Tibet Summer Research 2009 - An Introduction

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Dear Family, Friends, Relatives, and Rock Stars,

This Thursday i will be leaving for China. I will be spending the majority of the summer there doing field research on the impact of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which happens to be the first railway to link China and Tibet as well as the world's highest. For more info see the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinghai-Tibet_Railway

In order to do this i will be bicycling from the Chinese city of Xining in the Qinghai province to Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, alongside the railway - about a 2000 km journey...or 1250 miles, with an average altitude above 4000 meters for the majority of the ride.

Once I reach Golmud, the halfway point of the ride and gateway city to the Tibet Autonomous Region, I join two partners for the cycling tour to Lhasa. I managed to keep costs down for this tour by not hiring a support vehicle - we're tough enogh. We will have a vehicle, however - a bicycle ridden by our guide - although I don't think he is planning to load us and our bicycles on his if we get tired! Our itinerary from golmud to lhasa will roughly be that on www.bikechina.com/t-gmls21.html taking 16 days of riding interspersed with 3 rest days. Our group has a lot of flexibility; we could take less (ha!) or more (likely) days; we might make a side trip to Namtso, a large and very beautiful lake north across the mountains from Lhasa. Hopefully I will be in shape by the time I reach Golmud, as the climbing starts right away and tops out at an elevation of 5,231 meters (17,158 ft), about as high as I've ever reached on a bicycle!

If I survive the ride to Lhasa, I'll do some sightseeing in the area in addition to talking with locals about the impact the railway has had on their lives. From Lhasa I plan to take a train back to Beijing and fly home mid-August in time for football camp.

Tibet is always uncertain - the high altitude, winds (always headwinds), isolation, and Chinese sensitivities make it so. Tibet was closed last summer and again this spring. Qinghai should be OK. Tibet is open to foreigners now only if they go on tours, so the Bike China tour is my best - and only - option for an attempt to cycle to Lhasa this year.

One of my travel partners has been biking around asia for around two years. Here is his website:

www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/AsiaAgain

Amazingly, even lonely outposts along my route do have Internet access (knock on wood). I will also have my old china shouji (cell phone). If im not mistaken, you can call me by dialing this number:

86-15010921153

Updates will be posted on the blog as well as pictures (hopefully).


Best wishes for a Happy Summer!

Tibet bound,
John Schlaefer

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Photos

What I expect to see
thats my road!

Comments

[Barb Votel]

Good Luck John, sounds like another amazing adventure. Keep us posted..... Barb Votel

[Beth Dowling]

China Bike Trip
Good luck John. Have fun. Looking forward to your updates!!