Psykryph's Page

No problem, dude.  Perhaps my wording in my discussion was unclear.  My bad.  My intent was to look for other hard core cyclists interested in a road trip, ”LOOKING TO DO A TARGET OF 100KM A DAY”.

I think I did say in my discussion that Khalid and I rode 313km in our 3 day Shaoguan to GZ road trip.  So, right there, that is a small clue.  As I said, Khalid is a very strong rider, and his daily aim is to ride 100km a day.  If you have never ridden at least 50km to 60km a day, 100km is going to be a problem for you.  And we are talking 3 or 4 consecutive days of 100KM or over.

Once again, let me say the first day of our journey was 140km, and the 2^nd day of our trip involved steep climbs in the mountains.  i have problems climbing so this was difficult for me.  I wish Khalid told me about the long distance and steep inclines before the trip started, and now, I am just clueing you in on what to expect, a courtesy that I never got.

Pacing is only one aspect of the road trip.  Preparation is another issue.  There are other factors including your equipment, your mechanical skills, etc.  My other suggestions are merely that.  Suggestions.  These are things that I’ve picked up along the way that helped me, and I merely want to pass on advice to other cyclists.  It’s up to you to determine whether it helps you.  If not, no big deal.  Ignore them.

Finally, you are right, if it ain’t fun, why bother?  For me, the biggest issue is personality.  Lucky for me, Khalid is a cool cat.  We have different styles, but we worked well.

For a long trip, you don’t want to be stuck with people that you’re going to clash or have problems with.  If I was stuck with someone I couldn’t stand, What a waste of my friggin time.  I’d be better off riding solo.

Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff.  Do what works for you, bro.  once again, sorry if I wasn’t clear for you, but that’s why we have correspondence, emails, discussions and meetings, to answer questions, work out the details, yada yada yada.  I’m glad we cleared this up now, rather than arguing up in the mountains.

Dude, Maybe you’re not ready now, but it’s good to have goals, and one day, you can do longer road trips, at a good pace, and with good distance. 

My goal is to do Tibet one day, and I know that is a TALL order, so I’m putting in the time and training myself every day.

Khalid’s goal is to do a LONG road trip, from China to England.  Go figure.

PEACE OUT.

No problem, Psykryph.  GZ Stuff is buggy and lags all the time, so that’s why I rarely go there anymore.  You can hit me up my yahoo email in the future: kwokchunlee@yahoo.com

The first thing I would suggest is get a hold of Khalid, as he is very experienced in road trips, and would be invaluable to you as a cyclist.  He has travelled a lot of places in China, and I have learned a lot from him.  I think Khalid is leaving at the end of the month, so you need to contact him fast.

The second thing I would suggest is fix your bike, ie tire issues, or get another bike, ie bigger, because when you are on a road trip, you want to be as comfortable as possible.  I did 140km on my first day, and I thank God my bike was my size, or else I would be hating life.

The third thing I would suggest is to build up your endurance because Khalid is a very strong rider.  I don’t know how much you ride, but I ride 2 hours every day, and I have trouble keeping up with Khalid.  I think your idea of riding to places close to GZ is great.  However, I would go one step further and say, we should meet up and ride in an easy and known environment such as University Town, before tackling the unknown.  This way, we can see what level and cycling skills you are at, along with your bike fitness, and then we can then plan a destination that fits your skill. 

Do you know how to make repairs on your bike?  The fourth thing I would suggest is to learn how to repair and replace the important parts of your bike, in case you have a mechanical problem in the mountains.  changing inner tubes, tires, chains, and spokes is crucial.  Yeah, you can go to a bike shop for repairs, but you don’t how when you will have a problem, and how far the nearest repair shop is, so it’s all on you.

I hate going off road, because my bike is a hybrid road bike with skinny tires.  But sometimes, you can’t avoid bad roads, so you should always have inner tubes and tools, just in case.

Hope this helps.

What’s up, Psykryph?

To answer your question, it all depends on the next destination, how far it is from GZ, and how much time we have.

For example, on our last road trip, Khalid and I hopped onto the train along with our bikes for 2 hours and arrived in Shaoguan.  Then, we proceeded to ride our way back to GZ for the next 3 days, passing Yinde, CongHua, and MFS along the 313km journey.

Khalid and I both have flexible work schedules that we can both squeeze in a 3 or 4 day trip with no problems.  But if you want to join us for the next tour, we should meet up with Khalid, and sit down and discuss which city/location you want to visit, and then see how much free time and what works for everyone in terms of scheduling.  Are you available just on weekends or is your work schedule flexible?

Currently, we are talking about doing a short trip to Shenzhen, via Dongguan in the near future, and also a longer trip to Guilin.  For SZ, we are planning to bike the entire way.  For Guilin, we are thinking about taking the bus over there.  Khalid sounds like he wants to bike from Guilin back to GZ, while I prefer to  spend more time riding in Guilin/Yanshuo, and then taking the train or bus back to GZ.  We are still in preliminary planning stages, so nothing set in stone.  What places did you have in mind?

Khalid is planning a Vietnam trip and won’t be available until the middle of this month, so if you are free, we can all get together and grab some brewskis then and talk about the details.  The dude is cool, and he has travelled to many places in GZ so he’s very experienced.  You should add him as a friend.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of bike do you ride?

Btw, I’m diggin the nice metal tune on your page.  I need raw tunes like this to power me through them hills and tough climbs.

Later, dude.

Phil. Please use the Classifieds section to post your ad. Thanks!

Paypal china, possibly, i have to remember my bank address, but Paypal international, no way because my address and bank are in china. It would be great to have you on board as your experience and language skills are great, but you would know what your competition is in this environment.

Lol no, i believe Tiffany is trying to hook up with me. Y would Lily be hurt?