Around China in 100 Days

[Roadrunner]

Incredible.

This sense of emptiness you describe, i feel it too realising that this is the last post in your RR. Thank you infinitely for taking us along for the ride, it's been a great read.

What does it feel like now, almost a year later, thinking back over the trip?

Thanks for taking the time to read it

Thinking back over the trip, It almost feels as though we never did it. After a couple of months of acclimatization back in Chongqing, the reality of what it was melted away and now the experience feels like a half-remembered dream. Writing and looking at photos helps keep things fresh for a while though, but that can't replace the experience of being out there.

Once we had a few day's rest and some time apart, Lulu and I couldn't help laughing at the stupid things we got upset about with each other.



There were a couple of times where things almost got too much for either of us and we thought about separating. The most important thing I realise now, is that we stuck together and finished together like we said we would. It wasn't easy, but we were each made to think in a different way, and do things we wouldn't normally have done if we had each done the trip solo, an effect I hadn't thought of before I started.

Our most memorable experience was the ~250 kilometres that took 3 days between Xiangride and Maduo (in Qinghai) when we got lost, ran out of petrol, crashed, broke down, battled rain, hail, snow, stayed with a Tibetan Yak herder family (who gave us some of their petrol and invaluable information about the road) and were extremely lucky to come out the other end. I might never have an experience like that again in my life. It taught me that there's a fine line between a feeling of gung-ho adventurousness and black desperation, and walking that edge is both exhilarating and very dangerous.

It goes without saying that it was an incredible, life-changing experience; completely unexplainable. I got a really eye-opening, holistic idea from the ground up about what China really is by meeting different people living their own unique lifestyles, seeing the diversity of the landscape, living in different climates at different altitudes, all on two wheels with nothing but what was in our saddlebags, fuel tanks and the stuff between our ears to keep us going. The vulnerability of motorcycle driving exposes us all to the world, and it gives us so much in return.

In terms of the fundraising, my overblown expectation that we could raise USD$20,000 was a little optimistic (just a little bit) and brought it's own problems when we realised we couldn't take cash donations from the Chinese public. I think the most positive thing about this aspect of the trip is that our problems with fundraising have been mentioned in most, if not all, of the media coverage we have been getting since we came back. I initially thought this was a bad thing (reflecting badly on our charity) but I think it has encouraged a few people to do charitable activities, and shown how to do them better.


Lulu liked it so much that she'll be doing a 20,000 km Chongqing -> London ride in May this year. I keep telling her she's crazy, but she just smiles. She knows what she wants.

She has spent the last couple of months in Chongqing looking for sponsors and preparing for her trip.



http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzU0NzQ0ODI0.html

I've recently been working in Kunming and southern Yunnan, and the boss gave me a couple of days to get around by bike from Chongqing. Winter in Chongqing is perpetual twilight and it is possible to not see the sun for weeks at a time. The bike trip to sunny Yunnan was exactly what the doctor ordered for the winter blues. Most of all, it got me out on the road again, getting my freedom fix after being stuck inside for too long.

Solo riding is a very different experience, in good ways and bad. I have discovered that I REALLY enjoy morning riding, and have been up before dawn most days.





I hope to get a ride report done soon, but I'm a bit busy with work at the moment, so it could be a couple of months away.


The journey is the reward