Tashi delay :-)

We had the most awesome ride yesterday, it was truly inspirational. As we left Lhasa our legs were spinning at a reasonable cadence and my lungs felt strong with only a little strain. The ride just outside of Lhasa took us past a landscape lined by mountains, on the right hand side sat the Lhasa river it's opposite bank walled by another range. There was much agricultural land, carpeted with neat rows of vegetable and herb plots, as well as plastic coated greenhouses. There was quarrying work being carried out and as a result the front of some mountainsides were left with irreparable scars which looked ugly now stripped of their covering compared to their untouched brown and green velveted cousins nearby. Smoky and noisy trucks carried away huge hunks of rock. I silently hoped that these were not sacred mountains. Near to the quarrying there were a few sites where smaller pieces of rock were being cleaned by being washed and rolled in a tank, these pieces were also taken away by trucks.

Our first gradual climb started with a small village lining the roadside, the gradient was easy but I was feeling some stress on my lungs. K suggested that I tried to breath deeper and as slow as possible in order to take in more oxygen. This worked well but I also gained a dry airway - fortunately it did not feel raw which normally leads to much discomfort. We had a gentle and short downhill which provided an opportunity for a little recovery. Next, we were on the climb up the pass proper. The mountainsides walled us to the left, they were decorated with paintings of Buddha, colourful Tibetan script and paintings of ladders (we still have not quite worked out what these mean). K was strong and she had a high cadence, in my mind she rode like she had a tailwind, I dropped behind her with my slower cadence wondering how she could be so lively and energetic. I shouted to her to slow the pace a little as I plodded up the ascent, patiently waiting for my body to get used to the extra work on top of the altitude adjustment. We stopped a few times, taking in views on our right hand side of the Lhasa river, more agricultural land as well as a small dam and hydro electric power station. I sucked on a mentholated sweet with the hope that it would help with the dryness that I was feeling in my airway. We continued to ride up, a few trucks and agricultural vehicles past by very slowly. My lungs felt the strain more than my legs and I focused on an even steady breath rate. This was hard work and we had only ridden about 15 kms.

The top of the pass was amazing, covered with hundreds of prayer flags which we could see and hear flapping in the wind as they shed their prayers. We were alone for quite some time, no vehicles passing us for a while which enabled us to enjoy the isolation and the views. Down the other side of the pass we had a gradual downhill made of plenty of switchbacks which probably trebled the distance to the bottom of the valley. We ripped it up, leaning sharply into each corner in order to maximise the momentum. There were trucks behind us that we managed to gain a lot of distance from as we caught up with the truck in front, finally overtaking it on the home straight (we achieved 60 kph :-).

We came into the first of the more rural Tibetan villages, there were many white adobe dwellings - we agreed that they reminded us of the style of South American houses. The houses were topped with more prayer flags. There were plots of land where vegetables were growing, people working in these fields waved to us. We could hear cockerels, dogs barking and the muffled voices of unseen children. We took a left and started our next climb - thinking that it would be as high as the pass that we had just ridden.

After 10 minutes or so we stopped by a stream and sat on some rocks, we had been riding for an hour and needed to eat some food - we snacked on dried dates, mangoes, raisins and very crunchy salted peanuts. All around us were chunks of coloured rock - white quartz and green, purple and maroon rocks. We could see the remains on the opposite hillside of an old fort and village. Below us we watched the stream change course due to it being blocked off and sent towards nearby fields. There was a river that despite it's wide rocky bed, had only a little water running along its course. At other times of the year with more snow melt it would be a torrent.

We jumped back on the bikes and continued to climb. We stopped momentarily to look at yak that was lying down in the shade of a drystone wall. He was panting heavily and watching us closely. He stood up which caused his breathing to become even quicker, he made a small sound that was very much like a squeak - this surprised me because I had expected yaks to sound like cows :-) We decided to ride on so as not to disturb it any longer. A shepherd waved at us. We came to another village and spoke for a few minutes to two young girls who had flagged us down and, I presume, wanted to practice their English. Riding on we saw more yaks that were tethered, some were decorated with red ribbon. More dogs barked and I could hear some singing from a nearby construction of a residential building.

We had to stop every now and then to catch our breath but riding in the middle ring was ample enough to keep a decent pace but still be able to maintain an even breath. Another man waved to us and made a motion with his hand of encouragement as though he was pushing us up the hill. We came to the disused dam and K with her eagle eye spotted an off road trail that was on the other embankment of the dried up riverbed. It was really rocky and difficult to ride with the clips and straps due to their bulkiness catching on rocks. We found a "path" to follow back to the road, weaving between huge rocks as we went.

I love riding on rock - I slipped the bike into a granny gear and span the peddles really fast which gave me the momentum to ride over lumps that stood in my path, I kept my weight back and allowed the bike to flow smoothly. It was fantastic :-) We crossed a small stream and then rode up to the road. Ahh, the burn. It was only a short steep climb but with the loose dirt surface it took a lot out of us and once at the top we both jumped off the bikes and panted trying to catch our breath and get oxygen to our starved limbs.

We rode on and saw the prayer flags high up on the mountainside which marked the position of our destination up the valley. Damn that was high. As we climbed the air became thinner and I was feeling a fatigue unlike any that I had before. I would make us stop every now and then so that I could recover, I needed to get the oxygen to my legs. My arms felt weak too. K and I laughed and laughed. We had to be careful for our laughing made us nearly fall off of our bikes on a number of occasions. We laughed at our weakness and the silly comments that we were making.

We climbed up to the last village waving to more workers and a child. We hit the dirt road and had a great time climbing up the switchbacks. I was really feeling the altitude now, it was hard work and had to stop more frequently. K commented that she was deeply tired. The views down the valley were incredible and we could see where we had ridden from and as we climbed higher the switchbacks came into view too. We laughed further as we lightheartedly (and lightheadedly :-) blamed one another for making us ride so high, we agreed that we were insane to put our bodies through this :-)

We reached the stupas - our destination - but decided to carry on to the next bend so that we could get a better view. We were out of water, our mouths were dry and after some rest K made a great decision that we should climb higher to see if we could find somewhere to buy a drink. This was really hurting now, every time we stopped and then started to ride again the burn in my legs was incredible, my whole body felt like led and I could not get enough oxygen. We both felt lightheaded. Reaching the end of the dirt road we came to the ticket booth for the monastery where we could buy some drinks - the ride up that last switchback was worth the effort! Purchasing some cold green tea and water we sat accompanied by some locals who were intrigued by us and also impressed that we had ridden from Lhasa. I conversed in a little Mandarin and taught a woman a few English words, when she said them back to me I realised how British my accent must be due to her mimicking my pronunciation.

We were at 4350 odd metres - the highest that I had ever ridden a bike before and I was in disbelief. It was amazing, we felt an exhilarating sense of achievement and happiness would be an understatement :-) :-) :-) We decided to jump back on our bikes and head down the 12 kilometres of descent because we wanted to get back before nightfall.

The dirt road was great, there were cambers on each of the corners of the switchbacks and I rode them fast, it was as though I was on a rail, the surface of lose dirt and stone made me feel as though I was on the edge of my skill level and the drop on the other side made my adrenaline surge. It was a spectacular descent back to the road proper as we left behind clouds of dust :-) And, for once, I left K in the dust and had to wait for her at the village down below - now I was really feeling good :-)

We bombed it down the tarmacked road, leaning hard into the corners and getting speeds of up 65kph. K had spotted a small dirt path on the way up and we took this as a diversion to get some offroad in. Here, before crossing a partially collapsed bridge, I had my first sighting ever of a live marmot, he ran across the embankment and disappeared into his hole in the rocks. WOW. He looked like a beaver but without the buckteeth and the big tail :-) We hit the offroad trail, I took the lead (rock being my specialty). Keeping my weight back I glided over rocks and got air just from pulling on the bars a little. The rocks would cause me to take an unchosen path but with some quick maneuvering I managed to keep my line and speed. Ah, what a buzz :-) :-)

We crossed another stream and climbed up to join the road again, got back up to speed on the tarmac and waved and called "hello" to more people as we approached a small village. We took another offroad path, which was not so challenging, and then I found another diversion which started with a really steep rocky descent. I was unsure whether I could handle it but committed myself to it when my front wheel rolled over the point of no return. I gritted my teeth, it was hard work to keep the wheels within the very narrow line that had no margin for error due to many unrideable large rocks. I made it to the bottom and joined the road again with the biggest grin on my face :-) :-)

We continued back down the valley and eventually took a right which lead us back onto the road of switchbacks on the backside of the first pass. I found this climbing hard. My chest was tight and wheezy where it had not been before. I could not get enough breath despite the much lower altitude and had to succumb to my asthma inhaler. This helped ease the tightness and we climbed with regular stops back up to the prayer flags - the people in the trucks and cars passing us would shout "hello" and give us the thumbs up....and blow kisses :-). Taking the descent on the other side we sped back down into Lhasa, overtaking many agricultural vehicles and enjoying the free ride. Back in Lhasa when we were riding on the flat I felt as though I had a strong tailwind and a motor on my bike. It was great, the increase in oxygen gave me fresh energy :-)

It was an amazing day. I was particularly impressed by my bike. I loved the way it climbed, each turn of the peddle giving a great responsive power. The positioning for the challenging terrain gave me no fears and the bike handled everything that I threw at it, I really could not believe what this bike was capable of. I did not have to think about where my positioning was on the bike, the geometry allowed it to come to me naturally - all that I had to do was just enjoy the ride. The bike maneuvered so well and as good as bikes that I have ridden that are 4 times the price. Truly fantastic and a great bike for our trip providing reliability in numerous and demanding conditions :-) :-)

Last night, I was so tired. Lying on the bed when we got back I still felt as though I was moving and it took 15 minutes or so for my body to calm down - it had worked hard all day. Truly though, it was one of the most spectacular days of our trip, the terrain was breathtaking (along with the atmosphere :-) to ride and the scenery was worthy of dreams. Never before had I felt so happy that my parents had created me :-)

Hopefully you too will get to ride on the roof of the world one day :-)