bordertown

i found it.

it's a black, chinese made, fei ge (flying pigeon) bicycle. the frame is made of steel and the rear rack is made of iron. the kick stand--well,you'd probably hurt your foot if you kicked it--the "stand" is huge andalso made of iron. it's design is similar to the 1940's American Raleigh (think: old-school Schwinn). it probably weighs 80-100 lbs.

it's deckedout with black, steel fenders. there are no brake cables, but a complex system of levers that tighten the brakes against the lower section of the wheel. it even has small shocks on the front to dampen the vibration ofthe handle bars. despite it's great weight, it rides like a dream.

oh, and there are no shifters; there's only one gear. why not up the ante while i'm at it?

i bought it in the bordertown of shenzhen for 430 yuan (= $53). crossing the border was relatively simple. the biggest challenge has been trying to find my way out of the cities. i'm already on the move. from shenzhen i rode 20 miles (or so) to the west coast of the pearl river delta. there i cheated and took a ferry across the mouth of the river (instead of going north around the river's mouth, which would have required navigating an impossible spaghetti bowl of highways, expressways and tributaries).

i landed in zhuhai, and pedaled 60 miles to xinhui. on the way, i passed a boy driving the chinese analog of a pickup truck (think: a trike with a small bed and, in the front, extended handlbars that reach out to the front wheel upon which the engine sits!). as we played touch and go up a shallow hill, he took pictures of me with his nokia cel phone. how ironic.

i'm averaging about 8 mph. the bike is working great. so far the trip has required quite a bit of resourcefullness. unlike hong kong, very few people in mainland china speak english. the signs and maps are mostly in chinese as well. i've encountered numerous dead-ends and dissapointing roads that do not cross rivers. all of the people i have met and asked help from, however, have been helpful and kind. i'm learning to act quickly and use my intuition. i'm using a compass to help me find my way. in the cities, i triangulate the location of my hotel against the taller buildings so that i can find my way home after wandering around. this works most of the time.

the culture shock is starting to dig in. it's difficult just to order food. (that part is very humbling.) sometimes i feel like just holing up in my hotel room. when i walk around, people stare and holler "hallo!".

there's so much to talk about. what do you all want to hear? i'm having trouble accessing people's comments. all the buttons on my screen are in chinese...

e-mail is more accessible. if you don't have it, my address is: icycle@riseup.net

miss you all!