http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Deryk/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Deryk en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:55:05 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:55:05 +0000 Visit to Angkor in 2007 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-355271.html The ride up to Mutianyu section of the great wall is a mild 510 grade except for the last 500 metres which is a bit steeper. It is a constant pattern of climbs and short flat runs over a distance of about 20 km from Houairou. The road is wide with good clear shoulders and it is mercifully free of traffic then again this is the low season. With legs burning we arrive at the bottom of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Changping/blog-347613.html Today's intended route was through the hills behind Changping. With a poor tyre we opted for the less researched lowland route. WeOK I end up taking a route too far South. We take the Sunsha Highway S321 through Xiangtanshan. At a large roundabout at Xiangtanshan turn left North to Xingshou. This is marked the ANSI Highway. Continue to a TIntersection that is actually just west of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Changping/blog-346199.html The route to Juyongguan Juyong Pass and Badaling starts at the Changping Circle. Take the western exit from the circle to follow the Badaling Expressway. Follow the Badaling Expressway about 4 km 2.5 miles past a new theme park was being built in ctober 2008. Shortly pat this point turn left under the Badaling Expressway and then turn right tohead North West towards Nankou. You are on t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Changping/blog-345857.html Cycling from Beijing to Changping follows the Badaling expressway. The outer road has bike lanes in both directions. While it looks like the expressway itself also has a bicycle lane I have never seen a bicycle on it. I don't think it is possible to get a bicycle on to the expressway this will cause us a couple of problems over the next few days.Things get chaotic on this road around the Shahe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-345459.html This is a document of Deryk and Karen's experiences travelling North of Beijing by bicycle over a period of 5 days in Late October and early November 2008.The Gear we took Map International Travel Maps BEIJING China120000 City Map 1100000 Region Map was accurate and more than adequate for the taskKaren's Bike a Bianchi Camaleonte IIDeryk's Bike an Azzuri Opal Enough stuff four four days http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Changping/blog-345452.html In which the journey starts and you are drawn in ..... To paraphrase Douglas Adams Beijing is big really big you just won't believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist but that's just peanuts to Beijing. Karen quickly sums up the population of Beijing Holy Crap Look at all those people 17.4 Million is one of the offic http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-344829.html An uneventful ride back to Beijing. After the hills punctures and disorientation of the past four days the ride back to Beijing is 60 km of uneventful bliss. The first part of the trip is familiar and a retrace of our route from two days earlier. The last part is new but a direct ride into Beijing. Most of todayrsquos journey is on dedicated bicycle paths that only feature the occasional http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-344539.html Another uphill ride and a climb up the wall.With a new tyre and a good nightrsquos sleep yesterday's problems are forgotten. After a breakfast which is a most ridiculous fiasco that defies written description look for a guest blog from Karen on this things look even better. In the light of day we find our way to the Goose N Duck Ranch. We are the only residents in this huge facility . I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Changping/blog-344537.html In which we get lost ........... no reallyChina is really really big. We are tootling around such a small part of it. There is really no excuse for losing our way but you see it's like this .......After a day of uphill riding and climbing the great wall it is time to depart Changping for Houairou. I still have a dicky front tyre on the bike from yesterday's debacle. I try my best to repair http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Changping/blog-344535.html Our first encounter with China's Great Wall and a thousand steps to pain ......Isaac Newton Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla all made serious studies of gravity. I curse them. If we understood less about this phenomena of attraction between mass bodies then perhaps we would not be so affected by it. Weight science tells us is determined by the acceleration of objects under the influence of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Great-Wall-of-China/blog-344528.html In which we depart Beijing for Changping and the Great Wall. We depart our hotel. 250 meters to the Birds Nest Stadium past the Water Cube and turn right out of town. We are following the Badaling Expressway. This is the same route of the men's Olympic cycling road race. We are not doing it quite as fast. I blame the traffic for our slow pace but secretly suspect that a lack of years of traini http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Changping/blog-344527.html Cycling around Beijing is generally achievable but not for the squeamish or feint hearted. The following observations are based on a visit to Beijing during a windy and mercifully clear last week of October 2008. We used our own bicycles transported safely and within baggage weight limits by Qantas from Australian. A Navigators NightmareWe stayed at the North end of Beijing at the Crowne Pla http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-338709.html