Financial Archives - Wander Cyclist | A Bicycle Adventure in Asia

07 Jan 2011

Sticky Post By WanderCyclist Posted in China, Financial, I don't give up - EVER!, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Photos, Planning, Route, Tibet, Torugart Pass, Ulaanbatar With 2 Comments Permalink

Ever since…

Sticky Post By WanderCyclist On January 7, 2011 With 2 Comments

…Mongolia I have been wrestling with myself. (Mongolians like to wrestle too).

A half a kilometer before crossing from China to Mongolia, it had been difficult. One thing after the next. It seemed THAT NOTHING went the way it was suppose to. I know you should prepare for incidents like this…but seriously, never in my life had there been days after days of everything just down right sucking!

(I would have more photos but since that camera was stolen I’m missing some stuff).

We tried to ride North from Zamyn Udd but the road disappeared – literally. I had been warned to NOT FOLLOW jeep/motorcycle tracks as they can lead you nowhere, or your death. After attempting to talk to two truck drivers (from big Russian-wheelers), one woman, and a young girl in a pink silk dress – we asked them about the roads and he just pointed towards Zamyn Udd spreading his arms back and forth horizontally. (I understood this as saying the roads are everywhere).

This is where we tried to hitch hike.

Looking South towards China:

Looking North towards Ulan Bator (where we wanted to go):

This little girl was spending the afternoon before the Sand/Wind storm blew in throwing rocks at a horse.

We met some great people. Thank god this little fellow could speak Mandarin and Mongolian. We may actually owe our lives to him.

They make ’em stronger in the North.

We did finally make it to Ulan Bator, which was a complete fiasco and nightmare. And where I killed my budget getting back to China.

After a couple of days of finding maps, talking with people, weighing the pros and cons. We did set out on a very cold and windy morning. We passed truck after truck coming from the West, loaded sky high with dog? pelts.

It was so windy, barely making it at 8km/hour. I was extremely sluggish (I ended up getting really sick that night). It was gorgeous but I was freezing, slow, and just feeling really dogged. Jason rode ahead of me but returned when he noticed I was not near.

We stood on the side of the road and watched a storm roll in. Storms on the plains are amazing…this isn’t an uncommon experience. You can see it in the distance and time it for duck and cover. You can also get an idea how long it’s going to last. This is where I sat, looking out, and made the decision to head back to China. And this is the exact place where my dreams fell apart. Take a note of the road conditions…um, I mean jeep tracks.

I’ve longed for Mongolia for years now. There is something about the stories, the photos, everything…that has drawn me to this land. Well, needless to say, it gave me a really good ass kicking. Jason built his bike frame so I was also concerned about his bike holding up, along with his 25kg limit aluminum racks. Do I regret turning back, probably not…but I regret trying to go North West when I would be face to face with wind. And I’m talking about a wind you probably have NEVER experienced.

I think of Mongolia AT LEAST once a day and it’s usually when I’m lying in bed recounting my rotations and playing the “what if” game.

So, I threw out the idea to my pen pal, Ed, of the Torugart Pass from China into Kyrgyzstan. I’m playing with the idea of just heading out of China and pass through the K’stans to get back into the North West side of Mongolia. I could at least have a hell of a tailwind to Ulan Bator. Can I handle eating all the boiled lamb…probably not. But I think I could handle the non existent roads, and it will be a hell of a lot easier to hitch hike as a solo cyclist. I just can’t be defeated and maybe I’ll get to see Lake Baikal after all.

One of my ideas was to catch a train in China to get to Lhasa. But yeah, sounds like a super touristy place. If you know me in the bit least…you know I go in the opposite direction of tourists. So, what would I do once I get to Lhasa? Go to India…then where? I’m kind of getting stopped in those tracks…so it’s to the K-stans. From there…I don’t know. That Russia Visa is a pain in my butt!!!! I may have some guanxi to use for this.

So now I’m thinking of doing a circuit into Ulan Bator or heck…just go to Europe.

Please stay tuned as I’ll be back on the saddle in about 2 months. Just got my Visa renewed for another year…that’s the most important thing right now.

21 Sep 2010

Sticky Post By WanderCyclist Posted in Email correspondance, Financial, Friends, Help, I don't give up - EVER!, Planning, Rules of the Road, Soma Fab, Soma Saga With 2 Comments Permalink

A lesson I allowed myself to learn (the first of many)

Sticky Post By WanderCyclist On September 21, 2010 With 2 Comments

Don’t be scared to ask for help and graciously accept when assistance is offered.

(Unless the “helper” is a Mongolian rascal that lives in Hulun Buir and drives a motorcycle with a blue fuzzy seat cover with the Beijing Olmpic’s icons on it and has a ring finger with gout.)

I don’t know what happened or how I developed an awful habit of not asking for help. Maybe I thought it was a sign of weakness or a true character flaw if you couldn’t use resources to figure it for yourself. There are some people that truly do think this – I have met a couple. These are the same type of people that don’t seem to try anything new either – maybe for fear of failing because they refuse to ask for a helping hand.

When I first began planning this trip, May of 2009, I thought I could use all the books and maps and resources possible to get concrete answers and just move along my way. Sure, maybe I’ll have to ask for help on my ride, but heck, I can figure this out…right? WRONG!!!

Within a week or so I had sent out dozens and dozens of emails. Hey! – you cyclists that think I have it “easy” because I have gear sponsorship – think again….hundreds of emails…HUNDREDS!…many go unanswered.

It’s not the most awesome feeling to ask for financial or additional support. Especially coming from a Western culture where money is not discussed. Here, in good ol’China – people just come right out with it. No taboo or qualm about it at all.

In my very VERY early 30’s – I have this idea that I shouldn’t have to ask for financial help from friends and strangers…shouldn’t I be self sufficient. Well, if we want to play the “be normal” game…shouldn’t I be married, own a home, and be on to my second child. Yeah, don’t even let me meander down that road…………………..

When I first started along, I was a little shy about asking. That shyness broke real fast! I was traveling along the Grand Canal taking roads that weren’t even 2 meters wide and I’d be lucky to even see a bicycle pass. I just followed the compass in one direction until I hit a populated area. Stopping to check a compass became too time consuming so I just began to read direction by the sun – or by the which side of my calves were burning from the late afternoon sun. (For some reason, the giant blue work trucks will throw the compass off if you are too close. You can watch the needle swing like a pendulum as the trucks drive past too).

Rolling up into a small town or village, some will run right up to you and ask where you are going. And in China – EVERYONE likes to give their opinion and advice. Within in seconds people are pointing and debating which way. Often times looking at my map and telling me what I already know. How difficult can it be to ask for help in a country where nearly everyone WANTS to help you.

It’s kinda AWESOME and really helped teach me that it’s okay. It’s really okay to say, “Wo milu. wo yao qu ….” 我迷路。我要去。。。

(Traveling in China…DO NOT ASK cops for help…more trouble than it’s worth. UNLESS, you find yourself in a village of about 30 people in Hulun Buir and he is strolling along the dirt road. Those coppers enjoyed posing me with some other coppers and taking a photo together examining my Passport/Visa.)

Besides asking for help, I’ve always had a difficult time accepting the offer of a little assistance. Why? Heck if I know…maybe I think it will make me lesser of a person…weak, inferior, etc.

Well, when you are exhausted, hot, hungry…you learn to accept all the handouts you possibly can.

There is one major exception – MY BIKE! At first, I was a little tolerant of people wanting to help hook up the panniers. But then it just got out of control with big ol’ man sausage fingers being stuck in between my spokes (that sounds a little perverted). Finally, I broke…the biggest sausages and the most aggressive stranger to approach outside a hotel to “help”. I pushed his hand back firmly and looked him straight in the eyes and said, no I can do it! (No quotation marks because it was in Chinese). Usually I let girls and women give it a go because they are less aggressive and harsh with things. The last thing I need is a broken bag. AND, females pay MUCH closer attention to how I do it so they do it nearly perfect themselves. The men…oh THE MEN………….OH….they have their own way to handle.

(Dear Reader, can you sense the feelings I have for the opposite sex here? This is for another very VERY long essay in the future. In small towns and especially villages, the men are generally harmless and kind…but start getting into “cities” – it’s a whole ‘nuther story. That will be also included in my “Rules of the Road – Women Edition”. I’d love to write a research paper on this subject but I think it may be a little one sided as 90% of my sources would be women. Does the problem lie with the fact that there are no men in the education system as teachers? Children are raised my women generally, where the boy is coddled beyond belief? Where are the role models? Probably working, making money to support their family…I don’t know – it’s stuff that swims in my head every single day.)

I don’t know if “solo” is the right word for my trip. The amount of help and advice I have been given, and still receive, is beyond belief. Every day, for nearly 5 months, someone offered me help of some sort. Whether it was handing me water out of a car window, offering me a ride (no way), route advice, etc.

What I’ve really realized is that when you, me, us, ask for help – we open up ourselves to others. And with this relationship wonderful things can happen and evolve. Sometimes, after riding for hours without any human contact or communication, I would pull over and ask a question I already knew just to see where it would lead me. Okay, yeah yeah yeah…once it lead me to a dangerous place…but you get what I’m saying.

So, I went from being afraid to ask for help to just going up to strangers with questions that I didn’t need answered just for human interaction.

I have more about all this written in my journals, which probably sounds a little more poetic, but I thought I would share now.

Every day I wake up wondering where I would be…I check the weather every evening to see how cold it would be getting in the NW. Every time I get on my cruiser or road bike here, I get butterflies in my stomach. When I road Lieutenant home from the train station a couple weeks back – I have a feeling towards it that I have never felt towards an in-animate object in my life. She/He has a life of it’s own and when I gaze at her/him, I feel like he/she is gazing back with the same thoughts, memories, and experiences. Weird, bizarre, crazy…maybe…it’s kind of my best friend and an extension of myself.

03 Sep 2010

Sticky Post By WanderCyclist Posted in Break Time, Financial, I don't give up - EVER!, Money Sucks, Qinghai, Soma Saga, Xining With 10 Comments Permalink

Pause…just press ‘PAUSE’…for a minute!

Sticky Post By WanderCyclist On September 3, 2010 With 10 Comments

Financial banking crisis – I must go back to Shanghai to work this out.

Also, Jason wants to leave China in December so I must move.

I’m devastated to say the least…actually, I don’t know what I’m really feeling. My eyes are swollen from hours of crying…feeling like a failure…seeing 16 months of work and dedication ‘end’.

No, I think not…I don’t give up that easily. It sucks when you are defeated by money, or lack there of. Of all the obstacles I’ve faced, money is the one that wants to stop this adventure.

I’m in Qinghai, and upon arrival, I was immediately charged to keep going. It’s absolutely beautiful here, riding through mountains, spotting a lone monk down in a valley. Old temples and Muslims whizzing by on their motorcycles. No coal in the air here.

This post is going to be much shorter than how I really feel and what I’m thinking…as I am really confused and scattered. I didn’t think this would happen, and so abruptly.

I checked my account less than 12hours ago and have already lined up a substitute teaching job that will bring in 2500 rmb and hooked up with some previous students to bring in some cash.

Ohhhhhhh, you haven’t seen the last of me Western China…you sure haven’t.

What has the last 4 months done to me…made me hungry, ‘like wolf’. I want my language skills to be the best and I want to make those images that say something – real. Not just your touristy run of the mill stuff.

I wanted this so bad…I wanted this trip, this ride, this experience, so bad. I haven’t worked this hard for something in a long time and there is no way in heck I’m going to be defeated by something like, money.

Yeah, I read the blogs of other cyclists…and their whole thing about, “we aren’t sponsored, we are doing this on our own dime…blah blah blah”.

Well, just because you are sponsored doesn’t mean you have a big fat bank roll. Being sponsored meant that I, you, spent countless hours researching and writing emails to companies. With perhaps 1 in 10 willing to help. Do you know what it feels like to ask for help, it’s not really all that dignifying, at least for me. That’s a personal battle of mine for another time – I hate asking for help.

Being sponsored means you can’t just quit because you are tired or feel like it.

It also means promising things in return for their generosity and support.

Don’t worry sponsors – I’ll be back in that saddle in no time.
Don’t worry fans and friends – I won’t disappoint – I promise.

With a little time and money making, I can hopefully repair my failing drive chain, get tires (I only had 3 flats 2 days ago…yeah, 3 in one day – balls!), a new pair of shoes, and a better pair of shorts (i’ve got raw saddle sores).

My 2 months plan – make money, repair the ride, make some images locally, pack my crap up except 4 panniers and that beautiful and lovely Saga. Oh, and of course, post some pics.

Tailwinds and Godspeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!