Beijing - Qinghai - Beijing (Sep 2017)

[Lexeyich]

Hi guys,

I am planning a 1 week (max 10 days) trip from Beijing to Qinghai and back in the second half of Sep 2017.
At the moment it is at the wishful thinking stage, however I would need to nail down key points sometime relatively soon to start working on logistics.

Current crew is 2 ppl on one tourist motorcycle (CF Moto TR-G), we generally do not do camping so would need to find accommodation spots to take naps at nights.
Also, we generally prefer to use different routes for the way TO any destination and BACK from it and try not to see same roads two times.

Current plan is to decide on major items by end-July, prepare for the trip with no rush within 4-5 weeks afterwards and to be generally ready by 1st decade of September.

My Chinese is pretty limited (HSK 2 at max), however some experience from travels in other parts of the world (e.g. in South America, Cambodia etc) showed that nothing is impossible to agree on, even in rural areas w/o proper local language skills. China might be different though.

We would be happy if someone from MCM community decides to join us to make the trip more efficient, safe and balanced in terms of communication, mutual support etc.

Should you have any suggestions (could be totally different) regarding the destination, route, logistics, warnings, advices - all ideas welcome! (N.B. - Except from "you better stay home":))

[moilami]

You better stay at home

Take Metalmonkey with you, and keep the pace slow enough for his enduro :) Better yet, chose some dirt roads too and have him waiting for you :)

Make it Epic!

[a_steel]

Hi, Alexey.

I am located in Xining (Qinghai province) and could join you for few days ride here. PM me when you're planning your trip.

cheers

[Lexeyich]

Hi, a_steel, nice to e-meet you!

I understand there is ca. 1700 km from BJ to Xining so with no hurry it should take 2 days for us to arrive and we can take it from there!
Alternatively, I am thinking to take a bit to south first and stop by Xi'an for a day or two. But anyway, I'll sort it out.

Will be in touch soon!

[Lexeyich]

Have you thought of going by the Cliff road in Henan Guoliang cliff corridor in Guoliang village, Huixian county..?

Need to look at the map - not yet familiar with the road names:)

[ChinaV]

I understand there is ca. 1700 km from BJ to Xining so with no hurry it should take 2 days for us to arrive

What does ca. mean?

I hope you don't actually think you're going to ride 1700km in 2 days?

[moilami]

It's a cliff face road in Henan province...Attachment 19582Attachment 19583

That would be epic :)

[Lexeyich]

Well，your questions sound like I might be too optimistic indeed and not taking into account some Chinese realities...

Assuming good roads (highway type or smaller but light traffic) and based on rides in Europe/Russia/US I am usually doing circa (ca) 1000 rm per riding day (sometimes less of course, sometimes more). I made three Ironbutts runs (min. 1600 km/24h, min.2500 km/36h and min.2000 km/24h). But it was done on purpose, with minimal stops etc.

That's why I thought that 700km/day should be Ok. On weekends (like today) I ride within and around BJ - and with 10am-ish starting time, photo shooting stops, lunch I am back at ca. 7pm with 400-450 km behind. This is where I was coming from re 2 days for 1700 km

[prince666]

Well，your questions sound like I might be too optimistic indeed and not taking into account some Chinese realities...

Assuming good roads (highway type or smaller but light traffic) and based on rides in Europe/Russia/US I am usually doing circa (ca) 1000 rm per riding day (sometimes less of course, sometimes more). I made three Ironbutts runs (min. 1600 km/24h, min.2500 km/36h and min.2000 km/24h). But it was done on purpose, with minimal stops etc.

That's why I thought that 700km/day should be Ok. On weekends (like today) I ride within and around BJ - and with 10am-ish starting time, photo shooting stops, lunch I am back at ca. 7pm with 400-450 km behind. This is where I was coming from re 2 days for 1700 km

Without going on the toll roads 1700 km in 2 days is going to be hard work, not impossible but you need a bit of luck with the road conditions and traffic IMO.
But good luck.

[ChinaV]

Planning days over 500k in China is a recipe for disaster. It takes one stretch of bad road, or mechanical problem, to set you back and then you're pushing to keep a schedule. Riding 10-12 hours per day, every day, can be exhausting, and can often result in a mistake. Sometimes it's better to dig deeper into the place your going instead of burning through huge kilometers. If you look at this ride report, we only covered 4010 kilometers riding 8-10 hours every day over 15 days. But, wow, those were some amazing kilometers. You only have 10 days, so you might want to think about sending your bikes to Qinghai and riding back.

One other thing to think about, the more people you have, the worse your progress. I never ride with more than 1 or 2 other riders, it always ends up costing you time.