No matter how many bike trips we take and how many times we realize that through a combination of our own limitations and the fact that China is completely unpredictable, we always assume that we will be able to plan ahead and be ready for whatever comes at us. Here, in list format, is a list of just a few great plans that we men (mice?) have recently managed to send awry:
- Depart beginning September – Evan inadvertently steals Andy’s passport, trip start delayed to September 23
- Take a trial run to the Great Wall before departure – Air France leaves Alexis’s bike in Paris an extra 24 hours, destroying our time gap
- Drink that expensive bottle of Champagne Alexis brought from France before we leave to consecrate the journey – We put it in the fridge and forgot it there in our rush to leave early on day 1
- Leave early on day 1 – Right before we hit Tian’anmen, Andy remembers he left his gloves and iPhone charger at his friend’s house; returns solo to fetch them leaving Alexis and me at a hutong restaurant next to Xidan and pushes our departure from Beijing to around noon
- We all wake up at 8am on day 2 to make the most of the cool morning – I write this post at 9:30 between two sleeping baldies
Thankfully we at least made it to Hebei Province yesterday (yes, we crossed a deep 4km into it before settling down) as we had promised everybody who asked us where our first stop would be. However, the point here is that as long as we keep humble expectations of our own abilities and overestimate China’s proclivity for throwing us curves, we ought to do fine – at least in terms of expectations. Now that we’ve all slept over 10 hours, maybe we can actually plan to go out and find some LBXes – knock on wood.
