Archive for Mai 30th, 2010

day 059 – rest day

Sonntag, Mai 30th, 2010

chengdu – rest day

as i was riding until 23.30 last night i felt like relaxing and taking care of journal, blogs, pictures…. while alex went to see the pandas. in the afternoon we washed the bikes and had some good chats with kate&nic (http://pedaleast.wordpress.com) and michael (http://bikevisions.ch.vu)

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things we didn´t eat!

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day 058 – km 30851

Sonntag, Mai 30th, 2010

chengdu – mao xian (bus) – chengdu (bike)

170km 638 alti meter

a long day on the road! it started a little difficult, as there was no direct bus to mao xian, so we had to change to a mini-van-taxi in wenchan. we picked up our bikes and alex took the bus back to chengdu while i cycled.  at first 42km more of the construction dusty road, then against the wind on paved road. the earthquake 2 years ago must have been disastrous. it seems that the mountain collapsed and covered / washed away the old road / villages…. over several km. at some points they left pieces of evidence as memorial / ruins while building a new highway on the other side of the river. a couple of new tunnels lead the road downstream and turns somehow into a freeway with long dark tunnels. after a 3,7km and a couple of 2km long tunnels i got a ride with a police car to the next freeway exit, where i could continue riding.

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day 057 – rest day

Sonntag, Mai 30th, 2010

chengdu – rest day

the checking for route alternatives took so much time, that we were to late for the bus back to mao xian, so we had a relaxing evening.

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day 056 – bus transfer

Sonntag, Mai 30th, 2010

mao xian – chengdu

on  the 3,5h bus ride we could learn again something about chinese mentality. people seem to be only focused on the 5m ahead of them. they don´t care what is left or right of them, or what might be 20m ahead. so if the traffic slows down or stops because of a construction or something else, they start honking the horn and passing until everything stands still with 4 rows of vehicles blocking every direction.

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day 055 – km 30681

Sonntag, Mai 30th, 2010

songpan – mao xian

33km on bike / 110km in a pick up

what a day off unexpected changes!? we thought about taking the bus to chengdu, but the only bus there this day didn´t have any seats available (and he wouldn´t have taken the bikes). so we started cycling on the bumpy/dusty road. it started to rain, which had the advantage that it got a little less dusty. the next thing which turned out to have a major impact on the route happened when we were just about to have a snack. a dog bit alex in the hand. not really bad, but enough to need treatment and not being able to continue cycling that day. so we got a pick up / mini van which brought us to mao xian, from which we thought the road will be paved and we can continue as planed.

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