I hit the road bright and early this morning, headed north west out of Lanzhou. Lanzhou is the last big city I will see in China, and I'm hoping this means the air might improve a little. I can't say I'm that sorry to have left the worst of industrial China behind me.
In complete contrast to yesterday today has been a good day. I meandered along the Yellow river for about 50kms then turned right and will be on this road for some time to come. Since I was leaving the river I expected hills, providing better scenery but slowing me somewhat. Turns out I was riding up a valley and the road was pretty much flat the whole way to Longdeng where I am now, with hills to the south west and only small villages en route. (computer crashed when I tried to transfer photos...) This has its downsides, because it means I feel obliged to ride further....topped 100k today.
In complete contrast to yesterday today has been a good day. I meandered along the Yellow river for about 50kms then turned right and will be on this road for some time to come. Since I was leaving the river I expected hills, providing better scenery but slowing me somewhat. Turns out I was riding up a valley and the road was pretty much flat the whole way to Longdeng where I am now, with hills to the south west and only small villages en route. (computer crashed when I tried to transfer photos...) This has its downsides, because it means I feel obliged to ride further....topped 100k today.
I'll be slowing down in the next couple of days as I have spotted a pass on the map about 100k away. It doesn't say how high it is, but the very thought of it is enough to scare me right now.
I have also been amazed by the number of people up here who speak some English...guy in a petrol station, kids on a bike who rode with me for a bit, woman in the street who came to help me in the hotel...after a dearth of English in between Beijing and Xi'an this was surprising.
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