The ride out of shanghai was actually pretty good. no major hassles.
I don't think it would be possible with out a GPS however.
wanted to get a photo of bike on the bund, but security wouldn't even let me walk it on...
bike/scooter lanes make life easy, well so i thought...still need to keep an eye out for people going the wrong way
hand unloads
not really sure what this was, but it was intentionally submerged.
heaps of water transport
locals going nuts over $2 store crap in the small town i stayed in
ancient water temple also a scene from mission impossible.
endless towers
this next ancient water village was actually much better than the previous one i paid $20 to get into. benefits of cycle touring and getting off the tourist trail
wasnt the last time i saw spilt loads
on the third day and After a good 230km I finally made it out of the greater shanghai urbans area and booked some accomodation in a city called anji. however i had to smash through a big 135km day with a moderate climb at the end. i went from ugly, noisy industrial areas to peaceful bamboo forest roads all in an afternoon. got to the top just on dark and then decended into Anji where i took a day off the bike. was rushing to beat the light so didnt get any photos other than the top, but the ride up through the bamboo forest was really nice.
you had one job...
the engrish is endless
lookout at Anji
roadside butcher
left Anji and finally got some good mountains ahead
not before some stretching for my old knees
my old friend the tunnel...
thisnroad was really nice
just block the road with your truck and slide the bamboo down the hill....china.
road closed. had to detour south east must have added 50km.
but nice climb and decent
think this indicates the provincial border
my next pickup line
this camp spot was an act of desperation but it ended up being pretty nice. discovered bamboo has very little lateral strength and you really need big mature plants for the hammock
day 5 on the bike. it was a cold, bleak day and i really needed to just push to get to the city of huangshan before days of rain that were forecasted. my knee was starting to give me some grief too. every km sucked that day. shit scenery. smells of burning rubbish. chinese drivers.
id stopped here defeated and cooked some noodles and a noticed a scooter that id seen up the road never passed me....as i looked i could see it had stopped in my peripheral vision just away from me.
i had thought they had stopped to take photos of me (it happens) but after taking my headphones out, and could hear the screaming, i realised they'd had an accident.
i ran over to find two women trying to free a toddler's foot that had been caught in the wheel spokes, and was jammed in behind the chain of their tiny pedal assist E-bike. (two women and the kid). the mother was screaming. the kids foot was jammed in good. some other people stopped who had some tools and we managed to loosen the axle and get the kids foot free. then the blood was visible and the mother lost her mind and took off into one of the vehicles. everyone just got back in their cars and all of a sudden i was left with the abandoned scooter... i have a feeling this wont be the last accident i see here.
well done china.
the littering here is world class. people here, rural area or city street, dont even intentionally litter, they just unconsciously let go of anything they no longer want. yet they are constantly sweeping up rubbish.
generally, the city/urban street are filthy with rubbish and just generally dirty with dust and grime.
at times there is something nice to look at.
this poor town next to the massive highway bridge was COVERED in concrete dust...the whole town.
i didnt make it to huangshan that night but luckily met a friendly chinese guy that was riding his motorbike. we ended up getting a shit guesthouse together (i found this out after the fact after he advised me "i sleep here too" ).
thanks to Sun for his help. not sure what i would have done that night as i was still 50km from the city.
