Bike Ride - Day 2. Pingle to Baoshan

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  Baoshan, China
Friday, August 24, 2007

According to the original itinerary the plan was to cycle 20km from Pingle to Ganxi then drive 100km to Lushan.  We would then cycle 80km to Yaoji Dam then drive to Yaoji Forest Station approx 25km away.  Had we really absorbed this information beforehand we would have realised it was very very ambitious on a good day but this was made even more ambitious by the introduction of torrential rain.

The morning started off well with a good early start, minimal tinkering and dry weather.  Although Nic's knee had prevented her from completing the last few kilometres of the previous day, she decided to give it another go today.
We set off cycling, this time along the main roads, but the rain came and it came heavy.  Eventually we took the decision to stop and assess the situation.  During this period we had lunch and some members of the group decided a couple of beers would be in order to help with the biking later that day.  Something to do with carb intake and beer being high in carbohydrates.  New one on me that one.  In the restaurant a jug of beer was poured and some ice requested.  I didn't realise this but the concept of ice cubes is apparently not a familiar one and it wasn't long before the waitress came back with some 'ice' - in the form of several orange ice lollies.  Fortunately someone stopped her just as she was about to submerge an ice pop into the jug of beer.  Devon, one of the guides, then asked her, 'do you actually understand beer?' to which she replied 'Yes!!!'. 'Do you?' he asked again. 'No' she replied rather sheepishly.
Despite this the decision was made to try orange ice lolly flavoured beer in case it was the next craze and we would all be the founders.  However, it was disgusting as you might expect.

Following lunch the rain continued to pour and we all got back in the van - the plan being to continue driving to the next destination in the hope the rain would eventually stop. Whilst the rain continued, Nic and the American guys all enjoyed a glass of whisky courtesy of Dan.  Again, justified by the intake of essential carbs contained in whisky!!

Not long later, and after much deliberation and convincing by the non whisky, non beer drinker (ie me.  Honest) the decision was made to get back on the bikes again. Unfortunately the rain had put us back several hours and we were way behind schedule.
We set off riding with earnest (some riders fuelled by whisky and orange ice lolly flavoured beer).  One of the first sights we came across was the open air duck slaughter house amidst all the other stalls.  There were several people working on this stall all involved in the duck killing process.  Now I am not a vegetarian and the sight of killing animals turns my stomach but I was fascinated by this sight.  There were a couple of ladies slitting the ducks throats, then two more removed the large feathers by hand.  Finally, one guy had a huge bowl of tar that he dipped the nearly nude ducks into and then washed them off.  This final stage was to remove all the small feathers.  The ducks were then put to one side, prepared to either be cooked or sent on for sale. Nic couldn't watch this going on and went to look at fruit but the rest of  us watched on in morbid fascination taking photos.  The worst bit was the live ducks sat watching this process take place above them surrounded by blood and feathers.

We cracked on with the cycling and made good headway now that the rain had finally stopped.  It wasn't long before we made the decision to stop in the next town - Baoshan.  This would put us way behind, perhaps a day but we figured we could make this up later. On the approach road to Baoshan we stopped for a break and we noticed an old guy pushing a wheelchair up the hill.  Slowly, slowly he pushed the wheelchair, as though he was taking himself for a nice stroll in the lovely fresh air.  It was only we left, Nic later informed us, that the guy got to the top of the hill, climbed into his wheelchair and free wheeled all the way down to the bottom!! Extreme wheel-chairing for the over 80s.  I bet this guy was an adrenaline junkie in his younger days and still sought the thrills.

We arrived in Baoshan and soon got the attention of the local ladies working in the restaurant.  It was at this point Dan decided to show his prowess by doing a bit of free styling - in the wet.  Not a good idea. Dan started to compare his situation with Tom Sawyer trying to impress Beckeeeeeeeeeeee when he totally stacked it in front of everyone!! Much to the amusement and delight of the hoard of girls around.  Not to be outdone, Chandler was whizzing around the car park and decided to apply the back brake to do a spectacular skid - at least that was the plan.  However, instead of applying the back brake he pressed down on the front brake and went flying over the handlebars.  Again, much to the amusement of everyone watching.  At least it took the focus off Dan - what a good friend.

We checked into our very nice hotel before any more injuries occurred, showered and went out for dinner, this time just the five of us (Dan, Chandler, Scott, Nic and I).  We were recommended a restaurant by a couple of people, overlooking the main square.  We left the ordering to Dan and Scott and boy oh boy did they order a lot of food.  Something like nine dishes between five of us including, thanks to Dan, pig lung and toad.  The pig lung was ok, the toad was disgusting.  After dinner we headed off for a well deserved massage.  I have had more massages in China than I have ever had in my life.

Again, according to Mike, our official stats man, we cycled a total of 64 km (approx 40 miles).  Instead of Pingle to Yaoji we went Pingle to Baoshan.  Our elevation this time was approx 400m.

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Nic ready and raring to go	First the throats were cut	Next the big feathers were removed	Tarred and washed to remove the small feathers
Some of the village scenes we saw	Anyone want ice with their beer?	This could catch on	Playing mahjongg at lunch
Whiskey on the bus. Perfect preparation	Chandler. Freestylin champion	Riding through the villages	Dan tearing up the road
We got a welcome reception in every town	Group photo	Men, stones and a river. Perfect	Adrenaline sports for the over 80s
At night the town comes alive	The kitchen where our meal was prepared	A well deserved massage

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