Tuesday 17th September With no breakfast at the luxurious hotel Linney had booked, or for that matter hot water, water in the taps and bloody freezing, his strategy was safe a pound on this one then go up market in Xi`an. We had oat flakes with almond milk and coffee in the room, overlooking the main road, lovely vista, with overcast skies and the trucks thundering along.
By the time we were ready to leave the overcast skies had turned to pouring rain, with the normal good byes to the owner, it was just a matter of getting out there, never with a faint heart we hit the road. With the rain getting heavier, I had to stop and take my glasses off, could not see with them on and certainly could not see when I took them off, but hey ho all I have to do is pedal, Keith and Linney tell me where to go. With the rain not easing but the banter increasing its just sexy rain said Keith as he guided me through the puddles.
With the fruit farms slowly disappearing being replaced first by light industry, then by heavy industry including a massive coal mine, with us splattered by road dirt, we were now covered in coal dust as we cycled past the mining complex for around 15 miles. At this point Linney was in front, by a country mile, mainly due to the numerous nature stops the old men have to take, not a problem in front, as we all have the gear for emergency repairs also we knew Linney would stop, when he got hungry, usually on the hour or at the most two hours.
We were making good progress, even as we started the only climb of the day a 12 mile steady climb with the odd steep bit,as we came up to one of the last steep bits, by chain came off causing a little tumble, not hurt, nothing a few choice words could not sort out, I was more concerned with falling into the traffic than anything else. With a few rest days in Xi`an, we will be able to undertake a few minor tweaks to the bikes, basically a good clean, tighten up the cables, replace the brake blocks and possible replace the chain at least. Suitably recovered from my fall and my tourettes back under control , we started to look for Linney, as it is getting close to feeding time.
With no signal Keith and I pulled into a service station to see if we could get a signal, the station was closed, so we moved on to the next one, the guys were really helpful let us log on to their WIFI, within minutes we were in contact with Linney, he had been waiting for us down the road, no problem, only 9 miles between us, so Keith and I had a blast from the past, Pot Noddle, then a coffee from the same container while we waited for Linney. Within ½ an hour we were all back together, with a nice 10 mile roll into the posh hotel Linney had promised us, to be honest he did himself proud Tongkung International Hotel was excellent, with the booking in process very smooth, hope this is a sign of things to come. With a little 40 mile ride tomorrow, then a few rest days, while we set up Rylan for the final stage into Shanghai.