Ocean Bound

So, myself and an Australian, Canadian, Chinese, and one other American friend got up last Friday morning and left at 7 on what was supposed to be a 550 km (about 400 mile) round trip ride to an ocean resort city and back. We were fully prepared with our "Zhongguo jia you" (literally "China: add oil", which is what fans cheer during sporting events and translates loosely as "Go China"). After getting through an hour of rush hour traffic and missing our first turn, we had our first repair of the trip (a couple screws had popped off the the front wheel). Luckily we had just the right thing to fix it, paper clips! It did the trick in minutes and though it was somewhat disheartening to already be fixing a busted bike, we continued on in full spirits. It was the first of only two repairs during the trip. The forecast had said it was supposed to be 100 degrees that day and we started to feel it by mid-morning. It wasn't the ride we had quite expected, with several big trucks flying by us every minute, sometimes dropping stones, coal, or other remains from the bay of the truck (truck drivers over here don't know anything but filling their bays to the brim, and then some).

By lunch the second day with our bottoms thoroughly sore, foreheads caked in dirt, and numerous body parts aching in pain; one of the gang planted a very tempting idea in our minds. "What if after getting to our destination tonight we don't turn around and get up the next morning at 7 to ride back, but take the train back the next day instead?" It didn't take very long for the rest of us to jump on board and soon we were filled with hope during the rest of that day's ride, as we knew it would be our last. The last part of our trip was the highlight, as we rode along a beautiful, yet still not completed, highway along the beach, where the temperature fell to the 50s and mist
surrounded us all. We felt like we were in some kind of video game as the cloudy, misty glaze fell over our us, creating a mystical atmosphere. We continually had to move back and forth to the sections of the road that were already completed and tried to ignore the inquisitive stares from the construction workers (not an unusual phenomenon for us by now). The second night concluded with being rejected by a half dozen hotels, who for some reason didn't want to give lodging to foreigners. Then, after a little bargaining, our 24-hour, 2-day bike trip covering 200 miles came to a close.

The last two days were much less uneventful, as we put our bikes to rest and enjoyed seeing a few sights and exploring the coast on our own. It was fun to be able to spend some time getting to know the guys and giving each other a hard time about all of our different English accents. Traveling alongside people in the countryside gave me a better glimpse of the sights, sounds, and smells of what is experienced there. It made me appreciate the life in the city, away from the beaming hot sun all day long, where farmers have little to no equipment to farm. It made me appreciate cars and the privilege we have to drive in comfortable, convenient conditions, without getting covered in dirt from head to toe.