Easyparadise - Nature Photos by Mingfei: Bike Tour

Friday, March 6, 2009

Bike Tour - Bashang Grassland Ⅱ

Day1: July 5, Beijing-Huairou-Liulimiao, 120km

We delayed some time in the morning, so it was already about 11:00 when we set off from a market——in which we added some odds and ends. It rains lightly, much comfortable than the previous days. However, we had to slow our speed down, because An’s bike had no mudguards, and we wonder whether it would continue raining in future days.

Let’s go!

There was an accident after we left Siyuan Bridge. An Bo crashed onto a bus while he’s trying to right the ring on the handlebar. Fortunately, he wasn’t injured seriously, but he’s so angry that he smashed the hellish ring into pieces…

At such a low speed, we arrived at Huairou at about 4:30 p.m. We had our lunch, or dinner. There were mountains in front. We began to ride the long slope up and down as the day went darker and darker. It’s still about 50km to our planned station, Tanghekou. Well, it seemed impossible for us to finish the task in a totally dark night on mountains. The coming light rain forced us to make the decision that live in Liulimiao tonight.

There were mountains in front

Day2: July 6, Liulimiao-Tanghekou-Labagoumen-Fengning, 95km

What a fine day today! We cleaned our bikes in the country yard we lived last night and started today’s journey. All we had to ride are mountain roads today. The beautiful summer sunshine, however, was more terrible than rain at that time.

Soon we arrived at Tanghekou, the place where we should had stayed in last night.

Riding up on slopes is laborious, but rushing downhill is fantastic. That’s the happiness of the sport. Actually, there was not many special things today. What we faced was only mountains. But the air was fresh and the sencery was enjoyable.

The hot weather made us sweaty. It’s likely that we would arrive very late again. So I tried my best to ride at a much higher speed without a break until I reached Labagoumen. After that, I even felt energetic instead of previous weary. 20minutes later, An Bo appeard. it’s time for dinner! Oh I’m so hungry…

What was waiting for us after delicious food? Sweet dreams? No, it’s not over yet! Today’s destination was Fengning, still 45km away. And we had to conquer the longest slope. OMG!

30km to Fengning(L); the annoying slope(R)

mountains of Labagoumen

mountains and slope

Fortunately, I was in good shape that day. Using low gears, I kept riding at a low but even speed. 2 hours later, the 20km slope was over. The time we reached the top, which is also the border of Beijing and Hebei Province, was about 8:00 p.m.

After taking some photos hurriedly, we rushed down for another 20km, which was the best prize for our effort. At 9 o’clock, we arrived at Fengning County. The day ended up with a big water melon and Schwarzenegger’s Jingle All the Way.