Bike now pain later (part 2)
The opposite direction had it better?
I immediately noticed that the landscape was even greener than yesterday. I wasn’t sure if this was because the weather was slightly better, or because we were at a slightly higher altitude, but this is what I remember from the beginning of the second day.
A few kilometers after starting, I could definitely feel I was climbing, and I wasn’t prepared for it. I wouldn’t call this a mountain road, but the first eight kilometers outside of Ruisui are definitely challenging, even if some tech company labelled this section as “mostly flat”. I kept going and made it past the park, located at the very top of this hill.
While going downhill and catching my breath, I noticed that less portions of the road are properly separated from traffic, compared to the day before. Don’t get me wrong, the conditions are more than acceptable, and I still had plenty of space to my left to feel safe enough. Nothing really happened until I reached Yuli, which was my designated coffee stop.
This was the halfway point of my journey. Ninety-something kilometers down, eighty-something more to go. Legs were feeling good. At this moment, the clouds started to disappear, and the sky showed its true blue color. All of a sudden it was sunny, but not hot. Pretty much the perfect cycling weather.
The entrance to the Yufu Bikeway can be found just outside the train station. There are a few other routes you can take if you’re going south, but I think you shouldn’t miss this one. Once you cross the bridge and exit Yuli, this is what it looks like:
Ten kilometers of uninterrupted and flat cycling lanes, surrounded by trees on the left, and rice fields on the right. Not a single car in sight.
I crossed paths with quite a few cyclists coming the opposite way, but weirdly, none going the same direction as me (quick note on cycling etiquette: a simple 👍 or 👌 to cyclists coming the opposite way is always nice). Just based on their outfits and bikes, I can confidently say that half of them were local families with kids enjoying their morning exercise (lucky them), and the other half were tourists/foreigners (like me) riding Highway 9, but in the opposite direction.
I stopped for a quick selfie at the Old Donghli Train station, that marks the end of this incredible bikeway, and felt a little sad as I thought that this exact combination of perfect weather and perfect cycling road may never happen again in the future.
I got back on Highway 9, and thought to myself… am I climbing again? This is not what I thought I saw when I was preparing for the day, so I checked again. And the answer was yes: uphill all the way to the next stop.
Somewhere halfway between Yuli and Chishang, I saw a group of cyclists coming the opposite way, followed by two small support trucks. As they approach me, both trucks stopped and (my guess is that they) asked if everything was ok. As I don’t speak the language at all, I could only reply to their “👌?” with a “👌👍” and a nod. I think they just wanted to make sure that I was safe and didn’t need anything, and I really appreciated their gesture. This wasn’t much but it gave me a little boost of confidence.
The total distance to ride on this day (51km) was a bit shorter than yesterday, and despite all the unexpected climbs, I knew my legs could take a little more. I reached Chishang a little earlier than planned, and had plenty of time to grab a snack before checking in.
The guesthouse’s owner was on her lunch break, and showed up shortly after I reached her door. Just as in my first stop in Ruisui, she told me that restaurants close relatively early here, and that I shouldn’t wait for too long before going for dinner. She recommended trying out a small japanese restaurant, just a few blocks away.
None of the staff could speak english, and I was unable to translate the menu, that didn’t have any pictures. A very quick look around told me I was definitely the only non-chinese-speaking person in here, so I just ordered the third item on the menu…
… and this is what I got. After two days of meals at convenience stores, this felt like heaven. The perfect ending to an almost perfect day on the bike.
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