the "Fantastic 4" will brave an October Holiday Ride!

[SabineHartmann]

Teamfoto 19-09-10.jpg

after 8 week of hard competition, 4 worriers and 3 Sidecars are left to brave the low temperatures, wild landscapes and what ever will break down along the road, to ride from Beijing to Hohhot, Nei Mongolia.
we will leave on Friday arround 7:00 am and, hopefully, arrive Datong before sundown.
I will try to post some fotos every day, but who nows?
if everything goes well, we will meet Chinabiker and some friends high up in the mountains at Chongli at the 4th day of our ride.
stay alert! and wish us luck!
Sabine (invisible girl)

[felix]

Haha very nice! Looking forward to the report, you always set a high standard! Best of luck!

Now which one of you has the super bike-mechanic powers?

[Lao Jia Hou]

Good luck Sabine et al.

Whatever happened to Xi'an? By the way, if you're ever interested in shipping sidecars around China via truck, the company I have used several times quoted me 900 rmb one-way Beijing to Xi'an (extra 50 rmb for central pickup or central dropoff), which is a little bit more than I've paid several times shipping Changs between Harbin & Beijing (about the same distance). It seems to be their standard price, as when I shipped my Chang from Harbin to Dandong, I was charged 750 rmb ... Harbin <-> Jilin; 750 rmb.

Anyways, take lots of pics & videos and wear lots of clothes!

[SabineHartmann]

Datong, 01.10.10
in the end only 3 left Beijing, one lost cause of sudden sickness. in mind, he is with us! Greetings to Nigel! we miss you!
long way down to Datong, beautiful landscape
Indian Summer!!!
Datong3.jpgDatong2.jpg
2 repair stops and heavy rain 3 hours before coming to Datong.
Datong4.jpg

Hohhot, 02.10.10
we left Datong after a breakfast and hit the road at 9:30 am. one of the finest experiences we have found in this part of the country. 230 km, from the dirtiest coal villages to the unvorgetable mountains, abandoned fortresses and a snowstorm on the peak!!
Hohhot 2.jpgHohhot 1.jpg
now we sit in a 5* hotel, warm again, and we wish a Mongolian HotPot for dinner
tomorrow we will go to the Grasslands

[SabineHartmann]

from Hohhot we rode another 100 Km north into the grassland area. blue sky and a very cold wind. another 4 weeks and everything will be deeply frozen. harvest time, the farmers bring in the last potatoes. the mountains are touched with flaming colours and the high mountain peaks are covered in snow.
to the Grasslands 1.jpgto the Grasslands 3.jpgto the Grasslands 2.jpg
tomorrow we will go straight east to Chongli, lets hope, the truck-traffic-jam is not there anymore

(Ps: the barkeeper just learned how to make a strong Grog!)

[SabineHartmann]

back home in Beijing! 2 days earlier than planned.

map Distances.jpg

yesterday morning Erwin felt sick and took an airplane home to Beijing. so it was up to Thomas and me to ride the bikes alone. (do you know the story of "10 kleine Negerlein"? everybody disappears and suddenly you stand on your own.)
somehow, after riding G110, we managed to enter the expressway, good road conditions, perfect weather and not so much traffic. I learned to surf the "Spurrillen" and play hide and seek between the slow trucks.

until 274 Km left to Beijing ....

G6 2.jpgG6 3.jpgG6 1.jpg

the green Chang has had problems all the trip and we stuck with a blocked back wheel, some nice policemen helped with the repair and guided us along the way for quite some time.
140 Km before coming to Beijing that damm bike didn`t start anymore. Thomas tried it with new sparks every 5 Km.
with our golden Chang he tossed me to the next gas station which was in Jimingyi. we left it there and rode home in the dark.

05.10.10

Thomas, a mechanic and Erwin just picked it up and now they are on their way to Jim`s Shop.
(Video will follow soon)

I just want to start a discussion:
how far can you go while riding a Chang Jiang? this holiday we learned a lot and we are sure, we will look for another bike to ride the countryside the next year!!

[ChinaV]

Hi Sabine,

Sounds like your trip ended with a little more adventure than you planned. It seems that some people ride thousands of kilometers on the CJ's without issue, while others are having problems quite frequently. Quite often, it's the little things like a clutch cable or spark plug cap that can be a trip killer. There's something very "romantic" about traveling China via CJ, and although I understand it, I'm just not ready for a sidecar yet, maybe that will change if my family grows in the future.

Looking forward to the video.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[euphonius]

...I'm just not ready for a sidecar yet, maybe that will change if my family grows in the future.

"if"?

[felix]

Sorry to hear you had so many setbacks, but it sounds like you had a good adventure anyway! 500km in one day on a CJ is very impressive, every part of you must be aching after that!

The CJs seem to be a real hit-or-miss. Mine used to to break down twice a week when i first got it. Now 3 years later, it hasn't had any problems for almost 10000km! For sure it's the only bike i've owned that gets more reliable with age, but i know this can't can't be said of all CJs.

[euphonius]

Sabine,

Thanks indeed for posting a very neat little trip. Just goes to show us all how vast China really is. Your team braving the onset of winter up north, and ChinaV, Felix, Motokai and others enjoying radically different geographic and meteorological conditions elsewhere. Glad you all made it home safely, and hope the reluctant Chang was suffering only something minor...

cheers!