Day 4: A Few Screws Loose - Pandemic Purgatory - CycleBlaze

January 28, 2021

Day 4: A Few Screws Loose

Fuan to Ningde Attempt

It was an amazing hotel, that's for sure.  I tried to stay there as long as possible to max out the enjoyment, but unfortunately it was going to be a busy day.  After the buffet breakfast, I set out on foot with the wheel to the nearest bicycle repair shop.  He had just opened shop when I walked in and was a super skilled mechanic.  The puncture was easily repaired and he spent a lot of time looking inside the tire casing to figure out what caused the rip.  I had done the same thing yesterday, and both of us found nothing.   Odd.  Back to to the hotel to relax a bit more.

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The problem was that the Presto valve here was not compatible with the air compressors unless you had a tool which I lacked
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The next part was going to be the trickest part of the day by far:  going back with the tire to retrieve the bike on the top of the mountain pass.  I knew the name of the pass (Peng Jia Shan) and the nearby town I hiked down the stairs to (Shang Bai Shi).  It pays heaps to learn some Chinese characters and by now I have a limited working vocabulary.

First of all I tried the bus station with the aim to catch one to 'Zhirong Town' then ask the driver to get off at the top of the pass.  That failed, because the conductor made it clear this bus used the expressways.  Well that would explain the lack of traffic on the road at the pass.  Man, what a shitty place to get a puncture!

So the next best thing was to try a Didi, a Chinese Uber.  This was also going to be an ordeal.  Even getting on, the driver insisted many times he couldn't pick me up near the bus station and asked me to cancel.  I held my ground and negotiated an alternative pickup point.  He later explained that in this city they crack down hard on didi because of the taxi driver mafia and their relationship with the police.  If he stopped to pick me up at the bus station, it would be a 20,000 rmb  ($3000) fine and vehicle impoundment.

The driver was a super nice and chatty fellow and he made it clear that China was the best in the world at virus containment.   But due to all this chatting he was heading straight for the expressway and I asked him if he was on course.  I tried to explain where I wanted to go, then the mistake was finally spotted:  there was more than one 'Peng Jia Shan' even with the exact Chinese characters!  I had typed the wrong one.  He then insisted I change the destination and type 'Zhirong Peng Jia Shan' but this wasn't on file.  

The driver was getting increasingly nervous, then all of a sudden I remembered the town I hiked downstairs to 'Shang Bai Shi' and punched that into Didi.  The driver was satisfied with that and back to friendly chat. He basically wanted to know what the fuck was happening and why I wanted to reach the top of some obscure mountain with a bicycle wheel in my hand.  Fair question.  I tried to explain the story as best as possible, and he actually caught on.

-- "So you left your bike there overnight?"

-- "Yes, and I locked it"

-- "Lock it shmock it, someone can steal it from the highway."

-- "Actually I locked it to a pole on a side road out of view, you can see when we get there."

-- "Are you sure you can reinstall it when we get there?  You have the screws?"

-- "Yes"   but stupidly I didn't check   (they were not there)

-- "So why didn't you repair the bike at the top of the mountain earlier?"

-- "I tried, but the mechanics didn't have the right tools."

At this point it would have been amazing to have had a support vehicle, as per the question my boss asked last night.  He was astonished that I was doing this trip without a support vehicle.  Technically in the past that would have worked as locals could help out in a jam but now it was getting harder and harder.  

The driver went on, "So what did you do after the break down?"  I said that I walked to town.  He was astonished. 

"You didn't try to find someone to fix it on the way?"  I basically said, "There is nothing on the way, you can see."

Next he asked, "So why didn't you walk to Zhirong?  It is closer?"

He had a good point, and it was the first thing I thought of last night.  But if I walked back all the way there, it would take at least 3 hours and there was no guarantee of any hotel that would accept foreigners.  I wasn't able to find anything on trip.com, so it was supposedly better to hike down a mountain road in the dark, 6 hours if necessary, to reach a surefire place to stay that I had booked.  

I told the driver, "My luggage is all in the hotel in Fu'An anyway, so after I get this bike fixed, I will bike down the mountain pass and pick up my stuff."

He saw this as an opportunity for a return trip fare.

He asked a few more of the usual questions like where I work, my age, if I have a wife and kids, etc... then he resorted to singing traditional folk songs.  Whatever floats your boat bro.

As we started climbing the pass, the driver wanted me to change the destination again and this time the correct 'Peng Jia Shan' immediately showed up.  I guess the last time we were too far away.  Not much longer we got there and I told him to please stop on the side of the road, I'll go fix the bike.  I have him a bonus hongbao (electronic red money packet) of 88rmb, and he got upset because I gave too much.  Even so, he insisted on overseeing the whole bike fixing operation.  

That turned out to have saved the day.  He dropped me off right to the bicycle and gave a huge thumbs up when he saw how I had hidden it.  I got set to work unlocking the bike and reinstalling the wheel when a HUGE PROBLEM was discovered.

The front wheel was missing the quick release screws.  Somehow the screws had come loose, most likely they scraped against the bushes while hiking in the dark last night.  It was simply impossible to re-attach the wheel.  He then offered to put the folding bike back in the truck and drive to Fu'An to the same mechanic I was at this morning.

I was profusely thankful for this one.  He then said  "In China you see, we do things a bit differently than foreigners.  In your country, most likely people would just drive off after completing the trip.  But I stopped to insist you were OK, and waited to make sure the bike was rideable after you tried to fix it.  As it turns out there was no screws and you couldn't ride.  If I had just taken off, you would be stuck there again and in an even worse situation than last night.  And then what would you have done?"  

This speech he repeated at least 5 more times while driving back down the mountain, and insisted this was Chinese morality.  

In no time we got back to the mechanic, and I exchanged contact info with the driver.  He said next time come here with your wife and we can arrange a tour of the area.

The mechanic was super helpful again to easily and quickly replace a new quick wheel release screw set and re-adjust the derailleurs.  Then it was a quick ride back to the hotel to retrieve my luggage and bounce.  It was now 1pm and still 70km more to reach the next destination of Ningde

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It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon and this was why I had come during this time of year:  amazing weather.  Thanks to a cold front in the north, it was tailwinds also here and still very sunny.  Just a really awesome part of China actually.   Rolling hills and great surfaced road also, would the mountains come back?  I seem to recall from the previous trip that they would,

Unfortunately the sublime riding lasted all of about 25km.  Poofff went another puncture, this time the real wheel.  The good news it was super quick to order a Didi since it happened just outside a large town.  Then I got whisked off to the destination of Ningde in about half an hour on the expressway.  He didn't really chat much either, a total contrast to the last guy.  

On arrival I found a bike shop that could easily fix the puncture, but he basically said that the inner tube was shit.  The rip happened not because of any nails or road debris, but the tube itself wasn't holding together.  He then changed it.  So then I immediately realized that the front tube had the same problem, and so before leaving town tomorrow I will have it replaced at the shop also.   This underscored that the shop back in Shanghai must have done less quality work than I imagined, they put in two cheap inner tubes that ripped apart at the beginning of the trip.  That got me furious.

But at this point there wasn't much else to do about it.  I had to check into the hotel, and since it was Jan 28 the first day of travel restrictions, they were the ones asking first if I had a covid-19 test.  I showed the one I had, along with my health code and travel history code.  It looks like by the time I get to Shenzhen on the weekend, another covid-19 test will be needed, in fact one every week looks to be the requirement.

For now it was convenient that the hotel was located right beside a shopping mall and a Starbucks so it was the perfect place to sit down and update the blog. 



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Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 321 km (199 miles)

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Rachael AndersonAmazing story! Glad it ended well.
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3 years ago
Jonathan HechtHi there...Jonathan from Portland here. Have been enjoying your journals and have a comment or two on your wheel/tire/tube issue.

The valve looks like a standard presta valve which may not be so standard in China. Back here we have a small (very small, very light) converter device with a schrader top and a bottom that screws on to the presta valve. Of course, that may not be standard, or even available, in China. (I’ve attached a link below to a picture of such a device.) Hopefully by putting in better tubes you won’t have any more problems.

By the way, if the valve hole in the rim is for the small presta valve, you probably should not try to bore it out to put a schrader valve tube on the bike. From the picture you posted, your rim looks pretty thin so you might create a structural problem with the rim if you try to enlarge the hole.

Just my 2¢. Enjoy your trip and stay safe.

Jonathan

https://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/33M190_AS01?hei=1072&wid=1072
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3 years ago
Marian RosenbergI realize that you've got language issues that I don't, but my general experience is that the worst places for NFA are the big towns and that the countryside mountain places want your money enough that they figure it out.

Even traveling this past fall, the only place that really freaked out about me was a town that's part of a 4A Tourism Site.
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3 years ago