Zhejiang to Fujian - JH600 home ride

[Pfaelzer]

Nice hotel. No pictures, too excited to start the ride. Not even the rainy weather can get my mood down.

View from the room window this morning:



Got off at 6:45am. First stop,gas station:



Fellow riders, professionals are fixing their mode of transportation. Take a look at the chain... I have to re-take that pictures so the guys can get into a better photo - position:



The route takes me west out of Yongkang on the S220, quickling turning south - my main direction.



I am quickly out of the city. Tea plantations, mountains, villages and fields. That's what I am looking for. More luck. No rain - but rather cold.







Doesn't she look sweet now?







Empty roads, but many landslides after the previous rain. Something, which will add some spices later on my trip.









Locals curiously watching me photographing their village:



My cockpit:



Taking a break at the shore of a river:



She fits so well into nature:



But where does that smell come from? A victim of the last flood:



Another cockpit view:



Lovely empty roads... This is the "entrance" of the X009 small and twisty mountain road. I call it "Road of Stones" but more about this later.





No traffic at all:









Look at the winding road...:



Buddies in black:

[Pfaelzer]

In one village I see many shredders, chopping wood into little chips and open roofs, under which people seem to dry these chips. I wonder what is this for?

[Pfaelzer]

ATTENTION - ADVENTURE AHEAD!!!



On the way, when mountains are steeper, I see a lot of stones, rocks and landslides. In general, even not much traffic, there is massive road construction everywhere. Older roads, unpaved, are being replaced by smaller or bigger concrete or even asphalt roads. The speed of construction comes at a price:



I am not sure, how this happened. Based on traces this happened some days before I came there:



More rocks on the street. I do not want to ride here during heavy rain:



The little river below is being blocked by several dams along the road:



And here we go. The end of that road? It looks like riding back those 80km out of that valley:



Closer inspection. Wood and bigger rocks are blocking the little "foot-path"...:



Some locals arriving at one side of the roadblock, and leaving at "my" side on a waiting truck. I'm alone here now:



Look at the natural rain-coat, the guys wears on the leftt:



Still time by time some rocks are coming down from there:



What happens now is about 30 minutes of road improvement work. Moving wood and rocks to make a path for the bike. Protected with helmet and bike jacket. I'm dirty and sweaty now. Taking the panniers off the bike, fire it up and push it in first gear towards the landslide. Heart is pounding. What if I get stuck? Constantly looking for falling rocks I push the bike up. Then I can't move forward. A piece of wood catches the bike at the other side. I climb on the seat to kick the bike free. Break pedal is bent now. I move on - still looking for rocks. after some minutes of pushing its over and done. Two more runs for the panniers. A cigarillo and 2 bottles of water. Cooling off and get relaxed again. No pictures taken during action.



Looking back:









Damage assessment. The bent break pedal is soon back to original shape thanks to soft chinese steel quality. The aluminum engine sump guard is a bit dented. Nothing, which a plastic hammer can't fix later at the garage. Obviously the newly installed protectors had done their job, especially protecting water pump and hoses:



Roadwork is still ongoing here. I wonder how this road looked like 1 year ago:



Can you see the flying bamboo trunks:



A cable car for bamboo:



more slides and rocks:



The road is really carved into the steep mountain sloop:





Workers cleaning off the road:




Here you can see the old road on the right,which is actually under water - river dam project - and track of the new road, not on the map, where I am riding.

[Pfaelzer]

Back on the S 228 - bigger road, I am taking a break and some nutritious food. No time for restaurants. I want to ride on and see how far I still can get on this day.





Playing around with the camera...:



Still nice mountains around - almost no traffic at all on this brand new road.



A waterfall, next to a tunnel:





There are tourist spots around. Hard to identify though... for me at least:

[Pfaelzer]

As I ride on, I open the visor of my helmet to get some air in, almost at the same time something hits me on my right eye and I just see a stone falling out of my helmet. Not a small one. Pain, tears, I think blood at first. Stop at the side of the road to check - lucky, first of all, no blood, not a scratch. But the vision of my right eye is totally blurry now, even after 20 minutes rest. I ride on, keep the visor closed, since the slightest wind cause the eye even more to itch.
I think this was a close call... It reminds you, how fragile everything is. Also this trip. In a moment you think everything is under control. Nothing can happen - you are the hero. A blink of an eye later, almost everything could be over. Broken skin, hospital, stitching, or worse... The trip would have been finished.

Lucky for me - not this time.

However, as it gets darker, the eye still in some pain and vision not back to normal. I realize there is no way for me to press on today. As all of you China riders know well, the night is dangerous on the road here and with all car driving on high beam at any time, my bad eye - it was almost impossible to get a clear sight.

Fu'an - a small town about 150km before my final destination comes just at the right time. After confusing the local police building - which was colorful illuminated - with a hotel, I finally found a decent looking place for the night. No English? no problem! With a little patience communication is easy...

Again, all the excitement - no pictures of the hotel taken. Just a final look at the parking spot besides the security booth and a picture (in case the bike would no more be here the other day......



This guy promised to watch out...

[euphonius]

Wow, AW, glad you made it back in one piece! Can't wait to see and read the adventure on your second day!

Hope the eye returned to normal with some rest. Sobering words you've written about the thin line between joy and disaster. Safety first. Always. All The Gear All The Time.

Now I'm more excited than ever about finally getting my JH600. I'll have a look through that moto8.cn thread.

Keep it coming!

cheers,
jkp

[Pfaelzer]

I had a great sleep. Good news, my eye is much better, even though still a bit slow on focusing (this improved over the day). Breakfast and off at 7:30. I don't understand, why I do not take pictures at those times - probably too excited or so.

Soon I am out in the countryside again:



Rain is pouring pretty strong now. I take shelter in a bus stop. Two more hours to go. I do not bother putting out the extra rain gear. It's fine with my jacket, the trousers are not too good and soon water is running down my legs into the boots. Nice. anyway, soon there will be a hot shower at my office.



It's still beautiful out there - a bit too cold for the season:
















I am pushing on now. Wet and cold - no more stopping (except for the short one where I decided to put the rain pants over to keep my legs warmer - even wet). Finally arriving at my place. Happy and wet. What a ride. Hope I can do this again soon.

The bike was running great. not any issues. It became more and more fun, the longer the ride went on. The new gear? Protection obviously did the job. Need to discuss on aluminum quality and check, if there is harder sheet alloy available in China. Panniers? 100% water proofed locks, easy to take off - some of you might know this system...

After lunch the bike gets a clean-up in the garage. Some office work. I have to leave to Dong Guan. It seems like nothing happened - but it did. I feel great!!!







Hope you enjoyed joining my ride. Please leave some notes here.

This is my first RR. I am wondering if the picture size I choose is ok for most of you or does it take too much time to open up? Any advice here welcome.

Cheers,
AW.

(Gonna have a coffee now...)

[euphonius]

Very sweet report, AW! Absolutely inspiring! The picture of you in your Fuzhou garage says it all -- grinning ear to ear (and no obvious trauma to your eye).

Pictures are a nice size for downloading here in Shanghai. No delays at all. (Not sure where mychinamoto is hosted, but sometimes it's slow, so I'm guessing it's offshore.)

What image size are you posting?

See you soon if you are indeed coming up for Chinaplas.

cheers,
jkp

[euphonius]

PS, is that your old Jialing muffler hanging from the ceiling?? Nice artwork. How did you like the ProDuro?

cheers
jkp

[VTR1000]

hey the chips are for beding to sleep on.......