May 30th: From Bangda to Baxi, approximately 97 kilometers.
Got up at 6, went down for breakfast at 7:10, egg noodles; I forgot to take a photo of mine, so I took a photo of the one opposite.
Set off at half past seven, as today’s journey is relatively long. Others had already finished eating and started earlier. When we went downstairs, only the four of us hadn’t eaten yet. The food was in the kitchen pot, just help yourself and eat. Also, it was a bit cold in the morning, and I had a bad cough.
In the past few days, there have been several older brothers and sisters riding with us. Among them, three brothers in their 60s have mountain bikes with electric assist. They often overtake us on uphills and then we overtake them on downhills. Later, I found out that they use electric assist when going uphill and turn it off when going downhill. So, for the past few days, this situation has been happening where they overtake us uphill, and we overtake them downhill. Haha.
As soon as we left town, we had to climb uphill all the way, more than ten kilometers uphill to Yela Mountain, with an altitude of over 4600 meters.
Climbing in the morning, facing the sun, it was too dazzling, so I quietly took out my sunglasses and put them on.
The weather was good. When we climbed halfway, we looked back, and the scenery was really beautiful, with continuous snow-capped mountains.
My teammates all came up. The lady next to me is the one we met on the way from Henyi Township to Batang. Because of a severe cough, she coughed three times before finishing a sentence. At that time, this lady had a bad cough just like me, and we talked while coughing, which is quite a fate.
After two hours of hard climbing, we finally reached the Yela Mountain pass at 9:35 am.
By the way, there is a lot of garbage along the way. Everyone on the 318 must consciously protect the environment.
At an altitude of over 4600 meters, we stayed for more than 10 minutes to take photos.
Then downhill, I asked a local lady, it’s still three or four kilometers away from the Nujiang 72 bends.
At 9:50 am, we arrived at the Nujiang 72 Bends viewing platform.
The photos turned out okay, but the scene was more spectacular in reality. Because of the high altitude, there was a hint of coolness.
After staying for 10 minutes, we went down from the 72 bends. The 72 bends is a high-accident section with steep downhills. Be sure to pay attention to your speed.
After more than an hour of continuous downhill, we arrived at Tongni Village for lunch at 11 o’clock.
We would like to thank another lady who was cycling with us. They set off earlier today, but we cycled faster, so we overtook them a bit later. I forgot whether this lady was from Chengdu or Chongqing. Because there were so many people having lunch in Tongni Village at noon today, and the boss’s speed of frying dishes was limited, the two of us ordered two vegetarian dishes to get served quickly and didn’t order meat dishes. After seeing this, the lady told us that we must eat meat because of the huge consumption every day. Although we said it was okay, she still went to the boss and added a meat dish for us. We couldn’t stop her. After the meal, we tried to give her the money, but she didn’t accept it. We are very grateful to this lady. Because of the cycling in the past few days, we have basically stayed in the same inn and set off together every day, so thank you.
We set off at half past eleven, and it was a continuous downhill to the Nujiang Dong Bridge. There’s basically no downhill left, and it’s time to climb uphill.
Nujiang River Bridge
Please search Baidu for the story of the Nujiang River Bridge piers.
Next to it is the old bridge, but now everyone uses the new bridge.
Here is a very embarrassing episode. After the Nujiang River Bridge, I was reducing my clothes on the side of the road because it was too hot, and then I accidentally dropped my phone, and the camera was slightly broken.
After passing the Nujiang River Bridge, there are more than 30 kilometers of undulating roads ahead. The road behind is basically cycling in the scorching sun and against the wind. Be sure to bring more water. I brought 3 bottles, but it’s not enough. It’s too sunny and hot, and I sweat a lot. The sweat is as big as beans.
Pay attention here, it’s particularly dangerous. The road can only accommodate one car, and it’s also a turning point. Be careful of oncoming and following large vehicles.
While waiting for my friend, I saw the saying “The dream of two wheels in my teens was completed with four wheels at the age of twenty-seven or eight.”
What I see means that if you don’t complete something in the time you want to, it will be a bit regrettable to complete it later.
After my friend caught up, we continued to move forward, burning fat under the sun.
Although it’s an undulating road, I feel there are still quite a few slopes.
By here, I had only one bottle of water left.
Around 2:40 in the afternoon, we rode to Raoba Village and saw two monks holding mineral water bottles to drink the water flowing from the mountain on the side of the road. I went over and asked if it was drinkable, and got an affirmative reply.
So I took two cups and filled a pot to take away. The water was very cool and tasteless. Later, I found out, try to bring more water and don’t drink wild water easily, as it’s easy to have parasites.
At this time, there were more than 10 kilometers left to the Baxi accommodation point. There had been a headwind before, but it was not strong. In the last 10 kilometers, the headwind was strong, and many roads were very hard to ride, especially uphill.
Lagen
To Basu, at the conch cement here, there are only about 5 kilometers left to the accommodation point. I took a 3-minute break and finished the rest of the water.
After experiencing several climbs, we finally arrived in Baxi County at 3:59 pm.
At about 4:15 pm, I arrived at the hotel. After arranging everything, I went to the supermarket and bought 4 bottles of water. I drank 3 bottles. After cycling for so many days, I felt so thirsty for the first time. I felt like I was going to have heatstroke this afternoon. From the Nujiang River Bridge to the hotel, more than 30 kilometers, I rode in the sun for nearly 4 hours. Be sure to bring more water.
This time I booked a single room, and I didn’t tell the boss to include breakfast and dinner, because I’m going to take a rest tomorrow and find something to eat nearby by myself.
These past few days, my eyes have been bloodshot, and I need to catch up on sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll wash my clothes and repair the burst tire, and that’s it.
Tomorrow: Rest and let the body rest for a day.