Relationship Trouble

Hami to Desert Camp
October 7th
135km

Ben, the tour leader, got really sick last night so he is going to stay in Hami for a few nights and then take a bus to meet us at our next rest day. We've still got Miles and Shanny to run things, and Dr. Joan too.

More strong headwinds this morning. It took us 5 hours to ride 75km to lunch. Its starting to get old: grinding our way into brutal wind across a boring, flat desert. Wind makes such a huge difference – both physically and psychologically. With a headwind, we ride at 15km/h. With no wind, its 25km/h and with a tailwind, its 35km/h. On a 135km day, that translates into 9 hours, 5.4 hours, or just 3.9 hours of pedaling.

The trip is starting to feel like a dying relationship – you go through the motions everyday, but your not having as much fun as you used to. I think about home a lot, about where I'll live, about starting work, about all the things I'll do when I get back. I seem to live from rest day to rest day, looking forward to getting online and buying snacks in supermarkets more than the rides themselves. I know that after a few weeks at home I'll wish I was back out here on a bike...but not in this stretch of the desert!

The afternoon was better, as the wind died down. Several of the riders today were drafting closely behind trucks (or holding onto the trucks!) to avoid the wind. That's not safe at all, and they were told as much.

Nothing to see but flat desert:

The flags are blowing left...we were riding right:

Local telephone worker in the middle of nowhere:

Tonight's camp:

10,000km

Mountain Camp to Hami
October 6th
140km (333m vertical)

Today, I passed the 10,000km mark since leaving Le Havre back on May 23rd. About three or four thousand more to go.

Woke up at 5:30 this morning as my tent flapped madly in the howling wind. It was a chilly breakfast, but at least the wind was blowing us in the right direction as we left camp. It wasn't as strong as yesterday though, and soon died down to nothing. Although the scenery was more of the same desert motif, at least the road was flat, wind was low, and sun was shining for an easy ride into a hotel night. We spent most of the day on a yet-to-be-opened stretch of new highway, so we didn't even have the trucks to worry about.

Discovered an internet cafe this afternoon after spotting a poster of a cartoon woman wearing a bikini and holding a huge laser gun. Based on this alone, I went down three flights of dark stairs and found a huge room full of computer gaming teenagers.

Leaving last night's campsite:

Triple-decker pigs (that smell terrible):

Wedding Day

Desert Ruins Camp to Mountain Camp
October 5th
139km (2,447m vertical)

Although not related to this trip, I need to highlight that two of my best friends married each other today. Since I could not attend the celebrations in person, the least I can do is mention it here. Congratulations Ryan and Jenn!

Really tough day today. Brutal cross-winds hammered us and the road sloped gently, but consistently upwards. We were in the saddle for 9.5 hours! Although none of the climbing was overly tough, we climbed more today than we have since Turkey! (Although my altimeter may have been confused by the wind.)

The wind was the real villain anyways, making the ride frustratingly slow and very dangerous. Every time a large truck passed, it would suck us violently into the road and then throw us back onto the shoulder. It was even tough to just stand on the shoulder without blowing over, and my hands ached from keeping such a tight grip on my handlebars.

Desert scenery was dull all morning, but steeper climbing through some rocky passes made the afternoon more interesting. There were dozens of wild camels wandering around the desert as well, which always fascinates me.

Another rocky, windy camp today so loaded down my tent with big rocks again.

Didn't take many photos today, but everything looked a lot like this:

The Chinese really know how to pack a truck full:

Clive going down the only descent of the day:

Headwinds and Ruins

Turfan to Desert Ruins Camp
October 4th
134km (844m vertical)

Spent the morning battling brutal headwinds while climbing gradually out of the Turfan Depression. This slowed me down to 10km/h at times as I pushed hard on the pedals and tried to make myself as aerodynamic as possible. Very tiring with little to show for the effort. Headwinds suck.

At least we got a change of scenery from the dead-flat desert as we climbed through large, sandy hills that were dotted with Muslim cemeteries and grape-drying buildings. Raisins from this area are famous, apparently.

The afternoon was flatter and less windy. Its amazing how we can be in the middle of the desert one minute, then suddenly in a busy little town, and then back into the vast open desert again on the other side. The towns here truly are oases.

There were many complaints at lunch about the rock-solid bread, which was the only variety that Miles could find yesterday, during Ramadan. The Chinese themselves don't eat much bread, so once we leave the Muslim area we will see much less of it. The hotels always have big doughy dumplings stuffed with meat for breakfast, and sometimes they have deep fried dough with sugar on it – like a Chinese doughnut. These will have to do.

Camped tonight beside an old, half-buried, half-destroyed building. I crawled in through a window and felt like the Indiana Jones characters from “Devils on the Silk Road” that would search old ruins like this for treasure, artwork, etc. The only things I found were a carrot, a paper airplane, and an empty beer can.

Jost climbing:

Riding through the sandy mountains:

Muslim cemetery in the desert:

There were hundreds of these mud buildings, used to dry grapes:

A young Indiana Jones?

The inside of our campsite "ruins":

Relaxing

Rest day in Tufan
October 3rd
0km

Typical rest day spent doing laundry in the bathtub, exploring the internet (surrounded by computer-game playing teenagers), buying local candy and imported chocolate, and ordering meals from local restaurants with covered eyes and a random finger point.

Depression

Mountain Camp to Turfan
October 2nd
139km (656m vertical)

I'm not depressed, and the economy (at least here) has not suddenly crashed. This area is known as the Turfan Depression because it is 156m below sea level. Turfan is another of the main Silk Route cities, and also claims to be both the hottest city in China and the world's farthest city from an ocean.

This morning we continued climbing through the rugged moonscape for 20km before cresting the gap and enjoying a 50km descent into the depression. That is an entire hour of coasting along at 50km/h! Unfortunately, we had a flash thunderstorm on the decent, whose strong winds and wet roads limited our speed. (It rained a bit last night too, which seems very out of place when you are surrounded by desert.) The temperature sat at 93F all afternoon, and my face got noticeably more tanned in the scorching sun - remarkable, since I've been out in the sun everyday for the past 5 months. (And yes mom, I'm wearing sunscreen.)

Me, cycling out of camp and back into the moonscape:

Nicole changing one of her two flats of the morning...with dark clouds gathering:

Descending into the depression...just before the rain hit:

More rocky downhill:

Moonscape

Vineyard Camp to Mountain Camp
October 1st
121km (929m vertical)

Tough ride as we faced a steady headwind and a gradual incline all day. The scenery was unending flat desert...which failed to provide any much needed distraction. It was dull. We got a brief reprieve after lunch with a short up and down across a rocky mountain finger, but we were soon rolling quickly back into the desert.

15km or so from camp the landscape changed dramatically as we rode into an endless maze of rocky hills, walls and crevasses. All of the tiny green desert weeds disappeared, and it felt like we were riding across the moon.

Camp tonight is in the middle of a particularly wind-prone crack in the earth. The surface was too rocky to use my tent pegs, so I piled rocks around my tent to weigh it down. Even so, the tent (which was full of all my stuff) blew over as I ate dinner. I piled more and larger rocks and hope to make it through the night without becoming a kite.

Desert with a finger of mountain for us to cross:

Cycling through the moonscape:

Not sure what that sign was supposed to warn me about:

Camp in the middle of a small rocky valley: