Grate north ride part 3

Back into the forest

29/07/2010 Day 6

Our first 40 km, back out into the open meadows, horses, cows, and sheep could be seen grazing on pastures around and about. Small wooden houses and the occasional yurt could be seen as we rode between small villages. The road was small and winding with virtually no traffic. As we rode along one straight, I spotted a large dog it was looking inside one of the houses in barking. We rode past the dog and the wind blew our sent, without looking round I knew suddenly the dog was following us. It did not bark, they say in china if a dog does not bark, that is the dangerous ones. As they say a dog who barks will not bite. I shouted to Xiaoshuang, "ride fast, there's a dog". She swerved left and right across the road but seemed unable to pick up the pace. I rode on ahead, looking back, seeing the dog following Xiaoshuang and put my brakes on hard. Xiaoshuang came past me and we carried on riding as normal. The dog left us alone after that and the rest of our day was clear and uneventful.

30/07/2010 Day 7
Today was all in the forest, the road was more interesting with some up and down. The sky was filled with scattered clouds and it was not hot or cold. We arrived at our destination at about 2:30. It was starting to rain so we stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. The local people told us we should stay here as the next place we could stay was more then 70 Km ride away! So we took it easy, waited for the rain to stop and then set off to find somewhere to stay, do our washing, etc. 

31/07/2010 Day 8

Today was all downhill as we rode through the forest. No more open grassland, now only trees. Although we have more downhill than any other day, it was hard, our longest ride 130 km. We stayed in a very very small village, 10 RMB for a room. The cheapest room we found on our trip.

01/08/2010 Day 9

Today we only have 80 km to go, but 60 of them are on dirt roads. Today we ride the last of our journey in inner Mongolia. As we crossed the border into Heilongjam we found ourselves on dirt roads cycling downhill for 3 km, it was great fun but as the day wore on the rain came on heavier and heavier. The road got harder and harder to ride, we cross streams and rivers with no bridges. Xiaoshuang's gears seized up and her chain repetitively fell off, her panniers broke and I got colder and colder not having very good waterproofs. We arrived in Mohe and back onto good roads. We showered, cleaned up, and when to eat. Like every day on our trip the portions were huge and we couldn't finish. We walked back to our small room in our guesthouse. I climbed into bed I was still cold and maybe two hours later I warmed up properly, it had been the coldest days ride I've ever had.

02/08/2010 Day 10, the last day

Today was our last day, we rode into a town called Beijicun. It's the furthest northerly point of China and it was our final destination. They're building a new road from mohe to biejicun, so the road between the two places is all under construction. Some sections are paved, but some sections are just dirt, this was hard on our bikes. Xiaoshuangs panniers broke completely and the ride was slow. The new road is four lanes wide each side, a big motorway. However it ended just before the town. The road before the town was 20 minutes of downhill but as we rounded a bend at the end of our journey, we found this brand-new four lane road ending in a Tollgate. However this was not a tollgate for cars, it was a toll gate for people! The local government believes that many people will want to visit Beijicun as it is the furthest north point of China! No other reason makes it interesting but nevertheless there is a 60 RMB per person entrance fee. And just to get inside a city! We decided there was no point going inside, we had reached our destination and that was our purpose. Believing there was nothing interesting to see we rode a few hundred metres back up the road and sad around as the day grew cold waiting for a bus to take us back to Mohe. And that was the end of our ride.

On our way back, we took a train from Mohe（漠河）to Harbin,（哈尔滨）then we flew from Habing to Chengdu（成都）the final ending of our trip.