My wife writing about our bike ride in Southern China
Day 2 佛山高明 — 肇庆高要新桥镇， 72公里 Day 2 Foshan Zhaoqing to Gaoyao Xinqiao Town 72km
我们今天想去的地方是思劳镇，有85公里。早上在路边吃了个拉布粉，老板还送了碗猪骨熬的面汤给我们，太好了。出发没骑两步，我的大腿肌肉就开始酸痛，这是正常反应，想着只要不需爬坡或过桥就可以了。惊喜无处不在，骑了大概20分钟，前面出现一座桥，好吧，上。和昨天的两座大桥比起来，这个勉强算中桥吧，昨天最长那座桥有1.7公里长。过了这座桥往西去云浮的方向，骑着骑着，忽然闻到酱油味，然后前面出现了“海天酱油”的字样，我们一直骑，看到马路两边都是海天的工厂，还分了A厂和B厂。
这次骑行，我明显地比19年那次骑得慢，是慢很多。上次我要不和Jerry一起骑，要不我在他前面，就算是在他后面也不过相隔1到2米，整个骑行我都是紧紧的跟着他。这次Jerry一直在我前面，每过10来20分钟分钟他看不到我了就停下来等我。唉，拖后腿了，还好这次我们没有任务，只是为了自己而骑行。到了中午12点，在一个加油站停下吃点零食，休息个10来分钟，然后继续向前。大概一个小时后我们离开佛山，进入肇庆市高要区。上午路况不错，很多直路，今天天气不冷也不热，很舒服，只是我除大腿酸痛外，屁股也疼。有时候骑久了想站起来还得小心翼翼，不能一下子站起来，要忍着呼吸两秒，小心的稍微动一下屁股，然后再起来。Jerry在前面等我，他说1:30了，眼看着就要进山，刚好这里有个餐厅，我们要不先吃饭，怕进山后没有餐厅。这个决定非常正确，因为后面真的没有餐厅了。我们基本都在上坡，不断的向上走，我又回到了比蚂蚁爬稍快一点点的前进速度。
吃完饭后走的237省道很漂亮，两边都是山，很多竹子，不过很多路段在维修，只开了半条路，只有一个车道。维修路段的两端有专人指挥管理车辆通过（我叫他道路安全员吧），前面有5、6台车在排队等着通过。我们当然没有排队，直接越过他们，我们右边是稻田，左车道不通车，只有和我们同一边的车道开了。骑了20分钟，后面的车就来了，小车还好，毕竟车型小，到了大卡车从后面来，听着车声越来越近，感觉卡车像向我压来一样，心都提起来，整个人绷紧，精神紧张着的时候，卡车几乎和我擦身而过！再继续往前骑，远远看到前面左车道排满了车，道路安全员把路障推到路上，等我过了，他就移开路障，轮到这边排队的车可以过了。现在变成左车道通车，右车道不通，这次卡车是迎面和我擦身而过。这样左右车道变换来回好多次，还有，这条路很多卡车啊！
过完这些路段后看到Jerry在前面等着我，还好最后十公里是长长的下坡路，下坡后没多久就看到一家酒店，看看时间，4点了，因为Jerry今晚要工作，决定就此结束今天的骑行。
今天入住酒店非常顺利，洗澡水够热，房间够大，除了床稍硬了一点，其它都可以。到此，今天一共骑了72公里。
Day 2 Foshan,Gaoming — — Zhaoqing Gaoyao Xinqiao Town 72km
The place we wanted to go to today is Silao town, 85 kilometers away. In the morning, we ate some Labufen which is soft thin flat rice noodle roll with minced meat inside on the roadside. The owner gave us a bowl of noodle soup, it was great. When I started riding, my thigh muscles began to ache. This is a normal reaction. I thought as long as I didn’t need to climb a slope or cross a bridge, that will be ok. Surprise is everywhere. After about 20 minutes, a bridge appears in front of us. OK, let’s go. Compared with yesterday’s two bridges, this is just a medium bridge. Yesterday’s longest bridge was 1.7 km long. After crossing this bridge and heading west to Yunfu city, I suddenly smell the smell of soy sauce. Then the word “Haitian soy sauce” appears in front of me. Haitian factory is big, it is on both sides of the road, they make it factories A and B.
Obviously I’m much slower than the ride we did in 2019. Last time I either rode with Jerry or I was in front of him. Even if I was behind him, it was only 1 to 2 meters away. I followed him closely during the whole ride for 2 months. This time, Jerry was always in front of me. Every 10 to 20 minutes, he stopped to wait for me when he couldn’t see me. Fortunately, we don’t have a mission this time. We just ride for ourselves. At 12 noon, stopped at a gas station for a snack, took a rest for about 10 minutes, and then move on. About an hour later, we left Foshan and entered Gaoyao District of Zhaoqing City. The road condition is good in the morning. There are many straight roads. It’s not cold or hot today. It’s very comfortable. Except for my sore thighs, my butt also hurt. Sometimes I have to be careful when I want to stand up after riding for a long time. I can’t stand up all at once. I have to hold my breath for two seconds, move my butt very carefully, then get up slowly. Jerry was waiting up front. He said it was 1:30 and we were about to enter the mountain. It happened that there was a restaurant here. If we didn’t eat now, it would be a big chance that there would be no restaurant after entering the mountain. This decision was very correct, because there is really no restaurant in the following 2 hours. We are basically going uphill most of time. I got back to the speed like ant climbing.
The 237 provincial road is very beautiful, with mountains on both sides and a lot of bamboo. However, many sections are under maintenance, only half of the road is open, and there is only one lane. At both ends of the maintenance section, there is a special person to direct and manage the vehicles passing (I call him road safety officer), and there are 5 or 6 vehicles waiting in line in front. Of course, we didn’t queue up. We passed them directly. We had rice paddies on our right and left lane was closed. After 20 minutes of riding, the car came from behind. Normal cars were ok as they were small. When the big trucks came from behind, the sound of the truck getting closer and closer and I felt that the truck was pressing on me. My heart was lifting. When I was tense and nervous, the truck passed right next me! Hooo!! As I kept going, I saw from a distance that the left lane ahead was full of waiting cars. The road safety officer pushed the roadblock onto the road. When I passed, he moved it away. Now it was the turn of the cars queuing here to pass. Now the left lane is open to traffic, and the right lane is blocked. This time, the truck passed me head-on. The left and right lanes change back and forth many times. Besides, there are many trucks on this road!
After passing these sections, I saw Jerry was waiting for me in front. Fortunately, the last ten kilometers was a long downhill road. Not long after the downhill, I saw a hotel. It’s 4 o’clock. Because Jerry has to work tonight, we decided to call it a day
Today’s check in was very smooth, the shower water was hot enough, the room was big enough, except the bed was a little hard, everything else was OK. We ended up at 72 kilometers today.
