Nia hao!

Finally some more photos. I really wanted to get some of these into our posts but have not been able to, therefore I hope you can enjoy this photo gallery of Cyclists in Beijing :-)

But first - here are the guys at Trek China who were so amazingly helpful, James stands next to K, the other two guys worked on our bikes to get them ready for the trip (thanks to you all).


I spent a few hours of the last evening in Beijing taking some photos whilst K raged downtown to collect the silk sleeping bag liner.

She was surprised to see me on the side of the street snapping a shot of her as she whizzed by on her return to the hotel (I had stayed back because I had not been feeling well).


So to give you an idea of what it was like to ride in Beijing...

Sometimes traffic came at you in all directions, it was best to get across roads at the first opportunity.


Another techinque that worked was to wait for the build up of cycles and then as one big mass to take control of the road by crossing together in the slow moving traffic.


Not quite BMX bandits but close. Dodging traffic during rush hour is something that every cyclist does in any major city across the world.


Waiting at the traffic lights - ready steady...

Go!!!!!!!


As I said in my previous post there were many different types of people riding bikes in Beijing, here are just a few of them and their human powered steeds...

We have seen a lot of folding bikes (mostly Dahons) some had incredibly small wheels and packed down quite small. In fact we also saw a giant man (he must have been 7' tall) on a bike that had been adapted for him and it looked something like this too!


We saw many people riding these pick up style tricycles. Some would be selling their wares from them, others would be carrying their shopping... Oh and talking on your mobile seemed to be a prerequsite - we did see many people wobbling along whilst talking and completely oblivious to the world around them :-)


I hope that I am still riding at this guys age.


Hooligan!


This is not the biggest load that we saw being peddled through the streets but it is a good indication.


I am not sure that every mother would be so confident in crossing the intersection with their child onboard as well as carrying the groceries and all whilst wearing high heeled shoes. Now that takes some skill :-)


I watched this woman for a while and almost went and helped her cross the intersection. I did not think that she was going to make it because she looked too nervous to ride across (she walked it in the end).


Now this is the way to travel - not in some silly little child seat but a throne built for a princess :-)


Here is an example of one of the electric bikes that K and I would draft behind when we had a headwind. When there was no headwind we would whizz past them :-)


The bikes do not look like much but some riders get some great speeds out of them. Full respect to all singlespeeders! (and most Chinese bikes are).



People would often cycle together in groups (safety in numbers?) :-)


Recycling :-)


The cycle paths were always busy, you had to watch out for cyclists coming at you from all directions. Taxis and other cars also used the cycle lanes (I am not sure whether they were supposed to or not). The cycle paths were a great way to see Beijing though and should you ever have the chance to come here then I recommend hiring a bike to see the city :-)