Down from the mountains
First of all, I feel a good deal proud of being here tonight. There have been not a few times over the past two days when I have doubted whether I could get to Huaihua by tonight, and a couple of people I have met along the way have doubted it to. I put in at least 8 solid hours of biking today, and rode over 100 kilometres of mountains to be here. And here I am.
I woke up this morning to the sound of roosters crowing, closely followed by the sound of a pig dying. By the time I was on the road, the pig was being chopped into pieces for sale. I admire these people's efficiency.
The road from Xiaoshajiang went up and down over a few more hills through the early morning, and then dropped as dizzyingly as it had climbed. By the time the sun was visible above the mountains, I had shot down into the green valley below and left the snow covered peaks behind.
I woke up this morning to the sound of roosters crowing, closely followed by the sound of a pig dying. By the time I was on the road, the pig was being chopped into pieces for sale. I admire these people's efficiency.
The road from Xiaoshajiang went up and down over a few more hills through the early morning, and then dropped as dizzyingly as it had climbed. By the time the sun was visible above the mountains, I had shot down into the green valley below and left the snow covered peaks behind.
A bluff near Iron Slope Village
From there on, nothing was easy. I had hoped that the mountains would slope gently down towards Huaihua, or at least drop down into flat and open valleys. I had no such luck. Each little village was in a valley, and from one to the next required climbing up a mountain, winding across a jagged ridge, and then spiralling back down again. By mid morning, I was beginning to doubt I would get to Huaihua.
The obstacle is sunlight. I have all the time in the world, and my legs can carry me a long way given enough rest. The key factor is the meagre ten hours of winter sunlight between about 8am and 6pm. If I wanted to get to Huaihua, I had to do it before the road went dark and I could no longer tell a bend in the road from a rocky precipice.
The Yuan River
In the afternoon, I crossed the broad emerald green Yuan river, and headed back into the mountains beyond. Here, everything got worse. My bike handlebars came loose, I would guess from the back and forth strain of biking uphill yesterday. I had to awkwardly wedge them stable while I biked up the next hill and down into the following valley where I got the bolt tightened at an auto repair shop.
An hour later, the whole thing happened again. This time, when I finally wobbled into a repair shop, I realized what should have been obvious before and bought the tightening tool (3 yuan). Naturally, once I had the tool, my handlebars never bothered me again.
At 4pm I passed my last possible stop before Huaihua, and decided to go for it. The last two hours were an exausting climb up another ridge of mountains, but by dark I was swooping back down towards the lights of the city.
This morning I had noodles for breakfast. This afternoon I had noodles for lunch. And what did I have for dinner?
An hour later, the whole thing happened again. This time, when I finally wobbled into a repair shop, I realized what should have been obvious before and bought the tightening tool (3 yuan). Naturally, once I had the tool, my handlebars never bothered me again.
At 4pm I passed my last possible stop before Huaihua, and decided to go for it. The last two hours were an exausting climb up another ridge of mountains, but by dark I was swooping back down towards the lights of the city.
This morning I had noodles for breakfast. This afternoon I had noodles for lunch. And what did I have for dinner?
BAM!
Indeed. Now, I am no big fan of KFC, but this is the first reasonably large city I have seen in a while and the last I am likely to see for a while longer. Also, KFC is better in China. It serves things like Beijing duck wraps, and spicy shrimp burgers. Ironically, it probably also treats its chickens better.
According to an online calorie estimator, I also likely expended over 4,500 calories today, so I can probably handle a little corn syrup right now.
Regards,
Niko
According to an online calorie estimator, I also likely expended over 4,500 calories today, so I can probably handle a little corn syrup right now.
Regards,
Niko
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