Will I ever make it…

Things could not have begun in a smoother fashion leaving Yangshuo on 6th October. We woke up leisurely at 06:30, packed up the panniers and hit an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. AYCE buffets are normally seen to quite seriously, but on this quiet morning it was a clinical destruction, leaving nothing for the guests sleeping in beyond 07:00. Hash browns we’re hoovered up not leaving a single one, the crepe lady,hoping for a quiet morning, was put to non-stop work, coffee and juice were guzzled down and they even had pizza that they cutely cut up into inch by inch squares. This was a waste of time on their part as we literally took every last crumb of pizza making the tiny squares redundant, they might as well have plonked a full 12″ on our table along with the rest. Bellies satisfied, we wobbled down the empty pedestrian street of Yangshuo to begin the search for the correct road out of town. 650km to go until Hong Kong, spirits were high and surely nothing else could go wrong. That was until I glanced down at my rear wheel spotting something that I thought was an innocent leaf flapping in my spokes. I stopped and much to my dismay a spoke had broken, the first of the trip! No biggie, just replace it and move on. Wrong! The socket around the hub had snapped, making it impossible to insert a new spoke. For those of you with even less bike mechanical knowledge than me, cycling with one less spoke can be potentially hazardous. It puts the remaining spokes under greater pressure, especially on a touring bike with the added weight you are carrying on the back. The wheel does not run as true (straight) but more like a Pringle, albeit at the beginning not that noticeable, which in turn begins to rubs against the break pads and potentially continues to worsen until ultimately the wheel buckles under the pressure. All-in-all, terrible news 5 minutes into the final stretch. On top of this, I noticed a small bulge in my rear tyre where the tread was fraying and another exploding tyre was not too far away. We had no more spares. Double shit! And I still had the sniffles, triple shit. The only thing that relaxed me somewhat was that there was absolutely nothing that could be done to fix either bike problem, both were irreparable. They would either make it to Hong Kong or my rear wheel would buckle, explode or at worst, both. Zac & I came up with a whole host of contingency plans should something happen. Taking any form of public transport or not cycling in some form was simply out of the question at this stage. With a few plan B, C & D’s in mind, we continued cautiously. Plan A was to ride smooth tarmac all the way, avoiding any bumps and gravel tracks like the plague.

The mornings ride out of Yangshuo, despite the continuous bike issues, was beautiful. Flat roads, dramatic limestone karst mountains popping up everywhere and a breakfast finally worthy of not having to stop for a pack of Oreo’s within the first hour. At our first drinks stop we were both baffled when we glanced at our speedometer’s that read 42km, as it felt like only 20km had been cycled. This was a good sign, and the bike had not yet deteriorated further. Lunch was eaten in Zongshan before the afternoon stint. My feelings at this time of the day and this part of the journey were mixed. I was loving the days ride and the fact Hong Kong is firmly in my sights, but every time a minor bump appeared I slowed down and held my breath expecting the worst to occur to my rear wheel. My nerves were shot. At the end of the day the road began to disintegrate once more, but a lifeline was thrown to us in the form of the highway running parallel to the secondary road. I had hoped to cycle the remaining distance without the worry of being yet again caught by the police on the highway. But the choice was simple; broken bike or risk the highway. That night we camped 10 yds from the hard shoulder having eaten a can of beer and a bag of sweeties for dinner, ready to hop over the barrier and onto the oh-so-smooth surface of the highway.

05:50 on 7th October, highway barrier hop success and we began flying along the smooth road. I swear I heard my bike whisper “thank you” to me… Our targets for the day were to cycle 200+km and to not get lost. Both were achieved with unsettling ease. The minor issues of the day were; tyre tumour expanding, wheel running a little bit less straight, sniffles gone but replaced with violent coughing and the stifling heat. On this day we crossed the Tropic of Cancer and it definitely felt like we were in the tropics! Temperatures eased past 30C and the humidity was ever present. The heat was draining us of our normal bounding energy, making every kilometre just that little bit more difficult than normal. My energy is also slightly depleted due to the very tough and strenuous cycle from Chengdu. We did have a rest day in Yangshuo but lots of admin had to be done whilst nursing a hangover, so not as restful as I would have liked. By 16:45 I had cycled 199.24km, 760 metres short of 200km. This was going to be my 10th 200+km day, so quite a landmark. Annoyingly Zac had already reached 200km as his speedometer ‘gifts’ him an extra kilometre per day. Even more annoyingly we found a place to camp exactly where we had our end of day beer, so while he was setting up camp I pootled off down the road for 380m before returning to clock up the vital 10th 200+km day. This felt both ridiculous and great! The night was a nightmare. For the first time in China the heat was so intense in my tent that no sleeping bag was used all night, my body was on sweat over-drive all night and I slept perhaps 1 hour all night. I got beyond grotty, literally bathing in dirty sweat all night. If you have never bathed in 2 day old dirty sweat, I don’t recommend you try. The upside (as there is an upside to a EVERY situation in life, sometimes you just have to look harder than normal) was that my ‘sauna’ tent had cured my sniffles by steaming my sinuses clean. The cough remained as violent as ever, adding to my all round feeling of eurgh.

8th October was navigating mega-city day. We were about to somehow approach Guangzhou and avoid entering it. Once you enter a Chinese mega-city and it has you in its grasp , it will not let go, ever! My ridiculously scaled map was of no use, showing only hundreds of unnamed highways in a mess of blue lines around Guangzhou. Wits and quick decision making were needed, not before we fell upon a delightful little Dim Sum restaurant for breakfast. We arrived just as trolley’s full of freshly steamed Dim Sum were being wheeled out, yes! Without going in to too much detail of the complete shit-show of navigating Guangzhou, we completely dominated it! We had metamorphosed from a drunken Christopher Columbus to an astute and wily Vasco da Gama, compass at the ready. We had no plans to use the highways, but somehow we ended up on many with even more flying above and below us going in every possible direction. My heart was racing for the entire afternoon, especially when you have to cycle straight and thousands of cars want to exit at the slip road. Eventually a sign to Shenzhen (the mega-city north of Hong Kong and the wealthiest city in China) was spotted – LAND AHOY!!!!! Somehow we made it through and the next sign even gave us a mileage marker, 138km to Shenzhen. A smile plastered itself across my face, finally a glimmer of hope that the finish line is in sight and my bike was still in one piece. This fact surprised both of us. I was fully expecting it to crumble and to go to plan B. Not there yet though…

We ended the day in Dongguan in a cheap and cheerful inn. Mainly due to our grotty state, but also because the following day would see us cross the border and cycle to Harrow International School, Hong Kong to give a presentation, so some form of decorum was needed. That evening we ate Pizza Hut (very naughty but brilliant!) and found a tub of Nutella after searching high and low for one since Turkey! No second thoughts were required, the tub was bought and would be devoured the following day. My feelings at this time were still not as euphoric as they should have been. A border still had to be crossed, my bike still needed to survive 100km and Victoria Peak still needed to be conquered. We left Dongguan at 07:30, after a luxurious lie in until 06: 20, with the British flag flying patriotically from my rear pannier. There was no time to relax for the 70km to the border as the road was scarier and busier than when I entered Istanbul back in late May. Multiple mental buses nearly ended not only the trip but our lives and kamikaze cyclists and motorbikes rode up the wrong direction heading straight for us – IDIOTS! By 11:00 we reached the Hong Kong border at Shenzhen bay. It was very busy indeed. We found the customs hall, essentially an airport terminal with winding queues to the bored looking customs official, looking like two lycra-clad fish out of water winding our crumbling and laden bikes through the maze like queue to stamp ourselves into Hong Kong. This was achieved. We then peddled towards the 2km long bridge stretching across Shenzhen Bay to cross it. This was not achieved. As the bridge was a highway, a lone policeman stopped us. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had a gun, we would have ignorantly and arrogantly cycled on. Being busted by the only policeman on duty was slightly annoying, and being shoved onto a public bus to cross the bridge even more so, but by 12:30 we were in Hong Kong. Still 30km from Hong Kong Island and Victoria Peak, but very close to Harrow International School.

We reached the school at 1300, just in time for school lunch, perfect! We were greeted with open arms by Mr (Jon) Maynard (aka Sir), my old squash mentor/guru and all-round legend from Tonridge School, and his wife Sarah. The school itself is a very impressive and grand building perched on a hill overlooking south Tuen Mun and the coast. The doors to the school have just opened, only 6 weeks into their inaugural Michaelmas term. Mr Maynard informed me the talk would be in front of about 50/60 keen and willing students. This swiftly turned into 350/400 students and attendance is compulsory. I can’t tell you how the talk went, as I’m still writing it (procrastinating in writing it, as per usual…) to deliver it in T-220 minutes. Last night Zac, Mr Maynard and I enjoyed a few pints of San Miguel, some Cafe Creme cigars and a Twix and a Mars Bar. Life could not have gotten much better, but I’m sure it will soon…

16,486km have been cycled, but tomorrow there are 35km and a 350m (approx.) climb to go. I have unwavering faith in my bike making it, but you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out…

I will reach the peak and my family and friends at 16:00 tomorrow on 11th October (09:00 London, UK time). Keep your fingers crossed and join me in a celebratory champagne (or perhaps a breakfast Bloody Mary) if you fancy.

Until tomorrow 🙂
Mark

The quote on my travelling ‘business’ cards:

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step” … [and end with a climb up Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, a beer and a cigar] – Lao Tzu [and Mark Wright]

For some updated photos from China please visit my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/thewrightwayeast