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: