from Dali to Shangri-La, 500km following the ancient tea-horse trading route between Yunnan and Tibet. A trip inspired by the guys at Rapha. they did a beautiful video (http://www.rapha.cc/yunnan-china) and I followed their path. Yunnan is a land of incredible Natural and Spiritual beauty, a place that can change a traveller life for ever.
Latest
2013 Hangzhou International marathon
Grate day for a record run. Half Marathon below 1:45h
Taiwan April 2013
Like every trip, this started in my mind, driven by some beautiful pictures found on the internet about the east coast of Taiwan. I plotted a route that would take me from Taipei to Taichung, crossing Yilan county down to the beautiful east coast and up to Mighty He Huang Shan trough Taroko gorge, to follow with a 100km descent down to Taichung city.
5 days to cover 500km, with my bike and my tent to explore part of this beautiful Island, its breath taking coastline, and the biggest climb of my life, 3200m of vertical ascent in 1 day.
5th Day, the end…or, is it?
Today we are going to make it, I tell myself looking at my beloved bike. So we are off into the 15th km when tragedy strike. On a sharp turn i hit a pot hole so hard that my back tire rim bend…s**ht!!..i back track all the way home pedaling like a donkey cos every half stroke the tyre get stuck.
once there I quickly reset my Bryton on my trekking bike and off again on the road to the office..in the mean time it started raining and the temperature drop…NOT NICE!!..but hei we have to finish in style.
Totals: 551km, 21hrs riding time and 12200 calories used…sure I’m not going to get fat this time 😉
pictures of the day below.
-
- S*%it happens…time for the back up horse
-
- she did not let me down in tibet…I can trust her :-))
-
- New bridge…different bike
-
- I know you have seen it before…but not with this bike..;))
-
- …it looks like is going to rain
-
- …and it does rain!!
-
- bridge n. 1..built by the russians as a present to sister China
-
- …I’d better get going, is not exactly a warm sunny day is it?
-
- waterproof back pack used and abused
4th day-city ride with a twist
Now when I decided to go that way yesterday was not based solely on the statue suggestion, I did check in detail on google earth as well.
It looked like the perfect stretch of road and so it was….for the first 15km.
Then changed into a mud yard after another till the point i could not take any more abuse form the road so I switched for  the not very safe higway and finally got back to the nice part of the south bank riverside.
Another day another century..today I added 118km to my festive score 😉
-
- another proof that cycling is worshipped in china..now is a fact 🙂
-
- riverside water feature and reflections
-
- my bike paying tribute to the dragon year
-
- my bike on the good part of the south bank…unaware of what is coming
-
- the point of no return…once you are that far into the mud you just keep going till you find the light
-
- this should have been the easy riverside ride
-
- bike in need of a shower
-
- me waiting in line at my local bike shop to get a shower
-
- ending the day whit a night ride…to give some pleasure to my eyes
-
- the end…
3rd riding day
yesterday 26 of Dec. was resting day, office duty and rain forced me to take a rest, and my legs did like the idea too. But today…well today is a different story.
Wet from start to finish I put in quite performance I would say. I completed a full century under the rain. And when I say rain I mean BIG, WET, COLD DECEMBER RAIN.
To add a bit of pepper I squeezed the usual end of the year rush to renew my Chinese working visa..the only painful part of the day!!
Enjoy the pictures!!!
(in case you are wondering…yes its a waterproof camera)
-
- office arrival
-
- office departure
-
- is a lake..mhm no is a road…wait…I think is a river..yes yes is a river
-
- IN the river
-
- poor bike, is drowning Id better get going!
-
- new bridge
-
- Sun-lounging on the river side
-
- I bet is dryer down there!!
-
- a new meaning of slick tires
-
- old bridge
-
- should I cross the bridge or swim through?
-
- Bauchu pagoda in the back ground and a beautiful bike in the front 😉
-
- …a million times but hey..today is way more wet.
-
- today I opted for the Dart Vadar look…I wish I wish I took the oxygen mask too.
-
- cant see the top of those building…mhm, is not a good sign
-
- tomorrow I go this way
-
- I did not look very clean in front of the officer but 100km are worth getting a visa refused..ehehe
-
- ahhh!!..thats why everybody was laughing in my back
-
- 1st ride
-
- 2nd ride
2nd day Festive 500…Christmas day
What did Santa bring me for Christmas?….a flat tire and another 116km to put in my Festive 500 bag..yeahhhh!!!
The day start cold as usual. On my way to work just got into my 13th km and the back tire went flat…dam!! at zero celsius on a busy road is not the best way to start a day..but hey…we are here for the fun or for the pain?
I’d say both. in picture below thats how the day unfolded, I apologize for the multiple rides during the day, but I had to juggle work and pleasure as usual 😉
-
- I’d rather be climbing a steep mountain then this
-
- gost boats on the river
-
- in case u have not seen it..the bike is right in front of the tree..mimetic bike!!
-
- I always try to end a ride in a beautiful spot
-
- Christmas ride
-
- adding on a second slice since we move we might as well do it by bike
-
- the last bit
Festive 500 Challenge
24th of Dec 2012, its Christmas Eve for many…but is big time riding for some. All those that are mad enough to embark in this challenge know what it means to get up early and ride 500 km during this festive season in less then 8 days.
follow on: http://app.strava.com/challenges/2012-rapha-festive-500
Everything gets on the way, starting from the usual social and family commitments ending up with the grueling weather conditions of the northern hemisphere. We have it all against, but that does not stop us, and it actually make it just more fun.
Here below a few pictures form the first day of my riding. To add up to the freezing temperature I threw in some unridable asphalt with a side of mud, dirt, trucks, factories and incinerators…just to make the air polluted enough ;-))
-
- Clean road muncher ready to go!
-
- Bridge crossing, nice and foggy just the way we like it
-
- the sun rises but its still freezing!!
-
- no sign of improvement
-
- one of my road companions
-
- one of the many incinerators found on the east bank of the river
-
- So all that pollution was just a test?…some one do warship riders 😉
-
- a happy ending
-
- the ride
