317 Cycling Tour, Day 4: Siguniang Mountain Town—Damba

Because it’s edible and delicious.

I knew last night that today's journey would be easy. Although it was 110 kilometers, it was all downhill all the way to Danba. In addition, I planned to take a day off in Danba tomorrow, so my spirit immediately relaxed.

It was after 7 o'clock that I had a leisurely breakfast - steamed buns, eggs and white porridge. I guess I ate 4 steamed buns and 3 bowls of porridge? Even the fermented bean curd and pickles are delicious.

Today seems to be a mini farewell day again. Benben said that 6 people left. I am not familiar with them yet and can only remember 4 of them.

Sister Yueming is from Lanzhou, Gansu Province. Because it has been upgraded to a medium-risk area, the local area will not let her go. There was no way to stay and ride, so I had to go back to Chengdu.

Another handsome man was bitten by a dog and had no way to get vaccinated, so he had to go home.

There are two other people who are leaving as planned.

I received a call from Sister Yueming early in the morning. We all live next to the checkpoint. Before she left, she had to give me the team flag in her hand to bring to the team leader.

After riding for a long time, I remembered that it was a pity that I didn’t take a photo with her. I was so impressed. During the show, she enthusiastically told me that she had ridden more than 10,000 kilometers this year, and the flat roads and downhills were just like taking a rest...

At first, I thought today should be a relaxing day mainly for fun and cycling.

Looking at the Tibetan houses along the road, it is true that every house has flowers and every house has trees. Interestingly, almost every house has a conch-like pattern on the wall.

For the first time I had the leisure to stop and take photos. After a quick search, it turned out to be white conch, one of the eight Tibetan treasures. Picture 1 should also be an auspicious knot, one of the eight treasures.

Soon, half of the leisurely mood was lost because of the rain. When I went out, I learned the lesson from yesterday and wore rain pants. Not long after riding, I also put on my raincoat and thick leather gloves.

However, it still feels inconvenient, mainly for my eyes.

If you don't wear glasses, rainwater will easily get into your eyes. When it rains heavily, it feels like you can't open your eyes.

Put on your glasses, they will soon be stained by the rain. I really wish I could install a wiper. I was just thinking that when I met Benben at night, I would ask him if there were any wipers specifically for cycling glasses? 😂

Another inconvenience of wearing glasses is that the breath you exhale will also make it foggy. When going downhill, I bumped into an oncoming car. At this time, my glasses were blurred and I felt very uneasy.

I had no choice but to ride for a while and stop to clean my glasses, which was quite a waste of time.

However, when I was resting on the way, I received two pieces of good news. One was a call from Guangzhou Hospital, telling me that the check-up before departure was not a major problem and would not affect my current riding. The other was a call from the boss. When she came out, she arranged herself well, and the old mother was very pleased.

It was almost 10 o'clock when I arrived at Dawei, where the troops stayed yesterday. It is also the meeting point of the Red 1st and 4th Front Army.

I met an older lady next to the monument and asked her to take a photo for me. She was wrapped up so tightly that I couldn’t see it at all 😂

The Red Army joined forces in June 1935, and just after they captured the Luding Bridge and crossed Jiajin Mountain in May, it was hard to imagine the scene at that time.

At around 9 o'clock, Benben announced in the group that Chen Bo was bitten by a dog and asked me to be careful when leaving Wori Town. Later, Chen Bo had no choice but to get on the bus back to Chengdu. There was no vaccine in Xiaojin Town.

Life is like a journey, and I am also a traveler. It is the same with fellow travelers on the road. However, fortunately, there is also WeChat, like the circle of friends and we will meet again.

Just after 12 o'clock, I saw a PetroChina gas station on the roadside. I simply went in to hide from the rain and made a bowl of instant noodles and a piece of ham. Really delicious😂

After chatting with the salesperson, I learned that the Balangshan Tunnel can be passed through all year round. I thought the mountain would be closed? It turns out that even in winter, tourists go up the mountain to see the snow.

After eating instant noodles, I have been rushing for time. The most challenging thing is your mentality. It is really difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Most of today is downhill, but occasionally there is a gentle uphill, but once you see it, you feel that you don't have the energy to climb.

The time was spent in random thoughts, various mental methods were used to improve endurance and correct the mentality; various native methods were used to relieve muscle soreness. Finally, the number on Baidu map became 18 kilometers.

Then, the test came, and I guessed that I wouldn't be able to pass it easily. A bad road of nearly 6 kilometers.

This was taken when I stopped at the end of the ride. When riding, I had no idea at all. I was just afraid that I would lose control of the front of the bike and fall down and be covered in mud.

When I went to the inn to wash up later, the mud on my face had dried off. This person is still wearing a turban and covering up very tightly, so there are no fish that can slip through the net.

As I rode, I was puzzled as to why there was something wrong with just that section of a perfectly good road, and it was so bad. Moreover, even if it is a landslide, it will not last this long. Could it be that the construction company, China Construction Engineering Corporation, had a conflict with the villagers?

Only later did I understand when I saw a slogan:

"China Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (can't remember clearly) helped with the Ganzi post-disaster reconstruction project" and so on; it turns out that this is the road damage caused by the earthquake last year, which is related to the collapse of the entire house seen earlier. Speaking of which, this happened in April last year.

The last 10 kilometers were ridden with almost all my strength, because it was almost dark and it was going downhill, so I really didn’t dare to delay. There were still 200 meters away from the booked inn, passing a bridge, and the street lights came on.

Danba County is beautiful under the lights.

After an exhausting day, dinner beckons.

Conclusion

When I was a kid, I watched Clever Ikkyu, and one episode left a deep impression on me:

Ashikaga Shogun's food tasted bad, and he blamed the cook for not cooking well, so the bodyguard Shin'emon came to ask for help.

Ikkyu agreed, and when the general came to the temple, he asked the general to clean the courtyard, fast and bathe, etc. After a lot of trouble, what was finally served was the ordinary meals that monks eat every day. As a resultthe general's appetite was greatly increased and he ate more deliciously. Life is like this, the reward after hard work is particularly sweet.