May 12, 2022: Cycling the Sichuan-Tibet Line from Shenzhen (Chapter One)

May 12, 2022: From Chengdu to Ya’an, about 130 kilometers

Today is the first day of cycling, and I’m quite excited. The two of us got up early, packed up, put snacks and clothes that might be needed today into one bag, and put clothes that won’t be needed today into another bag. Then we went downstairs, packed the two bags on both sides of the trailer, and mounted the car lights and GoPro sports camera on the handlebars.

After packing up, we took a departure photo at the entrance of the service station, and then set off around 7 o’clock, first going to have breakfast together.

After breakfast, a young man from the 57 service station led us out of the city.

After riding for about an hour, we reached the 318 section of the Chengwenqiong Expressway and took another group photo. The young man from the service station went back, and then we started our own cycling. Today’s destination is Ya’an. There were 7 teammates who set off together. Later, because of different speeds, we got separated, but we met again on the road later. 318 is like this, separating and gathering, gathering and separating.

At 9 a.m., two hours after departure, our team was still together when a friend’s tire burst suddenly. What was even more sudden was that we didn’t know how to repair the tire. Yesterday, we thought our luck couldn’t be that bad, at least not on the first day. So we didn’t prepare a new tire. Then we quickly parked the bike to the side, watching tire repair videos while learning, so the quality of the repair was not very good.

The first time we repaired it, the tire was flat after inflating, so we didn’t do a good job. We disassembled the tire and repaired it again.

The second time we repaired it, it still didn’t work after inflating. We disassembled the tire again, found another hole, continued to repair, and found another hole after repairing. We were tossing and turning for 2 hours. Many who set off with us, and even those who set off later than us, have surpassed us. Later, an old man who was cycling passed by, lent us a tire, and took out his air pump to inflate it for us. He made sure the bike was okay before leaving because our air pump was a gift we got when we bought something else, and the quality was too poor to be broken (very grateful to this local cycling old man, he said he often cycles from Qionglai to Chengdu for fitness, admire).

It was already 12 o’clock, and we had been working for more than 2 hours. The other teammates had already arrived in Qionglai for lunch.

Then after riding for more than an hour, my tire also burst, punctured by a wire. I let my friend ride ahead to see where the nearby bike shop was and send me a message. Then I met a friend who was traveling by motorcycle, and he used his air pump to inflate my tire. I persisted in riding for a few hundred meters, and then the tire was out of air. At this time, there were still 4 kilometers to Qionglai, and I could only push.

I was going to repair the tire myself, but I didn’t have an air pump anymore.

In this way, I pushed the bike for nearly an hour, pushed it to the bike shop in Qionglai, repaired it, and then continued on the road.

At this time, it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and there were still more than 70 kilometers to Ya’an.

The time was relatively tight, so we decided to rush first, and we didn’t have lunch, thinking that we must arrive in Ya’an before dark, and not take the night road.

Along the way, we passed through villages, towns, and industrial zones, with distilleries on both sides of the road.

After the distilleries, there were many uphill sections, which were quite challenging for those who don’t cycle often.

At nearly 6 o’clock in the evening, we met other cycling friends. Because it was almost dark, and there were mountain roads ahead, we thought it would be helpful to have each other’s support, so we hurried to Ya’an together.

Then we passed a bike shop on the road that cooperated with 57. Because there were too many tire bursts today, it went crazy in several groups. When we arrived at the service station, everyone was laughing at us. Then we each bought 2 new tires for backup, and also bought an air pump, learning from our experience.

The bike shop master said that in the past two days, there has been heavy snow on Zheduo Mountain. Some cycling friends didn’t bring thick clothes, and it was cold at the pass. In the end, they had to spend hundreds of yuan to let a private car take them down the mountain. He suggested that we should prepare thick clothes in case of emergency.

lights, and moved forward in the dark When it was dark, we arrived at a section of the mountain road. The map showed that after passing, it was the Jinji Pass in Ya’an. At this time, we were all a bit anxious. The mountain area was really too dark at night. This section of the road was under construction, and we were not familiar with it. We also took a wrong section of the road. In the end, we followed the locals and looked at the navigation, turning on the car lights, and moved forward in the dark.

Finally, we arrived at Ya’an Jinji Pass at 8 o’clock in the evening.

After entering Jinji Pass, we still had to line up by the roadside to do nucleic acid testing.

After the nucleic acid test, it was already 8:45 in the evening, and the temperature here was much lower than in Chengdu.

After riding towards the city for a few minutes, we saw the inn owner coming over on an electric bike to lead us.

Then we hurried to the inn, which was on the upper floor of a residential area. We put the mountain bikes into the elevator and went up together. After arriving at the inn, we put away our bags, parked the bikes, and found our rooms.

The boss asked if we wanted to eat? They were all going to eat downstairs, and there were too few people to cook, so the two of us also went downstairs to eat. At this time, we were both tired and hungry. We only had breakfast today, and we relied on snacks at noon. After a 130-kilometer ride, we were all exhausted, and our buttocks and thighs were sore. The two of us went downstairs to the roadside restaurant and ordered 2 liang of braised pork noodles with red sauce. It was too spicy, and we didn’t know what the situation was. The braised pork was cold, and eating cold fat had an indescribable feeling.

My friend and I stayed in a bunk bed.

After finishing dinner and coming up, we organized our things and then went to wash. There were about 5 of us, some of whom went to other inns. We had to line up to take a bath. It was already after 11 o’clock when I took a bath. I accidentally dropped the soap into the toilet by mistake, which was really unfortunate. Then I could only make do with shampoo first. It was almost 12 o’clock when I finished bathing and went to bed.

Then it kept drizzling outside. When we went to bed, we put some washed clothes and towels on the balcony to dry.

Today’s overall feeling was still very tired, especially the uphill road in the second half. The road ahead will only be more difficult. Friends who want to ride the 318 Sichuan-Tibet line must exercise in advance. Climbing slopes is really very tiring!

I thought back, and today our tires were basically punctured by wire. Because the expressway was full of large vehicles, and we were walking on both sides, some wires were easily crushed to the roadside by large vehicles, so bicycles were more likely to be hit, so it’s better to bring 2 spare tires.