The Long Goodbye: From Kunming to Urumqi

[ZMC888]

Thank you for the link , for sure these tyres would help in the mud , but not convince it would of been wise to take the TR and you still have the problem with all the mud getting stuck up under the
Front wheel mud guard and I am sure with road/trail tyres would of made things a lot better with the TR !! But one way to find out , try them
Look how much mud got stuck under Pat from mud guard

Attachment 15597

True, lots of mud got stuck under his mudguard, but my NK mudguard is a traditional shape and sits about 4cm over the tire. Suzuki seem to have made a front mudguard with tighter tolerances at about 2cm, and an unorthodox shape, fine on most roads, but on Chinese 'under repair' roads and extra bad luck the type of cloying mud this is clearly posing a hazard, obviously not something that the Suzuki test riders imagined.

The German dude who rode to Germany on a YBR250 said that he did it on the stock tires, but wished he'd put a road/trail tire on the front as it washed out slow speed on a bunch of different loose surfaces and had him eating dirt on 2-3 occasions. We I think can agree that most of the time a road bike with road trail tires is a good option, but maybe not always perfect.

[ChinaV]

It was already two p.m. – I had been on the road since 8 a.m. – and had only gone 30 kilometers so far, and probably only about two in the last five hours.

Nine hours and ninety kilometers later, exhausted, relieved, cold, wet, and hungry I made it a hotel.

An all too common experience that is somehow strangely satisfying at the end of the day. It sucks when you're in it, but those will always be my best memories of China... strange people coming out of the woodwork to help a traveler in need. Great stuff Pat, thanks for sharing and making me realize that the China I loved is still out there (bad roads and good people).

Cheers!

[Pat]

ChinaV - "bad roads and good people" - that about sums it up! It's what I love about China too. One minute I'm shaking my fist at a truck who just blasted me with his horn and the next minute I'm parked on the side of the road and talking to a truck driver who's inviting me to come to Anhui and spend Chinese New Year with his family!

[Pat]

Day 5: Rest in Luguhu

The next morning, I wandered around looking for breakfast and found a place that had a little steamer out front full of breakfast items. I opted for hardboiled eggs and potatoes, and as I was eating I saw people coming out of the nearby shops to take advantage of the garbage truck:



After breakfast I walked back along the lake and past these women enjoying a morning chat:



And then went back to the restaurant that I had stopped by the night before to route plan. I talked to the owner a bit more about local road conditions and she told me about her friend who was on a motorcycle tour up to Qinghai Lake. And then soon after, he walked in the front door! Turns out, he had just gotten back the day before. He had ridden the eastern part of the plateau up to Xining and then back down through Shiqu – the route I had been considering. We sat down over the atlas and talked roads – scenery, conditions, construction, etc. He confirmed that the road up to Litang was closed except in the very early morning and late evening and that the infamous road between Shiqu and Mannigange was still a mess. As we poured over the maps, potential routes gradually started to form – east over to Xichang and then up to Kangding and then inwards to Litang or Danba or any other of a number of cities. My goal was to get back up on the plateau, and he confirmed that these areas were very much the Tibetan Plateau.

Hard at work:



After he took off, I spent the afternoon wrestling with flickr (which wasn’t blocked, oddly enough) and plotted a course to Xichang and then Kangding. My plan was to ride to Kangding and then plan the rest of the Sichuan portion of the trip there.

[Pat]

Day 6: Luguhu to Xichang

I woke up to another drizzly day, packed the bike, and stopped by the stupa on the way out:



And took in one last look at the lake:



Sometimes it takes more dynamite to make a road than it does to maintain one (and in China, sometimes it takes more dynamite to tear down the old, misbuilt road in order to build it again):



At some point I crossed into Sichuan and the road followed a river most of the day with potential rockslides hemmed in:



But there were mountains to climb too, and bee keepers conveniently keeping hives of bees just off the road – riding past, I’d keep my mouth tightly closed and listen to the bees pinging off my helmet.



I climbed the mountain up into the mist. As I reached the summit it started to rain and visibility dropped to just 10 meters. Right at the summit there was a restaurant, so instead of dodging trucks that suddenly emerged from the mist, I decided to stop for lunch. Sichuan: the legendary birthplace of Kung Pao Chicken. Having eaten Kung Pao Chicken at least three to four times a week for the past five years, I was giddy with excitement walking into a Sichuan Restaurant – in Sichuan! But as they say, the highest high’s and lowest low’s – I walked in, ordered, and was informed that they were out of chicken! Bent but not broken, I asked if they had Kung Pao “Meat” – and I was in luck! Minutes later I was eating the best Kung Pao Meat (pork, I think) I’d ever had. (If you want to see pictures of meals, you'll have to add me on WeChat :) )

Location, location, location:



After lunch, visibility was still basically zero, so I carefully wove my way down the mountain, dodging construction and trucks as they popped up out of the mist. Eventually I descended out of the fog and the road picked the river back up again:



And went through a couple long tunnels:



Most of which had lights on the inside:



And all of which opened back out into the rain:



Eventually the road turned away from the river and as I approached Xichang became a standard “entering a Chinese city” road. I rode into the city in the light rain, found a hotel (Ibis – a chain, highly, highly recommended!), and set out on a successful (and delicious) search for Kung Pao Chicken. All in all, despite the generally rainy weather, it was a nice smooth ride – and after the mud bath of a couple days ago, it was just what the doctor ordered!

[Pat]

Day 6: Xichang to Kangding

The next morning the weather had cleared and I set course for Kangding. Before long I was back on a mountain, and stopped for a peach:



I accidentally asked for a pear (梨) and the farmer laughed and said, “These are peaches (桃)!” Despite the confusion, I ended up with three peaches freshly picked from the farmers' field, and then they refused payment! Feeling good, I picked up some speed, only to get pulled over the cops!



I knew the routine, having just spent a few weeks in the police-state known as the United States of America and being pulled over twice in the period a week – once on a bicycle! I took my lashes with his stick (better than a fine) and got back on the road, only to hit this traffic jam:



A One Truck Bridge with one truck and a swarm of motorcycles, scooters, horses, and pedestrians all trying to cross at the same time! Fortunately the man in the middle of the picture (not the cops) took control and shouted everyone back out of the way (present company included). 20 minutes later there was enough room to allow the truck through – followed by a long stream of cars – and the scooters and motorcycles tensed waiting for their opportunity to cross.. and then as soon as there was a gap, the flood gates opened, and a sea of scooters and bikes streamed across the bridge, right past the protesting officer who was screaming: “The bridge isn’t unblocked yet!” Not one to be left behind, I joined the stream and rode to the other end of the bridge, only to find that, just as the officer said, the road was not unblocked yet:



Another twenty minutes later and the truck backed up enough to allow the bikes through single-file. I squeezed through and rode happily past a traffic jam that had backed up several kilometers. The road was in perfect shape and followed the highway most of the day. Making good time again, I stopped for lunch under the highway:



Like the day before, the road followed a river through nice scenery and villages nestled in the mountains:



I stopped at a designated scenic view:



And eventually reached Luding – home of the Luding Bridge, the site of the historic, if highly debated, crossing of the Communists under gunfire during the Long March:



At the bridge, I bumped into some Chinese riders on their way to Lhasa – or to be more precise, a car, a motorcycle, and a scooter – quite a crew. I asked where they were from, and they said Shandong! Impressed, I assumed they’d been on the road for weeks – but they told me they had left just four days before! Ahh – the highway. We decided to ride together for a bit, and soon after they pulled over to fix a blown fuse.



We were on our way soon enough and I came across this sign: “Pooping and peeing is strongly prohibited, violators will be fined 50 RMB.” Serious crime deserves a serious fine.



As I neared Kangding, the scenery grew more dramatic:



Signs of Tibetan culture more prominent:



And the chances of rain skyrocketed:



I rode into Kangding just as it started to sprinkle. It was a bit chaotic – narrow one way streets, rain, cars, scooters, pedestrians, and mix in a heavy police and military presence and I was a bit disoriented. I was waiting to get popped by the cops again as I rode laps around the city, and through at least one pedestrian mall, looking for a hotel. I eventually found a hotel with a parking lot, unpacked the bike, and set out in the rain for dinner (Kung Pao Chicken).

[Pat]

Day 7: Rest and Route Planning in Kangding

I really enjoyed Kangding. It’s surrounded by mountains and a river runs right through the middle of town:



Wanting to learn more about the nearby roads, I stopped by the Zhilam Hostel, run by an American guy Kris and his family. It turned out that he rides too – and had a wealth of information about almost all of the cities in Western Sichuan. Atlas in hand, I plotted a route northwest through Tagong up to Luhuo and then across to Maerkang and then through Hongyuan to Ruoergai. It wouldn’t bring me back to Yushu – but it would mean taking all new roads that I hadn’t ridden before and seeing a new part of the plateau. So with a new route in hand I headed to the Malaya Tibetan Restaurant (highly recommended) for a dinner of yak and potatoes.

[MotoKai]

"the China I loved is still out there (bad roads and good people)....."
.....and girls vomiting from buses into your motorcycle helmet.

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ujian-for-beer

Or so I thought. This is when everything went to shit. So I'm coming through one of those little towns where everyone with a sense of entrepreneurship has set up some kind of roadside business, effectively cutting traffic down to a lane and a half. There's a bus in front of me that's stopped for no apparent reason, so I move left to go around. Just as I start to pass, a passengers head comes out of the bus window spewing barf in all directions. It's unavoidable, and she manages to cover a good portion of the bike and my helmet. Naturally, my face shield was open due to the traffic jam, so I got a good face full. Yuck, it was almost making me puke. I stop a couple hundred meters up the road and try to de-puke my bike and riding gear. I seriously debate throwing my helmet away as the smell was just revolting. Just a little after the puke incident, the road turns into a construction project gone wrong and my mood is not getting better

Nostalgic moment. Hope all is well with you. Now back to Pat's Long Goodbye!

[ChinaV]

I passed this on Highway 199 in Oregon this weekend. Got me thinking back to those fake cops you mentioned...



The next time I'm back in China I'm going to rent one of those little blue trucks and go steal one, throw it in a container, and ship it back to the U.S. Should look great on my front lawn

Be safe and keep the photos coming, this ride report is definitely one of the best we've seen, and you're just getting started with the plateau, so it can only get more epic.

Cheers!

[CalmCarl]

Hey Pat. I'm new to the forum and I gotta say i'm loving your ride report so far. Really inspirational stuff. Eagerly awaiting updates