2011 Easter Ride

**felix** · 04-24-2011, 03:57 PM

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!

**moilami** · 04-24-2011, 04:15 PM

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

TIC

**Pfaelzer** · 04-25-2011, 02:11 PM

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.

Thanks for joining.
Cheers,

A+A.

**Lao Jia Hou** · 04-25-2011, 05:08 PM

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.

**moilami** · 04-25-2011, 06:50 PM

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.

Thanks for joining.
Cheers,

A+A.

Lol this is the best pic

Waiting for the final part of the report.

**Pfaelzer** · 04-27-2011, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by moilami

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

TIC

Hi moilami,

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

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

Cheers,
AW.

**Pfaelzer** · 04-27-2011, 10:05 AM

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.

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.

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.

Sunshine and a nice place to take a short rest.

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

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:

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

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.

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.

...to be continued.

**jape** · 04-27-2011, 10:25 AM

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)!

**Pfaelzer** · 04-28-2011, 05:52 AM

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.

**Pfaelzer** · 04-28-2011, 07:08 AM

...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).

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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...

Nicely packed on top of our luggage...

Funny helpers.

Some nice bends at sunset. Left...

...right...

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.

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

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

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