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!
Well, today we had all the extremes of weather conditions. It was one of the toughest days so far on tour; -5 temperatures, snow, rain, wind and some ice plus a 2900m pass.Thankfully, at the end are hotel rooms that have heating and hot water. A crisp and cold morning (as Miles put it - ’feels like the first day of winter’) had the riders all rugged up and climbing pretty much straight out of Wuwei. Most were happy about as it kept them warm and cosy. Lunch at 80km up the road provided them with hot drinks, hot meals and a chance to put on extra layers before heading up a little higher and, boy, did the temperature plummet. The weather deteriorated into an windy, ice storm that had the trucks doing little slides and the riders ducking their heads and pedaling for home. Although the cold weather made things a little interesting, the ride itself was a beautiful; winding, scenic mountain roads that traversed through small villages and had that snowy, country lane feel. Still, and I believe the majority of the riders will agree, the best part of the day was the heated rooms and the hot showers. A few of us decided to finish the day of witha glass of red wine Lets just see how tomorrow goes shall we?????
Greetings from Wuwei, home of the largest shopping mall complex we have seen so far and some great dumplings. A fantastic two days of riding lie behind us; the weather was brilliant, the sun was shining, the hazy skies disappeared, the hills reappeared in force yesterday and there was a beautiful mountain campsite last night. Scott and Big Dave have discovered fireworks in this country so most nights there is some sort of action happening, folks are riding strong, Miles has cooked up a storm, we managed to have a great coal fire last night, everyone appears to be rather healthy and everyone is looking forward to an unplanned rest day tomorrow! . Yesterday's ride was a fairly long one, with some hills to climb in the afternoon and a bit of slog to the campsite but it was all worth it.The riders are alot thinner than when they began, months ago in Istanbul!
Gusty winds were the flavour of the day on today's ride into the small (by Chinese standards) city of Jiangue where the tour halted for the night and riders and staff alike get to experience some more Chinese hospitality and the warmth of a hotel room as well as a hot shower. The wind blew in our desert camp last night and this morning, the skies were clear and offered us a morning vista of mountains with a fresh dusting of the fluffy white stuff. Some small climbs dotted the ride and the trees are losing their leaves so it was dust and leaves blowing everywhere but as we are on a secondary road and not the main highway, the traffic not so bad. The best thing about this day, sunshine and a cranking tailwind! Sorry, no pedalling required!
A delightfully gorgeous, fresh, sunny morning to start another day of riding was enhanced by a delicious, yummy breakfast! It was just a nice day of pedalling in China. The roads were in good shape, the traffic not so bad, the weather beautiful and warm and the scenery wass nice. There were fields full of chillies, corn and melons drying in the sun, snowcapped mountains, rugged sandstone hills and quaint little Chinese villages mixed in with large towns and cities(which means lots of drink stops). Nice! It was one of the days that you just felt good being out and about on a bicycle. Our sweet little campsite is by a dry river bed. A nice little fire providing some warmth, a chat about ceramics from our resident potter Ronda, and another scrumptious meal from Miles meant we are ready to deal with the cold that is heading our way this evening (sitting at about 1800m, means it will be cold). So another fine riding day slips by here on the Silk Road. Let's hope there is a few more to follow on our journey into Beijing!
After just three riding days, we have arrived to another rest day at our hotel in another exciting town in China.
Jiayuguan is home to the western most portion of the great wall, and so riders will have there first glimpse of the wall that will re-appear again before the end of the tour.
Desert camp last night was great - a nice camp fire, surprisingly pleasant night-time temparatures and another great meal - pork kebabs and lots of tasty vegatables.
Sadly, the desert camps are now few and far between, as the fall temparatures continue to drop, we'll be forced to stay in more hotels. I personal prefer the camp experience. Its a much better way to feel the community of this travelling band of cyclists.
Just a few weeks now really until Beijing! Its hard to believe. Next week onto Lanzhau, then Xian, and Beijing.
Well, our staff writer, Rachel, is on a well deserved break, and so you are left with me for a few days to keep you up to date on the latest goings-on, along the Silk Route.
Today was one of those days where this expedition feels like a vacation. The 120km from Dunhuang flew by along the quiet road with near perfect smooth pavement. No winds to speak of and only the gentlest of climbing. To our left for most of the day was a railway line, with the occasional passenger train streaming past us. To our right, we were accompanied by beautiful hills that extended from the magestic dunes in Dunhuang. It was a nice contrast to the flat desert road we traveled on.
Leaving Dunhuang was cold, as most mornings have been over the past few weeks, but by the time we arrived at the lunch truck it was a very comfortable 20 degrees or so.
The caves and dunes in Dunhuang seemed to be a highlight of the tour for many of the riders.
At sunset, the dunes look idyllic. The knife edge peaks of the dunes slither across the horizon into the distance with the colours emphasized by the late day sun.
The last two days riding coming into the city of Dunhuang was blissful with some great riding conditions. Of course, the wind was around, but very tolerable and the sun shone, the roads can only be described as beautiful and the riding ‘exceptionally good’ as Kiwi Brian would comment each day. While we had a bit of a cold night camped up high, the night before Danuang was very pleasant indeed and the desert was at its best, especially the sunrises and sunsets! Nothing beats those in the desert and it is amazing what a fire will do for a group’s spirits. That, the delicious meals, the stories, conversations and the drinks. As for the scenery, well not too many towns to ride through, and in those that we did, everyone stopped for snacks or for a meal. The desert landscape in this part of the world is very beautiful, with the mountain ranges rising up far off into the distance. Riding into Dunhuang was crazy. The minute the flagging tape was put up, it was pulled down. Sometimes the riders did a scenic tour of the city but all finally made it safely to the Fei Tien Hotel in good time to enjoy hot water and the night market as well as what the city is famous for - the dunes and the Buddhist Caves. The feel of this palce is so laid-back, positive and happy that I think we may be hard pressed to get the riders to come with us tomorrow. We welcome back Gary and Richard who took a side journey to Tibet and bid farewell to Michiel and Brian, two awesomely strong riders who were good to have with us. Safe journeys home boys! Today we’re enjoying the sunshine, the comfy hotel rooms, the fact that someone else has done our laundry, some more delicious Chinese food and the chance to do some souvenir shopping too and see some incredible sights!
