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Two-O-Two

5/28/2011

6 Comments

 
Kellen Smetana
Before starting this trip, I had read about people breaking the 200 km mark in a single day, but I thought it was just the stuff of legends and fables.  I figured we would maybe hit 160 km (100 mi) once or twice, but I wasn’t sure if we would ever cross 200.  Our longest day for the entire first month was only about 130.  Then, we hit 202.

We left Jiayuguan after a lazy breakfast and were riding by 10am, fearing headwinds.  All of a sudden, whoosh – tailwinds.  And by tailwinds I mean Hurricane Andrew force tailwinds.  At our first break, Ben and I turned to each other and both said, “Eat as quickly as you can, we’re riding ‘til the cows come home today…”
Picture
My best attempt at depicting Hurricane Andrew
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Maybe this shows it better
By 8pm we had hit 181.  I told Ben we had to go for it, we had to break 200.  He was on board.  We rode through 200 and immediately found the next ridge to camp behind as the endless west swallowed up the sun.  No photos, no celebratory libations, just a quick fist pump and a big smile.  And you can imagine how fun setting up camp was in these conditions.  We worked in pairs on each tent and even then I had a half-inch layer of sand to sleep on when we were done.

The next morning we woke up to Hurricane Brenda (again tailwinds… I probably would’ve cried had they been headwinds) and were on pace to break 300 until we hit the construction.  The only highway was turned into a lovely gravel pit for 130 kilometers.  And still we managed 160 kilometers on the day dodging trucks.
Picture
Enjoying the glamorous history of the Silk Road
Trucks, trucks, and more trucks.  Did I mention we passed a couple trucks en route?  The exhaust and accompanying dust were almost as good for my lungs as an aroma therapy session at a day spa.  And of course, they know that when passing other trucks, giving oncoming cyclists three inches on the shoulder is plenty of room to ride in.  The one good thing, though, was that a couple colorful, fully-loaded cyclists must have been quite the break from the monotony of the gravel, desert, and truck caravan.  We got so many honks, cheers, and waves that we had a contest with ourselves to come up with the most creative response.  This led to frequent pointing, saluting, bowing, and laughing; I even threw out a couple rock-n-roll-tongue-and-hands, blew a couple kisses to the women, and thought about a Sammy Sosa home-run celebration.  Not quite sure who won, Ben’s bows were pretty classic.
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This little guy caused quite the backup
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Just enough room for a bow
We continue to dart across the desert at a torrid pace, soaking up the tailwinds as they come and bearing the headwinds otherwise.  As for camping, we’ve even managed some clever solutions there.
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Sleep in these tomb-like things to avoid the wind?
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If the glove fits...
Ben broke three spokes en route to Hami, but fortunately we were able to get them fixed here as we refreshed on melon after melon in this oasis town.  We’re halfway to Urumqi, our next major destination, and look to have some pretty slick tan lines on arrival.  Oh, and we’ll take Hurricane Carlos tailwinds if we can get them.
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Honey, going to the next town for some coffee. Be back next week!
6 Comments
Mom
5/29/2011 04:59:28 am

Dad & I biked Kensington today. Here are our Stats: Distance-14.84 km; Bugs swallowed-1; Favorite Food-Cheese, crackers, apples; Song hummed-MoneyGrabber, Fitz and the Tantrums (in your honor).

Carry On & Be Safe!!!

Mom
xxoo

Reply
Janice Schmidt
5/31/2011 02:15:20 am

Congrats on the 200km. That is quite an accomplishment! Although from the above comment, it looks like your Mom/Dad are closing in on your records. Are you almost out of China?

Reply
Jason
5/31/2011 06:27:50 am

Hey Kellen, I followed a guy on a bike for like 1 mile today (I was in a car of course), then he almost hit an old lady with grandson and shopping cart so I wrote him a ticket for not wearing a helmet! Then I started to inform him about your journey, and he said that he would love to go on a similar journey but he wanted to stop drinking first and "start to panhandle more so he could afford the trip"... I think he may be interested in your next cross continental journey...

Reply
Jason
5/31/2011 06:34:17 am

Also kellen I love that you have UM apparel spotted... Figures they would be in communist countries... haha GO STATE!!! I am sure you are happy to know that Jim Tressel quit from OSU... I cant stand him either.

Reply
Rohan Patel
6/1/2011 12:48:30 am

Glad you guys got some tailwind instead of that brutal headwind! 200km in a day that is a pretty awesome accomplishment, check another one off the list!

Reply
Austin
6/2/2011 04:46:07 am

Hurricane force tailwinds is cheating. I demand you backtrack and do an extra 50 km to make up for it.

Reply



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