freeways, concrete floors and sore butts

sitting in one of the less seedy internet bars we've graced since being on the road. we're in a city of more than one million people - a place called wuwei - and for that many people, and that much dirt and pollution, i'm really quite impressed by the state of this establishment.

we have now ridden 16 days and have covered 688 km - that's roughly the distance from perth to kalgoorlie (plus another 90km on top of that). craaazzy shit. my calfs are now roughly the size of a female swedish shotputter's. no, i'm joking. they are pretty much the same as they were is oz, but hopefully all this exercise will tone me up a little more by the end of the trip. my endurance has definitely increased by miles - i can now ride for ages past the point that i want to pee, drink water, eat, collapse, or am feeling incredible nausea or pains in the ass. i think the butt pain is way worse than the leg pain. to quote andrew while we were riding the other day: "have you ever had such a sore ass that it hurt to fart?"

one of these riding days we rode on a busy freeway. a freeway where shiny black audis and VWs zoom past you at about 160km an hour. a freeway where bikes aren't allowed to ride. yes, so we technically broke the law, but many police cars also zoomed past us at lightning fast speeds, and did not seem to care one iota that we were occupying the emergency lane. there were also a shitload of gigantic trucks and semi-trailers on this freeway. when they ride past you, you feel like you're going to lose your balance because of the kind of suction effect they create with the wind. it's really quite scary. it's basically a test of keeping your balance and not falling into the traffic. andrew has created a "bail" signal, where if he sees a car or truck careening out of control in our direction, he'll shout "BAIL, BAIL, BAIL!!!!", and we will tip ourselves over the edge of the road, with our bikes, and into the scrub, to avoid being hit. we've got it sussed, don't worry.

a few days ago, we were in a city called jinchang. i saw another incident of animal cruelty that made me shout "bastards!" and that would make RSPCA staffers' blood boil. while in the lobby of our hotel i was looking out the window and saw a group of men in a back alley. they were standing around the back of a car, with the boot open. then i spotted a small to medium-sized black dog with a collar and a leash. one of the men grapped the leash handle, and whipped the dog up into the air, hesitated (while the dog dangled in the air with the collar choking its neck, like a noose) threw it into the boot, and slammed the door shut. of course i was mortified, and when the men drove out of the alley, they hesitated and saw us through the window. i gave them the sourest look, and called them bastards through the window. of course they had no idea what i was talking about.

the next night we stayed in some pretty budget accomodation. you couldn't call it a hotel really, just a "place to stay". basically, some villager, who has turned their spare rooms into very shabby motel rooms. imagine, brick or concrete floors (basically the same ground as outdoors), on which you can throw your cigarette butts, sunflower seed husks, wet tea leaves or even spit. also provided were hard beds with crazy colourful sheets that god knows when they were last washed. and the standard beanbag pillow with a dodgy towel on top. there was electricity - a weak lightbulb hanging from the roof - but no bathroom, toilet or washing facilities. in fact, there wasn't even a designated hole to shit in. in this section of the village, you just had to go in the open air in front of everyone else in a rubbish/shit area on some sand. i shudder at the memory. i'm actually liking this accomodation though on the whole, because we've camped a few nights, and staying in these dodgy 20 yuan places is relatively warmer, and requires a lot less effort (in having to set up and pack up the tent, and load the bikes etc.)

yesterday and today, my stomach twisted and turned in many directions and for many dead animal-related reasons. yesterday i saw alotta roadkill on the highway whilst riding, and i'm NOT good with roadkill. a dead cat, a few dead birds, and something which appeared to be animal organs strewn on the edge of the bicycle lane. extremely nauseating. the worst thing is that when i see these things, i lose my balance and concentration. it shocks the hell out of me and i start losing control of my bike until i regain my composure. i also had a man on a motorbike ride up next to me, for about 3 seconds i ignored him, until i finally looked over at him. he was smiling at me, then i looked at the back of his bike and there were some animal furs - with what i thought were still heads attached to them. of course i freaked out, i screamed at him in a high pitched wail, broke immediately and burst into tears. i'm not good with dead animals. and today, my stomach turned once again when we saw some roasted sheep heads in the markets. i went out of my way to deliberately walk on the opposite side of the pathway to get as far away from them as possible. so, this trip may be hardening me up physically, but when it comes to be mentally tormented by stomach-turning, gross shit, i still want to run away and weep like a little girl.

signing out from wuwei x