Day 2, 9/16/2012

Distance covered today: 57.9k (49 on the road and several around town)

Total mileage to date: 164k

Time in saddle: 3h37min

Time from departure: about 6+ hours  

     The ride from yesterday took a lot out of me.  I covered a lot more distance than i was planning and have not done more than 100k in a day since my first foray into long distance cycling 5 years ago.  Thankfully because I stretched so far yesterday, I only had to go 50+ to make it to my next stop.

     TongHai.  Much nicer than I expected and also than it comes off at first glance.  Coming in to town it seems very industrial, several factories and bunch of vegetable shipping depos gathering the crops for movement out of the area.  But once past that it is a nice smaller town.  Town center seems to be based around a small walking mall with a Chinese temple in the middle and a large mosque in the north western corner.  Streets are small and the place has a traditional, authentic feel.  Which I can attest to as so far the only foreigner and people seem genuinely shocked to see a white face.  Not a lot of foreign tourists coming through. 

     I was able to find a "hotel" for 25 yuan a night.  Warm water to shower was a welcome surprise although I would pay handsomely for a 马桶 (look it up). 

     The road today was easy to follow.  Skirted around Fuxian lake and then another smaller lake to the south.  After rejoining the local highway (s214) it was a 6+k climb before starting the downhill which took me most of the way into TongHai. 

     At the top of the hill was a tollboth and I had a foreboding sense that I might be turned away, truck access only or something.  As I approached I saw a small motorbike lane and hit it hard and fast to be able to go around anyone who might try to stop me... All for nothing.  The one guard who saw me looked about 15 and was more confused looking than anything else.

     A nice downhill and into town for a cup of coffee and a massage.  Tomorrow I will push about 70-80k to JianShui where I think I will stay for my first rest day. 

Day 1, 9/15/2012

Distance: 106.9 km

Time in saddle: 5h12m

Time from departure: 8h30m

Max speed: 62.1

(assuming my bike computer is on point, and I know its close)

The first day of the trip.  Started out with a solid plan.  Spent the day before researching some websites, asking for some local advice and using my maps to plan a route with what I thought were good distances to cover in the beginning.  Not to far, 60k and look for a hotel depending on where I was.      

     Did not follow that plan at all.  About 15k south of Kunming I cam across 4 guys cycling and after speaking for a minute learned we were both heading to the same place.  But they were going to be taking a different route.  So for some reason I still cant fathom, I decided to stick to my plan and go my way. 

     Immediately I was second guessing my choice.  They were local, they spoke Chinese, they were people to talk to and be around.  But choice made, I continued on.

     The roads were great, and the GPS worked like a charm.  Somehow I got off route, but was able to keep going, when in doubt go south.  Its my motto until Sa Pa.  Then its, when in doubt head westsouthwest.  Doesnt have the same ring. 

          Then by chance or luck, serendipity, fate ( you can choose your word) I can came across the same guys taking a short break.  On the wrong road (from my plan) and there they were.  I joined up with them immediately.  Turns out one of them has done this ride before.  Has a hotel in mind, which turned out to be 40RMB with hot water.  And overall were good people.  Never missing the chance to join in with other riders again.  They did however push a little farther than I was planning.  In typical Chinese fashion the leader said its only a little farther several times.  That turned out to be about 25-30k.  But, hotel is good, view is great and in two days I think I can cover what I had planned for 3 and take a day to rest.

    Day one, success.  Tired.  Legs are sore.  Ass hurts in places I never really felt before and that I believe will only get worse before it gets better.  Some new challenges not thought of before in mind (like, squatters all the time I knew before, but I forgot the village squatter stank.  What do you do with your bags when you need to answer nature?  most of the new problems seem to revolve around the bathroom).

    I really hope everything I read about it taking two weeks to really get into the flow of things.  Otherwise I need to start going a lot slower.

Kunming 3

Final preparations are pretty much complete.  I have a few things on my shopping list to pickup on my last day before heading out, but for the most part I have all the materials that I believe that I will need.  But I am having a lot of thoughts about the upcoming trip. 

Do I have enough time to make the marathon and meet my friends?

Do I have enough money and time budgeted?

Clothes, tools, etc?

And bigger questions, how is this going to work?  Do I have the stamina and am I physically ready?  Is this even a good idea or am I fucking idiot?

    Questions like this have been increasing as the start date gets near.  One more day and its time to get on the road...

Kunming 2, 9/11/2012

Today in some ways my bike trip starts.  My bike arrived by EMS from Wuhan.  The box looked a little worse for wear but it made it.  I started to get things together and after a minute I realized that my rear tire was not running smooth.  It looks like the rear brake is pressing on the tire keeping the tire from spinning freely.  So now its time to make my first trip to a bike shop for my first repair.  Hopefully this is minor problem and quick repair, this would be a stupid thing to stop me before I start.

     Tomorrow I should pick up my visa from the Vietnamese embassy and hopefully get my bike up in running for my first test run before setting off south.

    I think this is a minor problem, find out tomorrow.  First hurdle on the road and I yet to actually travel a single kilometer.

Kunming 1

After heading out of Xiamen we flew to Kunming.  A drastic difference in cities.  Kunming has entailed a lot of walking, about 10 plus kilometers a day.  We have been to several temples, but the highlight so far has been the food.

     The first night we were able to find our way to a local eatery and the food was fantastic.  Pineapple and spare ribs, wood ear mushrooms, crispy beef, and soy beans with mustard greens.  All in all, it was excellent.

     Today we went on a long walk to pretty much nowhere.  The map and guidebooks touted this park on the north end of dianchi (a large lake south of Kunming) but a wrong turn and we were on the wrong side of the canal from the park.  Fortunately there was a small park that offered a (some what disappointing) view of the north end of the lake.  But to salvage the day I was able to locate a bicycle store and find a dowel that I have been looking for to make my luggage rack a little more secure and keep my baggage from falling off.  So that was good.

Xiamen, 9/5/2012

         Took an overnight bus from Wuhan to Xiamen.  Technically it was a sleeper bus, but I had forgotten what that actually means.  The "bed" was tiny, even by average chinese standards I would think it was small.  And there was no where to put my bag, so i spent the night hugging my backpack.  it was pretty awful, but only 15 hours later, i was in xiamen waiting for my dad and step-mom in the airport. 

     We met up and made our way to Gulangyu, the scenic island off Xiamen.  Our hotel was at 8 Lujiao Lu.  After easily locating lujiao lu we proceeded to find 5, 7, then 9, but no 8.  A brief search and I went in to ask some bar staff where no. 8 might be.  They had no idea. She said, "well, 5 is that way, were 7 and 9 is over there, but 8, its somewhere else. I have no idea." Turns out neither did anyone else in the area.  So I called the hotel, told them where we were and asked them to send someone to find us.  A few minutes later we were walked to the hotel, about 200 meters from where we got off the ferry, and no where close to 5-13 Lu Jiao lu was.  Apparently odd and evens have no bearing on where they might be to each other.

     After that little diversion we set about exploring the island and having a pleasant dinner.  Travelling in China is always interesting.  Tomorrow will be a car to Fujian tulous.

Sapa, Vietnam

I arrived in Sapa two days ago and have been enjoying my time.  The weather is pretty wet most of the time, despite my hope that I would come in after the raining season.  Or it is after the rainy season and it is just always wet here.

After arriving at the Chinese border, I was starting to have second thoughts about how much of this trip I really wanted to spend on a bike.  Quickly realizing that in order to bike from one place to another met spending a lot of time in far off places that I really have no interest in being in.  And I also am starting to fear that I am going to spend the whole time on the bike, without the energy to do anything that might be really enjoyable.  The ride to Sapa, only convinced me futher that the bike was a bad idea.
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Starting out in the morning the weahter was decent.  Looked like rain, but then so had everyday since I started and usually it was nice as it kept the temperature jlkjdown.  Crossing the border was very easy.  most of the guards were more interested that someone would actually be biking than anything else so I didnt have to remove my bags for the inspection, just p
assed right through.  Finally, out of China and into Vietnam.  Then the ride to Sapa began in earnest.  It was truly hellish.

From Lao Cai to Sapa is only about 35km.  It started raining soon after I crossed the border and would not stop until about an hour before my arrival in Sapa.  But because of heavy rains the night before, the frist obstabcle I encountered was a washout in the road. Only about knee deep, it was fairly easily crossed.  Then the road started to go up.  And up, and up.  It would not stop going up until the end.  30km of hill climb.  It was the first time in my life I have seen a sign warning of 10% grade on the road.  That sign became common, to the point where when I saw a sign that said 6% grade, I thought, "Oh, what relief, I can rest a little on this section."  It was absolutely brutal.  After a while at some points I simply no longer had the strength and had to get off and push.  I realized I was going about the same speed.

After 2 hours, the traffic started to backup.  All stop.  Landslides had cut the road.  Slowly I peddaled to the front of the line to see what my chances of crossing were.  The road was out.  Would be for at least a couple of hours.  However, if you could carry it over, you could cross.  I unpacked my bike, and carried my bags over the rocks.  The bicycle though was going to be bit more tricky and awkward, the rocks did not align themselves for this type of crossing.  But on the edge was mud you could go through to make it around.  This was my route.  Took of the bike shoes, shouldered the bike and into the mud.  Two steps and my right foot sank to my knee, when I pulled up, the mud sucked my shoe off.  Next step the left shoe was sucked off.  Bike on shoulder, shoes in hand, I went forward.  The back hoe that was clearing the road decided it was time to move and I was right behind it.  I had to wait, barefoot, shin deep in mud until the driver had to get out to check his position before I could scoot behind the tractor to my bags and the other side.  It was a brief moment of elation and accomplishment in an otherwise defeating day.

Once on the other side, I washed off.  Got the bike back up and started up, all up.  The only nice thing about the slide was the road was empty.  After another hour or two vans started to go by.  But for the most part I had the road to myself.

Total distance: 42.3k
Average Speed: 9 k/h
Max speed: 34.9 k/h
Time in saddle: 4h35m
Travel time: 6.5+hrs
Total distance traveled: 569k