May 26,  Location:  Xi’an  34° 16’N 108° 56’ E elevation 539 metres, riding day #12. 124km today, 1623 total to date.

The ride into Xi’an was total chaos, tons of traffic, buses everywhere, the bike lane changed into a bus/bike lane – you get used to having a full size bus running 5’ behind you – and I was pedaling at 30k.  Unfortunately one of the guys had a lady step out right in front of him, he went down breaking his collar bone.

This ends the first section of our ride, two guys are leaving and three join us.

A simple hotel, but great – not only is there water in the shower, there is warm water, and the drain drains, and the sink plug plugs so I can do my laundry, and it is on a quiet (I think it will be) small alley, and we have toilet paper, and it is a non-smoking room!  Amazing luxury!

                                                                                                                                                              

We went into the Muslim quarter for another fantastic dinner, our chiefs:

We've gone through what seems like a 100 towns like this...

May 26,  Location:  Huayin  34° 32’N 110° 05’ E elevation 389 metres, riding day #11. 142km today, 1499 total to date.

Another day doing the equivalent of a GranFondo, found it hard today.  Feeling very tired.  Goods news is that my right knee is getting better, quite a relief for me. Other good news is that we ride into Xi’an tomorrow (about 130k), then a rest day.

A couple pictures from the day:

Yes this is a flock of sheep being herded into town – possibly part of my dinner tonight.

All the back roads are used for drying a harvest.

I love these overloaded tractors

No idea why these arches are here, or what they represent.

This guy was using a whip that I think is laced with gunpowder to snap at the top, it sounds like a firecracker going off.  Speaking of firecrackers, they go off for almost any reason, completion of a construction achievement, Friday night or whatever.

If you ever find yourself in Huayin, China, go to the restaurant pictured below.  It is a Muslim restaurant and the food is fantastic – except no beer.  Tell them that Zabie from Kashgar sent you.  We have three local support people, Zabie, Abdul and Ackbar are all from Kashgar – great guys.

Most city squares have exercise and dance classes in the early morning and evening.  The same square where the pictures below were taken had several classes going on in the evening, including what I think was a Bangra (sp?) class.

May 26,  Location:  Samenxia  34° 46’N 111° 12’ E elevation 204 metres, riding day #10. 133km today, 1357 total to date.

Another very dirty ride, a very industrial area - we all look like coal miners coming home from work. I knew I looked really dirty when all the TdA staff at the hotel were taking pictures of me.  It took two serious washings to clean myself.  I know some of you won’t believe it, but I am seriously hand washing all my clothes everyday.   Some climbing today, about 1,500m, in fact almost exactly like the Vancouver/Whistler GranFondo – a bit longer, about the same climbing, but this had all sorts of heavy trucks and dust and dirt with the trucks coming and going on/off the highway without signals.  The road was quite bumpy in places so the trucks would drive where ever there were fewer bumps – e.g. the wrong side shoulder and usually passing another truck at the same time.  I had a “conversation” with a couple guys in a heavy truck going up a long (7km?) hill, we were going about the same pace – it spite of the diesel fumes, dust and rough road, it was quite fun. No idea what they were talking about.  And tomorrow will be the same and so will the day into Xi'an, although hopefully less dusty and fewer heavy trucks.

To add to the fun on cycling the roads, the ditches are definitely not to be ridden into, they are about 3’ deep with essentially vertical sides – it would not be a pleasant landing.

We just had an interesting exchange with the local police at the hotel.  The tour company has been very careful to only use “approved for foreign visitors” hotels, confirming before they book when they book etc.,  Turns out many are not approved for foreign visitors, so we have stayed in some very nice hotels.  Tonight, the police came around when a bunch of us were sitting in the lobby, asked various questions, with a serious looking guy in the background carefully taking pictures of all of us.  After checking all the paperwork, they then insisted on taking a picture of us in front of the TdA vehicle with the lead guy in the middle, so I took a picture of the guy taking the pictures.  We eventually concluded this was just a publicity shot for them, showing they were doing their work, either that or I am going to end up on some sort of China’s most wanted list…

 

I hadn’t realized it, but Dengfeng where we stay two nights ago, is the home of the famous shaolin monestry and HOME of KUNG FU, one of the riders whilst cycling through the town stopped tosee the hundreds of cool wee Kung fu kids on their break time playing and fighting in the school yard,

The food has been wonderful, yes occasionally not sure what we are having, and ordering in a restaurant is always a challenge, but the eating is great.  We are getting better at the "...get the bowl close to your mouth and just shovel and slurp..."

Yes, this is an older woman street sweeping on an 8 lane major road and yes that truck is coming at her.

A couple other interesting shots:

May 26,  Location:  Luoyang  34° 40’N 112° 27’ E elevation 204 metres, riding day #8 (6th of 6 in a row). 62km today, 1224 total to date

An easy short day, good thing as I need a break and my right knee is bothering me.  A lovely day that started off cool, but getting really hot this afternoon some 38° C.  And a bonus of a rest day tomorrow.  Really nice to ride in clean air with no dust, yesterday was just awful.

May 25,   Location:  Dengfeng  34° 31’N 112° 57’ E elevation 562 metres, riding day #8 (5^th of 6 in a row). 152km

Hard day, strong wind against, tired from yesterday, very dusty.  Absolutely filthy at end of day.   See picture.  Our accommodation is very modest to say the least, probably quite good by 3rd world standards.  Had two flats today one front, one rear.  I’ve never had a front flat before!  It was a rock pinch.  The rear flat was due to glass.

For the first time we did some climbing about 500 meters for the day, should have been easy, but with heavy wind against and at the end of the day, it was hard.

May 24,   Location:  Yanling  34° 06’N 114° 09’ E elevation 65metres, riding day #7 (4^th of 6 in a row).

Interesting day today. Heavy rain for the first 4 hours, then cleared off to sunshine.  Left things rather muddy.  We had to navigate two really serious 6” deep mud holes around a bridge under construction.   I made a minor mistake in copying the route direction notes..  End result was an extra 48k added to the planned 140 – so a 188k day.  My all time high for a day.  The good news is that tomorrow is only a 155k day.  The other good news is that the first 1,000k is done!  Only another 11,000 to go.

One of my fun things today:  I was drafting behind one of the 3 wheeled little trucks, commonly the father is driving in the single front seat, with mother and child in the back, commonly they are in a canvas enclosure, open to the back.  In this case the young kid was maybe 1 year old, I spent 10k (20minutes) waving and making faces with the little kid, to the great amusement of the mother.

May 23,  Location:  Yuli  33° 51’N 115° 29’ E

This is the home town of the philosopher Lao Tsu (Laozi or “Old Master”) a 5^th or 6^th century BC philosopher, credited with creating Taoism. See picture of the large statue and the guy on the OX cart.  Throughout history, his work has been embraced by various anti-authoritarian movements – I like this guy already!

Also attached is a recent photo, most of you won’t recognize the guy in the picture, hell, I don’t recognize the guy when I look in the mirror!

A couple other photos from the day below, it was nice to get onto some back country roads, the heavy traffic and blaring horns of the larger highways start to get to you.

…Ron – a.k.a the guy with the sore backside

Long day today 160km in 30+ degrees, the 2^nd of what will be 6 days in a row.  We started off fairly easily with 3 days of 110, 153 and 128km, a rest day, now 6 in a row.  So far I haven’t had any troubles and have not found the rides too hard – maybe the prep did some good.  I’ve been a bit concerned with my knees, but they seem to be settling down, and yes after today the backside is a bit tender.  May try the butt grease tomorrow.

Some notes so far:

1. There seems to be way less pollution than when I was in China 10 years ago, probably because all the scooters are now electric, also most of the bikes are electric.  There are lots of the 3 on 4 wheeled farm trucks, the ones with a motor on top of the front wheel and driven by 4 fan belts, compared to 10 years ago when almost were belching blue or black smoke, effectively none are now.  I think China is really doing something about both air pollution and carbon emissions.
2. In the fancy hotels a bottle of beer is the equivalent of $1.60 served cold in the lobby.  Bought in the corner store, beer is $.50 for a 1 litre bottle
3. The wearing of helmets is very rare, I have yet to see a cyclist or scooter with a helmet, possibly larger motorcycles, but definitely not any of the small to medium sized bikes, or tricycle versions
4. The constant beeping and blaring of horns is annoying, however I think I’m starting to understand…  There is the short beep, just to let you know “I’m here”.  I had that happen on several occasions today whilst cycling into NanJing on a very busy 6 lane street with bicycle/scooter lanes on either side, and then it was under construction – a free for all by our standards.  Whenever a city bus was behind me, there was this short beep.
5. All happy with the riding, riding in the city is by our standards absolute chaos.  However again I think I am starting to understand it – if at all possible everyone keeps moving.  It appears everyone is dodging in and out, and they are, however if one watches there is a huge amount of traffic moved very efficiently.

The food has been quite good, on riding days all breakfasts have been buffet style in the Hotel - very good selection other than coffee is questionable.  On riding days the dinners have also been in the hotels, these have been round tables with about 10 people to the table and a really good selection of food and yes some strange things e.g. chicken feet.  On the off days usually several people collect together and go somewhere.  What we have eaten has been very good, however the antics on ordering have been a challenge.  The lunches on riding days are make your own sandwiches + fruit +veggies - I’ve been happy, good enough food that I recognize and all you can eat.

I have been happily riding with the A team crowd a fair bit – I fit in quite well.  Riding with a group is good in that one drafts along and it is way less work.  The bad side is that you have to pay close attention which means you don’t get to look around.  So what I have been doing is riding by myself for about half the day, then with the group the other half.  Also I seem to be one of the better navigators, i.e. I don’t get lost. E.g. today I was the first to arrive at the hotel, the other A team riders had missed a turn.

The way a normal riding day works is as follows:

- night before there is a briefing and the route is outlined (see picture of route board)

- usually up for 5:45, breakfast at 6:00, start riding 6:30

- some people ride in groups, some by themselves

- lunch is usually on the side of the road (see picture) at around the 70 to 85k point

- arrive at hotel, provided you have not taken any “bonus tours” a.k.a. got lost

- check in, clean up, wash riding clothes (yes, I hand wash in the sink), do any repairs, shopping etc.,

- then the rider briefing and dinner

...Ron

Day 1 is done

Well, the ride has started.  A relatively easy 109km absolutely flat with wind behind. 

It’s really a relief to have a day riding in, sorting out all the bugs, trying to get into a routine – although it starts with getting up at 04:30.

Today we rode totally in either bide lanes that were barrier separated from the main road, or on very wide paved shoulders.

My best “scene” from today was of an older woman sweeping the street with the usual corn broom, but also talking on a cell phone!  Talk about a contrast.  I wanted to stop and take a picture, however we were riding in a convoy and that would have held up the whole show.

First accident today – we were riding fast in a group of about 7 riders and a scooter pulled out in front of us blocking the lane and with heavy traffic on the road.  A couple riders in the bushes, I stopped just in time, but unfortunately one rider collided with the scooter, resulting in a bit of blood – maybe need a stitch or two – but the Italian rider still happily rode to the end of the day.

Yes, Bert I was remembering your advice, well sort of, I was riding at the back of the A group.

Still no air pollution of note, probably even less that one would experience at home riding on the side of a highway.

May 14 - Shanghai

Blog update Wednesday May 14

Arrived Shanghai, uneventful trip, bike and baggage all happy here in hotel.

Ah yes, China where the painted lines on roads are treated as guidelines at best, a continuous mix of pedestrians, bicycles, electric bicycles and every type of motorcycle share all surfaces be they roads, sidewalks or whatever, the specs for hotel rooms do not include room “to swing a cat”, people hacking but not the spitting I remember from the last time I was here and great effort/artistry to lighting up at night buildings and features.    High humidity, one is sweating just sitting in the shade…  So far I don’t sense a high level of air pollution – the visibility isn't high, but I think that is more fog or fog-like than pollution.  Until some of my hair returns, I've also got to worry about sunburn on my head, something new to me.

I feel much happier now that I'm here, all the prep is behind me, now I just have to go for a bike ride each day for a few days…  I'm less worried about the ride than I was about completing all the prep.

I note that a huge amount of the stuff I've brought; clothes, bike parts, electronics, even the bags I'm using to carry everything are made in China, a sort of returning to Mecca for all the stuff.

New simcard and account for the smartphone, everything appears to work, but..

I tried to access and update the blog, access is being blocked.  I'm going to try via a VPN, we’ll see…   (updated by Dennis) 

Ode to Ron's Farewell Sendoff

Click this Link for Songs and Poems

The Schedule

Click this link for Schedule in .pdf format

2014 Silk Route Schedule
	Day/Stage			Depart		Arrive	Distance
	The Jade Road  - Shanghai to Xi'an
China	1 / 1	Sat.	May-17		Shanghai	Pingwang	104
	2 / 2	Sun.	May-18		Pingwang	Xushe	144
	3 / 3	Mon	May-19		Xushe	Nanjiing	143
	4 /	Tue	May-20		Rest Day Nanjiing
	5 / 4	Wed	May-21		Nanjiing	Mingguang	131
	6 / 5	Thu	May-22		Mingguang	Mengcheng	130
	7 / 6	Fri	May-23		Mengcheng	Luyi	156
	8 / 7	Sat	May-24		Luyi	Yanling	141
	9 / 8	Sun	May-25		Yanling	Dengfeng	137
	10 / 9	Mon	May-26		Denfeng	Luoyang	80
	11 /	Tue	May-27		Rest Day Luoyang
	12 / 10	Wed	May-28		Luoyang	Samenxia	135
	13 / 11	Thu	May-29		Samenxia	Huayin	136
	14 / 12	Fri	May-30		Huayin	Xi'an	125
	15 /	Sat	May-31		Rest Day -Xi'an
	The Corridor: Xi'an to Dunhuang
	16 / 13	Sun	Jun-01		Xi'an	Yangshou	102
	17 / 14	Mon	Jun-02		Yangshou	Changwu	85
	18 / 15	Tue	Jun-03		Changwu	Pingliang	120
	19 / 16	Wed	Jun-04		Pingliang	Jingning	108
	20 / 17	Thu	Jun-05		Jingning	clay camp	105
	21 / 18	Fri	Jun-06		clay camp	Lanzhou	128
	22 /	Sat	Jun-07		Rest Day Lanzhou
	23 / 19	Sun	Jun-08		Lanzhou	Tianzhou	148
	24 / 20	Mon	Jun-09		Tianzhou	Wuwei	138
	25 /	Tue	Jun-10		Rest Day Wuwei
	26 / 21	Wed	Jun-11		Wuwei	Great Wall Camp	124
	27 / 22	Thu	Jun-12		Great Wall Camp	Zhangye	117
	28 / 23	Fri	Jun-13		Zhangye	desert camp	115
	29 / 24	Sat	Jun-14		desert camp	Jiayuguan	132
	30 / 25	Sun	Jun-15		Jiayuguan	gravel camp	142
	31 / 26	Mon	Jun-16		gravel camp	desert camp	130
	32 / 27	Tue	Jun-17		desert camp	Dunhuang	128
	33 /	Wed	Jun-18		Rest Day Dunhuang
	Sands of Time  - Dunhuang to Kashgar
	34 / 28	Thu	Jun-19		Dunhuang	desert camp	140
	35 / 29	Fri	Jun-20		desert camp	desert camp	140
	36 / 30	Sat	Jun-21		desert camp	Hami	141
	37 / 31	Sun	Jun-22		Hami	rocky camp	145
	38 / 32	Mon	Jun-23		rocky camp	desert camp	143
	39 / 33	Tue	Jun-24		desert camp	Turpan	135
	40 /	Wed	Jun-25		Rest Day Turpan
	41 / 34	Thu	Jun-26		Turpan	desert camp	155
	42 / 35	Fri	Jun-27		desert camp	Agri co-op	128
	43 / 36	Sat	Jun-28		Agri co-op	Korla	120
	44 / 37	Sun	Jun-29		Korla	desert camp	125
	45 / 38	Mon	Jun-30		desert camp	Kuqa	150
	46 /	Tue	Jul-01		Rest Day Kuqa
	47 / 39	Wed	Jul-02		Kuqa	desert camp	99
	48 / 40	Thu	Jul-03		desert camp	Aksu	165
	49 / 41	Fri	Jul-04		Aksu	desert camp	175
	50 / 42	Sat	Jul-05		desert camp	desert camp	150
	51 / 43	Sun	Jul-06		desert camp	Kashgar	156
	52 /	Mon	Jul-07		Rest Day Kashgar
	53 /	Tue	Jul-08		Rest Day Kashgar
	The Pamir Highway  - Kashgar to Dushanbe
	54 / 44	Wed	Jul-09		Kashgar	bushcamp	100
	55 / 45	Thu	Jul-10		bush camp	Chinese bush camp	120
	56 / 46	Fri	Jul-11		before Chinese border	Mountain Camp, Kyrgystan	45
Kyrg	57 / 47	Sat	Jul-12		Mountain Camp	Sary Tas	57
	58 /	Sun	Jul-13		Rest Day Sary Tash
	59 / 48	Mon	Jul-14		Sary Tas	Kyrgyz border	85
	60 / 49	Tue	Jul-15		just before Kyrgyz border	Karakul, Tajikistan	70
Tajikistan	61 / 50	Wed	Jul-16		Karakul	bush camp	85
	62 / 51	Thu	Jul-17		bush camp	homestay/yurt near Murghab	98
	63 / 52	Fri	Jul-18		homestay/yurt near Murghab	bush camp	87
	64 / 53	Sat	Jul-19		bush camp	bush camp	80
	65 / 54	Sun	Jul-20		bush camp	Khorog	113
	66 /	Mon	Jul-21		Rest Day Khorog
	67 / 55	Tue	Jul-22		Khorog	camp	112
	68 / 56	Wed	Jul-23		camp	river camp	92
	69 / 57	Thu	Jul-24		river camp	bush camp	111
	70 / 58	Fri	Jul-25		bush camp	bushcamp near Kulyab	80
	71 / 59	Sat	Jul-26		bushcamp near Kulyab	bushcamp	127
	72 / 60	Sun	Jul-27		bush camp	Dushanbe	80
	73 /	Mon	Jul-28		Rest Day Dushanbe
	74 /	Tue	Jul-29		Rest Day Dushanbe
	The Golden Road  - Dushanbe to Ashgabat
	75 / 61	Wed	Jul-30		Dushanbe	Denau, Uzbekistan	100
Uzbekistan	76 / 62	Thu	Jul-31		Denau	Bush Camp	TBA
	77 / 63	Fri	Aug-01		bush camp	Shahrisabz	TBA
	78 / 64	Sat	Aug-02		Shahrisabz	Samarkand	TBA
	79 /	Sun	Aug-03		Rest Day Samarkand
	80 /	Mon	Aug-04		Rest Day Samarkand
	81 / 65	Tue	Aug-05		Samarkand	restaurant camp	126
	82 / 66	Wed	Aug-06		restaurant camp	Bukhara	142
	83 /	Thu	Aug-07		Rest Day Bukhara
	84 / 67	Fri	Aug-08		Bukhara	river camp, Uzbekistan	120
	85 / 68	Sat	Aug-09		river camp	desert camp, Turkmenistan	TBA
Turkmenistan	86 / 69	Sun	Aug-10		desert camp	desert camp	TBA
	87 / 70	Mon	Aug-11		desert camp	Mary	TBA
	88 /	Tue	Aug-12		Rest Day Mary
	89 / 71	Wed	Aug-13		Mary	canal camp	118
	90 / 72	Thu	Aug-14		canal camp	archelogical site	119
	91 / 73	Fri	Aug-15		archelogical site	Ashgabat	132
	92 /	Sat	Aug-16		Rest Day Ashgabat
	Magic Carpet Ride  - Ashgabat to Tehran
	93 / 74	Sun	Aug-17		Ashgabat	Iran Mosque Camp	76
Iran	94 / 75	Mon	Aug-18		Mosque Camp	Quchan	52
	95 / 76	Tue	Aug-19		Quchan	Bojnurd	127
	96 / 77	Wed	Aug-20		Bojnurd	Golestan National Park	113
	97 / 78	Thu	Aug-21		Golestan National Park	Gonbad-e-Qabus	110
	98 /	Fri	Aug-22		Rest Day Gonbad
	99 / 79	Sat	Aug-23		Gonbad-e-Qabus	Kosh Yelag	84
	100 / 80	Sun	Aug-24		Kosh Yelag	Damghan	132
	101 / 81	Mon	Aug-25		Damghan	Semnan	115
	102 / 82	Tue	Aug-26		Semnan	Riverside camp	93
	103 / 83	Wed	Aug-27		Riverside camp	Tehran	130
	104 /	Thu	Aug-28		Rest Day Tehran
	105 /	Fri	Aug-29		Rest Day Tehran
	The Garden of Eden  - Tehran to Kars
	106 / 84	Sat	Aug-30		Tehran	Takestan	186
	107 / 85	Sun	Aug-31		Takestan	Zanjan	129
	108 / 86	Mon	Sep-01		Zanjan	Caravanserai camp	122
	109 / 87	Tue	Sep-02		Caravanserai camp	Tikme Dash	122
	110 / 88	Wed	Sep-03		Tikme Dash	Tabriz	91
	111 /	Thu	Sep-04		Rest Day Tabriz
	112 / 89	Fri	Sep-05		Tabriz	Steppe camp	147
	113 / 90	Sat	Sep-06		Steppe camp	Maku/Border camp	140
	114 / 91	Sun	Sep-07		Maku/Border camp	Dogubayazit, Turkey	52
Turkey	115 / 92	Mon	Sep-08		Dogubayazit	Acar Restaurant camp	111
	116 / 93	Tue	Sep-09		Acar Restaurant camp	Kars	83
	117 /	Wed	Sep-10		Rest Day Kars
	Hills of Anatolia  - Kars to Istanbul
	118 / 94	Thu	Sep-11		Kars	Forest camp	85
	119 / 95	Fri	Sep-12		Forest camp	Yusufeli	124
	120 / 96	Sat	Sep-13		Yusufeli	Çoruh river camp	117
	121 / 97	Sun	Sep-14		Çoruh river camp	soccer field camp	130
	122 / 98	Mon	Sep-15		soccer field camp	Sebinkarahisar	119
	123 / 99	Tue	Sep-16		ebinkarahisar	River camp	143
	124 / 100	Wed	Sep-17		river camp	Amasya	123
	125 /	Thu	Sep-18		Rest Day Amasya
	126 / 101	Fri	Sep-19		Amasya	Osmancik	110
	127 / 102	Sat	Sep-20		Osmancik	Bush camp	130
	128 / 103	Sun	Sep-21		bush camp	Safranbolu	125
	129 /	Mon	Sep-22		Rest Day Safranbolu
	130 / 104	Tue	Sep-23		Safranbolu	Kaymaklar	110
	131 / 105	Wed	Sep-24		Kaymaklar	soccer field camp	115
	132 / 106	Thu	Sep-25		soccer field camp	Sile	106
	133 / 107	Fri	Sep-26		Sile	Istanbul	91