D1: 后沙峪 → 固安

September 18, 2024

I've never seen this symbol before. Means "cars and bikes may share the lane but bikes have priority"

When I left O & A's this morning, Beijing rush hour was just starting. So, even if I hadn't already planned to take a sharebike for some large portion of today, there was no way I was going to The Beijinger other than by bike.

Sure, it happened to be over 20km¹, but the efforts to "civilize" traffic that have been going on elsewhere in the country have also been going on here and have been going on just as aggressively and I think barely 1 in every 1,000 two wheelers I saw was driving the wrong way or doing something equally stupid, and the cars weren't even darting into the bike lanes at all².

Technically, he's over into my lane, but there's roadworks (under construction viaduct above) and they're a bit squeezed

Obviously, the Greenway doesn't want bikes

Other than being from 1872 (Guangxu 18), I didn't try to read it

Spent at least an hour chatting with Dan from the Beijinger while sucking down a very welcome, very cold, and very perfect combination of sugar, fats, and caffeine in the form of a Mocha Java Chip Frappacino³.

From there, it was only a little over 10km by bike to the offices of Important State-owned Publishing Company or 2km + subway + 2km, so—of course—I rode that too.

Not really wanting to keep with the AliBike now that I had added two somewhat heavy books to my bag, I planned to take the subway. But, a 3:30pm lunch stop⁴ on my way to the subway ended up turning in to an Emergency Work Break with my Hainan Media Client. And, by the time I was near the subway, rush hour had started again.

Only Beijing-plated cars are allowed past this point

Cosplay in Hanfu is quite popular these days

So I biked the 15km to the express train back to Daxing.

53km on sharebikes.

And then, because I really really really wanted to actually start my Tour today, even though it was already dark by the time I got to the hotel where I'd left my bike, I got my bike, changed into one of my new pairs of bike shorts and a jersey that is old enough to vote and did another 20km on my bike.

Having seen a substantial percentage of the scenery when I bussed out to the bike shop two days before, I didn't really miss that much by doing it in the dark.

As well, although the mid-tier local police have called back in response to my government hotline complaint asking me to both explain the problem and what I'd like done about it⁵, she clearly had no idea what I was talking about, and even if she sounded rattled by the sheer weight of the document number⁶ that I knew, I also knew that the only place I was going to be about to stay hassle free in the immediate vicinity was the same very clean but inconvenient hotel I'd already spent three nights at.

Oi you dirty pigs, this area has 24 CCTV monitoring, and the public toilets are 30m away. No pissing or shitting.

Hebei wasn't promising no hassle. But, it was promising something different. The apps that aren't supposed to even list "takes or doesn't take foreigners" as a criteria anymore still do (that's another complaint for another time) and there were places in my desired price range, so I booked at one⁷ of those.

I would have a little bit of a problem finding⁸ them when I got in, but 85y for a studio apartment with a mini washing machine and a front desk that knew what to do with a passport.

¹ 26km, once I stopped for a Sausage Egg McMuffin breakfast at McDonald's.

² I remember walking in the street rather than on the sidewalk, cause the traffic on the street was more predictable.

³ Not something I usually go for on account of just how loaded it is with sugar†.

† This is not a 'diet' thing, nor is it a holier than thou ’I eat good' thing, I just don't like stuff that's that sweet.

⁴ Taco Bell, because I had to try it and see what it was like.

⁵ Look up the documents I've just told you about and issue a department wide notice that is forwarded to the local hotels and which says "we won't be telling you you can't take foreigners in the future."

⁶ 国发［2024］5号 for the one I knew.

Sometimes, even knowing you'll regret it, you still have to try

No one is actually checking the vehicles leaving Beijing

⁷ Well ackshually, I booked in at one, then I realized I had booked in at the one at the farthest southern end of Gu'an, so I cancelled and booked in at another.

⁸ The signage wasn't as clear as I'd like for a place that requires you to go to the 8th floor of an apartment building, but the problem was mostly with the person reading the signage.

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 126 km (78 miles)

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