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Dam its big
Yichang, Hubei
Distance: 70.5km
Max: 51km/h
Time: 6 rs
Avg: 11.7km
It is official. The 3 gorges dam is big. I was a little disappointed to be honest. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting but its basically just a big wall. If your into concrete super structures, that are shaping the face of our planet, then the 3 gorges is your baby.
Me? I prefer the quiet, mountains, trees and fresh air. Call me a hippy, but I'll choose nature any day of the week.
The project has a few other parts to it too. Smaller dams that block off the water from other valleys. These are big too.
I got a better view of it the following day when I headed towards Yichang. I was then able to see the drop off on the other side.
The chinese love Civil Engineering projects, so people here flock to it. Although functioning now, it is still underconstruction. To be honest it made me feel thouroughly drained. I was glad to leave.
For me the 3 Gorges Dam marks my entry point into the east of China. The population density will now explode.
A road sign to tell you that the road is safe. Thank you for letting me know.
Happy Goat
Lots of nice rocks for sale from some anciant cave somewhere.
The mountains seemed like they would never drop off, as I spent a few hours climbing up.
At the top it was a fast race down into a big city with all the trimmings.
The Chang Jiang was lying still with plenty of barges loading up ready to go up or down river. Which way ?...Your guess is as good as mine.
My right tyre had split open after being weakened by the metal shard last week and then a good beating from the roads.
It was as wonky and split as a reject sausage in a frying pan.
I met up with a few people, friends of friends from the 955 club and had dinner.
I was told that there is one man in Yichang that can fix all my bike problems. Little Wheelie was in for one hell of treat
Meet Mr Wang Yun
Mr Wang Yun is the boss of a small bike shop in Yichang. I was kindly picked up from my hotel by a man on a bike and taken to see the famous bike man.
After a quick hello he was on it. Little Wheelie was jacked up and the sausage tyre was off.
She was given a quick tranfusion with Royal Blue Blood,
new pads inserted and the disc brakes were sorted. The twister for the gears was then investigated.
After he had finished, Little Wheelie was running better than she has since the begining of the trip. The key to the smooth shifting was some Loctite silver anti seizure paste. What wonderful stuff. The gears now slip into each other like mechanical pixies all singing and dancing.
He even gave me some of the magical paste as a present. In fact the whole overhaul was done for free.
Respect to Mr Wang Yun.
Any bikers arriving in Yichang should go to his shop -
Biker Town.
Tel: 13872491055
A lovely plug there..... but he knows his onions and deserves all the business he can get.
Thank you !
The proceedings of course created quite a crowd.
One old dude turned up on a gas powered cruising motorbike.
Within minutes he was taking measurements, obviously fantasising about having a gas powered Trike. Sounds good to me.
All that observing was hot work for some.
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rob writes:
The only root vegetable Ali ?
I say Yichang onions !
Yichangius Allium cepa, from the Liliaceae family.
3/8/2006 18:19:35
wing writes:
Hope you have a nice journey in the rest part of china.
:)
4/8/2006 10:06:32
Tom writes:
Wheelie looks naked with he bare ankle showing while the nice man made her better.
And yeah, big up the retro butanemobile - is it fast? fuel efficient? is it as hazardous as it looks? i too WANT ONE!
6/8/2006 13:09:07
Tom writes:
Oh and is that another spot the difference competition lurking up there?
Between IMG_4130.jpg and IMG_4132.jpg? The barges?
6/8/2006 13:10:49
Rob writes:
Let the games begin !
7/8/2006 21:40:29
Once--yichang writes:
rob ,
you made a wrong comprehend the meaning of a this picture
http://www.chinawheelie.com/images/Fortheblogresized/Hubei/Wushan-Qianjiang/IMG_4114.JPG
it(一路平安) means:
"Wish you a pleasant trip."
not means "the road is safty"
嘿嘿，祝愿你一路平安~~
8/8/2006 4:16:05
A friend in Chongqing writes:
Congrats on getting to Yichang! Big thnaks to Mr Wang. Catching up on your entries. Love previous pictures of the rocks. A little bit disappointed to see pictures of the dam. Take care. Wish you a pleasant trip!!! Yi Lu Ping An!
8/8/2006 17:00:57
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Love the LPG chopper.
I WANT ONE!!!!!!!
3/8/2006 17:56:05