D11: 云龙 → 公坡

February 18, 2024

My GPS is now announcing to me that if I maintain my current speed, I won't need to stop for a light that's visibly red

I'm beginning to notice that what I consider a poor night's sleep and what my smartwatch considers a poor night's sleep aren't necessarily the same thing. The bed was hard, my muscles were sore, and I definitely surfaced to conscious beyond rolling over and going "oof" a double handful of unrecorded times during the night.

It was like sleeping with a boyfriend for the first time in a really long time where, even without any hanky panky, every motion either of us make wakes the other one up. Only alone. And the intrusive sensation that kept bringing me to the surface was—instead of the sound of his breathing—the discomfort caused by tired muscles on a hard bed.

After following "public toilet, this way" signs for nearly two kilometers, the parking lot of these "out of order" facilities were the first outdoor wee of the Tour

Free pig castration for all old and new customers

I didn't even realize it until now but I somehow managed the whole of the brief counterclockwise ride with proper mattresses.

In any case—even if going to sleep at midnight was part of it—I was up at 6:15 and no amount of desire on my part was putting me back under. So, I got up, showered, made morning oatmeal¹, adjusted things on the bike², made coffee on the new stove Sarah gave me, read more articles and discussions about the ongoing Hugo Awards controversy, and slowly but steadily dragged my ass out of the hotel room.

Although I can fit both mokina and the mini moka on the heating element at one time, they won't all cook at the same time. Also, the Mokina with the damaged gasket is now unusable until I get a replacement gasket³.

Even if I hadn't been back since last year, the fact that I could easily go back to the Ming Dynasty Tomb of Tang Zhou any time I want had me skipping that site and heading straight on to the Former Residence of General Feng Baiju only to discover, I'd visited here last year.

Well, I'd visited the parking lot anyways. I'm not sure if I didn't go inside cause it looked boring or if there were time constraints with me wanting to make it the last 15km or so to my hotel before it got dark, but I didn't stop and look around at anything, and since I didn't keep a journal last year, my memories⁴ of the Winter Tour are mostly either things I took video of or the horrible, crushing emotions of three friends dead of Covid-related complications in the preceding eight weeks and a fourth (known as PNDF for Presumably Not Dead Friend) going radio-silent⁵ from the cardiac ward.

There was totally a helicopter parked here last year

I remember stopping here for drinks and potato chips

Later on in the day, as I'm getting closer to Wenchang, and finding that nearly all the roads I've picked today are ones that I rode last year, I'll periodically encounter vaguely familiar vistas that, solely by how much prettier they are this time, I can tell (even if it would take two more days before I tried calling him) that the stress of a day and a night without a response⁶ to my last message to PDNF⁷ was already coloring my mood.

At this point in the day, however, I've got a not very exciting museum to visit.

It never fails to amaze me how thoroughly China manages to take the interesting stuff of the Party's early history and everything else that went on in the 30s and 40s and make it dull as dishwater.

First Covid restrictions sign of the Tour

I definitely remember the shade grown ornamentals that were using a different crop for their shade instead of a shade net

A restaurant with a very amusing name (Happy Chopsticks Chongqing Food)

Lunch in Hongqi Town where I spent the first night of last year's Round the Island Ride. While standing in line for some not hugely appetizing looking fast food that's the only thing I'm seeing open, the same two weekend cyclists I've been inadvertently playing tag with all morning show up.

I cannot manage to sufficiently express my gratitude towards them for deciding we should eat together, and subsequently deciding to pick up the check, as this turned what would have been a foul mood over food that was both absurdly overpriced and effectively inedible⁸ into mere stomach grumbles.

The only decent part of the meal was the garlic ginger paste that I took some of for the next day's oatmeal. Otherwise, well, you know it's bad when the Chinese cyclists leave behind both meat and rice.

Then I'm off down a road that must have once been fairly important as, in 1927, the same General Feng Baiju as mentioned above led a handful of fighters in ambushing a KMT convoy crossing a small bridge that isn't there anymore. I'll be on the bridge that is there trying and failing to get my words right for a video I'll end up deciding not to make when someone drives by, pulls a U-turn, asks me if I recognize him (no, but I'm good at bluffing, and I guessed right⁹), and gives me a much welcome can of sweet herbal tea to supplement my still being hungry over not having really had lunch.

Turning on to the main road at Donglu Town, I could have stopped for a meal when I stopped for the "so renovated it has lost all cultural and historical value" Yue Pavilion, but it was starting to creep too close to sunset for me to be comfortable doing that. I probably lost all the time I saved in not stopping by puttering slowly along for most of my time on the main road as a very bedraggled pair of Strong Young Men on the first day of their first ever Tour needed advice on things like how to change gears.

While in the museum, I had thought it would be an interesting detour to go looking for the Bridge (but I couldn't find it on Maps) only to then find it by accident

Please explain to me how this is a Provincial-grade Heritage Site?

The road I was on, a nearby 1980s era guesthouse, and this market are all named after the pavilion in question.... so I'm guessing really poorly done "restoration" work is the culprit

With them continuing on to the city and me going north to a town where I already had a very cheap booking that was supposed to be for a proper room (but apparently no one checked out), I got in as dusk was changing to dark, found myself some fried noodles, and ended up eating two whole portions along with six oranges, at which point I was so happy full with calories that I couldn't be arsed to complain about my having to go downstairs to use the toilet.

¹ Assorted raisins, savory peanut sauce, coconut protein powder, and honey

² Mostly the front racks from a very sturdy but godawful annoying to look at configuration to a slightly less sturdy one that didn't make me grit my teeth in annoyance every time I looked down.

Their friend with the Nikon D610 took about 20 group photos which I suppose I'll eventually get

³ I cooked it without water in the bottom and melted the rubber. Originally, it actually sealed better than before melting but it then became brittle and somehow also sticky and now it doesn't seal. I have, however, ordered two "probably the right size" food safe silicone gaskets off of Taobao.

³ With the exception of the sudden "wait a minute, I know this place" type things that happened a lot today

⁵ Although I have reason to assume he is alive, behavior like this effectively means that, even if he did suddenly pop up again, he's dead to me. I can understand blocking someone. I can understand communication that slowly fades away. I can't understand just never responding to someone who you haven't had any kind of argument with. I doubly can't understand doing it when you are in hospital or continuing to do it after that person expresses worry for your health via multiple lines of communication.

A grave (?) From the 11th year of the reign of the Qing Emperor Tongzhi （1872）

I've got an absurdly large number of possible holes on this fork and, when first installing these racks, had accidentally set one rack to toe inwards and one to toe outwards. As of now, they are (intentionally) different heights so that I've got clearance over the disc brake

Imagine, every time I looked down, having my bags look like I was veering to the left

⁶ Despite knowing that Chinese Boyfriend isn't especially attached to his non work phone or over a year of consistently non-immediate response times to all small talk, PDNF's inexplicable ghosting has led to some pretty wild emotional swings every time CB takes what I think is too long to respond.

⁷ Adding to the mystery, his final message to me was telling me to be safe on the road and making me promise to share lots of pictures with him.

⁸ One or the other is tolerable, but not both!

⁹ His choosing to wear bike gloves while driving was a dead giveaway.

Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 666 km (414 miles)

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