Final Thoughts

Beijing
November 20th

My Chinese visa finally came through. I'm at my departure gate in Beijing's beautiful new airport. After 194 days away, I'm going home.

The past six months are full of fond memories. There are not many people that have traveled from coast-to-coast across the world's largest landmass entirely under their own power. Because of the war in Georgia, I am not a member of this elite group....and that is more than a little irritating. However, of all the people that have NOT cycled ALL the way across Europe an Asia, surely we have come the closest. (I'm grasping at straws here, I know.)

Georgia was not our only challenge. Getting our Chinese visas was an education in government bureaucracy, and the border crossings in Central Asia were almost as ridiculous. We also spent almost half a year sleeping in bush camps on windy hill-tops and in the middle of open deserts without running water.

Then there was the cycling: We rode over mountains and into brutal headwinds. We rode across rocky, rutted desert tracks and up deep-sand switchbacks. We rode through heat that I'd never experienced before, through frigid rain, and even through a snowstorm. We rode when we were tired and we rode when we were sick...popping Immodium endlessly. All told, we cycled 13,776km in 123 days of riding, averaging 112km per day.

My bike was certainly up to the challenge. No real mechanical troubles and only 4 flat tires...two of which I caused myself while inflating the tubes, and one of which occurred mysteriously while I was back in Boston for my graduation.

Since I left, the world has changed. There is a financial crises and a new US president elect. In comparison, I think that I've changed less. I'm down to 172lbs...only 4lbs lighter than when I left. My legs and lungs are certainly in fine form...although my quads are still burning from my run up the Great Wall three days ago. And my desire for continued adventures is as strong as ever.

I had hoped that this trip would ease the transition from school to work, and it has. I'm not sure that the transition from bike to work will be any easier...but I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready for a normal life again, and looking forward to my next adventures.

Thanks to everyone for their e-mails and blog comments – they always made me smile. Hope that I can catch up with all of you in person soon.

Done

Tanggu to the Coast
November 14th
79km (555m vertical)

Last day of cycling – and much more complicated then we planned. It was really tough to find the coast. We rode around for more than an hour before we got to the main port. It was very industrial, with huge shipping containers stacked everywhere. No security though, so we rode right out between the ships and took our final photos.

By this time, we were too late to catch the early train to Beijing, so we rode around some more looking for a “nice” beach to dip our wheels in the water. Nothing. We rode for 30km along the coast and it was all industrial. A bit anti-climactic...but these things usually are. Its about the journey, not the destination.

Got to a light-rail station by 10am, but they didn't allow bikes. Eventually fund the main train station, but the security wouldn't let our bikes into the terminal, let alone onto the trains. Found a bus station, but the security guard there kicked us out as well. Eventually we found the “shipping” department in the back of the bus station, and shipped our bikes (and ourselves) back to Beijing on the next bus.

With the pedaling done, the last obstacle of the trip is getting an individual Chinese visa, so that I can leave the country. My passport is supposed to be delivered to the hotel tomorrow, with the visa in it. Fingers crossed.

Al (bottom right) arrives at the dock:

Al and I at the finish line:

Navigating through the shipping containers, looking for a non-existent beach:

Going Coastal

Beijing to Tanggu
November 13th
170km (609m vertical)

As the rest of the group boxed their bikes in the hotel parking lot, Al and I set off for the coast. A friend had left us maps at the hotel – which were extraordinarily helpful, even though they were in Mandarin. Whenever we got offtrack, Al would canvas the locals for help and I would provide a sanity check on their advice. (Sometimes, I think they just pointed randomly to get us to go away.)

We averaged 25.5km/h over the 170km, which is pretty good given all of our misadventures in the larger cities. Reached Tanggu at 4:30pm, just as it began to get dark. Al was thrilled to find a hostel room for $10 per night. No window, but otherwise fine.

We are about 10km from the water, so we'll go take some photos in the morning and then take a train back to Beijing.

Silk Route Ends

Gaobeidian to Beijing
November 12th
96km (732m vertical)

We've reached the end of the Silk Road. The “official” Paris-to-Beijing tour is over. Al and I will cycle to the coast tomorrow, and that will be the end.

There was a tight schedule today, with breakfast at 7am and lunch at 10:30am. Al stayed to late at breakfast and missed lunch entirely. The group covey left without him, but he caught up with us en route.

Grey and foggy/smoggy all day. Not exactly a scenic end to the trip. The roads were busy, but there were wide cycle lanes into the heart of the city. We stopped for photos at Tiananmen Square, in front of the Forbidden Palace, until the local guards told us to move along.

There were celebratory drinks and a slide show waiting for us at the hotel. There was even real cheese – which we haven't seen at all in China. Peking Duck dinner with the group was fun...but not as good as the Anyang duck. We all went to a Chinese Opera for our final group activity. The first act was what I expected (screechy high-pitched singing), but the rest of the show had acrobatic tumbling, elaborate fight scenes, and fancy juggling. It was great!

Group photo in from of Chairman Mao:

The seven riders that started in Paris:

Visa Saga II

Baoding to Gaobeidian
November 11th
65km (371m vertical)

Short ride today, so that we have a manageable distance into Beijing tomorrow. It was only 37F, so everyone was bundled up in multiple layers. The smog was terrible – like a thin fog. I've got a bit of a head cold and sore throat, probably due to the poor air quality. I've been gobbling down vitamin C tablets and had a long nap this afternoon.

Al and I plan to ride from Beijing to the coast on Thursday. It will be a long ride, so hopefully I'll feel better by then. We should be able to reach the coast in one day's ride, spend a night there, and then take a train back to Beijing. Hopefully we can find a map somewhere.

Long rider meeting tonight. They're having trouble converting our group visa into individual visas. Unless they do this, I will not be allowed on a plane home (since I have nothing in my passport to show that I entered China legally). The current plan is to get our passports back, with individual visas, on Nov 15th. This works fine for me, but others were planning to fly home before the 15th and will need to rebook their flights.

Joan, Clive and Mike sit down to dinner:

Accident

ShiJiaZhuang to Baoding
November 10th
142km (452m vertical)

More cold weather and rough roads. The bumpy ride gave me a headache...although the loud horns and terrible air quality weren't helping matters either.

At lunch, our tour van driver was in an accident with a local woman on an electric bike. The woman was hurt and taken to hospital, although she is not seriously injured. Ben, the tour leader, was on hand to administer first aid – keeping her back and neck straight and still. He was shocked when a police car drove slowly past the scene. (They saw the bike and van, and saw Ben holding the woman's head as she lay in the road...but they didn't stop to offer help!?!) Then the ambulance came, and the first thing they did was pull the woman up by her arms and help her walk to the ambulance. No backboard. No neck support. Glad it wasn't one of our riders!

The "bike lane" was under the main road:

Commuting

Xingtai to ShiJiaZhuang
November 9th
116km (604m vertical)

Lately, writing this blog has felt like trying to think of interesting descriptions of a daily commute – there's just not much “new” to report. It was cold again, 42F, and we had some really terrible roads in the morning. My wrists and palms were aching by lunch, after 40kkm of rutted road repairs. Another big city tonight, with lots of crazy traffic to negotiate.

Bangs

Anyang to Xingtai
November 8th
133km (601m vertical)

Colder day, down to 48F, but otherwise the same unremarkable cycling. Several weddings en route, with long processions of decorated black cars. They seem to celebrate with firecrackers too – setting them off on the ground and shooting them up into the air...from moving cars! In one town, they were launching big fireworks from the middle of the main street – sounded like cycling through a battlefield.

The internet cafe near the hotel was recovering from a power failure when I showed up. I saw a monitor explode: loud bang and then smoke pouring out from all sides as the poor shop owner played with the fusebox.

Graeme is still feeling sick. Apparently he hasn't had much to eat or drink in four days...and he's still cycling everyday. He's ridden EFI from Paris, so it would really suck to have to ride in the van now. Two longer days, two shorter days, and then we're done.

Joan and Nicole riding through town:

Fireworks in the middle of the main street:

Last Rest Day

Rest Day in Anyang
November 7th
0km

Last rest day of the trip. Five riding days to Beijing, one or two more to the Pacific...and then its over.

Laundry is getting more expensive as we get closer to Beijing. Even the small local shop charged $30!!! I feel better giving it to them then the hotel though...and at least they didn't lose anything this time.

Great dinner tonight – Peking Duck! Ok...we're not in “Peking” yet...but I'm sure that this authentic Anyang duck (from a restaurant where we were the only foreigners) is just as good as anything we'll find in Beijing. They brought out a whole duck and carved it at our table. Then a waitress turned it into little duck-filed wraps for us. Yum!

Frogger

Xinxiang to Anyang
November 6th
115km (285m vertical)

This entire week has been unspectacular. The end is in sight and we're just going through the motions to cover the 700 remaining kilometers. I fly home in 14 days.

Only a handful of riders, including me, are still eating the Chinese breakfasts each morning. The others find snacks in western-style supermarkets and leave first-thing in the morning. As a result, Nicole and I have been riding at the back of the pack, with Joan every day.

The weather has been warm, but the scenery completely unremarkable. Traffic is crazy and riding through cities feels like a game of Frogger. You can't lose concentration for a moment with so many vehicles flying around randomly.

Graeme and Clive have been sick again. Not the ideal way to end a trip, but at least they've had easy cycling days.

Our passports were sent to Beijing today to get new, non-group visas. This will allow us to leave China separately...important, since we are all leaving on different days. Fingers crossed that this final chapter in the China visa saga is short and ends well.

Chinese street-sweeper with 9 spinning brooms:

Big loads of hay:

Tripple-decker pigs in a transport truck:

Joan was a hit with these local ladies, who were cycling along with advertising on their bikes:

Its tough to capture the craziness of cycling in town because I need to keep both hands on the bike...but I managed this photo in a relatively tame stretch:

Congrats Barack

Boai to XinXiang
November 5th
86km (84m vertical)

Very short, very flat, very boring day. It was only supposed to be 77km, but the route was mis-flagged along an extra 9km “detour”. Had lunch at the hotel and then sat in an internet cafe all afternoon. Congratulations Barack Obama! (And congrats Brad, Rene, Nadia, Nate, Allison, etc. Sorry Alex.)

Nicole and Dr.Joan on a typically unspectacular piece of road:

No Photo

Luo Yang to Boai
November 4th
110km (495m vertical)

Short, flat, polluted, congested. Nothing to inspire photographs. Dull day. With only 7 more riding days until Beijing, its starting to feel like we are just going through the motions.

Cause and Effect

Sanmenxia to Luo Yang
November 3rd
126km (1,260m vertical)

Dull day of cycling. Nothing looked scenic surrounded by smog. It was bad. We arrived at the hotel covered with a gritty, oily black film. (I wonder how much of this stuff is settling in my lungs.) I suspect that pollution is also a main reason that locals spit so often in public. (The other being the prevalence of chain-smoking.) It is disgusting. They even spit indoors...like while sitting at an internet cafe. They spit right onto the floor beside them...and beside me.

Traffic is also getting crazier. In effect, there are no traffic rules: locals drive the wrong way down streets, ignore traffic lights, and turn without checking for oncoming traffic! (They assume priority from the right...even when turning onto a main road from a small alley.) In response, truck drivers preemptively blast their air-horns for fear of being cut-off. With the constant honking, I'm sure to suffer long term hearing loss in my left ear.

I always assumed that communist countries would have larger police presences and more orderly traffic. We see a lot of police officers sitting at the side of the road each day, but none of them seem bothered by the traffic chaos around them.

A creative Chinese retail concept:

Statue of Mao against a backdrop of industrial progress:

The pollution leaves me disgustingly dirty at the end of a ride:

Unexpected Climbs

Huayin to Sanmenxia
November 2nd
148km (1,622 vertical)

Tough day. No one expected this much climbing. We crossed several canyons, descending into each at 50km/h and then climbing up the other side Could have used my granny gear. Nicole must have gotten up on the right side of the bed, because she was really flying in the afternoon - we cruised along above 30km/h for most of it.

The days are starting to blend together a bit, since every hotel room looks exactly the same. On the other hand, with Mile no longer cooking, we are eating a lot more local food. Somehow, there seem to be new dishes every night and I'm really enjoying most of them.

Not Lost

Xi'an to Huayin
November 1st
123km (816m vertical)

There were some missing directions and poor flagging today. Nicole and I were surprised to find that we arrived first to lunch. We were the only ones that didn't get lost.

Today was a lot warmer; 75F all afternoon. Now that we're out of the mountains I can put away the winter cycling clothes.

Nicole had a slow-speed collision with a motorbike this morning. It cut her off while turning into a driveway, and she rode into the side of it. They fell on top of each other, but no one was badly hurt. The motorbike ended up in the ditch and I had to help the poor driver to pull it out.

The pollution in the afternoon was bothering me for the first time. My eyes were itchy and my throat was sore and burning.

Nice hotel tonight. There is an actual shower stall, instead of a “wet room” with a shower that sprays over everything. Such luxury. There's even a bowling alley next door, so we had a tournament after dinner. A nice change of routine.

Only 10 more cycling days until we reach Beijing!

Great view of Xi'an's old city walls as we rode out of the city:

Lots of flat green fields:

Some questionable zoning practices:

Army

Rest Day in Xi'an
October 31st
0km

Took a morning tour of the famous Terracotta Army. The site was only discovered in 1974, after lying buried for 2,000 years. There are 8,000 unique clay soldiers and horses in battle formation...perhaps modeled on real people. Only 1,000 have been excavated so far as archaeologists try to prevent the paint from fading away when exposed to air. With all of the gift shops, there were at least as many warriors for sale as on display.

The laundromat lost one of my cycling jearsies - the new one that my parents couriered to me in Baku. Several other riders also lost different bits of laundry. Very frustrating!

Ben helped me change my entire drive train this afternoon: new chain, chainrings and cog set. We didn't have the right spanner to remove my crankset, so I couldn't change my smallest chainring. I walked around from bike shop to bike shop for an hour trying to find the needed tool...but found nothing. Hopefully, the rest of the trip will be flat and I won't need my (now unavailable) granny-gear.

Happy Halloween! (I ate two Dove Bars and a Magnum today to celebrate.)

Old City

Rest Day in Xi'an
October 30th
0km

Xi'an is a former capital of China, and was once the largest city in the world, It was also the primary “end” of the Silk Road for many years (at the other “end” was Rome). Thanks largely to the Terra Cotta Army, it is the most popular city for domestic tourism by the Chinese.

I spent much of the day walking around the old city, although it was overcast and eventually poured with rain. The huge city walls and moat were impressive and there were a lot of exciting little alleys full of local life. The street venders' coal stoves burst with orange heat.

It was strange to see a few other non-Asian tourists. The main streets were overbuilt, commercial and boring - dozens of McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.

Xi'an's old city wall now has extra holes in it for traffic:


A local cyclist with a small bike and a big load:

The Bell tower in the center of the old city:

Smog

Chunhua to Xian
October 29th
93km (497m vertical)

Short, uneventful day riding down into the huge city of Xian. We lost a lot of altitude, so hopefully it will be warmer in the days to come. The pollution around Xian is terrible - everything is covered in a white haze. It looks like there's a bush fire somewhere.

Poor Nicole got a flat tire this morning and then lost her wallet at an internet cafe this afternoon. Stressful day for her.

My (saint of a) mother e-mailed to say that everything has been finalized with the Toronto condo that I'm renting. There was a lot of back-and-forth on the lease, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Thanks for doing all the work Ma!

Staying in a youth hostel over the double rest day in Xian. No heat and the bathroom smells like an egg threw-up. (The water has a strong sulfur smell. Terrible!) Looking forward to that nice Toronto condo.

Its not a cloudy day...that is the smog just outside of Xian:

This internet cafe must has more than 500 computers in it (along with 500 chain-smoking teenagers):

Walking home from dinner, there were dozens of people lighting small fires on the sidewalk. Apparently, its some kind of prayer ritual:

Mud, Hills and Hobbits

Changwu to Chunhua
October 28th
137km (2,412m vertical)

Great day. We took a new route this year, because last year's trip went through a coal-truck tunnel and everyone came out completely black. This year, we went over that mountain instead of through it. Lots of climbing, but lots to see...and we got some great downhills too. (Jimmy fell on one of them and hurt his hip. He should be ok, but won't ride tomorrow.)

On the initial downhill of the day, everyone got covered in mud...especially Dr. Joan:

Its always exciting to “discover” things like this Buddhist temple/grotto en route:

This fountain was “dancing” to inspirational marching music piped over loudspeakers:

Saw a lot of these “Hobbit Houses” today, carved into the side of the mountain. (I like the chimney on this one.)

The final climb of the day was the shortest...but was still 3km of switchbacks!

Overcast

Pingliang to Changwu
October 27th
118km (1,417m vertical)

Dull, overcast day. Much flatter than the last few days, with the same dramatic landscapes. I thought it might rain, but we made it to the hotel without getting wet.

View from our lunchstop:

Monasteries

Jinging to Pingliang
October 26th
103km (1,567m vertical)

What a great day! It started with a nice ride: sunny and crisp, dramatic scenery, a 2.4km tunnel at lunch and a long downhill that lasted almost the entire afternoon. At one point, we took a short detour off the main road and onto a tiny dirt track that lead through a 5 house village with a 170 year old Taoist monastery. So cool. There was still incense burning, but we didn't see a soul as we looking into the various shrines. Very authentic experience.

After we reached the hotel, a group of us took a taxi to Kongtong mountain, home of some magnificent Buddhist monasteries. Unlike the Taoist monastery, these were grand, spectacular, and popular tourist destinations...although we were lucky enough to be the only ones there. We wandered freely around the various temples and shrines, and Clive, Frank and I climbed all the way to the top of the “Stairway to Heaven”...the park's main attraction. This was truly an epic climb and I was huffing and puffing badly by the time I reached the top...and I thought I was in shape after 6 months of cycling.

By the time we were ready to leave it was already dark and the park was closed. We had originally taken a gondola up to the base of the monastery, but hired a bus to drive us back down. It was a hair-raising ride up dozens of tight switchbacks in the dark...and the driver had the gas down the entire way. He must have had the hairpins memorized...or a death wish.

Amazing terraced landscape:

I had to slam on the breaks mid-decent to get this photo of our road curving around the hills:

The tiny Taoist monastery...with Dr. Joan:

View from Kongtong mountain:

Colorful Buddhist monastery:

More Buddhist Monastery:

At the top of the "Stairway to Heaven" was this chanting monk:

A tiny shrine high on a cliff:

Fantastic Fall

Mountain Village to Jingning
October 25th
102km (1,686m vertical)

Another crisp fall ride. More fabulous mountain scenery, with terraces, canyons and lots of colorful foliage.

At one point, two donkeys almost ran me off the road. They were being chased by a guy on a scooter, and I was trapped between them. I managed to avoid contact, but the unsuspecting old lady further up the hill got body-checked into the ditch.

There was a 1km tunnel at the end of the day where the tour van rode behind us to illuminate the road. More tunnels in the days ahead.

Great hotel tonight but, again, the hot water didn't come on until 7pm. Spent an hour in the internet cafe across the road, reading through a condo lease.

My saddle had a thin layer of ice on it this morning:

Impressive hillside terraces were everywhere:

Man selling pumpkins from a tiny cave in the side of the mountain:

Canyons

Lanzhou to Mountain Village
October 24th
128km (2,204m vertical)

Great day! Its so nice to be out of the desert and back to some interesting landscapes. The traffic and pollution as we climbed out of Lanzhou were ridiculous, but they soon gave way to rugged canyons and sprawling hillside terraces that stretched out into the horizon. It looked like a fantasy planet.

There were small patches of snow in the shade of the terraces, but the weather was good for the ride. Cold but sunny.

Nicole felt good this morning and rode today. She did well on a day with a lot of climbing and only complained on the last downhill...which was really cold. (It was an amazing decent though, curling around the mountain contours at 50km/h.)

Sleeping in a “homestay” tonight in a very small mountain town. Its definitely basic, but it is a lot warmer than a tent.

Some photos of today's impressive canyons: