April 2, 2006
To Climbing Yak La: blooming cherry trees, climbing on cobblestones
We carry our gear down two stories and retrieve our bikes from the storage room next to the hotel. Right at the beginning, the road starts climbing first into a valley, then switch backing up a hillside. Below us we see Tibetan homes and irrigated fields. It's Spring here, now everywhere there are blooming cherry trees. After about 15kms, we pass by the Vongshelin Monastery. We take a break to eat. Patrick takes some pictures of a monk who is waiting for his bus to leave. We climb higher and higher, at a stream crossing we filter water. Our notes indicate some potential good campsites higher up, but they do not mention if there is water available.
We get about 5kms more asphalt than expected, but then we do lose the smooth surface and start bouncing on the cobblestones. Amongst pine trees we climb higher, camp spots are scarce though, the terrain is steep. On the West side of our valley there are towering high snow capped mountains. The first recommended spot for camping comes at Km 1925. It's the site of an old road camp, lots of flat ground but no cover. We prefer to camp out of sight from the road and although we are both very tired decide to go on another 5 kms to a site Peter Gostelow (A long ride home on CGOAB) used here last fall. We have to walk part of the way and find a good spot just where the road switches back up the valley wall to start a final set of switchbacks to reach the first pass. There is a blocked side road after about 200 meters that is still snow covered but there is a good dry spot for our tent.
It has rained a bit this afternoon and it's still threatening. We wash up, have some coffee and hot instant noodles and into the tent at 8pm just as it's starting to get dark.
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Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 7,445 km (4,623 miles)
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