2/7/25
We left back down the irritating, unsurfaced road. Imagining the purgatory we’d be in if it had dared to rain. The workers started early. A vigorous lack of health and safety that in England a Tory government dreams of. They certainly got the job done quickly. The people working didn’t look like they were having a good life. Hard manual labour in bad conditions.
After the smallest of downhills the road began going uphill. We were expecting a long hard day of climbing. When the expressway was finished no doubt it would be a little quieter. As it was, there was a steady stream of cars and lorries. We already felt defeated. Our legs were heavy. The fog covered Luoji Mountains came into view. Mighty peaks over 4000m tall. After 10km we stopped for some water and bought a couple of peaches.
The next town we passed through appeared poor. A bedraggled man was sitting in the gutter of the main road. A long queue of people outside what looked like a government building. This first section of climbing ramped up at the end. A sustained 7% for a kilometre or so. We stopped overlooking a construction site for a peach. We questioned if we’d make it to Xichang today. Perhaps we would stop early and split the climbing over two days.
The climb continued. The garmin had split the elevation into 3 climbs but in reality we were heading up hill for 43km today. After a short fast descent and a small false flat, we were going up steeply again. Halfway up we stopped for a ‘glutinous rice and goji berry’ drink.
After 10km of climbing it now ramped up to being a kilometre at 10%. It was absurdly steep for a perfectly straight road. Once into the town at the top we stopped at the bottom of a manmade tiered waterfall. Relieved we’d conquered the first challenge. A Chinese woman came over to say hello and welcome us. We ate some fruit and wondered if we should stop here for the night. It still felt a little early though. We decided we still had some gas and pushed on.
Once again there was a small descent. Then began the second and probably the hardest climb. We were thankful for a cool breeze that cut through the valley, and us. It was truly glorious to feel a chill. The benefit of being at 2000m again. Below us were piles of rubble and half built houses.
The road weaved in an s-shape around small lumps of earth. The expressway construction site looked tiny down below in the valley. Lorry drivers smiled and gave us toots of encouragement. They appreciated the gradient far more than car drivers. It was a steeper climb but only a mere 4km. We were at the ‘top’ in only half an hour. We ate some wheat based street food that we’d bought in the previous town. The drinks fridge at the shop contained a coconut coffee drink which didn’t have any milk in it. The shop keeper encouraged us to scan the QR code inside the lid. We ‘won’ the ability to buy another one for only ¥1.
We had one ‘tiny’ climb up next. Only 76m. We set off into the cool breeze. Plenty of greenery around, but no shade. It started to get hot again. We hadn’t quite escaped the heat. We could see a number of pylons and their power lines ahead. From the map we knew that was the point of the final summit. Only another 350m of climbing to go. It was already 2:30pm. We still had the beautiful fog covered mountains on our left. A huge attraction in their own right and the reason for there being a lot of hotels around. Within the mountain range were lakes and scenic spots. A classic Chinese mix of natural and fabricated beauty.
The final beast to conquer was technically the easiest. It had the lowest overall gradient. We’d been cycling all day and we’d only covered 40km in almost 5 hours. Halfway up the road snaked and we looked back towards the enormous valley we had almost overcome. The cold wind got even stronger. We got more and more cheers and toots. This close to the top, everyone could appreciate our efforts.
It was a ridiculous final slog to the top. We reached the power lines at 2565m. Exhausted, we pulled over away from the numerous stalls. Jonathan set about tightening up the brakes for the descent. Apart from the green Surly’s rear brake it was all gravy. Trying to tighten it almost pushed one side of the calliper out. After almost 10,000 kilometres it now needed new pads. Jonathan set about installing the pads we’d been carrying since October.
We stuffed in a spicy sauce covered potato, Frankie scraped her chilli off. Then started going down. A sign appeared, 20km of descent coming up. It wasn’t a couple of percent either. It was steep. We had absolutely incredible views of Qionghai Lake and Xichang. We raced down. Surrounded by trucks and cars. The road didn’t feel old. Our way up had felt natural. The way down had been cut through the earth and utilised lots of concrete bridges. It also used utilised 14 hairpin bends to alleviate the gradient. We were glad to be descending it rather than ascending. The wind blew so strongly from the south that we had to pedal into the headwind to keep going.
Soon it was all over. It was crazy how quickly we covered 20km. The air was far warmer down at 1500m. Our hands were seared with pain. Our nerves screaming from being subjected to so much abuse. There were gazillions of hotels. We didn’t know how to choose. Once we were lake side we just picked the closest one on trip.com. Shiyunju was a small family run establishment. A man greeted us and we slumped in some outdoor chairs. He brought us some plums and water.
We asked our host for help to find vegetarian food. It was late, after 7pm. Late for us, anyway. Fortunately, he walked us only 20m away to a quiet restaurant. We were in another ‘scenic area’. An artificially constructed place of beauty. The lake was real. We were just in a ‘village’ especially built for appreciating the second largest lake in Sichuan province. The restaurant menu had plenty of suitable vegan options. The waitress sat with us to order. We had mapo tofu, vegetables, rice and deep fried lotus. We stuffed ourselves full. It was expensive by Chinese standards, £9.
It wasn’t long before we were in our room, sat beneath the air conditioning watching Suspicion. We’d not made it all the way to Xichang but we were content.m. We’d surmounted a huge amount of elevation. And survived a rapid descent.
Surly They Won't Make It 