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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 8, 2015 - 02:08am PT
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 16, 2015 - 04:17am PT
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Unfortunately the Chinese government sees fit to block Crazy Guy on a Bike too. I guess they're afraid international anarchist cycle tourists. ha
I'm flying blind out here. Haven't seen a westerner or met anyone who speaks English in three weeks. :)
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 16, 2015 - 04:49am PT
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I'm about a days ride from crossing into Xinjiang province. The further west I go the drier it gets. At least I'm still at altitude of 9 to 10, 000 ft so its not too hot...but in Xinjiang it drops to 2000 ft and temps rise to 115 degrees or so. May be time for a bus ride. But first one more wind swept high pass to cross.
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Joron
Trad climber
Hoodland, Oregon
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Aug 16, 2015 - 04:04pm PT
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Thanks for posting, Mike. Wow, solar powered prayer wheels! Good luck on your next leg and stay cool.
Joe
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 9, 2015 - 08:54am PT
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Man, not sure I'd be smiling with that dude on my six.
Nice Berkut!*
*Dat boid, that is.
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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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I've got a couple of those solar powered wheels. I dig them!
That's a cool image too of your bike + tent out in the dunes:-)
Thanks for keeping us posted! I'm so jealous.
How's the bike holding up?
I've been thinking lately of moving to either Mongolia or Kazakhstan...you'll have to give us a report.
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Joron
Trad climber
Hoodland, Oregon
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Sep 13, 2015 - 12:01pm PT
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Great photos, Mike! But, it would be great to hear more stories. Did you cycle on through the heat or take the bus? What's the next destination and itinerary? Really enjoy your posts!
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Sep 13, 2015 - 06:23pm PT
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Just love your posts. Like others have mentioned, when ya get a good internet connection and have time, tell us about the last part of China.
Thanks for your time and good luck on the journey.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Sep 13, 2015 - 06:46pm PT
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I crossed paths with one of your compatriots last month (August)
I beat everyone else back to our group campsite in Tuolumne Meadows after a hike up to Glen Auldin and had just got my shoes changed and was sitting on the bear box, beer in hand when a guy pedals up on a weather beaten touring rig. He was looking for a campsite since the walk in sites had been closed by the plague scare.
In his thick Italian accent he told me about his travels.
http://www.bikingtour.it/
He rode all the way from Bolivia with a ducktape boot on the rear tire!
Has me inspired to put a rack on the bike, but I think I'll limit myself to California for now.
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab or In What Time Zone Am I?
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Sep 13, 2015 - 06:48pm PT
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This is such a wonderful journey to follow. You go to places that I can only dream about.
Susan
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 13, 2015 - 08:35pm PT
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https://youtu.be/Z9l0rVDLmA4
Here is a nice video of where I'm heading next...the Pamir highway in Tajikistan..... maybe a month before I hit the highest pass. Still have to cross Kyrgyzstan from Bishkek to Osh.
I have been carrying winter gear all this way... but winter gear for California not the high Pamirs. And now October is coming I'm worrying about the cold. Spent a good hunk of the last week in Almaty shopping for more stuff. I ended up settling for an additional heavy vest with puffy hood plus a pair of heavy leather hiking boots. The weight of course will slow me down ( particularly a waste once I get out of the mountains) but psychologically feel a little more comfortable heading up into the cold. I've heard I can expect temps below 0º F. And there will be 5 passes over 4200 meters..... the highest at 4650... or about 15, 000 feet.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
As to the desert.... I had started out on what is called the southern silk road which would have taken me through the desert and to Kashgar in the far west of China and then directly into Kyrgyzstan. .... but I met an Italian cyclist heading east ( the only westerner and only English speaker I had seen in a month) and he insisted I needed a visa for Kyrgyzstan. ..which I didn't have. I had heard from friends that I didn't need one... but I didn't have firm information. And there I was at a highway junction in the middle of the desert. Anyway I decided to play it safe and change my route so I hopped on an overnight bus heading north to the capital of Xinjiang province Urumxi where there are embassies. Next morning after hours is a pushing and shoving and cutting in line at the embassy I was told as an American I didn't need a visa. ha
So I missed the worst of the desert... though the Italian said it was pretty boring. But I still had another two weeks of hard riding with some foul weather and wind thrown in to get out of China and to Almaty, the capital of Kazakstan.
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WBraun
climber
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Sep 13, 2015 - 08:46pm PT
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rockermike is the only American actually doing something all while the rest of America is busy becoming even more sterile watching while drooling Donald Dump blathering on television ....
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 13, 2015 - 09:30pm PT
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Mosque in a small village near the border of Kazakhstan.
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Joron
Trad climber
Hoodland, Oregon
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Sep 14, 2015 - 09:15am PT
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Good stuff, Mike! Thanks for taking the time to post.
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 15, 2015 - 07:49am PT
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Uiguar yurt village in western China.
I sure love tents.
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2015 - 02:38am PT
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15, 000' pass in the Pamirs (Tajikistan). Overnight temps 10º and windy. More or less a one month loop from Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan over the shoulder of the Pamirs on the east and then south (within rock throwing range of Afghanistan) then on to Dushanbe. .. Tajikistan's capital. Popular 'extreem cyclist' route. Met a dozen cyclists holed up in a forlorn guesthouse in a high windswept village... all trying to finish up the loop before the real snows hit. I suspect Dushanbe may be the end of my ride this year. Long cold nights and failing enthusiasm. But I have a week left to go. Maybe I'll have a change of heart. :)
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 6, 2015 - 03:00am PT
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Gang of Pamiri boys on their way to school.
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Joron
Trad climber
Hoodland, Oregon
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Good update, Mike! So if Dushanbe is the end of your ride this year, will you spend the winter there? Or if you carry on what's the next destination?
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