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My alarm clock went at 4:50 AM. Within five minutes I was out of bed, dressed, and was about to drink my first cup of black coffee for the morning. By 5:20 AM had finished my first cup of black coffee, and poured the remaining two cups of coffee into my water bottle (to drink at a later time), and had cycled two kilometers across town.
China does not stand still for very long. The early morning is one of the few moments when one can witness an idle China. As I waited at the intersection to meet my Chinese friend, the third person in our biking party, I could see streets almost devoid of cars, bicycles, tricycles, and teeming masses. It made me feel uncomfortable - I've been in China too long.
Whilst waiting for my friend I altered the height of the saddle to suit my nonwestern legs. Once again I had borrowed a bicycle (with gears) from a Chinese friend rather than push my Forever bicycle from Shaoxing to Hangzhou. ('Forever' bicycles are well named: they take forever to ride anywhere.)
By 5:30 a.m. we were on a way. I was wearing comfortable cotton trousers, a pair of comfortable shoes, and a comfortable cotton shirt. My clothes were not at all down market, but then one would not have called them flash either. My Chinese friends, on the other hand, will wearing clothes that could only be described as flash - daresay 'loud'. Chinese bikers, it seems, very much like to wear the clothes worn by road racers abroad, such as, fluorescent or brightly coloured Lycra tops covered with advertising, close fitting Lycra shorts, and vibrant helmets. I can understand where the helmets because it’s a safety issue. I can understand wearing trousers because the saddles a usually hard and trousers have additional padding. And I can understand the brightly coloured tops because these brightly coloured tops make as feasible to the traffic. But the advertising I do not understand. I can only assume that the Chinese have seen photographs of sponsored teams and wish to emulate them.
The ride from Hangzhou to Shaoxing is flat virtually all the way. It is not difficult on the mountain bicycle to maintain constant speed of twenty to thirty kilometres an hour. Cruising at the speed permitted us to complete the sixty to seventy kilometre journey in a little over two hours. This also included a twenty-minute stop to drink my coffee mid-journey. My two companions commented that after drinking my coffee, and receiving another hit of hyper-caffein, pedaled much faster than previously. It seems coffee serves a purpose after all - it makes us peddle faster. Chinese prefer to drink tea, a much more relaxing than the coffee, and accordingly pedal in a more relaxed manner.
We arrived in Hangzhou before some of the people we were going to visit had risen out of bed. So we ate breakfast was we waited for them to awaken from their slumbers and prepare to meet us. After meeting more friends we went cycling around the picturesque hills of Hangzhou. These hills truly are picturesque – one wants to continually take pictures of them. What was most noteworthy was the abundant green that seems to assault a cyclist from all directions. On either side are green bushes, green shrubs, ferns, and saplings. The trees on either side grow over to cover the road and blot out much of the sky. I was not alone in thinking that Hangzhou’s beautiful hills were the place to spend my day, so thought half of Hangzhou it seems. I have noticed in China that the Chinese have a preference for crowded areas. The masses of people attending any area, site, or event enhances their experience – solitude and loneliness does not seem to appeal. Most Chinese were transported to the hills by vehicular transport: buses, cars, and taxis were abundant, as were the fumes given off by their engines. Nonetheless, being in Hangzhou’s hills with lots of Chinese was preferable to being in any Chinese city with even more Chinese.
I will continue riding bicycles around China because I believe is one of the nicest ways of seeing – and more importantly, understanding – this huge country. I might also be persuaded to buy a brightly coloured Lycra top cover with advertising.
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