The cheap hotel we found in Xi'an was on the 9th floor of a building near the ancient city walls. As soon as I got there I phoned DHL on the hotel phone and was told that they would deliver my parcel, with the replacement Rohloff hub casing that day - excellent!. I really hoped they did because if not, the two weekends either side of the week long national holiday next week would mean I wouldn't be able to get the replacement part for 10 days, by which time, we'd nearly be finished in Asia.
After cleaning up, we walked to the train station, via a couple of food shops, and got a bus to the Terracotta Army. It was incredible, the amount of work that must have gone into making every one of the life-size warriors. The Terracotta Army is 2,200 years old and was buried with the first emperor of China to protect him in the afterlife. Wikipedia says 'Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.' It was an amazing thing to see.
We left the Army and headed back to Xi'an to hopefully return to the DHL parcel and an evening of bike maintenance. It wasn't there. I eventually tracked it down to the DHL warehouse on the outskirts of Xi'an and was told it was too late to deliver it and the reason it couldn't be delivered earlier was that I hadn't paid the £17 import tax on it! A double-blow, that was a lot of money for me compared to my £5 per day allowance in China. Anyway, after eventually finding an operator who could speak good English, I was told I could go and pick up the parcel tonight. The hotel phoned a Taxi and Phil and I whizzed off to DHL, the Taxi driver didn't disappoint us with his driving speed and made sure we arrived before the warehouse shut! I picked the parcel, paid the "import tax", and headed back to the hotel thoroughly relieved. That was the start of getting the bike fixed, next I had to rebuild a hub then a wheel, two things I've never done before! I couldn't afford to pay a bike shop to do it, and anyway I doubt they'd have seen a Rohloff hub here before.
The next morning I got up early and followed the manual to take the hub apart, fit new seals, put the new casing on, change the oil bath and reassemble it. It looked good and seemed to work OK! Next I used my bike as a wheel jig and attached a cut off cable tie onto the frame, positioned next to the rim of the wheel. This would show me how close to straight the wheel was. I followed instructions on which order to put each spoke into the wheel and eventually got them all in the right positions. I did the spokes up to a tension which pinged at the same note as the ones on the front wheel and put it on the bike. It worked!
Very pleased with myself, I chilled out for the rest of the day. Phil and I found a roadside BBQ that night and we celebrated reaching Xi'an, it seemed like the beginning of the last leg of China.
The next morning, after a bit more bike maintenance and ordering a few replacement bits for Laura to bring to me when we meet up in San Francisco in a couple of weeks, we set off. We went to a bike shop on the way out and they let us use their tools and hydraulic fluid to re-bleed Phil's rear brake which wasn't working. Really kind people, they wouldn't take any money for it and gave Phil a free bell!
It started pissing it down in the afternoon. We got out of the city and found a sheltered place under a railway bridge to stay for the night. The next morning I woke up to find that Phil was really ill with a tummy bug and had thrown up a few time in the night. We stayed there and rested for the morning, hoping that Phil would feel well enough to move on in the afternoon. A local guy walked past around 11 and looked concerned when he saw Phil. He returned an hour later with 2 policemen - brilliant! The asked us for our passports, I stalled them while Phil had to go behind a bush for a number 2! They were so annoying and asked for all our details and wouldn't leave us alone, so we followed them off the field and cycled off, very slowly because Phil had no energy at all. We stopped at the first hotel we saw and got a room. Phil relaxed, I went and updated my blog in an internet cafe.
We were both feeling the pressure a bit. We had to get to Beijing by the 16th if we wanted to see both the Great Wall and the Forbidden City and still had about 600 miles to do in the next 9 days - very possible unless you're ill. Phil was a bit better the next day and we cycled through pretty average scenery, a few nice hills and small gorges. To Phil's massive credit, he managed 63 miles despite being very ill. I could tell he was knackered. Luckily that night we were given a back room in a Shell garage to sleep in and the use of the kitchen which was brilliant timing. Phil told me later that he was close to stopping and hitching a ride to catch up with me. It wasn't an option to stop for any more rest days or we wouldn't make the coast in time.
Over the next couple of days, Phil got his strength back and we cycled through some boring scenery and huge industry. Massive coal power stations spurted out pollution and coal dust, which we got covered in! We reached the Yellow River again, which we couldn't see across because of the huge amount of pollution. It was considerably bigger than when we'd left it a few hundred miles ago. We tried staying in a SINOPEC petrol station, after our success Shell. To our delight they gave us a large cupboard to use. Unfortunately the manager for the night shift came along after about an hour and wasn't so welcoming, telling us we had to leave. After arguing for a while (we'd been given permission by the other manager and had unpacked everything, brushed teeth and about to go to bed) we realised there was no way we could stay there. The manager called up his son, who could speak English OK and told us he would put us up in a hotel in the next town. A nice gesture but unfortunately it meant packing everything up and cycling another 10 km in the dark. We did it in the end and the hotel was OK, it was good in hindsight to have got that extra bit of distance done.
The next day was uneventful in the morning. At lunchtime, we got a free lunch, really nice boiled chicken stew. This was in exchange for photos of us with the restaurant staff! They were planning to put them on the wall. I'd love to go back there one day to see if they did!! After more flat road with not much to look at, we found a place to sleep, in a wood with loads of huge black and yellow spiders in webs strung between trees.
After escaping the wood without spider bites, we lifted the bikes onto another motorway and nailed a few miles. We spent the whole day on the motorway, anxious to catch up miles and stopped to eat in service stations, that were gradually improving as we approached the rich cities of the East. England got knocked out of the Rugby World Cup by France, bugger!
Finally the next morning, it wasn't raining! More motorway riding brought us to the ancient walled city of Pingyao. It was fantastic, although very touristy. The walls were in good condition and it was a lived in city centre, with traditional houses next to the tourist sites. We had a looked round and chilled out, ready for the final stretch to the coast. We'd now settled on Huanghau Port on the East Coast as the best place to finish. We'd get a bus from there to Beijing.
After cleaning up, we walked to the train station, via a couple of food shops, and got a bus to the Terracotta Army. It was incredible, the amount of work that must have gone into making every one of the life-size warriors. The Terracotta Army is 2,200 years old and was buried with the first emperor of China to protect him in the afterlife. Wikipedia says 'Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.' It was an amazing thing to see.
We left the Army and headed back to Xi'an to hopefully return to the DHL parcel and an evening of bike maintenance. It wasn't there. I eventually tracked it down to the DHL warehouse on the outskirts of Xi'an and was told it was too late to deliver it and the reason it couldn't be delivered earlier was that I hadn't paid the £17 import tax on it! A double-blow, that was a lot of money for me compared to my £5 per day allowance in China. Anyway, after eventually finding an operator who could speak good English, I was told I could go and pick up the parcel tonight. The hotel phoned a Taxi and Phil and I whizzed off to DHL, the Taxi driver didn't disappoint us with his driving speed and made sure we arrived before the warehouse shut! I picked the parcel, paid the "import tax", and headed back to the hotel thoroughly relieved. That was the start of getting the bike fixed, next I had to rebuild a hub then a wheel, two things I've never done before! I couldn't afford to pay a bike shop to do it, and anyway I doubt they'd have seen a Rohloff hub here before.
The next morning I got up early and followed the manual to take the hub apart, fit new seals, put the new casing on, change the oil bath and reassemble it. It looked good and seemed to work OK! Next I used my bike as a wheel jig and attached a cut off cable tie onto the frame, positioned next to the rim of the wheel. This would show me how close to straight the wheel was. I followed instructions on which order to put each spoke into the wheel and eventually got them all in the right positions. I did the spokes up to a tension which pinged at the same note as the ones on the front wheel and put it on the bike. It worked!
Very pleased with myself, I chilled out for the rest of the day. Phil and I found a roadside BBQ that night and we celebrated reaching Xi'an, it seemed like the beginning of the last leg of China.
The next morning, after a bit more bike maintenance and ordering a few replacement bits for Laura to bring to me when we meet up in San Francisco in a couple of weeks, we set off. We went to a bike shop on the way out and they let us use their tools and hydraulic fluid to re-bleed Phil's rear brake which wasn't working. Really kind people, they wouldn't take any money for it and gave Phil a free bell!
It started pissing it down in the afternoon. We got out of the city and found a sheltered place under a railway bridge to stay for the night. The next morning I woke up to find that Phil was really ill with a tummy bug and had thrown up a few time in the night. We stayed there and rested for the morning, hoping that Phil would feel well enough to move on in the afternoon. A local guy walked past around 11 and looked concerned when he saw Phil. He returned an hour later with 2 policemen - brilliant! The asked us for our passports, I stalled them while Phil had to go behind a bush for a number 2! They were so annoying and asked for all our details and wouldn't leave us alone, so we followed them off the field and cycled off, very slowly because Phil had no energy at all. We stopped at the first hotel we saw and got a room. Phil relaxed, I went and updated my blog in an internet cafe.
We were both feeling the pressure a bit. We had to get to Beijing by the 16th if we wanted to see both the Great Wall and the Forbidden City and still had about 600 miles to do in the next 9 days - very possible unless you're ill. Phil was a bit better the next day and we cycled through pretty average scenery, a few nice hills and small gorges. To Phil's massive credit, he managed 63 miles despite being very ill. I could tell he was knackered. Luckily that night we were given a back room in a Shell garage to sleep in and the use of the kitchen which was brilliant timing. Phil told me later that he was close to stopping and hitching a ride to catch up with me. It wasn't an option to stop for any more rest days or we wouldn't make the coast in time.
Over the next couple of days, Phil got his strength back and we cycled through some boring scenery and huge industry. Massive coal power stations spurted out pollution and coal dust, which we got covered in! We reached the Yellow River again, which we couldn't see across because of the huge amount of pollution. It was considerably bigger than when we'd left it a few hundred miles ago. We tried staying in a SINOPEC petrol station, after our success Shell. To our delight they gave us a large cupboard to use. Unfortunately the manager for the night shift came along after about an hour and wasn't so welcoming, telling us we had to leave. After arguing for a while (we'd been given permission by the other manager and had unpacked everything, brushed teeth and about to go to bed) we realised there was no way we could stay there. The manager called up his son, who could speak English OK and told us he would put us up in a hotel in the next town. A nice gesture but unfortunately it meant packing everything up and cycling another 10 km in the dark. We did it in the end and the hotel was OK, it was good in hindsight to have got that extra bit of distance done.
The next day was uneventful in the morning. At lunchtime, we got a free lunch, really nice boiled chicken stew. This was in exchange for photos of us with the restaurant staff! They were planning to put them on the wall. I'd love to go back there one day to see if they did!! After more flat road with not much to look at, we found a place to sleep, in a wood with loads of huge black and yellow spiders in webs strung between trees.
After escaping the wood without spider bites, we lifted the bikes onto another motorway and nailed a few miles. We spent the whole day on the motorway, anxious to catch up miles and stopped to eat in service stations, that were gradually improving as we approached the rich cities of the East. England got knocked out of the Rugby World Cup by France, bugger!
Finally the next morning, it wasn't raining! More motorway riding brought us to the ancient walled city of Pingyao. It was fantastic, although very touristy. The walls were in good condition and it was a lived in city centre, with traditional houses next to the tourist sites. We had a looked round and chilled out, ready for the final stretch to the coast. We'd now settled on Huanghau Port on the East Coast as the best place to finish. We'd get a bus from there to Beijing.
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