Today is my 26th day on the road and my 9th day sitting it out in a hotel room. The weather report for the next few days isn't looking much nicer either, and I've got to be back in Hainan to renew my Residence Permit no later than two weeks from now.

Despite my not actually being particularly near an airport, I've got a contact in the next city (25km away by the shortest possible route) who is a potential storage site for my bike and gear during the roughly three weeks it will take the Public Security Bureau to return my passport to me.

By noon, with the temperature outside having only just hit 4℃ and my fourth kettle boiled dry as a way to attempt to heat the room just a little, I've made up my mind. The trip's nowhere near over yet.

It's just that the interlude I knew was going to have to happen is coming a bit earlier than expected.