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220751-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220753-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220757-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220760-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220761-L.jpg


The road became a bit more narrow but still good going. "302 - take me home..." John Deutschendorf, was going through our heads, happy, we will not get into the night again on roads like this. Little did we know, until we hit this:

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220762-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220763-L.jpg


OK we thought, just a bit of road-work up the hill in front of us. Nothing to worry about. But we were wrong!

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220765-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220766-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220767-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220771-L.jpg


It went on and on. Lucky we were on a bike, because situations like this happened frequently - no way with a car to get around.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220773-L.jpg


Landscape was fantastic and once this road is finished, it will be the dream-road to ride smooth through the Fujian province from north to south. But right now, be aware and bring a Enduro bike and not a cruiser.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220785-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220790-L.jpg

...to be continued.

Thanks for taking the time in your busy day to post this for us. Ich danke Ihnen vielmals.
Always good to read and look at your excellent photographs. It is a strange dilemma, we all want adventure and exciting experiences but nice, smooth, sweeping roads with little traffic are also a great pleasure (especially when in a hurry)!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jape

... It is a strange dilemma, we all want adventure and exciting experiences but nice, smooth, sweeping roads with little traffic are also a great pleasure (especially when in a hurry)!

---

jape, you are welcome.

Actually I really had my share of fun on those road construction sections as well as on the broken and so far untouched roads. Good opportunity to test the bike too. Luckily there was no heavy traffic otherwise things would have looked differently. But even then, isn't that why we go out to explore, but also face and master some different challenges? The "hurry" part was bothering a bit, yes.

...it didn't end for 50 km! The road was ether old, totally destroyed to gravel and dirt, full of potholes OR under construction. Don't get me wrong here: We enjoyed that type of riding too. It slowed us down but it was a different kind of fun. Besides, the nature around us was breath taking (so was the dust sometimes).


http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...11-Easter-Ride

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...opie%202-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220804-L.jpg


Look at the dust this truck, we were just over-taking, is blowing in the air. At this point a HUGE thanks to Chinabiker again for donating the airhorn to us. This is a true life-saver and I will never ride out in China without a loud horn. In our culture, such a device might be offensive - here people need it. Passing that truck in dust and gravel... the driver would never have recognized us with the little Beeper we had before. THAT horn made all the difference. I'll post some details in my JH600 thread later.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220806-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220811-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220814-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220826-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220829-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220834-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220848-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220853-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220857-L.jpg


Even in towns the old road is gone - simply used up...

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220858-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220860-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220868-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220869-L.jpg


Since we had to rush a bit, Annette was taking the pictures while riding. Not always easy when flying over bumpy roads.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220874-L.jpg


One more break, flushing dust out of out throats and faces... Behind you can see the last section of the 50 km road-work.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220878-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220881-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220879-L.jpg


Exhausted but satisfied. Another 120 km to go on good concrete roads.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220884-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220887-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220885-L.jpg


We reached the coast on the S104 and the sun was low already.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220893-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220896-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220898-L.jpg


During the trip we admired the straw hats and helmets people were wearing. The must be enough time to stop to buy some memorable souvenirs. It was another little fun event. 37RMB for some natural ropes and3 hats...

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220921-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220922-L.jpg

Nicely packed on top of our luggage...

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220923-L.jpg


Funny helpers.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220924-L.jpg


Some nice bends at sunset. Left...

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220929-L.jpg

...right...

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220930-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220941-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220942-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220945-L.jpg


We filled up gasoline one more time before getting "home". Mistake, wrong gas station (the one with the flower in its logo). I remembered not to take gas from there only, when the bike thanked it to us with quick "shut-downs" when accelerating hard. Well, I hope I have learnt it by now. Gas from this station is not the bikes preference.

Finally back and happy.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220950-L.jpg

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220952-L.jpg


You know this one already - our souvenirs besides a fantastic memory and loads of pictures.

http://pfaelzer.smugmug.com/Biking/2...l1220954-L.jpg


Thanks for following us on our trip. Hope to be back on the road soon again.

Have fun, ride safe, good luck,
A+A.