Bike Ride - Day 1. Chengdu to Pingle
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2007
1
16
74
Trip End
Jun 27, 2008
Pingle,
China
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Day one of our bike ride.
The night before Nic and I made the short walk from our hostel to the hotel where we would be spending the night and hopefully meeting the rest of the biking party. All we knew about them at this point was that they were three Americans and they would be arriving in Chengdu the night before the start of the ride. We had assumed that they were flying in from the US on holiday.
We soon learnt from Peter Snow (owner of Bike China and organiser of this trip) that they all lived in Beijing and one of them had made it to Chengdu ok, but the other two had missed their flight. Peter informed us the missing two were expected to arrive in Chengdu around 2-3 am.
We met Peter in the Bookworm bar that night and he briefed us on all the final arrangements and got us to sign waivers. It was at the point of signing the waivers, basically relinquishing Peter of any responsibility should we die, that Nic noted we got a free badge to sew onto our rucksacks. The prospect of death induced by bike suddenly faded into insignificance.
The plan was for everyone to meet at 8am the following morning for introductions, breakfast and then to get off on our bikes.
So at 7am the following morning our alarm went and we were soon prepared and ready for the off. At 8am we were in reception, ready and raring to go. We then received a phone call from Peter informing us that the two missing Americans didn't actually get into Chengdu until 6am!! Poor guys. So the decision was made to have a 10am start allowing them a couple extra hours in bed. So off me and Nic trotted back to our room for an extra hours sleep.
So at 10am we all finally met. Our three fellow cyclists were Dan (lived in Beijing for approx 10 years), Scott (been in Beijing for around 6 years) and Chandler (Beijinger for 2 years).
It wasn't long after introductions that we got on with the task of trying out bikes. Straight away I spotted a nice looking Giant bike (that is the make Giant, not a giant bike) and made a beeline for it. Scott had brought his own road bike from Beijing and would use that where possible; Chandler had his own Specialized mountain bike complete with disc brakes and accessories and Peter had managed to source a large frame for the tall Dan. Dan had also brought his own 'relaxation bars' for the long uphill climbs (basically bars you attach to the middle of your handlebars allowing you to lean on them - I think the proper name is Aero bars but I don't know for certain).
So all in all we were pretty well organised and looked like we might know what we were doing. We loaded the support vans up, made a quick stop at Starbucks for the those that had only had 3 hours sleep, and headed off to our starting point.
Peter came with us for the first mornings ride and we had two Chinese guides - Mike, the experienced one and Deven, a university student on his first tour with Bike China. We also had two support vans - one that would be our transport and the second would be used to carry spares and maintenance equipment.
After an hour or so of driving we arrived in Chongzhou Baitou, our starting point for the tour. After half an hour or so tinkering - adjusting gears, brakes, headsets etc. we were on our way. Immediately I was reminded why I love cycling so much, especially in foreign countries. You really get to see a country and the life you would not normally get access to. Bikes can go places you wouldn't normally go by car and you are travelling at a pace that is slow enough to absorb everything around you, but quick enough to move between places.
We started to get to know our fellow cyclists and it was immediate to Nic and I that we would all get on. This was emphasised when I stupidly told Dan about my corn on the cob incident in Istanbul. We were cycling in farming land, surrounded by corn when I told him this story and the next thing I knew Dan had bought me a corn on the cob ice cream from one of the street vendors. It had a picture of the corn on the front and was basically frozen corn ice cream - it was disgusting. It smelt and tasted of corn on the cob. Dan and the others found this amusing. Thanks Dan - a real ice breaker.
Another thing that quickly became apparent was that mine and Nic's knees had not fully recovered from the battering they received from Emei Shan. Nic had real issues with her knee and mine was clicking with every rotation of the pedal. Thankfully the more I cycled the more mine seemed to free up - unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Nic.
It wasn't long before we stopped for lunch and visited the landlords manor - which was very interesting. Dan, Chandler and Scott all had a great knowledge of Chinese history and culture and were fluent in Chinese. This undoubtedly helped Nic and I as we knew very little of the history of China.
Whilst walking around the manor, we stumbled across a girl in a wedding dress being photographed. At first we assumed that she was getting married (as you would expect being in a wedding dress) but it turned out to be a shoot for a magazine. Needless to say we were very excited and asked if we could join in. So the four boys (Chandler, Scott, Dan and myself) all gate crashed this magazine shoot. Apparently they were shooting for an in-flight magazine selling real estate. So next time you are flying somewhere keep an eye out for us in the magazine.
Following the manor we set off, and according to the itinerary we had a 38 km ride to Pingle, our first overnight stay.
Not long into this section of the ride, I had my first, and very nearly last, taster of the dangers of cycling in China. An oncoming black car (unfortunately I didn't get the make - I was too busy fearing for my life), decided to overtake the other traffic and came speeding towards me. No exaggeration - this car was inches away. I saw my very short life flash before my eyes.
Before long we approached Pingle and was met with a beautiful sight - an ancient town with a small stream running through the middle. In the stream kids were playing and women were washing their clothes. It was a beautiful sight.
We checked into our very nice hotel (luxury compared to what Nic and I had become accustomed to). We showered, headed out for dinner in the town (which included Tofu in pigs blood which was DISGUSTING) and then settled in for an early night feeling very happy and very content.
According to the official stats (ie Mike our guide) we cycled a total of 67km which is approximately 42 miles and we rose, in terms of elevation between two and three hundred metres. Not bad for the first day.
Comments
corn ice cream
but it seemed like such a good idea at the time... ;)
your short life
so, you saw your short life flash before your eyes did you? How did it go? Pub, cheese, Football, Pub, cheese, Football? Imagine seeing mine! TESCO...TESCO...TESCO
Great experience
Great experience