I have to start out by apologizing for the delay of updates of my adventures in China. It is partially due to circumstances out of my control (i.e. really bad internet) but also due to the fact that I have been doing so many incredible things that I rarely get ample time to document it.
All that aside, right now I’m riding a major life high (not that I really could ever be on a low in China, but I’m super stoked right now). Yesterday, I along with 200 of my closest Chinese cyclist friends went out into the Beijing countryside for some bicycling camping. The Cycling Association at the University of Beijing (Beida) is awesome! Every Friday, they fix bikes for free - a lot like what we do at Pitzer, but at Pitzer I realize how fortunate we actually are. Even a school as big as Beida with so many students and bikes doesn’t have a shop to fix bikes let alone most of the proper tools and no spare parts. They do have knowledge and passion though. Besides fixing bikes, the club arranges distance rides every weekend, most totaling over 100 km a day, leaving at sunrise and returning by sunset. Every summer they also do a ride around China, over 4,000 km. They are sweet!
This weekend was the club's recruitment ride so they kept it to 30 km on a very flat route. They even arranged for all the camping gear and tents to be at the camp site, so we didn’t have to lug it. Two days ago my bike broke; the handle bar stem is very loose so when I turn it the wheel doesn’t move, Hopefully, I can work some of my bike magic on it. But it didn’t matter that my bike was broken, the association was so friendly that they lent me a bike to use which had a rack on the back so I could attach my bag.
It was so cool seeing 200 people carrying their camping supplies on bikes in a huge line through crowded city streets! It was our own little "critical mass". We followed the leader who had the cycling association's big flag flying off the back of her bike. It was such a happy mood. The group consisted of people who this past summer had biked the Chinese coastline to people on Chinese cruisers wearing jeans, all levels of riders. It was a very welcoming atmosphere. One boy, whose American name was Hook, had a speaker system on his bike and when we asked him to play some rock and roll, he put on the Beatles and for most of the trip we - he, Thomas, Skeet (From U. Chicago) myself, and some other Chinese - had an awesome sing along.
We arrived at the base of these gorgeous mountains where we would spend the night. We all split up into teams preparing the camp. It wasn’t a typical American camp; we were at a rural restaurant which had a covered patio with tables as well as a lot of open space. We spilt up, some getting firewood, other setting up the tents (on concrete…) and some preparing dinner. I decided to cook. They were making a type of dumpling called Jiaozi and they taught me how to put to meat in the dough and fold it in the correct way. After many giggles from the experts, I finally learned how to pinch the dough just right and was able to join their illustrious crew.
That night we made a huge bonfire, it totally reminded my of Santa Cruz bonfires at the beach. They even set up a movie projector and a sheet and we watched bike films and slide shows they had made. They even told stories about bikes; it was really cool. A lot of it went over my head because of the language difference, but most people speak English and were more than willing the help translate. It became sort of a talent show later in the night and then we - the three Americans - were asked if we had any talents, DUH!! After some quick brainstorming, we determined that an acappella version of "Ain't No Mountain High" would be the best to show case of talents. We did a little more brainstorming to make sure we were on the same track for lyrics and edited the parts that we couldn't remember. Obviously, it was a total success.
I met so many awesome people on this trip; they were totally stoked on bikes and very nice. A few days before the trip, I met the captain of the university's cycling team and he was here as well; he is super nice and basically, I am now going to race for the University. My first race is October 11!! The guy is my height and he said I could use his bike to race. I am sooo stoked!!
We ate some awesome food, learned a really cool card game (perfect for the cabin), and shared stories. A lot of people were already in tents when *BAM* it starts to pour!! For those of you that do not know, tents plus water plus concrete minus rain flaps, equals a really wet situation. Basically, everyone poured out of the tents as quickly as the rain came down and packed under the overhang. Fortunately, the restaurant open up its indoor dining hall and we moved all the tables out of the way and we packed in.
Unfortunately, our friend Skeet had to get back as soon as possible so Thomas and I volunteered to lead him back at sunrise. We began to try and sleep round 2, but sleeping with over 100 people on the same cold tile floor is pretty tough. When 5am hit, we were putting our contacts in and packing our bags. We said goodbye to the few people who were awake and beginning to cook breakfast and headed back into the city.
Everything was going great for the first few miles, then Thomas started to complain about his pedal not feeling right. About two minutes later, his pedal arm fell off. We "MacGyvered" his foot to the right, and only remaining pedal using some string that we found. After a mile or two of trying, we found some real rope and I switched bikes with him and attached my foot to the pedal. 15 miles later and countless near misses with buses in the pouring rain, we reached campus and I had one of the best breakfasts of my life. Then I slept for the next couple of hours. Overall, a pretty epic experience, nothing that I expected, but if the attitude stays good everything is alright. I hope all is well at home. Much love!
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