2009-11-19

In China, as in other places, there are milestones on the side of the road indicating distance as you go along. The road I'm on now, highway 312, starts in Shanghai and runs west to Xi'an. Today I passed the 1000km milestone which means, if I stay on this road, it will be 1000km to Shanghai, my destination. This is really now feeling like the home stretch, only nine or ten days left on this journey across continents. I will also likely pass the 16,000km mark since Lisbon on tomorrow's ride and within a week should exceed 10,000 miles. All these things are culminating, passing and finishing with ten days! The past few days since leaving Xi'an have been cold, grey and damp with bouts of snow and sleet. Forward progress has been slower than anticipated and with sunset at 5:45, it has been tough to get in 100km per day. On the bright side, I've been riding with an Englishman named Humphrey since Xi'an who has also ridden from Europe and we are having a fun time in the cold countryside of Shaanxi and Henan provinces.