Year: 2010

Ellen has been riding from Aer Shan to Wulan haote the last 2 days. Yesterday she did an epic 225 km ride over 5 mountains. At one point, she was going at a speedy 39 kmh (pretty awesome considering she’s on a fully loaded bike!). The heat has been pretty intense. The highs have been 40 degrees Celcius, that’s 104 degrees for people reading this stateside. It was 38 in Shanghai yesterday and just leaving the house was a daunting prospect, let alone riding a bike though mountains. Don’t worry though, Ellen takes naps/breaks during the hottest part of the day and is drinking plenty of fluids.

So after 2 days of riding, Ellen is in Aren Shan. She had a stop over at a little Mongolian Ranch, the night before getting to Aren Shan. The ranch had horses and some camels. Ellen was at first chatting with a few locals and then soon the whole ranch was around her. She even got to ride a horse in the open! How cool is that?! She stayed the night in a concrete yurt and had curious Mongolian faces peeking in to see what she was doing every so often.

But now she is resting in Aren Shan. There are supposed to be some hot springs around there that she will try and find tomorrow. She deserves some R&R for all the hard riding she’s been doing. Along 203, to get to Aren Shan, there had been a lot of construction, which means gravel/pothole roads… It’s been a long 2 days for Ellen in order to get to Aren Shan.

Okay, now for the ladies.  It’s much more difficult for us to find a “private area” especially in the prairie to take care of business.  I wanted to add a little bit of humor to this blog.

So the trick is:

You stop in the middle of a straight stretch of road.  Take your headphones off so you can listen for people – not necessary traffic.  Check both directions – when clear – squat.  Be aware of shepherd’s and their herds…sheep and cows can sneak up on you at anytime.

Yep, I’ve gotten caught with my pants down and wonder how many full moons have appeared over the peaceful prairie of Inner Mongolia.  But you know what, I am at the point where I just don’t care…or rather, I can’t care.

This trick I learned when struggling with dysentery.

If you are in areas that have crops or orchards…just walk out into the middle of it and take care of it.

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.

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.