The rewarding us with punishment tour

[moilami]

Day 12
I'm not exactly sure what the message is from Felix, but I love the photo.



Cheers!
ChinaV

Distance = 242 Kilometers - Time = 8:30 - Average Moving Speed = 58 kph

Rofl I am not sure either but I know what will be my reply

Thanks of the great report fellas!

[jmgoujun]

This is a very good route. I was the first 2 times to come here. I appreciate your photo. But to tell you a "safe driving" Chinese called "carefully made years boat." I don't know if this is correct. Because we both have the same car. So for your posts very interested.

[chinabiker]

Lorne,

surely one of the best reports on this site, if not THE best

The route, the pics, the story, ... I wish I had the time to do a similar

Is there more to come

[ChinaV]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the compliment, I have 3 more days to add to the story. Pictures are done, but still need to do a little more writing. This is going to sound terrible, but I haven't got this finished because I've been spending so much of my time getting ready for a two month USA tour that starts July 14. Occasionaly I even go to work and accomplish something .

I think one of the funny things about writing this report is how much I have learned since it ended. I spent quite a few hours on Google Earth and Wikipedia reading about many of the places we went and what we saw. We pushed really hard, and I'm happy with how far we made it, but sometimes it's nice to stop, read the signs, and actually know what the heck it is you're looking at.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[Pfaelzer]

...

I think one of the funny things about writing this report is how much I have learned since it ended. I spent quite a few hours on Google Earth and Wikipedia reading about many of the places we went and what we saw. We pushed really hard, and I'm happy with how far we made it, but sometimes it's nice to stop, read the signs, and actually know what the heck it is you're looking at.

ChinaV

Hi Lorne,

I fully agree to that. There is always the conflict between getting as many as possible miles under the wheels, having fun on riding in different landscapes - and - riding around and getting actually to know something about places and people. If you look carefully around, in many RRs you can see what remains of each trip, no matter how ride focused it was, it's always the interference with people, which lasts longer in the memory than any road or track (well, that's except maybe when one has to watch his bike sliding off the edge of the road into...).

For that reason I am trying (it's hard) to change my trips from "less miles' to learn and prepare in advance and "stay a bit at places". Not easy if your plan is to get to a remote area and time is mostly the limiting factor.

Hope to see those last 3 days coming before you are off.

Cheers,
AW.

[milton]

For that reason I am trying (it's hard) to change my trips from "less miles' to learn and prepare in advance and "stay a bit at places". Not easy if your plan is to get to a remote area and time is mostly the limiting factor.

Maintaining a leisurely pace on bike in China is particularly difficult, as the highway riding is not an option in most cases. Attempt to reach an interesting spot usually costs you lots of junk miles on minor roads, which are highly taxing on the rider considering all kind of hazards along the way: the pedestrians, the goats, the dogs, the trucks, sometimes unbelievably lousy road conditions, road constructions, pollution, Kamikaze drivers....., all without much scenery to compensate for.

Trying to get to where we want to be quickly is why we rush on the road. From Shanghai, where I reside, it takes at least 5 hours to see anything interesting. If highway riding is allowed, it would have shaved at lease half of the time. Unfortunately this reality is what we must contend with for now.

[jape]

Hi Lorne, snip
it's always the interference with people, which lasts longer in the memory than any road or track
Cheers, AW.

Sorry AW, your English is usually excellent and better than mine but you do NOT want to admit you 'interfere' with people, that usually means the things that Priests do a lot of with choir boys ... a better word is 'intercourse' but that gets similar laughs for other reasons so maybe, just 'relationships'.

I agree, since I hurt my back again recently I have been riding at 60 kph to avoid potholes and bumps; it is far more relaxing and I see things locally I wouldn't usually see. I have time to sit up and look around and even wave to neighbours.

It is a shame we don't realise these things when younger, I have travelled all over Europe and all the memories of roads are the same, black with white lines stretching out in front of you in a speed blur!

But I remember all the people I stayed and ate with in villages and small towns for the rest of my life. I stayed in the Rhineland in small villages during the mid sixties which was not that long after the war of course and sat and looked through photo books of soldiers lost. For a young English boy raised on stories of my own Father and Uncles as English soldiers, that was an experience that taught me a lot about common humanity. Very fine, decent folk down your way.

Teaches you a lot, the kind of travel where you stop and look and meet folk rather than just drive by and wave.

[ChinaV]

Day 13

Apologies for the long delay folks, lets get rolling again.

I tossed and turned throughout the night, a combination of elevation, cold, and howling dogs made sleep almost impossible. I was happy to see first light, and crawled out from under the covers to head for the outhouse. The only positive thing I will ever say about China squatters,... at least you don't have a cold seat when the temperature is -4º C (25ºF). As the sun slowly made its way over the hills, I could feel it warming up and was greeted with the most stunning view of snow capped mountains and grasslands.



We had a very simple goal for the day, 200 kilometers on G318, stock up on provisions, and make camp at a "secret spot" CrazyCarl introduced me to in 2008. The weather changes quickly on the plateau, and it wasn't looking good as dark grey clouds began rolling in.



We made our way down G318, a shit road that will challenge the suspension of any vehicle. Deep ruts from thousands of overloaded trucks kept things interesting, and just to be sure you never relaxed, dozens of 4X4 Land-cruisers blasted by with the arrogance only the wealthy can posses.



As we approached the turnoff for the campsite, I realized the town we were supposed to resupply in was nothing more than a single concrete building without food or water. It was still quite early, so we decided to head for the site and figure out the provision issue later. The wind was howling while we searched for a spot, and we hoped something would offer shelter from the huge gusts blowing across the plateau.



After staking our claim, I decided to be the supply guy and headed out to see what I could find. I rode for an hour, then came upon a child eating candy and asked where she got it. She pointed at a house and her grandmother shouted out to the owner to let me in. You would never have guessed this was the general store for the village, it looked no different from the other houses, and there were no signs of any kind. There was almost no inventory, but they did have plenty of beer. I tried to explain that I wanted bottled water, but they just looked at me as if to say, "what kind of idiot would pay money for water in a bottle?" After a little discussion, they brought some empty orange juice containers and filled them with hot water from the kettle on the stove. Boiled water in a reusable container, who'd have thought that would work? God help the water industry if that secret ever gets out. I noticed a huge pile of firewood and asked if I could buy some, they helped me load my bike with as much as I could carry and insisted on giving it to me instead of taking payment. I paid for the beer and other items and thanked them, by this time most of the village had gathered and I can just imagine the discussion that went on after I left.



As I pulled into camp, the boys were standing there in awe of the scenery and practically frozen. They were elated at seeing all of the firewood and beer and we set out to make some dinner.



Fine dining at 4400 meters (14,435 feet).



Just as dinner was ready, the wind died down and we went from surviving to camping. It became very quiet and the setting sun would poke through the clouds, occasionally illuminating the giant peaks off in the distance. This was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip and camping there was one of my best experiences ever in China.



Although we had plenty of wood, we didn't have plenty of oxygen. After many attempts at getting the fire to go, we finally resorted to gasoline. Even that would just die after several seconds of giant flames, so Felix spent the better part of an hour blowing on the coals. Somehow he finally managed to get it going. Caveman TV...my favorite.



Cheers!
ChinaV

Distance = 252 Kilometers - Time = 5:00 - Average Moving Speed = 49 kph

[chinabiker]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the compliment, I have 3 more days to add to the story. Pictures are done, but still need to do a little more writing. This is going to sound terrible, but I haven't got this finished because I've been spending so much of my time getting ready for a two month USA tour that starts July 14. Occasionaly I even go to work and accomplish something .

I think one of the funny things about writing this report is how much I have learned since it ended. I spent quite a few hours on Google Earth and Wikipedia reading about many of the places we went and what we saw. We pushed really hard, and I'm happy with how far we made it, but sometimes it's nice to stop, read the signs, and actually know what the heck it is you're looking at.

Cheers!
ChinaV

Wow, you are heading to the US for a 2 months trip on a bike? Is it worth it [/JEALOUSY]

I am probably more the "mileage eater" since my biking record only sums up to 50k km in the PRC.
However, most things you remember are the moments of interactions with people and stunning views on beautiful scenery.

[CrazyCarl]

Awesome stuff CV! This is a hallmark report for MCM!


CC