Today is a walking day. There are times, particularly after I get to the switchbacks leading over the crazy mountain, where I'm able to ride but mostly it's a good thing that I decided not to even bother with the stiff-soled sandals or the padded shorts.

I'm unhappy over the situation with my air mattress or my newly repaired phone screen cracking¹ and I'm weirdly unhungry considering the amount of physical exertion I've done but the weather couldn't be more perfect for a long uphill slog (clear and sunny but neither hot nor humid) and the whole area is downright gorgeous.

There's a temple about 70% of the way up the mountain that I don't visit as it requires me to take a short spur road that would lose me a few dozen meters of my preciously earned elevation. As I pass the turnoff, two old men are walking out. The younger looking of the two has to be in his 70s. The older is walking with a cane.

Younger convinces older that the footpath up the side of the mountain will totally be quicker on foot than walking the switchbacks. Older isn't so sure at first. It's awfully steep and a bit rocky. But, I watch him climb up the berm and disappear into the bushes.

It's absolutely galling, an hour later, as I finally approach the pass, to catch a glimpse of the two of them emerging from the bushes 200m ahead of me. Sure, I stopped a few times to take photos, to drink water, to eat a bit of salty cracker that I knew my body ought to be wanting with his much I was sweating out. But, I also rode a decent bit. The two of them ought not to have beaten me.

I attempt to further tighten my front brakes for the descent but they won't go any tighter than they already are and do absolutely nothing to stop my bike. The rear are tightenable but, as I won't know until I get to a bike shop for installing new brake pads, they are even more worn than the front, just better designed. This means a lot of stopping on the downhill to let the brakes cool and to decramp my right hand.

When I get off the bike for good at the bottom of the mountain, after I'm already in the town, my leg grazes the rear triangle and I leap back in pain as the disippated brake heat had been so much that even my frame isn't so much warm as it is hot. In fact, if I hadn't immediately gotten cold water on it, I probably would have raised a blister.

My hotel for the night is a faux Sheraton that very likely actually is the nicest place in town. There's at least one other place around that appears to be in the same general price category (CNY 80) but the rest of the lodging I notice looks like it probably isn't even half that.

That having been said, although the bed was comfy and the air conditioning cold, the carpet had clearly not been vacuumed this month and I found someone else's not head hairs in the bed in the morning.

¹ I'm not a fan of the current trends in Very Large Screens on premium phones. Among other things, the new phone is constantly giving me a warning that it's overheating followed by turning the brightness down to where I can barely see the screen.