I wanted to post a 130km day. The Gods didn’t want that. An unexpected 60km of muddy road-works and then a flat tyre during the final sprint saw an end to that. It was raining and getting dark. I am in an abandoned hut a few hundred metres from where I had the flat tyre. The universe provided.
Evening flat tyre
I guess I am a loner. Today I fled from a group of cyclists. I have seen them over and over the last few days – a group of about 10 Chinese cyclists. I ran into them on a pass this morning, and then a thousand photos were taken. I then continued up the hill, only to be passed by people planning to take photos of me climbing the hill with others in view. I just had to get away. I sprinted, passed everyone and fled into the tunnel at the top of the pass. They had to wait at the tunnel entrance for everyone to gather.
The cyclist group
The photographers
I like cycling with 1, 2 or 3 people. I like cycling away from the crowds, and away from the tourism activities offered by the tourism industry. I cycled straight past the lake viewing platform, and the tourist busses lined up there. The guided group of cyclists today gave me the willies. I am interested in my own reaction. Maybe I am a hermit.
I left the main road today on a major secondary road. The altitude profile was more or less flat, and there was going to be a tailwind. I set my sights for the 60km distant town. Well, there were serious roadworks the whole way. It rained. The tailwind stopped. There were no towns – or anything much on the way (except a few yurts). And it was hilly. Up and down and up and down. And then, a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere, 15km from the town. I know, at the start of this trip, I might have panicked. A flat tyre in the rain, getting dark, at 3500m on the Tibetan Plateau. Well, Mr Hermit didn’t panic this time (of which I am quite pleased), and found the abandoned hut – I am sharing the hut only with a very loud cat.
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