Shanghai'd

This morning.

I thought it might be interesting for all you folks at home to hear about our jīntiān de zǎoshɑng.

We are in the thick of training for Tibet, as we are leaving in 3.5 weeks. Yikes! One part of our training regimen is to get in some kms (kms, we are on the metric scale here. FYI 1mile=1.6km) early in the morning before work. The sun comes up around 5:30, and we try to be up at 6 and out the door around 6:15. We were a bit late today, and Tim had to get to work a bit early for his busy morning (this is how I am spending my busy morning), so we had about 90 minutes to ride.

Out the door we headed east. We always head east. Away from the city, on a route that takes you back 20 years every 5km. We jumped on a "no motor vehicles" path along the river that we normally take to work. The same path leads all the way out to the East China Sea (aka Pacific Ocean) about 20km east. Foot, bike and motorcycle (and yes, motor vehicle) traffic can be thick at times, but the atmosphere along the river is generally quiet and relaxed. We followed this path out under the highway and got on what will one day be a 6 lane thoroughfare, but is now blocked to all but construction vehicle traffic. Here we can take the center lane and really put the hammer down. We ride past groups of workers sweeping this street, shoveling up the mud left by the construction vehicles, in what seems to us a pointlessly endless task. But this is their danwei (government posted position). Next we drop into the main street of a tiny town. Main street store front is full of industrial supply and chain grocery stores, while the road has a mix of dump trucks with air horns, cement mixers, and heavy construction equipment. In Shanghai, there is construction everywhere. Heading through the narrow back alleys, we find the quiet river again. After a few more kilometers, we aren't sure of the way (should we turn left at the cactus farm?) and end up around the back of some industrial plant. Even though the buildings are spewing smoke and producing some kind of "necessity" of modern life, just beyond the whitewashed wall, a farmer is working the tiny strip of land between the factory drive and yet another river (we are so close to the ocean, canals crisscross most areas). Almost all green space is used for growing food, there is very little decorative landscape. Front yards are rice paddies, and the tall green stalks look a lot better than the brown lawns of Austin! Time to turn around, we end up back on the main highway and cut back through the closed off 6 laner (still sweeping...), back onto the river path, past the outdoor pool table and the hangers drying 10 ft (that's 3 meter, if you are still on the metric scale) noodle strands, to a baozi shop we found the other morning to grab some breakfast. Baozi are basically large dumplings with a thicker bread-like skin. We each ordered 2 (7 cents USD each) - 1 red bean, 1 cabbage, and 2 spicy rice noodle filled. The guy behind the counter wanted to know how much baozi are in the US. We told him there are no baozi in the US. He stared back, astonished! At this point, I realize there are no baozi in the US. And yet we are planning to come home. On nice mornings like today, we sometimes have to remind ourselves why. We pedaled into work in time to clean up, cool down and have our baozi before starting another day.

Today's ride stats: 31.9 km, avg. 23.3 km/hr (and broke 1500 km on my odo, which I installed in June)