Bike races in China

So my first bike race in China. With the list of sponsors looking very flash hopes of slick professional organization were high. The reality was more of a slightly British ‘make do’ attitude. To be fair the indications started early on. The event was a short flight south of Beijing, closer to Shanghai. After all the normal packing anxieties that are associated with putting your pride and joy into a flimsy cardboard box and getting to the airport we had a nice, if a little delayed flight. We had organized our transport from the airport to the hotel via the event organizers who confidently claimed they would send a 19 seat bus for 6 people and 6 bikes which seemed ample. When picturing the airport do not think of Heathrow, think more of a park and ride car park – not too much space to hide a 19 seat bus so when we couldn’t see anything fitting our quite large expectations a couple of calls established that the 7 seat van we were looking at was in fact our ride. Way too small. The driver was happy to find us but his eyes bulged a bit when he saw our bikes and started some frantic calling of his own. Eventually the bikes went into the back of his van and most of us jumped in a taxis which seemed like it was going to work out. Of course plans are rarely that simple in China and after 20 minutes of driving down back lanes and tracks the taxis driver all but threw us out at a roundabout – a long way from the hotel. He sped off and left us a bit confused until another car pulled up – the drivers boss – to pick us up the rest of the way. Finally at the hotel at 11.30pm there seemed to be some more confusion. Looking at their paperwork there were expecting a party of 6 (check) today (check) and we had just turned up, a party of 6 (check). But they were not convinced we were the right group (uncheck all previous answers). By this point it was hard to establish what the problem was exactly but eventually it went through. When we concluded by asking about the chances of getting some food it seemed that was pushing our luck.

There were two choices of hotel when we booked, one right by the start line and the one we were currently in, only 9km from the start line. For the first day we just needed to roll in and register at the start line. The weather was warm but wet but on the other hand – just 9km right? 19km later we arrived and for those wags amongst you, no we did not get lost. Worryingly it seems that their distance estimation leaves a little room for error bars. Still we registered and found a nice little coffee shop run by an Australian guy to perk us up.

Back at the hotel we had a competition to see who could abuse the facilities to dry their clothes the best. Hair dryers and infra red lamps in the bath room being the tools of choice – I dare say it wasn’t the best fragrance but still dry socks are dry socks.

Fast forward to the start line and the rain had held off so that we could gather in the dry and listen to a long line of local officials give speeches in Chinese. They managed to keep this going until the moment it started to rain and then we were off, regretting the chance to get warmed up in the dry at least. The rain kept up all day which made for damp conditions but the temperature was quite warm so not too much bother until we stopped.

Just before we had started I’d slipped off my bike on some greasy tiles, squashing my store of bananas for the day. As you can imagine I was looking forward to the first food station with some high expectations. This came just after the first timed climb of 6km at about an average 6%. What I was dreaming of was power bars, energy gels, isotonic drinks, sports massage…..the reality was a chunk of bread and a piece of chocolate washed down with water more fitting a kids picnic.

At this point the rain did it’s best to fill in the gaps between all the raindrops with yet more rain and looking out it was hard to imagine getting any wetter. With the big climb out the way we were onto the big descent made somewhat sketchy with the standing water, low visibility and soggy brakes. Tarmac was bad but the section of smooth concrete was too much for many a tire and there were plenty of stories of being dropped to the ground. Following this the next obstacle started off by looking like several bikers stood by the side of the road, then a coloured streak across the road and then finally a small land slide of sharp stones came into focus. I pulled the grabbing brakes, waving for those behind to slow down and general swerving all over the place rip cord and luckily got through without a puncture.

From here the rain eased up, or at least I stopped noticing it so much, and the km’s flowed by. At the finish we huddled under a tent eating the provided lunch and soon moved onto the bus and some dry clothes. Back at the hotel the same game of drying our kit was played to varying degrees of success. The weather the next day promised to be dryer so at least it was worth starting dry unlike today.

Day two – a bit odd is my best summary. Only a 60km day so not much of a challenge on the face of it. The start line was surprisingly muted without the same fanfare as the day before and all we had before we started we a short notice saying we were going to led off from the start. A motorbike pulled up and indeed led us off at a modest pace. This bunched up the crowd somewhat and not being professional bikers the peloton was fraught with weaving and swerving. Not really sure how far this would last everyone was gamely trying to stay near the front of the pack.

Nearby the start line was a famous small village that had been kept in the same condition for hundreds of years. Think cobbles, narrow alleys and sharp corners. We were led into this maze and soon were bumping along in single file less focused on over taking and more on staying on the bikes. Of course this provided much entertainment for the locals and it seemed that this was part of the entrance fee for the event. Scrambling and slipped along we got back to the road only to be formed up for another mass start.

Again we were led off and kept from spreading out and confusingly we were led down the same road the day before we had belted down at top pace so clearly safety was not the concern. We hit the next town and here the crowds were lined up to enjoy the, mostly foreign, bikers pass by. Feeling a bit like an animal in a zoo we plodded on until eventually the front bike left us and the pace picked up. Only to slow down as the road got narrow, then narrower still and eventually turned into more of a track. This ended when the front riders had turned round and waved everyone back the way we had come.

We found an official and it was time for mass start number three. Luckily the last. Finally on our way it was time for head down pedaling into a head wind and then up the big hill for the day. The day was warm and dry and the biking was fun. We got off the big roads and were heading through small villages with the last quarter of the ride slowly climbing up a valley with the finish at the top. Of course everyone had added a couple of km onto the race distance with our detour earlier but even so we were still climbing way past 60km – somewhat dis-heartening when you have been counting down the meters to the finish line. Even the final ‘5km’ was by most reckoning, and GPS systems, about 7km from the finish.

Legs burning and cynical levels rising we passed the 1km marker and only a short mile later crossed the finish line.  Food greeted  us at the end which was great. However, a bus did not. It seems that the buses were too big for the small roads and had refused to come up and pick anyone up. So we added about 12km onto the last km to roll down the hill and pedal to the hotel.

Overall perhaps my description reads a little negative. The bottom line is we had a good ride and the ‘features’ of bike races in China just gave us something to smile about – looking forward to the next one!

The start day one. Handsome lot :-)