The flavour of the last two days has been - short distances, pollution, flat roads, crazy traffic and some cold, cold weather! The riders have hit cycling mode and there is some 'destination fever' happening. Last night, in the city of Xinxiang, we celebrated passing the 10,000km mark (which happened a few days ago) with a delicious Chinese banquet meal. The entire group was there and we said goodbye to one of our riding favourites, Terry Ward, who is leaving us to visit friends up north. He will then head to Korea and finally back to Canada. As Henry summed it up, "Terry is one of our true gentlemen', and a fantastic rider too. He be missed in Beijing and out on the road over the next few days. We have a new rider amongst us now - Mr Lee joined us in Louwang and is staying with the tour until Beijing. Welcome Mr Lee! We have a rest day tomorrow so the bikes were getting washed today, laundry was being sorted and some of the riders have located KFC, so they are very happy! Strong legs, some good lungs and steely determination will get the group through the next few cold and dusty and cloudy days en route to Beijing on the 18th November!
Goodbye to hills, headwinds and hot weather. Today was all about navigation, mastering the series of turns that Chris had worked into today's route and getting to the hotel on time. Miles received many phone calls about where riders were, or were not, and if you missed one turn - 'you were stuffed'! Eventually all the riders all turned up. Our days have become navigation city. One must master all the twists, turns and traffic that make up populated China. The riders are dirty, the bikes are filthy, the trucks are grubby and we cannot wait to chuck out clothes. It is less than two weeks from Beijing and all we can think about is new directions and food! Thankfully, Miles was back on board with some delicious pasta fara this evening, Phil was tending to the bikes, Elaine had the first aid covered, Wimpie, Thor and Errol mananged with the trucks as they always do, Darryl spent the day editing movie clips, Duncan and Shanny had the day's logistics planned and Chris, Mr Xu and Zabie checked out the route for tomorrow. Henry? Well, he has just continued to ride his bike through it all!
Black faces were the flavour of the day for the riders! The clouds of pollution were thick - it was like a bad scuba dive. Visibility was reduced to virtually your hand in your face! Of course, there were rolling hills and traffic galore. Most people had 'sexy, husky voices' at our Chinese dinner last night. The riders passed not one but two chairman Mao statues in the city and our hotel was across the road from a delicious bakery. Once they were scrubbed, cleanand well fed at both dinner and the bakery, they had smiles on their faces. It has been described as an 'interesting' day - small pleaasures and more to come onthe road to Beijing!
Not to much to report about the first day out of Xi'an. It isn't that it was boring but rather the visibility was down to about 20m due to low lying fog and smog that caused red eyes, coughs and dirty faces. If I hadn't see it this morning I would never have believed that we were staying next door to an incredibly beautifl montain range! The riders battled a few navigational challenges and some crazy traffic to make it to the Lotus Flower Hotel - to enjoy some quality time in the bowling alley that was part of the hotel! The second part of our journey to Samenxia was the sweetest definiteion of rolling hills ever; pure rollers and the scenery was incredibly beautiful - terraced hillsides, winding rivers, apple orchards and wild traffic!! The battle with Chinese drivers is on. Cleary the rules are, that there are no rules! By mid-afternoon, the wind had increased and the cloud had lifted to reveal wonderful skies of blue. It felt like a wonderful sunny autumn day! Samenxia is a city nonetheless, and as riders filtered in and word got arond there was a KFC less than 500m from the hotel, they were all gone in a flash! Miles continues to cook up a storm of Chinese delights that fill the belly and replace the energy expended throughout each day! From the land of rolling hills, blue skies and many apple orchards.......regards from Samenxia.
We departed from our little coal-dusted highway paradise early in order to get through to Xi'an in good time! Then everyone could wash their bikes and get the dirt,dust and grime off their bodies and enjoy the sights and sounds of Xi'an! The ride was fairly straightforward and nothing you would write home about but add in a city of 7 million, traffic, bikes, trucks, and some funky directions and now you have a story to tell! Safe to say that everyone is here and happy, clean, most bikes have been dealt with, laundry sent off and the riders are scrubbed, buffed, well-fed and off seeing the terra cotta warriors or enjoying downtown Xi'an. We have been joined by some of the family members of the riders and a close friend of Shanny, our tour leader, so welcome to them. We hope they enjoy the excitment that is the Silk Route. Coming into Xi'an has given us all a taste of what the next couple of weeks are going to be like. The pollution masks have been pulled out and folks are learning quickly all about riding in big cities! Bring it on!
Whew, where to begin for todays ride? Two tunnels, two decent climbs, two degrees in temperature and a traffic jam (of coal trucks) that stretched not two kilometres but 42 kilometres in either direction!! The morning was crisp and cold with some incredible scenery of surrounding hills and gorges. The roads were rolling up and down, growing incresasingly dustier with each kilometre. While the riders were slugging it out with the traffic, the trucks and 4WD had headed off on different routes after deciding the traffic jam wasn't going to affect us today. For them it turned out to be an extra 100 or so kms plus 4 mountain passes and a traffic jam of apple trucks (a bit healthier than coal trucks). It meant they arrived at the hotel about 6.30pm toinight. The riders continued on the planned route cranking through two very decent climbs (each one with its own traffic jam) and then navigating a 2km tunnel complete with cola trucks bumper to bumper, coal dust everyhwere and a narrow shoulder. Coal trucks, mud, water, scenery, hectic traffic, large trucks, noise all aside - Jean V summed it up tonight by saying 'that was one of the most interesting rides I have done!' The sun has set, the highway near to us is as busy as it was today, our bellies are full of another Cinese banquet and we can look back on a day no one is likely to forget!!!
Well, it was a delightfully lovely ride that had that 'Sunday afternoon' feel about it. The temperature increased, the sun shone, the climbs were enjoyable and the distance respectable.....what else can I say?! The scenery, as it hashas been for the last few days, was as gorgeous as ever. We had a big surprise tonight - a full-on Chinese Banquet in the hotel so Miles could enjoy a night off cooking and the riders could sample some delicious Chinese fare and enjoy a few drinks before heading back to the warmth of their rooms. A nice day all round!
It was a 108km day of total bliss, exhilaration, enjoyment and fun...well, at least the second half of the day was. It began with climbing, then a wee bit more, then some more uphill until lunch at 53km, just before a 2km tunnel. That meant 2km of darkness and big trucks so convoys were organised. Ice on the roads meant that the tunnel was backed up with traffic. The first convoy headed off with the assistance of Wimpie and the International at noon and the second group follwed a few hours later. Once through the riders discovered that the sun was shining, the road had warmed and the climbing was over. What lay ahead was 60km of downhill bliss, wide, steep, sweeping turns that made you smile as the road banked downwards and then carried on through the valley all the way through to the city of Pingliang. Yeeeeehah! The highlight for a small group of lucky riders was spending a few moments with a local Imam, his beautiful hound, his mosque and enjoying sweet bread, pure honey and a warm drink in the afternoon sun. Life couldn't get much better than a day like today. One of the riders commented it was one of our best so far. I think I would agree!!!!!
It was another day in mountain paradise today with rolling hills, views to enjoy, temperatures to let you know you are alive, a tunnel to keep you concentrating and at the end, a hotel for a hot shower! While Zabie (our Chinese translator), Mr Xu (our driver) and Miles sorted the hotel and went shopping for the next great meal, the riders cranked it out on early morning undulating ups and downs, enjoying scenery much the same as yesterday (simply gorgeous!), dodging tunnel traffic and the gnarliest speedbumps ever on their way towards the city of Jingning, one of the many small cities on Highway 312.The terraced hills and views was made for incrediblely nice riding. No one is complaining about the hills, what with nice descents and cool temperatures. Who wouldn't be happy about a hotel at the end? It gave our resident fireworks junkies (Scott and Big Dave) a bit more of a challenge as to when and where to let them off! All good fun here on the Silk Route!
Lanzhou was a wee bit hazy this morning but the traffic was cranking and the riders, eager to make a dent on a big day of climbing, were up and out on the road dodging crazy Chinese traffic first thing! Ahead lay a day of rolling hills, agricultural bliss, terraced mountains, small villages nestled high in the hills and incredible vistas of gorges, rivers and winding roads. Even though temperatures are a bit on the chilly side for a camp, the African Routes boys found coal and wood, Miles added some extra chilli to the meal and everyone had some sort of alcoholic beverage to warm up with. The main expressway has left us for a few days so the group are enjoying some mountain roads, a few tunnels and some incredible scenery en route to Xi'an. So, perched high on the hillside in rural Chinese paradise we send our greetings. You should have been here today!
