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Published: September 9th 2014
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I think my last blog was a bit boring because I lost my sense of humour after yesterday. It seems some are using strava and we climbed 4500 feet and cycled 104km yesterday. Today similar but 98km.
So yesterday I learned not to cycle near the trees that overhang the road. As I arrived at at the rest stop Anna screamed at me to take my helmet off. I threw it on the floor in panic to discover a spiders web literally covering it with a GIANT spider in it!
We are also riding on the opposite side of the road here. It felt fine until we were at a complex junction and Anna sped off as you have to do here to make it across in one piece and I screamed at her to stop as she was about to cycle into oncoming traffic. I have to say that's not unusual here! It's like wacky racers. You have to have you wits about you and never assume a cycle lane is one way or just for bikes. Plus expect anything to pull out on you at anytime. I asked Anna to cycle wide around vehicles as I'm expecting
a door to open on someone!
The Chinese are generally quiet people. Occasionally we have people stop to take photos of us and shout hello in Chinese. We've been shouting it back. We asked our Chinese guide why people look puzzled. He explained that in their language they have several different meanings for a single word and the meaning depends on how you sing it So it seems we were saying to pee with our British pronunciation.
So today we cycled 98km. In the morning it was through a mini city dodging the traffic. At one point we passed a hotel which let of fireworks to welcome a bride and Anna ducked and pedalled at speed as she thought it was machine gun fire!!! Ive never laughed so much!
In the afternoon back to mountain climbing again. The long steeper gradients somehow are easier to climb. The long smaller gradient was tedious and boring as we were all exhausted. There are a lot of sore under bits and the ladies are past caring now as they've got over the fear of bush toilets and putting cream on amongst their new friends!
Anna is faster than me
so lands about 10 mins sooner on the climbs. Which is useful as she grabs me a snack in advance before the best go. Sometimes you can end up cycling alone for quite a stretch as we all cycle at a pace which is suitable to us. The best of the rides is the scenery. It's stunning.
Well I'll conclude by saying you can tell a man planned this route! I think it's the leaders first time working on the women v cancer rides. The owner of Action for charity confirmed it's the hardest riding she's ever done! Oh and another leader fell of today! Cleats you see 😊
Ps if you look carefully in the background of some of the pictures you can see the Great Wall. See the sign above Anna's head too lol
Ok bye for now!
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NIGEL ASHBARRY
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BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS
Fantastic photos of a very beautiful country , im so very proud of my wife sonya and my beautiful daughter anna , it brings a tear to my eyes , just the thought of the strength and determination they have to complete this very difficult challenge , I love them for being so generous with their time and energy to help others who may need treatment in the future.