November 3, 2014
Navigating the earthquake zone: Maoxian and Wenchuan
I packed up the tent in the darkness and was on the road at first light, which meant I had one blissful hour of cycling before the traffic started up again. But when it started up again, boy did it start up again. I'd hoped the road might at least get better as the morning progressed, but there was still no shoulder and the trucks and buses blasting around the blind corners made this a definite contender for the most dangerous road I'd ever cycled on. The only relief came, ironically, while passing through the towns of MaoXian and Wen Chuan, where the road was wider and safer. Both of these towns were almost completely destroyed by the 2008 earthquake; a tragedy in which a staggering 87,000 people lost their lives. But I saw no signs of the catastrophe here now, with both towns having been rebuilt with modern tower blocks. In MaoXian I even saw a brand new 'Ancient Castle' that was proving very popular with the Chinese tourists.
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After Wen Chuan a new expressway began to take away most of the traffic and consequently the G213 became a lot less busy, something I was naturally very, very pleased about. Perhaps noticing the scenery for the first time I saw that I was now in a narrow valley, almost like a canyon, with steep mountains rising high on either side of a fast-flowing river. This geology meant there were a few more tunnels to navigate, and these ones came with no lighting at all. Unfortunately the battery on my front bike light was running low, and so I could barely see where I was going. Just for fun I covered the light over completely at one point, only to see what it was like. I don't think I'd ever really understood what true darkness was until that moment.
The road got quieter and quieter until there were no other vehicles at all. This was great, but it was also worrying, especially when a man shouted out to me that the road ahead was closed and when I went past some 'no entry' signs. I've not yet come across a touring cyclist that would turn back because of things like that though, so naturally I continued, weaving in and out amongst debris and piles of sand. Then I came to a very large pile of sand that was completely blocking the road. There was no way around, so I left the bike and ran up the sand to see what the problem was. Beyond the sand a bridge over the river had collapsed. There was no bridge left at all now, only the supporting pillars that would have once held a bridge. Now this was the kind of thing that might stop a touring cyclist. I've met a few that I'm sure would carry on anyway, leaping from one pillar to the next like Super Mario to get to the other side, but not me. Besides, there was a simpler solution. The parallel expressway bridge was of course fully-functional, and the big pile of sand provided the perfect mechanism for climbing up onto it. This I did, lifting my bike and possessions over the fence and onto the shoulder. Then it was just the case of a quick cycle across the bridge and back onto the G213 on the other side.
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The road remained very quiet and there were several other bridges that had also collapsed. I realised that these bridges had all been destroyed by the earthquake and it was a sobering realisation. I could only begin to imagine the horror of being stuck in this valley during that terrible tragedy with no roads in or out. How long did it take to get aid in? To get the injured out? Actually the truth is I don't think I could get close to imagining a horror like that.
There was now always a way around where the bridges had collapsed, but the lack of traffic had me concerned that the road was going to become impassable sooner or later. And so it proved when I came to a tunnel, the whole entrance of which was blocked by an enormous pile of rubble. I looked for a way around but there was none. It was a dead end. At the same point the expressway was above me, another big bridge shooting across the valley, and it looked possible to climb up to get onto it again. But across the bridge I could see that the expressway was going to disappear into yet another tunnel, and according to the signs this one was more than five kilometres long. I didn't really want to cycle through a five kilometre tunnel on an expressway, and so I was stuck, geographically trapped by towering cliffsides above me and a raging torrent of a river below.
I had just passed through a small village and so I returned there to try and find out if there was any other alternative route for me. Looking for a cafe or shop that might have wifi I ended up outside a building where I could see a man using a laptop inside and a group of people sitting around eating. Two girls of about twenty came over to say hello and so I asked if there was any wifi here. After telling me that there was and giving me the password I asked what this place was.
"Is this a restaurant?"
"No. This is our house."
"Oh. Sorry. That'll be why your dad is looking so angry then."
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I looked at the maps and saw pretty much what I already guessed, that there was no other way. Both the roads went through long tunnels at this point and so, as I couldn't take the G213, I was going to have to go through via the expressway. The girls, who could speak a few words of English, seemed to think the G213 was open beyond the tunnel. As it was almost dark now anyway, I came up with yet another of my trademark cunning plans, this one being to camp under the bridge and then get up early to make a quick dash through the expressway tunnel first thing in the morning and get back on the G213 on the other side as soon as I could. It seemed like a pretty solid plan, by my standards, and so I had myself a good eggy dinner, set up camp, and got an early night, ready for the actioning of my cunning plan in the morning.
Today's ride: 118 km (73 miles)
Total: 32,286 km (20,050 miles)
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