Dog 1 vs. 0 Loon 26/03/2011: Gangzheung to Ersham 101.69km

It was another cold morning and the threat of rain was ever present. During breakfast Loon asked a couple of interested policemen about the road to Yuxi our target for the day, they said it was 150km and there were 4 big climbs we’d have to negotiate. 

The hills were the same as ever, long and never ending but the dogs which in china are normally chained up and if they are not are either very obedient or don’t care, were not today. We got chased by so many dogs and one instance while being chased Loon got too close to my back wheel and went down hard, the dog just walked off but Loon was suffering. I felt really bad because Loon had hit the ground hard and flat on his face and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t stop laughing. The situation wasn’t funny for Loon but I was in stitches, I sat Loon down and parked the bikes up, when he was ready to leave that’s when Karma struck. 

I had a flat tyre, I had no spare tubes but luckily I did have patches, I could not find the cause of the puncture but eventually I did, unknown to me the piece of metal wire I pulled out had snapped so when I put the wheel  back together it went down again so had to search for the rest of the  metal wire which I did find but we had lost an hour and half with Loons accident (which still brings a giggle) and my puncture.

We rode on and thought we had made good time until the final hill, it went up for 15kms, we were up into the clouds, by the end we had climbed up 900m to 2000m, it was a painful final climb and the temperature was down to 7C so the decent wasn’t pleasant. It was almost dark by the time we stopped and we’d fallen short but still left Kunming where me and Loon would part ways after a couple of days off in range, we think! 

Always Forward 25/03/11: Mojiang to Gangzhueng 99.33km

Nice weather we're having

We were up a bit earlier despite the calls through the night to our room asking if we needed a massage before they just asked out right if we wanted a girl. During a breakfast of noodles (it was one of 4 bowls of noodles I had today) it began to rain, only a little though but it was quite chilly. Regardless we set off and the rain gradually got heavier, the temperature dropped as low as 9C at one point. It was a shame the weather was so poor because for once the road wasn’t too bad and we felt we could have covered some ground today.  Just before we had gone up our first climb there was the sound of thunder, a smart person would have gone back to the town which was only 5minutes down the hill for shelter but me and Loon just put our waterproofs on, manned up and got on with it. 

It really wasn’t pleasant riding, there was a strong cold wind that when we would round corners would send a shiver right through our body.

The rain thankfully did stop and things were much more pleasant, the road got worse which made the 20km downhill a bumpy one. We came across a hot spring, with the cold weather it would have warmed us right up but neither of us could bear the thought of when we are done and drying ourselves off in the bitter cold however there was a group who had set up a cards table in the hot river and were sat there playing cards while keeping warm. When we hit the bottom of the hill we were down to 450m, the lowest we have been at for quite some time and when we went to the next town we were back to 800m but again neither of us can recall the last time we stayed anywhere under 1000m!

Gangzhueng seemed a dirty square old China town, not a lot going on here but I’m sure Chinas wealth will reach it and things will build up and develop. As for my food expenditure today I didn’t pay more than 3 Yuan (30p) for any meal except the rice, I still don’t understand how Chinese people survive, things are so cheap but again I’m not complaining.   

Foiled 24/03/2011: Tonguan to Mojiang 76.71km

This is the 9^th straight day and normal I would be able to handle it but the hills, poor roads have taken their toll and left me (Loon more so) shattered.

Getting out of bed today was a real challenge, my legs felt a bit of stiffness and in general the whole body wasn’t keen on moving. When we did get going it was late but with any luck we should be riding along the highway and make some good time, unfortunately things did not go as planned. Racing through the toll gate back to the highway we did not have a truck to use as cover so we just went flat out, just as we got through one of the toll gate works was screaming after us to stop, I played dumb and waved hello but I had a bad feeling she wasn’t going to let it go judging by her hysterics. About 500m along the highway there was a group of policemen waiting at the petrol station, they waved us to stop, I wasn’t going to play games with the Chinese police, unlike the Laos police (if you could find them) these guys didn’t look  sort to mess around with. We stopped and they spoke to Loon, the reason for them being there was further along the road where it descends 5 trucks in separate incidents crashed and they were here pulling every truck over checking their brakes (drivers in china I believe think the brake is on the steering wheel as they use it on every corner) and warning them. 

Through Loon I tried to plead with them because the highway was shorter, in better condition and to a degree safer than the old road. It was against the law for us to be on here so really we had no chance, soon a police car pulled up and escorted us back, and we also pretended not to know which road we needed to be on so he led us to the correct road.

The old road was awful, it was bumpy, full of pot holes and much longer than the highway, on the highway it was 300km to Kunming, on this road it was over 400km. I wasn’t a happy hamster, I got even more peaved  when we spent about 8km going up a number of hairpin turns with a bird’s eye view of the highway, on the stretch of road I could see there was two vehicles while we were crawling up a crappy road effectively going nowhere, we were level with the same stretch for about 40 mins as we went up and up and up.

There wasn’t anywhere to get lunch, we rode till 1530 by the time we could get food and had only covered 75km, Loon was tired and we opted to find a guesthouse, it was a big town so you wouldn’t think it was hard but the first few won’t allow foreigners to stay and the others were expensive. Loon hatched a plan, he would go to a guesthouse, and I’d keep out of sight and see if we get a good price, it worked straight away.

Getting up to the room we were both done and slept straight away, then it was potter about on the hunt for food, I managed to find a sort of tea that might live up to expectations I’m still to find out. It seems like getting to Shanghi before my visa runs out is going to be a real struggle.

Highway to Heaven 23/03/2011: Pu’er to Tonguan 116.13km

After we managed to find our way out of the town, which thanks to Loon and my instinct we hit the main road, unfortunately the new road for this section was not yet built so the traffic was very busy, very heavy and the road wasn’t in the best condition. We sneaked past the toll gate with no problems then to my surprise climbed up to 1700m! I have to confess it was all under my own steam, there was a lot of trucks grunting up the hill so I grabbed on for a tow but the road being so narrow meant I had to let go  but there was always another one just behind.

The road pretty much carried on much the same, we were given some awesome downhill’s at times but then made to slog up some major uphill’s which I grabbed any truck I could. At one stage the sealed road just disappeared only for about half a kilometre but the cars and trucks not keen to go too fast back up, I just picked the best line on either side and smoked them all. After getting through the rally course the new motorway started again, we stopped at the brand new petrol station just before the toll gate. There was no signs forbidding bicycles but Loon asked a few workers and they all said bikes weren’t allowed on the motorway, even motorbikes! 

The motorway wasn’t very busy at all, it had two lanes and a huge shoulder which may as well be a third lane,  we decided to go for it so once we saw a couple of buses we could use as cover we sneaked past. 

We’d had a bit of a slow day but the smooth brand new road we were on went downhill forever (25km) and we fell from 1200m to 800m but every down in China means there’s an up so after a flat section we had 14km uphill but again the trucks who also crawled up as we do were there for towing. This road being so open and wide meant I could hold on till my arm burned. I used a total of three trucks to get to the top and by the time I got there it was getting late, there was a turn off to a town so I sat and waited for Loon who also for the first time had grab a tow and we decided to leave the motorway and find a guesthouse (we got one for 30 Yuan (3GBP)).

There is a big question as to whether towing is cheating or not, I don’t think so, I’m still sat on the bike and normally don’t hold on for long though today I was spoilt, it’s a good way to save my already battered knees and its bloody good fun to hang onto the side of a 20 ton truck while cruising up a hill at 20/30kmph, I met a guy in Sydney who won a bike race by grabbing a tow and wasn’t classed as cheating so that’s good enough for me.

English needs 22/03/11: Mengyang to Pu’er 126.2km

Today was a tough day of riding, if you think I need to man up your probably right but on not one but two occasions we climbed from 600m to almost 1400m, the final climb coming at the end of the day when I had virtually nothing to give. 

The day didn’t start the best, I have gone the whole day without using the toilet, that’s because the toilet in China isn’t the sacred place it is to an Englishman. In England it’s a relaxing environment when you do the business, you should feel comfortable enough to take your time, read the paper and if needed use the softest of paper. China this is not the case, the toilets here is basically a slip way, there is two next to each other sometimes with a parting wall sometimes not, no toilet paper, nowhere to wash your hands (if the concept is not understood you wipe with the left hand) and you have to squat like a dog often over the remains of the last persons doings. 

My other issue in China has been getting a proper cup of tea, going to battle without one is a challenge and since running out the only tea I have found is Chinese tea which doesn’t match in any way, we didn’t build an empire on Chinese tea it was done on Yorkshire tea, PG Tips with milk for calcium and sugar for energy.

The riding as I say was hard, the first hill went up to almost 1400m from 600m and by the time we reached the top when stopped for lunch, out average speed was about 10kmph but after downhill to around 900m the average speed was up to 15kmph then the road undulated before we seemed to hit a valley floor (at 900m!) and could cruise along but then nearing the end of the day the road tested my tired body by rising up again to over 1300m to our final destination of Pu’er.

We rode the old road as getting on the highway was much tougher today, the toll guards were straight onto us sending us back, and even the locals on their motorbikes didn’t get through. It’s a shame the highway would have taken around 25km off our journey and it would have been much easier going than using the old road.

Pu’er was meant to be a city it seemed a strange place, very gray and square looking but there wasn’t the people yet to fill it but still development continues, a good sign of Chinas growing wealth and its attempt to try and get its people into the cities. We had a walk around and the strange thing was for a city it appeared really dark, it took me a while to work out what was wrong but it was dark, not brightly lit up as big towns and cities are, it made for a strange feel.

For dinner (vegetarians look away now) we got ourselves huge plate of rice and an entire duck, complete with head, all for 20 Yuan (2GBP) each. It was a little over budget but old Donald taste great and as on our walk around the town we had already been snacking so I was glad that our hotel was next door because I was ready to explode.  For the rest of the evening I filed in my diary like a school child doing homework and watch one of the movies I have already watch on my laptop but who could ever get sick of Shrek.

Light at the end of the tunnel 21/03/2011: Mengla to Mengyang 143.21km

Note to self: I’m bloody tired.

It was a misty morning which meant it was a cool one so at least I was happy but Loon wasn’t so chuffed. We got going, this was to be our last day riding together so it was going to be emotional but I managed to persuade Loon to cycle up to Kunming with me, speaking and reading Chinese he’s a useful guy to have around. We were riding on the highway where bicycles were not allowed but the highway seemed much safer to me than the old road. The old road took a much hilly route, is much narrower but the traffic is still just as heavy with speeding trucks using the whole road and giving me a few close calls, where as the new road (which is so new it doesn’t appear on any maps we have or even my GPS or Google Maps) goes over any valley and through any hill. The road never goes up too sharply just long and gradually. The only down sides are the tunnels which are also the up side, it’s a real thrill going through especially on the downhill, one big tunnel went downhill and I raced through at 45kmph, also the tunnels are great shade from the days heat which was up to 39C today, the other down side but again source of fun is the toll gates, the challenge is to sneak through using a truck as cover, nobody seems to really care but they have to be seen to do their job so if they can they’ll stop us but once through they don’t care. At one toll gate I grabbed a tow on a truck to the amusement of the driver and left the toll people with their jaws on the ground.

The days riding really was tough today however, the roads would frequently climb up and over 1000m then drop sharply for about 7km, a head wind didn’t make this any easier but it gave some stunning scenery but left my cycling jersey with lots of salt lines. With 30kms to go the road just went up and up and up. It really was a tough end but the last 12kms we were rewarded with a never ending down hill to our final destination for the day. At this point we still thought it was our last day riding till I cut a deal with Loon that I would take a bit longer time cycling up to Kunming and he would ride up with me, goodbyes are hard on the road it’s the downside to travelling so if you can put them off you do but this will mean from Kunming to Shanghi I will have to push hard to get there before my visa runs out.