Shanghai noon

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  Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Sunday, November 22, 2009

Total miles: 4537.6
Total time: 364 hours, 8 minutes



So I have come to the end of my bicycle ride. The snow of the past couple of weeks has (thankfully) gone, and I am now basking in a somnewhat tropical feeling Shanghai. That it is probably only around 10-15 degrees is no matter - compared to the ice, snow, freezing fog and blizzards I've had since my last entry, I am quite a fan.



As it turned out, we were stranded in Luoyang for a bit longer than originally anticipated. Not that there were too many complaints after the discovery of the incredibly cheap plasma screened, movie channel bearing hotel with a breakfast that was the best I've had in all of China thrown in as well. Piles of bacon, fried pork chop, different types of egg, toast, fruit, endless coffee, and being unable to move very easily at the end of it all. Never let me near those things... Of course, we stayed there simply for our own safety, as ice on the road is never condusive to staying upright.



Well, as luck would have it, after leaving the warm, padded haven and returning to the outdoors, the snow and ice came back with quite a kick a couple of days later. Not that the snow had gone in the meantime. As the air was just generally cold, water that had kicked up from the road had got into my gears and frozen them on the one I was using. Meaning that I just had the one speed. As such, my progress was slow, but steady and actually quite pleasant. However, Jamie and Susie had their gears frozen in higher gears, so when Jamie had (another) flat tyre, I simply pottered on ahead, hoping to see them later for lunch at a town. A navigational error on their part meant that we ended the day some 20 miles apart, before meeting up again the next day. The lesson for the day (for them, not me) was that, when in doubt, look at the map rather than the GPS, ask someone, and if all else fails, Susie is always right.



Anyhow, after discovering that we had parted ways, I headed on to get to where I wanted to be. About half way through the afternoon specks of snow started to fall. OK, that's fine, it's just snow. Then the trees started to become covered with sheets of ice. The temperature started to go off the scale downwards, freezing the ice in my water bottles, and the snow intensified. All this was mixed with a howling with, naturally blowing in my face, and all at an annoying point where it was as far to go back to somewhere as it was to go forward. Urgh. However, the best was yet to come. The gears, although somewhat stuck in one speed, had been working fine. The mixture of slush on the road and freezing blizzard conditions created a whole new set of problems, as a 'clunk clunk' came from them, I was unable to put any power down at all, with gears and the chain skipping all over the place as ice solidified every moving part. It was a bit like 'The Day After Tomorrow' when everything starts to ice over and go tits-up.



In a rather perverse stroke of luck/a good idea on my part, I noticed that every few kilometres there was a petrol station, all of which have thermos flasks full of hot water. Bye bye frozen water bottle water, hello boiling hot water. Filled up with hot water, I squirted the  cogs, gears and chain, giving them a very quick defrost, before spinning them round to get as much of the water off as possible before making a swift (10mph) exit and heading for the next station, by which time it was all starting to get clogged up and ready to be defrosted again. Totally balls, and by the end of it (2 hours later...) I was slightly fed up and cold. Unlike Jamie and Susie, though, the hotel I found had hot water, power and no power cut in the night. I think the lady who cleaned the floors could have killed me when I left in the morning, as bits of slush droppped everywhere as I extricated myself and the bike from the hotel.



There were no more blizzards for me, as the thawed out nature of the bike meant I got to the next town (and the rendezvous with Jamie and Susie) before the next blizzard hit that afternoon. They'd spent most of the morning defrosting their bikes, as a lack of power/heat meant they were solid lumps of ice. I, on the other hand, had simply been stuck in one gear again due to the sluch/ice/general cold, but had been able to set off early in the morning. Progress was somewhat cautious, though, as gritting the roads has not reached China yet and they were all sheets of ice. Turning corners was interesting, but at least the drivers were actually driving a bit more cautiously, due to the realisation that they were quite likely to crash (as compared to normal, where they drive like nutters).



The next few days were characterised by more snow and ice, but then the great thaw. Fantastic though it was, a shortcut road we took had now turned to thick, sticky mud. Mudguards, fantastic though they are for keeping the water from hitting you, are not so good when it comes to gloop, as everything stops moving. Rocking up into a village looking not as clean as we could have, it was not too long before most of the population had come to have a look at what had turned up. Mobile phones were out, calling their mates to come and have a look... Well, you know, it is hard to deal with my celebrity status in rural China. (Note: I am most distraught in Shanghai, as no one seems to be taking the slight bit of notice at my presence. Not even a second glance. No crashes due to double takes. I could have had the most attention I am every going to get, simply by my presence somewhere...)



Somewhat weighted down by mud/wheels still not able to move very easily, a pressure hose was just what I could have done with. As luck would have it... Well, I think I caused more bemusement in random China-ville by being really quite excited at the prospect of a high pressure water hose that I saw being used to wash down busses. The guy seemed quite bemused at first as to why this cyclist wanted his bike washed, until I took off the back panniers and he saw the complete caking of mud over absolutely everything. Then it was quite OK, and he did in 2 minutes what it would have taken me hours to do. The bike had not been as clean since it was new, and went like a dream!



The snow had totally gone a couple of days before arriving in Shanghai, and had been replaced with industrial sprawl. For at least the last 150 miles, there was nothing else but sprawl. On the way into Nanjing we passed the MG Rover factory that was taken from Longbridge over to China, as well as many more things that are no doubt quite mundane but which I found interesting...



Shanghai is quite brilliant, as there is just so much here (amazing food shops, fantastic sky scrapers, mad traffic). We arrived in at night, and after cycling around town today in the daylight, I think the night arrival was perhaps the better way to do it. All the sky scrapers were lit up, providing a futuristic backdrop to three very muddy cyclists weaving their way through the streets. Staying right behind the Bund in a (ludicrously cheap) youth hostel, there is a fantastic view of the Pudong from the door. It could be better though, as most of the roads currently seem to be dug up and replaced in time to have a sparkling new city for the Expo next year. Fresh concrete having been laid outside the front door after we'd gone in, it was absolutely hilarious to watch Susie navigating a plank, propped up on bricks over the wet concrete, in her killer red heels...



I imagine that this entry will be the last/one of the last for this trip. I fly back to the UK at the end of this coming week, and will be spending the next few days packing the bike up and enjoying Shanghai. A box has been located for my bike, and the spanners, gaffer tape and bubble wrap are at the ready to take the whole thing apart. The main challenge will be getting my baggage weight into the 30kg limit for the flight. I think I will be wearing most of my clothes and doing a magic trick with my hand luggage to fit in as much as possible. Alternatively, should anyone fancy getting me an upgrade so I can take 50kg of luggage, my flight details are......

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