China bike ride

On 22 July, 2012, Brian and 3 friends, Shu Yun, Natalie and Pamela, began a 10 day cycle through the Qing Hai province in China. Starting from the city of Xining, they spent two days cycling 175km/108 miles around the immense Qing Hai Lake and the Black River, and then went to Golmud before they started their 8 day cycle along the Qing Hai-Tibet Road.

The Qing Hai-Tibet Road runs alongside the world’s highest railroad track which leads from China to Tibet. They rode over 100km some days during their 628km/390 mile trip while crossing passes of over 5100m.

The Qing Hai-Tibet Road cycle was a massive test of endurance for all four cyclists, biking 803km/500 miles altogether, while they battled the elements of the Himalayas and extreme altitude.

Read all about their adventure below.

 10 September, 2012
Challenges Make Life Memorable

It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since my bike trip in China. I’ve been wanting to write an entry for a while, but have struggled to put a two week adventure of a lifetime into a few words. Overall, we biked 766 kilometers, climbed 3 mountain passes, cycled around the largest lake in China, were kicked out of a town by the police, and stepped places no other western foreigner had been before. All after having our plan abruptly changed when the police told us we were not allowed to continue along the Qinghai Tibetan highway on the 3rd day of our trip.

As we passed some of the most amazing scenery that I’ve seen, I realized that not all challenges are physical. We spent hours arguing with police in a language I don’t understand. We faced the unknown every day, not knowing how far we would cycle or where we would sleep for the night. We went days without showers or bathrooms. We were literally attacked by millions of mosquitoes. We were sun burnt and froze in the rain. We woke up every morning, bums tired from the day before and the day before that and the day before that, but just had to hop on the bike again.

Despite everything, we rode through the physical demands, fought through the unexpected setbacks, and managed to have an adventure that will rival anything else I have ever done or ever will do. This trip is proof that challenges make life memorable. It’s a significant accomplishment to achieve something like this, yet is pushes me to achieve even more next time. So until then…

 25 July, 2012

Cycling the Q’ing Hai-Tibet Road – Days 1 and 2

We started our first day of cycling at the small town of Xi Hai Zeng, approximately 20km from the shores of Qinghai Lake. The altitude in this region is around 3100 meters and daytime temperature hovers around 15°C. Any exposed skin during the day is easily burnt due to the intense sun so we try to keep covered. Luckily it hasn’t rained yet. Nighttime temperatures fall to between 1 and 5°C.

The ride to the lakeshore was cloudy and the road winded through rolling hills surrounded by farmland and yellow fields of rapeseed, a common scene throughout the area. Once we reached the lakeshore the sun came out to offer views of the endless lake surrounded by mountains reaching over 4000 meters.

Halfway through the first day we passed through some sand dunes and even got to sled down a large slope! We continued along the lake until we reached 84km and found a nice guesthouse right on the lake with an amazing sunset view.

The second day was a tough 75km ride against a headwind. Fortunately the ride was mostly flat with excellent views, but it was slow going. We arrived at a cozy campsite on the lake, where we got to stay in Tibetan style tents.

So far I’m very impressed with the Qing Hai countryside and mountains. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve been and the fascinating people and Chinese culture make it even more interesting. We will now drive over 500km to the town of Golmud where we will start our 8 day cycle journey, the main stretch of our ride, which will take us over two mountain passes to the Tibetan border.

19 July, 2012

One of the famous destinations outside of Xi’an is Hua Shan, meaning Flower Mountain. It’s an area of outstanding natural beauty and its drastic and steep slopes add a very dramatic effect to the area. Now,there is a cable car that takes you 2000 meters up the side of the main mountain in a quick 10 minutes. But why would I do that if there is a path that leads you up what seems like 17 billion stairs, including some that require you to pull yourself up a sheer cliff side with a rope?

The guidebook said the hike up this “Soldier Path” would take me 2 hours, so that gave an added challenge…I did it in an hour and 5 minutes.

I was still very impressed with the difficulty of the trails along with the number of temples dotting the top of the mountain. It was also nice to have a cool temperature to relax in after heating up and sweating during the hike up.

I reached summit, Central Peak, one of five peaks at the top, which was a less crowded area with a temple surrounded by a gate with hundreds of red pieces of fabric flying in the wind.

I decided not to climb the others as I was short on time, my legs were tired from the 17 billion stairs, and it was cloudy. However if I had more time I would definitely have enjoyed it. Due to a rather long queue to take thecable car down, I decided it would be best to descend all of the stairs again to the bottom. Let’s just say that my legs better heal before the cycling starts this weekend…they hurt!!

15 July,2012

I have arrived in China

Yesterday I arrived in the city of Xi’an, China, which is one of the most historically significant places in China. Of interest to me are the Terracotta Warriors, nearby Hua Shan (Hua Mountain), and an enormous selection of amazing culinary treats. After only two days I have seen a lot of the main city sights and tried some great food.

Xi’an, meaning west peace, is one of the only cities in China where the old city walls are still standing. The perfect rectangle, with a perimeter of 14km, is walkable/bikeable without any gaps or crossings. Obviously I need to keep my legs in shape before the real cycle challenge starts in a week, so what better way than to rent a bike and cycle the wall! I did it at a leisurely pace and stopped for a fair amount of photographs. It was an awesome experience and I’m hoping to get a chance to do it again. Although there are a number of other things to check off the list first…

11 July, 2012

1 week to go, 100km around Singapore

I decided to spend my last Sunday in Singapore cycling a circuit around the island. Although I originally planned to do the full 150km circuit around the entire island, I found myself a bit tired after the first 75km, and opted for a slightly shorter 100km circuit instead. A combination of an early morning, paired with a stubborn drive to keep going instead of stopping for breaks and the everlasting heat of the Singapore sun and humidity, definitely took its toll. Including breaks, the entire ride took about 5.5 hours.

Keep in mind I’m on a mountain bike, so it’s not as easy to pick up speed like on a road bike.

When I found myself getting tired during the 2nd half of the ride, I decided to take a “short cut” home as I didn’t want to risk getting hurt or overworked. It still ended up being a great day on the road and it was a good reality check as I’m starting to realize this trip is going to be an extreme challenge. At this point, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like biking the same immense distance day after day, especially at such a high altitude!

I took the familiar route around the east half of the island, but this time I continued along the southern part of Singapore, across the Marina Barrage (a dam that divides the sea and the Singapore River). This then took me to the west coast where I was able to take in a quick visit of Haw Par Villa before heading home for a feast.

Below is a Google map of my route including pictures taken along the way. Please click on the link.

View Singapore Cycle Ride in a larger map

 

9 July, 2012

Another week, 175 more kilometers.

Now that I’ve made a habit of getting everywhere in Singapore by bike, my friends constantly label me as a maniac for the “hundreds of miles” I am biking. The problem is that Singapore is small, completely flat and poses no real opportunity for rides without traffic and stopping. So despite my efforts to bike to work each day, get long rides in over the weekend and arrive at social events on peddles, I’m not covering enormous distances on the bike.

This week was no exception in my efforts to conquer more parts of Singapore by bike. My Saturday consisted of a 65km ride that circled the entire eastern half of the island. Starting at home, I biked to the north coast along the Malaysian straight and east along the coast. I rounded Changi airport, traveled south to East Coast Park, and then headed back towards home all along Singapore’s East Coast Park.

There were a few obstacles along the way, which included a heavy downpour. Thankfully you can’t travel 10 feet without finding food in Singapore, so it gave me a great excuse to stop for some famous Carrot Cake (which is actually fried egg with radish) and freshly made prata.

The great thing about riding on the bike is that I’m discovering how beautiful Singapore can be. Behind its constant sea of high rises and ever-flowing traffic are hidden parks, large green spaces and even decent coastline.

There is also a great network of park connector trails, although I often don’t use them because the roads are faster. The highlight this week was passing a proper road cyclist on my mountain bike. Yeah, I’m hard core. Next weekend I’ve mapped a 140km route around the entire island, so stay tuned and send me your support through a donation!

 
 

28 June , 2012

Three weeks to go

It all started with another dreamlike idea. Months ago, I listened to a friend talk about their travel plans for the summer. It involved quitting her job and planning some pretty serious adventures throughout Asia. As I listened, I could only dream how amazing it would be to take some time off work and cycle around Taiwan or climb my way through the Chinese and Tibetan Himalayas. I have these kinds of great ideas often, but I’m never able to bring them to reality. This time it was going to be different.

Today I have my flights booked, my Chinese Visa in hand, and only a few weeks until I take my three week sabbatical from the office and head to China. After spending a week sightseeing, hiking and biking around the city of Xi’an, I’ll head to China’s Qing Hai Province to start an epic 10 day cycle journey that will take us 500 miles across the Province to the Tibetan border. Our original plan was to cycle all the way to Lhasa, Tibet, but new Chinese regulations are currently restricting small groups of foreigners from entering.

There’s only one problem…as awesome as this trip sounds it’s going to be a lot of work. Yeah, I’m physically fit. But I can’t help but think cycling 100km a day at 5000 meters / 16,000 feet elevation is going to be tough. Even if this is possible, I still have to sit on a bike seat for 10 days straight and that in and of itself is going to require some fine gluteus maximus conditioning.

So how do I prepare? Well, two weeks ago I bought my own bike. I’ve commuted to work with it nearly every day since I got it, I run and strength train each day during the week, and I spend my weekends biking around Singapore. The first weekend I clocked a 60km ride in 3 hours along Singapore’s east coastline. The second weekend I clocked a 70km day, plus another day biking 25km round trip to a bootcamp workout on Sentosa island. Add on weekly Chinese lessons, shopping for some new gear, and that’s just the start…