All posts by WanderCyclist

I like to rest from the sun from noon to 2.  In the South I use to rest in trees…in HulunBuir/Prairie, I’m lucky to find a road overpass/storm drain where I go down there and hang out with cow patties, random shoes, and a pile or so of human doo. 

A couple days ago I passed out from the heat with a bottle as my pillow and a bed of gravel as my bed.  I ended up getting tar all over my shirt but sometimes…you just have to pass out from the heat.  40 degrees C!!!  Even the breeze was hot. 

The elbow and knee crevices sweat so much it looks like I’m leaking water.

I’m dehydrated…badly.

“Always, ALWAYS, follow the rules of the road. Never, NEVER, let your guard down.

Solo female cyclists in China – be extra aware. If you can – let your presence be known. Cops in villages are helpful, Cops in cities not helpful. If in a village, let the cops know of your presence – ask for help or a simple wave and tell them you are resting there for the night.

If in a city, stay on a well lit street.

Never EVER let a local/stranger escort you to a place to sleep. Ask a taxi or grocery shop. If you ask a man, it is normal for them to point and give verbal directions – be on guard if they follow you.

Again…again…do not accept “chifan” dates from boys/men that are not accompanied by women/children/family.

Fellow road cyclists are a usual exception. If it hadn’t been for Lao Zhang – I would still be stuck on a mountain. Men over 40 or so you can usually give them a little benefit of the doubt.

I F*#ked up…and it nearly ended this ride. You’ll have to wait for the book to find out what happened. But the teaser is that I’m pretty sure I ate dog.”

Ellen says that the heat is unbearable in Inner Mongolia right now. She constantly thinks about cold beverages, margaritas, ice cream…. anything cool and refreshing. She is hanging out with some Mongolians right now, just chatting it up. But she had to walk the last 10 kms to the town because she was so exhausted from the heat. Her distance riding for each day might have to be reduced to cope with trying to stay out of the sun.

Ellen is currently sitting under the shade of a road sign looking out on the prairie listening to the Old 97’s.

Since the food poisoning incident, Ellen has had a bout with stomach problems for the last few days. When she left food poisoning town, she ended up only riding for 40 or so kms before having to stop. Stomach issues trumped her will to put in more kms. So she found a house (with a nice family) in the middle nowhere to was willing to let her stay in one of their rooms for 15 kuai a night. She says that there isn’t a town for 100kms in either direction. The house has no shower, and the bathroom is a hole in the ground behind the house. Ellen has been there for 2 nights already and is almost ready to leave. When I asked her if she feels dirty from not showering, she just said “Naw, I’m so used to it by now. Always dirty.” So tomorrow morning, she should be going to Manzhouli.

The family she is staying with speaks Chinese with such a thick Russian accent that Ellen has difficulty understanding them. So there is a lot of pantomiming going back and forth. During family dinner yesterday, the old man of the house picked up a porcelain lamb and pretended to eat it. Ellen took this as the man really liked Lamb. But she said it’s odd, because she’s only seen wild cows near this house. The cows are just wandering around the prairie, grazing. She says these are the happiest cows shes ever seen.

Ellen is right at the Russian/inner Mongolian border right now. She’s been there for 2 nights already due to a bout with food poisoning. She ate some bad cold noodles for lunch yesterday and is only now starting to feel better. So she’s going to stay one more night and is going to leave in the morning.

The Inner Mongolian town where is is (I forget the name, sorry) is where Russians come to buy products to sell in Russia. So, if you aren’t Han looking, then you’ll get greeted in Russian, which has happened to Ellen numerous times. There are a tremendous amount of bugs up there and she says that the sun is humongous at that latitude. Yesterday she told me she saw the most beautiful sunset of her life. After sunset, there’s still light for an hour, due to the sun still radiating. Oh yeah, Ellen passed the 4,000 km mark a few days ago. Go Ellen!

Ellen is very near the Russian border being attacked by horse flies the size of her pinky toe and being stun by bees. Don’t worry though, she’s a trooper even though she has 20 bee stings. Even while going 25 kmh, there were 10 bees hanging onto the panniers. She says that she’s persevering right now, but hates everything with wings at this moment.

Ellen sent me a text with the below

300 kms from the Russian border at 扎兰屯。 I saw a baby goat walking along a mud fence. Got a Photo. It was weird that it was up 5 feet climbing on the fence.

Climbing a mountain all day, a very slow 80 km – but I expected this as China uses mountains to separate Mongolia from the rest of the folks. It’s a pity because in Inner Mongolia it’s cleaner and the people are helpful yet mind their own business – if you’ve lived in China you know what I mean by not bothering you. Also, I enjoy going up the mountains because there are less people, communities, and there is always a beautiful view – and the ride down is pretty awesome.

Beginning to sleep more than 5 hours. Got roughly 9 last night minus the waking up confused “where am I?” and sweating.

So tired of the food selection. Everything is either loaded with sugar, swimming in oil, or deep fried. God, all I want is a salad with blue cheese, cranberries, and walnuts – and a Dr. Pepper Big Gulp with extra ice. Lots of ice. Ice for days.

The sun rises very early in the north of China. Ellen says that sunrise starts at 3 am and has been setting lately at around 8. She usually starts riding around 4-5 am, stops when she can no longer see her shadow and takes a break for lunch and a nap under a tree or somewhere else suitable. Then continues on to her destination, often not arriving until just after sunset. This does not leave a lot of time for sleeping at night, after you budget in the time it takes to look for a place to sleep and finding something to eat. But last night she successfully got 7.5 hours of sleep, which is was really excited about. She’s taking it easy in Chichihar until Sunday, got a hotel room with only a small window (little light to come into the room, which is a plus for Ellen), and is eating some junk food. Ed is right, Ellen does deserve some downtime.

Prior to getting to Chichihar, Ellen says that just before the sun started to set, there were dragon flys everywhere. It was the most she’s ever seen. But the at dusk, the dragon flys were replaced by mosquitoes. Ellen stopped for a second to drink some water and the next thing she knew, there were 20 mosquitoes on her shirt. She proceeded to ride fast the rest of the way to Chichihar to keep the bugs off.

For those who don’t know, Ellen just had a birthday. When I asked her if she was going to take it easy that day, she said “No, I’m riding. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” That’s Ellen for you.

She rode about 90 kms today in the blazing hot heat of Inner Mongolia. She said the heat was brutal, but thankfully the road was flat as a pancake and there was a bit of a tailwind. She is now in Song Yuan.