317 Cycling Tour: Day2 Yingxiu to Panda Valley

Because riding a bike gives you a feeling of freedom, you can freely go wherever you want...

But, isn’t driving free?

For motorcycles or cars, you have to think about refueling or charging; at the same time, if you are covered with iron, your whole body cannot be exposed to the air freely, haha

Closer to home, today’s ride can be summed up in one sentence as a dedicated tunnel intensive training day.

I have breakfast at 6:30 and set off at nearly 7 o'clock. The large troops had to gather together to have breakfast and take photos, and they would not be dispatched until after 7:30.

I was eating buns in front of this big car, but I still had lingering fears. I didn't know what the situation would be like today.

The air in the morning is very good, although it is a bit cool, about 10 degrees. The way along the way is like this, walking through the valley:

Later I found out that it was really not necessary to climb the mountain because I spent the entire morning walking through tunnels. The first Nanhua Tunnel made me realize that yesterday’s tunnel was completely childish, with a total length of nearly 5 kilometers.

My mind seems to be blank, I feel like I want to cry but there are no tears...

Checked the headlights and headlights and rode in. Fortunately, as the landlady said, there were fewer big cars along the way, and I felt more at ease.

Seeing that the direction of the water flow in the tunnel is towards me, I guess I should go up slowly? The ride is relatively slow, about one kilometer, and there is a rest area, like this:

I made sure to park in the middle to avoid having a bad view of the car coming from behind and knocking me away.

I soon regretted it when I realized I didn't have enough water. I only packed a large thermos cup, but I found that I was very thirsty. The more I drank, the less I drank. I felt very nervous.

So I stopped in the middle of a tunnel to see if I could stop a self-driving car and ask for bottled water.

Not long after, several teammates arrived. After understanding the situation, they gave me two bottles of milk and two apples, and also poured me half a bottle of tea. Thank you so much!

Fei Ge (first from the right) was still riding with me from behind, but he stopped behind me in the tunnel. Last night he saw an article in the group chat saying that he had to give me Yunnan Baiyao because his knees hurt. This morning, he didn't give me Yunnan Baiyao because I left early.

I feel very embarrassed, it's so hard on him.

Because I am still quite afraid of tunnels. As soon as I came out of the tunnel, I wanted to slow down and find a place where cars would not easily hit me to stop and drink water. This should seriously delay his progress.

He felt very strange, you want to drink water again? Haha, I asked several times. In fact, I want to cherish this opportunity to see the light of day again, otherwise I will feel like a gopher.

He reminded me that as long as there is a gas station, water can be heated and my posture will improve😊

I came across a PetroChina gas station on the road and I immediately went straight there. Because many of the small shops on the roadside are closed, I guess they will close down in mid-to-late October when the weather gets colder.

We passed through 8 tunnels in total, and the longest one was more than 5.6 kilometers long. It’s really 😭😭😭

What’s even more tragic is that after finally getting out of a long tunnel and just wanting to take a breath, I found another big black hole waiting for me 100 meters away😱😱😱

I later learned a trick, which is not to have any hope, just think that after you exit this tunnel, there must be another one waiting for you, and it is 5 kilometers long, then you will be invincible.

I said to myself in pain and joy, after coming out of this tunnel, the total mileage was reduced by 5 kilometers. Is there a sudden drop? How cool it is.

The tunnel is extremely long, and finally I developed the skill to listen to the sound and judge whether it is a big car or a small car, whether it is on the opposite side or behind, whether it is one car or a team...

The whole morning was spent in self-hypnosis and deception.

Of course, apart from being tortured to the point of being happy, there are also other little episodes. On the way, I encountered monkeys (I don’t know what species they were) stealing corn from the vegetable fields on one side of the road, and then crossing the road to the other side. There were quite a few monkeys, and I got two photos.

I also reached an altitude of 1,800 meters and felt pretty good, with no signs of altitude sickness.

Some friends may ask, what should I do if I drink so much water and go to the toilet?

Basically, most of it is sweating, and the rest is held in if you can't find a suitable place. Well, because there are many people on the national highways in Sichuan, it is not convenient to solve the problem on the spot.

There are many people on the road, so there are toilets on the road, such as this one:

Basically, they are all at this price, one yuan, and they come with ads.

It makes me laugh. Ten years ago, it was 318 and the price was the same, so it seems that inflation does not exist when it comes to toilet use.

I don’t know whether it was because the plaster Benben gave me on my knee before leaving worked, or because my knee has adapted. Today, my knee is fine and not as painful as expected.

On the contrary, my buttocks were so painful😭. Along the way, whenever I went downhill, I almost had to stand up because it was so painful that I couldn't sit still.

I had no choice but to blame myself for not being used to wearing cycling pants, so I used sanitary napkins instead, which worked well. It feels like my tailbone is about to be worn through.

Benben told me early in the morning that tomorrow’s journey will be very difficult. He suggested that if I go fast today, after riding 54 kilometers, I can ride another 23 kilometers from Panda Valley, so that I can save 2 hours on tomorrow’s trip. .

Of course I agree. All measures that will help a rookie like me keep up with the big team should be firmly implemented.

I estimated the time. I should be able to arrive at Panda Valley at 3 o'clock, and then ride 23 kilometers uphill for another 3 hours. It should be about the same.

As a result, the plan failed to change, and the store owner's phone calls were never answered. In the end, I was really afraid that it would be troublesome if I didn’t have a place to stay, so I had no choice but to go with everyone.

So, during the meal and for the next half hour, Benben and several other sisters were discussing what I should do tomorrow.

Because we have to fight a tough battle. Balang Mountain is equivalent to the first big mountain on the 317 journey, and its status is similar to Zheduo Mountain.

And it may be worse. There is no signal for a long time on the road. If the car breaks down and has a tire blowout, there is no way to solve it because there is no way to contact other people.

Normally it’s cold when going downhill, and it gets even colder after dark. If I can’t reach the tunnel entrance at the top of the mountain before five o’clock, I have to take a ride, otherwise I might freeze . However, the only thing I was afraid of was that I didn’t even have a ride.

But I still refused to take the ride. They probably just want to roll their eyes, it’s unrealistic if they don’t have the ability, haha

The final conclusion is that I must reach the tunnel entrance before 5 pm no matter what, otherwise I will fall into a very passive situation.

It seems that I can only place my hope that the small universe will explode 😂

Conclusion

Feel the wind blowing on your face and know that it is the wind;

When you look at the clouds on the top of the mountain, you know they are the sky;

Hearing your own breathing, you know that you are alive;

Use every inch of the wheel to measure the land, knowing that you have been there;

Only when you have truly given, can you know you have loved; only when you have truly loved can you know that hate also comes from love.