Head to Head with Mings the Merciless

It was something that I had been keen to do since I arrived in China, but never had the fitness to do with the serious guys. I'm talking about a chance to take the mountain bike out to the hills and countryside around Beijing and experience some real nature and dirt trails (as opposed to the local urban singletrack I’ve been using for my very irregular sniggle fix). Being sans car and all also meant that doing it on my own was not going to be cheap, as I would be at the mercy of the local entraprenaurs to transport me out and back and to be honest it wasn't worth the battle with the haggle and the language. Luckily for Amy and I, and many others here with similar thoughts, one of the guys at Amy's work had been right on top of it over the last few months mapping out a route and organising a group ride. So come time to execute the plan, Amy and I (and Maddy if possible) were going to be there come hell or high water.

The plan was to head out as a group to the Ming Tombs to the North-West of the city and ride a 24km route, taking in some of the lesser-visited tombs along the way and finishing with lunch at a local eatery before buss'ing it back. Food and mountain biking DO go well together, but the even more exciting fineprint of the plan was the intended gradient for the ride – the bus would drop us at the ‘top of the valley’ and pick us up at the bottom, making for a mainly downhill cruise to the finish with a few undulations thrown in there for good measure. After a bit of too'ing and fro'ing with the ride organiser we judged that the route was OK for the trailer bike, meaning that Maddy was able to join us as well on the back of Amy's bike while I got to take one of mine for a spin.

The view that awaited us at our drop-off point at the top of the hill.

All 13 and a half of us (13 adults + Maddy) met behind our apartment at 7.45 am with bikes, plenty of water, spares and (for some) helmets and packed our bikes into a small Jinbei before we jumped on the big bus to head out to the Tomb area around 30km from urban Beijing. Two others who I know are keen riders weren’t present for the trip out so I thought they had bailed at the last minute, only for us to nearly run up the back of them in the bus 1km from the drop-off point. In the spirit of those crazy folk who ride out to Sparrow Hill for the CORC races, Cameron and Amy had decided to ride the 2hrs out to warm up for the day. As it turned out though, warming up was easy. It was the cooling down that was the hard part.

The surrounding landscape was great, and the (relatively) clear sky allowed us to see into the distance (including this pagoda on the far mountain).

The drop-off/start point couldn’t have been any more scenic for somewhere so close to the haze of Beijing. With summer in full swing and recent rain the hills around were covered in dark green foliage, and the orchards down into the valleys brimming with leaves and fruit. Jutting out from above the flora were the roofs of many temples we could see from the hill, and a quick brief by the ride leader after putting our bikes back together pointed out our rough route for the day and the tombs we would be visiting.

Putting the bikes back together before starting off.

Milling around for the pre-ride briefing.

Although on a sealed rode the first decent for the day was a great way to become re-acquainted with the Reign X, which to be honest hasn’t had a lot of use on the flat streets of Beijing but has been itching for a run. And a good run it got, as the road took a few sharp turns down to the bottom of the hill and the first tomb. After having a peak through the closed gate and getting a group shot (to the amusement of the locals, who were trying to understand the concept of a bike tour) we headed straight onto the first of many dirt sections for the day. We were only a few meters along before a few locals tried to convince us that there was no road through the paddock, but a gentle nod later by those in the language know had us getting through without any real resistance. With the track a bit loose and steep I swapped bikes with Amy and took the bridge of the HMAS Yukon with trailer bike while she got to experience for the first time the joys of 165mm of front and rear suspension. For me it was my first real go at handling the bike with a swinging weight at the back end, and it made for some great downhill descents at speed and quickly learning that braking earlier was essential as well as not cutting the corners to fine. The thing you notice with these is that you REALLY feel the difference when your passenger on the back is pedalling, so Maddy got more than one suggestion to mash those pedals like her life depended on it to avoid bringing the line of riders behind us to a sudden stop.

The back of the group got a bit congested in the tighter sections.

Lead group stopping at the top of the loop behind one of the big tombs. Photo moment while waiting for the others to catch up.

After connecting back onto the sealed road we ducked through a few small villages and swung by another tomb before coming up to the front of one of the bigger ones in the area. Here we were given the option of doing a lap around the tomb outskirts on some dirt, which everyone took to like a fish to water. I did though get a bit excited on the descending single track which caused Maddy a bit of panic. To complicate things even more for her was my need for some sudden braking further down the descents to get around the bike that a local had parked right in the middle of the track, as well as the pile of tin cans dumped right in the middle of the track.

One of the bigger tombs we visited during the ride.

After the short but fun detour we took a fast sealed road descent before turning into some more dirt trail that took us through growing plots and along a dry creek bed, before ducking out only to find a trail that had been there two weeks ago but was now well and truly over grown. When we finally found it there was a real opportunity for a “Choose your own adventure” at a 'T' intersection up ahead. The left turn offered a safer cobblestone track down to the front of our 4th tomb, while the right took you down the side of the wall to the front via a rockier decent option. Given my place in a conga line of bikes and still having Maddy we all took the easier option and gave ourselves a chance to rest the legs while many of us pushed the bikes up. The group took the opportunity out the front of this tomb to take a 15min well deserved rest, before heading off for the last few tombs of the day and a morning tea break on the way to lunch. Amy and I also used this opportunity to swap bikes again, handing back to her control of the trailer bike loco (much to Madeline's relief) while I slouched back into the arm chair with wheels (much to my relief).

The skinny alongside one of the tomb walls.

Taking the easier left from the 'T' intersection still ended up in congestion.

The landscaping out the front of the main 'tourist' tomb was considerably better maintained that the others.

When we got to the last tomb our ride leader gave the booked restaurant a ring to tell them of our arrival time (with intentions of having the food ready when we arrived). It was only then that he found out that the chef was not available, and they were unable to do the lunch for us. After a bit of heated phone talk we all decided to leave it till be got to the village and hunt down something there, but to still visit the booked restaurant on the way past to further reiterate our discontent.

One of the unrestored tombs in the area.

With an approximate 45min ride remaining to lunch we were all hoping that we would get to the end with no mechanicals aside from the few cases of gear crunching that were heard. Amy though had other plans, and on making it half way up the steepest hill of the day I got a call from behind about the Yukon's back tyre losing pressure rapidly. So down the hill I went again, and after a quick tube change we were back on the road but somehow magically I had been assigned trailer bike duty again. Did I mention we were at the bottom of the steepest hill of the day? Talk about a set-up.

Amy and I stretching the legs on our morning tea break.

A few km up the road we headed off-road again for the last time on the ride, along terrain which reminded me alot of the firetrail behind Ainslie and Hackett - undulating, but with the uphill sections preceeded by fast downhill sections offering plenty of opportunity for a good run-up. With one of the last turns offering up a near hairpin ala TdF style one of the younger riders went bush when he tried to hit it at 60km hr, sling shotting himself out of the corner and into the bushes somewhat freaked but unhurt.

Some of the tomb walls were really starting to decay.

Out of the turn we dropped right into the last village where we managed to find a ‘resort’ that was able to take out written menu and replicate it down to the chilled soft drinks and semi-chilled beer (OK, the beer was meant to be chilled also, but beggars can't be choosers).

Not only did the replacement eating locale cover the food and the drink, they also won our hearts with watermelon.

After stuffing ourselves and rehydrating we rode out of the village and along one of the busier roads of the area up to the main entrance of the tombs area. It was at this stage that I really started to feel some serious dehydration coming on, having received little mercy from my serious overactive sweat glands while riding around the area. Luckily there was a store out the front of the entrance, where I would have willingly given a kidney for a bottle of water so managed to start the recovery immediately (but which still took 3 days to fully get over).

The group under the final archway of DaHongMen (Chinese for Big Red Gate - pictured below from behind)

In the end everyone had a great ride. Thanks to the background research done by Tim he was able to give us some great facts about each of the emperors along the way, many of whom either ascended the throne at an early age, or only stayed on the throne for a very short while. While we had a few changes along the way none of them were real show-stoppers, and even if there were, isn't it the unplanned (mis)adventures that keep mountain biking exciting?

Beijing MOB Sightseeing Ride - Beijing 'burbs, Bird's Nest and Burritos.

After putting a tentative tick-in-the-box in the MOB-fit column following the Olympic Park pootle I decided to bite the bullet, and head along with the Beijing MOB on Saturday on their first ride of the season. Initial replies to my emails on how long it might be time-wise were a bit vague, but the one thing that was clear is that the rides tended to include a fair bit of breaking new ground and sometimes having to unlose one's-self from an unknown location. Now THAT sounded like fun, although given that I would be with a bunch of people I'd only met that morning it could be interesting if I had to be carted off in an ambulance for some reason (now what was that about an ICE number and a mobile phone?). In the end though I decided that if I wanted to get fit and also get into a regular MTB fling here in Beijing I might just need to eat bitter. If it came with pain (highly likely given my out-of-shape legs and lungs) then I would just suck it up at the rear of the pack, and if worse came to worse bail on my own back towards home. The MOB invite was clear with directions to bring (along with the usual helmet, mobile etc) a "good happy mood of 2009 (I will not complain)", which sounded great as it seemed to set the scene for a positive vibe. Some of the serial Stromlo whingers could really take something away from that.

In the end everyone's biggest concern was around the expected temperature, as I have found out very quickly that Beijing weather can turn faster than Canberra's weather on an Urban Polaris (and haven't I experienced some beauties on that - heat wave in the morning and sleet in the afternoon). Given that the previous weekend had given us some significantly warmer temperatures only to be hit with a 10 degree drop in max temperature mid week, everyone was tempted to pack extra layers just in case. Being one of the Canberra folk who ride in the winter months I have a good selection of gear to pick from so I decided on the trusty GE longs and the arm warmers rather than going for something bulkier. It seems most other people had the same idea as well - positive sign number ONE.

Andrew walking his bike down towards the railway track climb.

In the end the option of the lighter clothing was a good one, as our group of 9 riders set off from the Beijing Agriculural Exhibition Centre at a very brisk pace utilising streets and roads along with what seemed like 2 million cars. As mentioned in my previous post this would probably get my Medical insurance company nervous if I was doing this solo but I found that in a larger group it tended to be less of an issue. I also decided to place myself just behind the leading group, as it ensured I had some protection from the trail blazers while still ensuring I got through any traffic lights or traffic jams with the head bunch (and not having to catch up with the bunch afterwards - not that easy when you have NFI where you're going). With a constant speed of around 30km/hr it was a good pace, and although it was all on the flats we were putting KM's behind us quickly and the group was already starting to spread out on the way out towards the airport to the NE of the city. (After a stopover 10min from the start to pick up the last rider, at which time two from our group already needed a caffeine fix ala Starbucks).

Lucky for me I wasn't the only first timer on the ride. The other MOB virgins included an American who had been in Beijing for a few months and decided to take up his mate's offer to join in (and borrow his bike), an Italian guy who had been in Beijing for 4 years but had only just decided to get into cycling here, and a local girl we picked up along the way all of whom had varying levels of bike fitness. Being able to stick towards the front of the group at least showed me that while I didn't have the most endurance credits available for withdrawal from the quad bank, I certainly didn't have the least. Positive sign number TWO.

After what was a good 30-35min ride out to the NE of the city we jumped off the road verge and ducked under a bridge, finally getting onto a mixure of dirt and asphalt as we headed north-west along the Wenyuhe River towards the Olympic Green and beyond (depending on how keen we were later on). The road we were on was in a way arcing around the NE corner of the city - the question was, how far along would it go (and how far along it would WE go)?

Miso, Me at the 2nd Rest Stop (location B on the map - approximately)

This stretch along the river offered up a number of opportunities to ditch the tar in lieu of dirt trails to either side of the road, but we stuck with the sealed option most of the way until the Italian recruit Miso took a last minute detour towards the river and lead the whole group into some spontaneous singletrack action. Just some simple walking track that ducked around and over little mounds of dirt just off to the side, with a pothole every now and then to keep you on your toes. It was no Sparrow or Stromlo (or even up there with some of Canberra's best urban skinny) but in a city of 19 million people beggars can't be choosers. In the end though it's the people's reactions that are the best judge and the smiles on the faces of the group as we pulled back onto the road told the story.

With the legs finally experiencing some (any) variations in gradient we all woke up our lungs and took the opportunity to pull up stumps for a bit of a rest and a photo opportunity. The good thing about China is that most people in the streets are willing to take a photo for you, and don't seem to be put out at all. Any residual risk of us getting an unhappy camper to ask was soon put aside when a local pulled up next to us on a Merida racing bike - a bit unexpected in an area of Beijing where many of the back roads were still a bit rough. And this guy's bike was certainly not kitted for carrying home the groceries in a front basket - it was made for speed.

The starting group at the 1st rest stop (location A on the map below)

From L to R: Il (Russia), Andrew (Russia), Me (Aussie), Xingou (China), Miso (Italy), Vicky (China), Jonathan (USA), George (UK), Landon (USA)

By this time one of the riders was starting to feel it more than the others, and was looking to head back as soon as we got off the trail and headed back towards the centre. Luckily for her (and for me as well) the next part of the ride up to the 2nd rest stop consisted primarily of a sealed road along the edge of the canal, with nothing in the way of undullations except for one little rise.

When the group came to a bridge blocking the way we took it as an opportunity to let the group reform and grab a drink/snack and also for George to consult his GPS for a location check. Once he confirmed that we were in the right vicinity we detoured around the bridge before ducking back onto the path for another kilometer or so before we hit the trainlines marking the near end of our canal traverse. Up and over with the bikes over the shoulder and we were doing the last few hundred meters through some of the heavy migrant worker resident areas before turning left onto a major road and heading south back towards the city via the Olympic Green. This last stretch before the major road certainly had some fun bits in it, including a rather sharp descent down from the train tracks and some seriously eroded (albeit short) rocky shutes. Letting go of the brakes too keenly here and it might have ended up as a swim in the abnornally viscous canal (did I mention ambulance?).

BUSTED. Nature calls, and not a tree in sight.

Not the best part of MTB riding, and in the end I could have actually just ridden a bit futher along and connected to a trail up. DOH!

Shortly after we hit the run down to the Olympic Park we had a few of our riders peel off to head straight back home (mix of family and fatigue), while the rest of us headed down alongside the Bird's Nest Stadium for a bit of sightseeing. After the obligatory 2nd photo we agreed that food and beer/wine was the next order of business and I left it to those more experienced in the NE Beijing dining scene to select a place for lunch (although I gotta say the final choice was a winner in my books).

Finishing group at the Bird's nest Stadium.

The number one criteria for the lunch place was to have a spot where we could eat and watch our bikes as very few of us were carrying locks. It was decided that a local Mexican place would be just the right thing, but the security guards had other ideas. So after a good 5 minutes of arguing with 3 guards one of the US guys in our group (whose Chinese was VERY impressive) managed to get a very good deal for us - we would put our bikes around the back and one of the security guards would stand there and watch them. So in the end we had our own funny photo opportunity - all the bikes piled up right in front of a "No Bike Parking" sign. In the end we got our security concerns addressed, and more importantly we got burritos and vino. For the security guards they were able to abide by the processes and rules, but managed to get more work for themselves.

"No parking of...eerrrr....never mind".

All up it was a great ride especially for someone new to the city, with the finishing group having clocked around 60km. Having an OK sense of direction I'm confident I could do it again on my own and it would make a good training loop. For the moment though I have decided to try out a few trails closer to home, and along with the Italian guy on the ride get our fitness up a bit before we hit the hills to the west of the city with the group. This weekend the group is looking to explore the same canal/river but in the area to the NW of the city, up towards the Summer Palace (one of the must-visit places in Beijing). Unfortunately I'll be missing this one as we are heading down for some Shaolin Monk action for the weekend but hope to be able to report on their ride planned for 3 weeks time (wherever that might be).


Below is a very rough mark-up of the route we took (although the return south to the city may not be exactly right).

Clicking here will (should) bring up a larger version of the map including more of the surrounding area.

Markers on Map:

A - 1st rest stop

B - 2nd rest stop

C - Olympic Bird's Nest Stadium

D - Our apartment

E - MOB ride meeting place (conveniently close to home)

Group getting their breath back at the 1st rest stop, post (little bit of) singletrack.

The Search for Skinny

So after getting all enthusiastic about the biking thanks largely to the warmer weather (and in some part to my largely stomach) I decided that some single track was required, and it had to be closer than the 1hr ride away at the Olympic MTB course. Surely there had to be sniggle somewhere in this city of 19million people along one of the many canals, rivers or road verges. Naturally I didn't actually do much in a proactive sense to seek some out, but Lady Luck is really big here in China and maybe she mistook me for a local - or maybe it was a reward for just getting off the couch.

The good find came last Wednesday when I decided to give myself a bit of a fitness test by riding out to the Olympic precinct on the trusty hardtail, and to try and push myself a bit more than I do on the Grey Ghost (hence starting my search for the other skinny). While the desire to see the Olympic Stadium in the metal was one of the incentives, the other more important one was to test myself out prior to signing up for the following weekend's first Beijing MOB ride of the year. The Beijing MOB are a group of locals and ex-pats who get together every week and head out somewhere on the outskirts of the city for a mountain bike ride (usually to the west). Given the brutality of the winters here the group does tend to call a hiatus during winter (except for a small group of hardcores), and this Saturday just gone was their first ride back. The plans were to kickstart the season with a sightseeing tour which would take us out to the North-East towards the airport, and then potentially all the way around to the Summer Palace in the NW. Around 60-90km tends to be the distance that they cover in a day ride, with this one being at the lower end of the range. I thought that if I could get to the Olympic Stadium and back at a fairly brisk pace then I should be OK for the MOB ride as the terrain here is flat as a pancake and the groups usually full of riders with different skill and fitness levels (Read: use to waiting for the slow ones).

So with the warm clothes on and the water bottles filled I headed off at a faster pace than the rest of the bike traffic, which in Beijing is somewhat of a risk as you tend to make yourself more available to the local hospital surgeons. In fact, I'd go as far to say that riding the streets of Beijing is kinda like riding Sparrow Hill. Sparrow Hill has a great characteristic in that it makes for a great beginners trail when done at beginner’s pace - it's a safe ride. But when you really turn up the speed it actually becomes more technically challenging because of some of the technical trail features (Heavy Cow Loop is a good example of this). I've had more than one mate who has done some serious damage there when the pedal has gone down. In Beijing I have found that riding around the streets and roads is very safe when you travel the speed of the general bike traffic (which is usually very relaxed). Once you turn up the speed though, and do the necessary whipping and weaving through the traffic, then the path becomes littered with some TTF’s of its own (Technical Traffic Features? A new term for Roadies to describe the latte cup that's fallen off the road bike in front of them, endangering the Sunday morning peleton?). The need to have your fingers on the brakes is of the utmost importance, because at any time a car can pull out in front of you and they won't look. And then there are the motorised scooters, the pedestrians and buses.

Thankfully I managed to make it there with no major altercations with a steel cage, and was amazed to see that at the moment the Olympic Green is more of an Olympic Brown, due to the cold weather here that kills off the grass. It was great though to be able to ride around the stadium, and after stopping for a milk tea I headed back in an almost reverse direction (after having to stop to get some navigation tips from a local). On the way back I just so happened to stop on one of the canal bridges for a breather, and to my surprise noticed a plethora of narrow trails running alongside one edge of the canal. Along the other edge was what appeared to be a rock armoured trail about 2 foot wide that disappeared into the distance. Mmmm, inviting. I made a mental note to check it out later on in the week and take the camera along.

Unfortunately patience and mountain biking don't go well together for me so after I got home and had some lunch I packed the camera and made a B-line for the start of the canal just 10min ride from the apartment. Because I had some shopping to do on the way back I took the townie bike, thinking that even if I found the singletrack to be suitable for bikes I would only ride a small sample and head back. Any keen mountain biker will tell you though that singletrack is the beez neez and more addictive than coffee, so after alot of bumping and clunking I returned from a great 1.5hr jaunt along the river, having started on the dirt side for a few city blocks and then crossing over and returning on the armoured path. Safe to say that the townie just hasn't been the same since (she's sounding a bit worse for wear - think a Giant OCR on the CORC Trunk Trail). As well as the potential of the trail as a good MTB track, there was also the bonus of having a lady set up a mobile hairdressing salon right at the start of the trailhead. Just what the hairy rider needs if the helmet gets a bit too tight. And when asked, she did offer me a great price on a number 2 (the haircut variety).

The track actually holds alot of potential as a good Urban MTB loop, offering up lots of little surprises and civil features that can be ridden off or rolled over on 26inch tyres (or 29inches, if that be your poison). And it seems that a few folks in the Beijing MOB are also keen to give the more local routes a go on some days when ride leave passes are constrained by their other half (especially after having decribed to them the sekrets of the Canberra Urban Debacle crew and their honed skill at mixing trail, beer and pizza with great success - something they are onto here as well :-). As a result I seem to have dobbed myself in to lead a MOB ride of the loop in a few weeks time, so with that in mind I'll leave you with a few pictures of the trail because I've got some scouting to do. (some additional photos available in my online album here).

Next post: Pics and report from my first MOB ride.

The dirt trail winding its way along the river.

The trailhead, complete with barber. I'll have a Powerade, a Gu, and a short back and sides thanks.

The armoured trail side of the river offered up some small fun trail features, ...

As well as some bigger ones.

The loop includes some nicely aligned trails, as well as some not so nicely aligned ones.

Happy Trails

Welcome to the Beijing Bike Files.

Welcome to my new blog on all by biking adventures in Beijing. The plan is to keep it updated with pictures and stories about my bike-related adventures in Beijing and the surrounding area (good intentions anyway :-).

To kick start the blog I thought I would share some of the very different model names that they have given bikes here in China.

Define "Modern".

Mmm, that's not right.