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The Somewhat Regular Blurb
2009-11-28
Well...that's all folks...the Pacific Ocean near Shanghai, China. In the coming weeks as I digest this journey, I will filter through the backlog of photos and stories and post them here. Also, I'll repurpose the site as a reference to those among us who contemplate adventure cycling on this fine Earth. Stay tuned!
2009-11-22
Today was unremarkable except I pushed out 105 miles, though it was more a factor of flat roads, lack of hotels and absolutely little reason to stop. This part of China (especially in late autumn) is just grey, dreary and a little dull for tourists. Anyways, it means I can finish sooner, about six days left now before champagne in Shanghai.
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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.
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2009-11-09
Xi'an, China
In my eyes, Xi'an is the Kyoto of China; it was the capital city of China for many centuries and remains an important city for architecture, culture and history. After very little time out of the saddle since entering China, I'm taking a good rest here to explore this really cool city...reports to follow...
An impressive temple in Tianshui, Gansu The remarkable Terra Cotta Army - Xi'an, Shaanxi
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2009-10-29
Goodbye Xinjiang, hello Qinghai
Goodbye Xinjiang! Hello Qinghai!
After coming out of the no-internet-zone of Xinjiang in western China, I thought it would be clear pedaling with plenty of towns to catch an internet cafe. In fact, it has been the most desolate stretch of the entire journey with as much as 200 miles (~320km) between any sort of services. I'm a little behind in photo and blog updating, but have posted two posts regarding crossing over Kyrgyzstan into China: Out of Osh & Over the hump
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2009-10-17
EMERGED!
The past five weeks have revolved around two themes: mountains and deserts, and sometimes a combination of the two. Now that I have emerged from the internet black hole that is Xinjiang in western China, I am able to upload photos etc. But for now...a little rest.
AT THE FOOT OF THE PAMIR MOUNTAINS, KRYGYZSTAN
BLACKOUT!!
I am now leaving Osh, Kyrgyzstan heading for the Chinese border and the province of Xinjiang. Due to the riots there back in July, the central government has seen fit to basically block all internet traffic as well as international calls. This means I will be without internet for several weeks as I roll across the breadth of China's largest region. Needless to say, after I have passed through this overly-oppressive measure, I will have much to post. This is it, the final (long) leg of thet rip: CHINA!!!
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2009-09-14
A few days ago as I was descending a 7,200ft pass into the Fergana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan my rims heated up, as they do, to the extent that I blew a tube...frustrating, but no big deal. As I change the tube, I noticed two sections of the rim sidewall that have developed cracks about 3 inches long. The rest of the sidewall is heavily worn, this is a result of braking and is basically a normal process, but I hadn't realized the rims had worn to the extent that in two places it had lost integrity and cracked. Luckily the rim, a Velocity Dyad, was still holding the tire and the cracks were not affecting the tube. However, I know that the problem will only accelerate, especially with more braking. I finish descending the pass with only my front brake and take a break every few hundred yards to let the front rim cool down...a tedious process. Gingerly I make my way east about two hundred miles over flat land to Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Here I wait for two replacement rims from the good folks at Wheel & Sprocket's Internet department. So far it's been four days since DHL picked up the package in Wisconsin and currently it has made a flight into the country and is now en route to Osh...with any luck it will have taken only five days from door to door, pretty good if you ask me.
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A new book
Riding affords a lot of time that is perfect for reading. Usually when I eat I really like to read and make a point of taking hearty breaks to plow through a few pages. I have been very fortunate to have been able to swap books with other travelers along the way, and I have enjoyed every one. I especially like when I can trade or buy a nice thick book which can last more than a week. Here is a list of books and how they have evolved into my possession:
Started with:
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
Postmodernism - Glenn Ward
Paris: bought The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Istanbul: bought A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Istanbul: bought Last of the Mohicans - James F. Cooper
Gori, Georgia: traded Last of the Mohicans for a map of Azerbaijan
Tbilisi: traded A Short History of Nearly Everything for The Great Game - Peter Hopkirk
Tbilisi: traded The Great Game for Devil May Care (A James Bond book)
Baku: donated Devil May Care to CouchSurfing host
Baku: bought The Plague - Albert Camus
Bukhara: traded Heart of Darkness for Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams
Samarqand: traded The Plague and Restaurant...Universe for The Quiet American - Graham Greene
Osh: traded Quiet American for The Cider Hosue Rules - John Irving
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2009-08-30
Rolling into Bukhara was a welcomed event after a few weeks in a very hot, arid and frankly dull part of the world. Bukhara is an oasis not only physically, but emotionally as well. There is an old part of town that dates back farther than I can count with small alleys, passages and walkthroughs-most too narrow for any car to reasonably pass. This old town is replete with madrasahs, or schools/workshops/centers that specialize in different areas. One madrasah might be a school/workshop for carpets, another for instruments, another for Islamic theology. This was also the capital city of a kingdom which ruled for centuries and was a center of Muslim culture in Central Asia. The result is a wealth of stunning architecture nicely compacted into a central core where cars are absent and a quiet pace of life persists. Needless to say it was very relaxing.
On my second day wandering the streets amongst sand-colored buildings, I ran into a Frenchman likewise strolling along. It turns out Sylvain is an ethnomusicologist who has been in town 6 weeks researching, learning and interacting with the local musicians. Warmly, he invited me tag along with him the better part of a week as he rushed around town to meet this musician, record that musician, rendez-vous with instrument makers and stop every 5 minutes to shake hands and chat with locals on the street that he had befriended during his stay. To be brief, it was a tremendous fortune to spend time with Sylvain and peer into the real life of Bukhara's residents, particularly the musicians.
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