Easter in the North - 2013

Hey Beijing Bikers!

After the Xanadu trip last October of Barry, Lobotomous and me, I am planning another trip to the north of BJ. I spent quite some time on Google Maps and intend to do a 4 day trip on the easter weekend (29 Mar – 02 Apr). The rough schedule is to have one day to get out of BJ on twisty side-roads, two days of off-road riding and one day to get back into the capital.

Expect the famous beautiful twisties of the northern mountains and some sandy off-road tracks once we enter the border area between Hebei and Inner Mongolia. I am planning of camping throughout. It will definitely be cold (probably way below zero during the nights. One of the camping spots I checked on GM is at 1600m altitude), so bring your warm riding gear and sleeping-bags! But the cold is also part of the plan as I am hoping to avoid the snow-melt and have low water levels in the two rivers we will have to cross. I tried to map a route that is never far from some major roads but still, it might sometimes get difficult to get water and fuel so a big fuel tank is a big plus.

Sorry that I only have self-made maps available but as there are no roads in the northern part of the tour, I cannot create a route on GM.
http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54003.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

Short overview: We will start out in the direction of Changping where we will pass through the valley of the Ming-tombs, then head in the direction of Chicheng north of which we will have the first un-marked roads. Then we will make a semicircle north around Fengning through some sandy parts and river valleys, and thenhit tarmac again with the G 111. For our way back to BJ I would like to stay on side roads along the Luanhe river and return to BJ via Miyun.

Leg 1 (ca. 250 km): From Deshengmen we would head out along the G6 to Changping where we will leave the expressway and follow the S212 further north past Shisanling/Ming tombs until we hit the S323. We stay on the S323 for just about 10km before we continue in northern direction on a small road (X004) connecting the S323 to the S309. On the S309 we go north-west and shortly after we pass the Baihepu reservoir enter another side-road (X405) that leads towards Yaojiawan and Yangtian. From here on, we follow the G112 northward to Baicao where MCM member Shuben recommended to take a left and ride north on the X404. At Sancha, we turn onto a small side road (or just a river? Hard to say on GM) to the north-east and somewhere in this area we will set up camp for the first night.

Leg 2 (ca. 100 km)
Next day will start with a ride along the river east/north-east and into another valley (this might be the first tricky bit) for about 18 km before we hit the S244 which we follow north for another 12 km. There I would like to go through the Qiansongba Forrest Park. But if there is an entrance fee and we can’t go around the gate, we can still detour a little bit further south to get to Hetong along the X507. Either way it will be around 30km. From Hetong drive further northeast and then along the Luanhe for another 30 km to the Waigoumen village north of which is the Daheigou Mountain where camping spots abound.

Leg 3 ( ca. 100 km)
The plan is to ride a little bit further north into the Daheigou Mountain range before turning east and crossing the Luan-River close to a small village called Xiaocaiyuan (小菜园) within the first few km. I cannot really tell how difficult the crossing might be. Could be easy as last time with Barry and Lobotomous, could be swift and deep. If we cannot make it through the river, there are bridges appr. 15km north and south of that point. From there we have maybe another 15-20 km before we hit blacktop (here aka X523) which we follow further down south until the G111 where we see the Luanhe again. We will take the river as a guide in the direction of Miyun and should look for a camping spot around this area.

Leg 4 (ca. 200 km)
On the last day we have to reach Fengshanzhen which spreads along the G112 and after that head towards the Yanshan Mountain. West of the Mountain I would aim for the S244 and when it runs out continue southward along the little river that has not been named on GM (south of 虎什哈镇). That would lead us to the Jingshanling section of the great wall from where the way is quite obvious: G101 to Miyun and then onto the G45 expressway back into the city.

Here are some more maps:
http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54004.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna



http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54005.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54006.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54007.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54008.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54010.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54011.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

http://static.picuna.com/photos/s576/54012.png
Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna



After the experience of our Xanadu trip, I am pretty sure that this will be no trip for street bikes and even the JH600 had its problems on our last trip. So I am calling out to all the JH150GY (and maybe QJ150 or farmer bike owners) to join me for the ride and have four days of easter fun!

Looks like the maps are not working. Try the "Easter 2013" album at picuna

Sounds great ... BUT ... brrrrrrrrrrr ... cold! Yes, I know ... I am a shameful Canadian! Too old for the cold.

No JH's? Damn. How about a Harley? No? Scooter? No? Looks like the JH150s rule again! Sigh.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

Sounds great ... BUT ... brrrrrrrrrrr ... cold! Yes, I know ... I am a shameful Canadian! Too old for the cold.

No JH's? Damn. How about a Harley? No? Scooter? No? Looks like the JH150s rule again! Sigh.

---

hey ljh!

cold is easer to handle than heat. after all, you can lways wear more layers but at some point you can't wear less...

this ride would be perfect for one of your adventure beasts. doesn't that sound intriguing?

Nooooo. I am moving house that weekend! Then overseas for a couple of weeks.
Looks like a good route. When shall we do the Xanadu return trip??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fahni

this ride would be perfect for one of your adventure beasts. doesn't that sound intriguing?

---

Yes, it is very enticing ... just too damn cold for these old bones to be camping. Now, if there was a Hyatt involved, I'm in ... post-adv in the pool, sauna & steam room. Might even be able to entice sweety as a pillion passenger, if spa treatments are also available.

:icon10:

If everything goes well I might be able to join with my new bike, which I'm about to buy! Hopefully I'll blaze through the sand, mud, water and so on this time!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Barry

If everything goes well I might be able to join with my new bike, which I'm about to buy! Hopefully I'll blaze through the sand, mud, water and so on this time!

---

Obviously it all depends on what kind of bike you are talking about.
Are you finally gonna pull the trigger on x2x?

Cheers!

Yeah Barry! What bike? Would be great to test out a 400cc on this one!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

Yes, it is very enticing ... just too damn cold for these old bones to be camping. Now, if there was a Hyatt involved, I'm in ... post-adv in the pool, sauna & steam room. Might even be able to entice sweety as a pillion passenger, if spa treatments are also available.

:icon10:

---

I know a nice japanese spa north of Changping and will look for options further north!

Hhhmmmm ..... sounds likegood trip. And yes, the X404 has beautiful scenery and camp grounds. It means sand, gravel, rocks, stream crossings. I pushed my Harley through there, but that was no fun from riding point of view. With a light weight bike with some offroad abilities its ok. With an Shineray X2 you would have the real fun. But to camp there end of march ..... guess that needs large camp fire whole night.

With a MX bike make sure to fill gas up. As i remember there had been no gas station around.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ShuBen

Hhhmmmm ..... sounds likegood trip. And yes, the X404 has beautiful scenery and camp grounds. It means sand, gravel, rocks, stream crossings. I pushed my Harley through there, but that was no fun from riding point of view. With a light weight bike with some offroad abilities its ok. With an Shineray X2 you would have the real fun. But to camp there end of march ..... guess that needs large camp fire whole night.

With a MX bike make sure to fill gas up. As i remember there had been no gas station around.

---

hey shuben! yes, will bring a 3.3l cherry can and a 1.5l bottle of gas. we will also have to bring lots of water.

@ barry: any news from the shineray front?

Hopefully we can complete the order tomorrow!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Barry

Hopefully we can complete the order tomorrow!

---

Will you have it street legal in two weeks?

If you don't plan to dig me in, into the sand again! I could take my JH600 ;)

Will only be street legal by the end of the month!

Barry, are you getting the X2 or the X5?

cheers!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by euphonius

Barry, are you getting the X2 or the X5?

---

The X2! First of all I would like to do some more off-road and furthermore I don't see the point of getting the X5 while I still have the JH600. Maybe next year ;)

Dare I believe my eyes? The Air Quality Index in Beijing today is barely into double digits -- 19 at US Embassy and 11 from gov't!! It must be pristine! Amazing how it can vacillate so much...

Enjoy it while you can, Beijingers!