Day F2: The Two Finger Salute

January 26, 2021

Rui'An to FuDing

It was an amazing sleep last night, and it felt like the stress of the year was already going away. Since the hotel offered a free buffet breakfast, I figured why not take advantage.

Carb loading to start the day. It may be excessive given the diet I usually have for the fitness challenges, but when cycle touring you need the extra carbs, i.e. fuel

Superb hotel room to kick things off. I would rate this so far the best one.

The dreaded police outpost at the beginning of the bridge. This has long been abandoned and the bridge widened so any bikes and scooters can cross. But when I first did this in 2003, it was only a two-lane road with no shoulders. I tried to get on the sidewalk, but the cops were very active at stopping bikes. I still managed to get past them. The alternative is the (now unused) ferry that takes a long time across this very wide river.

The road is much better now, it is in very good shape.

About halfway into the ride, a scooter went by with twins on the back facing forward. The one closest to me gave two middle fingers, with a cheeky little grin on his face. I managed to catch up to the scooter and pass them. Then I slowed down and got the camera out to wait for a second pass and to see if the punk would repeat the gesture. Obviously he did not. It was a sad situation more than anything else, as kids previously would wave to the foreign cyclists and/or call out greetings.

This naughty brat was smart enough to change pose when I got out the camera. Unfortunately I teach kids like this all the time.

The mountains begin. This pass was just a warmup

The first mini-pass showed up between the Zhejiang and Fujian provincial borders and there was a police checkpoint of course. They were stopping cars but they were more astonished than anything else to see a foreign cyclist. Surely it is a safe bet that hardly anyone is touring here.

The bike performed beautifully on this warmup ride and it made me feel confident about the next day with a lot more mountains to come. The town itself was rather unremarkable, but it did have some nice food.

The hotel, predictably, wanted to see my health code. Since I had just changed provinces, I wasn't sure how to load one up. After fiddling around I gave up and used the one from Zhejiang and they were fine with it. Turns out the system in this province isn't set up for foreign passports. We'll just have to keep playing this game city by city and see what happens.

Second hotel of the trip. Also a great deal

Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 231 km (143 miles)

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