Apparently, according to Sally, bad luck hits in combo's of three and today was no exception. After several days of challenging riding thru some beautiful but very arid country, and about 3 weeks ahead of spring arriving, some very cool riding weather, cold mornings, lots of highway construction (what little constructing that was actually going on) which results in very rough rocky roads and constant braking on the long downhills our luck ran out.
First: Sally's rear pannier rack broke. Fortunately we were able to get it fixed by a really nice man in a small welding shop.
Secondly: Shortly thereafter I discovered my rear wheel is cracked about 2" long near the rim. Thus we are stuck here in whatever this town is called. Located about half way between Xining and Lanzhou on highway 109 (with the junction of 309). We're working a a fix/new wheel and hope to continue riding tomorrow. We hope and pray, and ask you to as well, that the wheel lasts for another 300km and then we hope to catch a bus/train to Urumqi.
Thirdly: Needing to find internet to fix item 2 above we finally found a cheap hotel w/ internet. After sending out a few emails regarding the above items, doing a small bit of laundry, a HOT shower we were visited by the police advising that we had a problem. Actually they had a problem with us not staying at an "approved foreigners hotel". We have no way of knowing what is approved and what isn't but were more than happy where we were. Long and short of it is that after an hour of talk we moved to an approved hotel for no more money and includes internet. Actually it's a much nicer place and even has good TV reception with news in English: CCTV (China news agency).
Anyway we've had a great ride thru China enjoying the people most of all, the food second. The environment has been trashed by plastic, trash, garbage, feces, coal, no regulations on road/dam construction pollution, exhaust from all types of vehicles, etc. The agricultural sector has to be the worlds largest user of visqueen (sheets of plastic) that is used to trap moisture in the soil in this arid country. It works but eventually is shredded by either the wind or they rip it up after the crops have a foothold; then the wind blows it all over. Large sheets/strips of plastic line the edges of the fields, the roads and the trees. This ride would really be nice in 2-3 weeks once they have had a bit of rain and the fields start to turn green.
We will continue northwards on backroads from here towards Zhangye on highway 227 or towards Wuwe on a small road just east of 227. Hope to reach Urumqi in two weeks to claim a new wheel and rack, hopefully. We are both feeling a bit the effects of this extended trip but overall doing well physically. The trip has been more emotionally challenging than physical although there has been plenty of that as well. We are looking forward to returning home to Alaska and some unspoiled wilderness.
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