Richard's Map

As we pedaled out we were to grasp the full extent of the Chinese takeover with buildings growing from the Tibetan earth at an alarming rate - the sterile glass and concrete spreading like a rash over the virgin wilderness that surrounds the town. The Chinese are being drawn here by the promises of more space, cheaper living, less competition for business, and are lax on the birth control regulations - all in all enough to draw people in huge numbers from throughout the Peoples Republic. Gladly for cyclists the road out of Bayi begins as tarmac and we were to find after 14km - once the tarmac ran out - a fine smooth packed sand track to aid our climb. Sony - our guide's - information on pass heights and distances has of late become very erratic and so we take his words with large spoonfuls of salt - but certainly we begin to find that the pass is a large one. From our lowly height of 3000m in Bayi we climb up and up and marvel at the deep forest the encloses us. Pausing for breath we look back to see the yellow sand of our trail winding its way amongst the dark green of the coniferous forest. 

The climb winds on and on and we wonder really how high we can manage to rise in one day. Annoyingly we see no sign of Sony and the vehicle for hour after hour - lunchtime comes and goes and we pass the 1000m of ascent mark - we are all ravenous stomachs ache and legs become empty of energy - where is he? As we seem to hit a plateau before the final rise to the pass we at last catch glimpse of our canvas topped support. I bawl at each one of them to get out of the truck and begin to shout at Sony - the only one who speaks English - 'How on earth do you think we are going to cycle up this ******* hill without any food? We left you at 11 o'clock this morning and haven't see you since! ££ ­ Do you think we paid Shigatse Travels 20 000 Yuan to see you disappear up this hill and go to sleep for the afternoon!!! I'm in full flow - and our hapless guide - who has made a careless mistake gets the brunt of it - however - anyone who knows me would certainly know that it takes rather a testing to get me into shouting mode! 

We continue our ascent and find the top of the Sichi La pass easily after a lunch of instant noodles. We give thanks to the prayer flags at4500m, and then rapidly move on to the business of descending. This is soon interrupted however by a marauding troop of Land Rovers, photographers and video men who are ascending the pass from the other side - we stop and share our stories with them and listen to their wonderful tales of the road ahead - and also enjoy being loaded up with heaps of Western Food - as these fleeting traveling companions are from Hong Kong. With panniers bursting and all photos shot - we set out once again in the evening light. The sun shines warmly and we are treated to a magnificent view over pristine wilderness - forests rolling over thousands of acres - completely untouched - and only snow capped bright peaks rising above. 

Our road descends to pass rocky cliff faces and then further into the forest itself. As on the other side - the sandy trail continues and we can accelerate without too much fear for damage to the bikes. The speed is blistering and we encourage each other faster and faster - dust flies from beneath our tyres as we weave from one side of the trail to another. A band of loose yaks before us causes a brief moment of concern - these are timid and easily startled creatures and the rumble of 4 mountain bikes descending the trail at 35mph does little to calm them. The first one frisks awkwardly as I zoom past - and his flailing horns miss me by centimetres - I hit a series of potholes and Andrew tells me that he sees sparks fly from my rim as my rear wheel bottoms out on a rock - OUCH! The adrenaline is fully pumping through our veins by this point and we search for more and more- but sadly the trail finally rounds out on to the plain - we roll along - chattering and laughing out loud - 'That was certainly the best descent I have ever known - 100% Full On!' - we laugh more and agree - we have never known the like. Sublime Chinese cookery in the form of 5dishes and a monster heap of fried rice are the perfect end to an amazing ride - We bask in the memory of a fantastic day.