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:
1 comment:
Very sweet to see that everyone made it. It has been fun to follow the groups progress since I left the tour in Ankara.
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