September 6, 2015 Beijing to Xingtai

We left East Beijing Hotel in a small bus at 8am.  John and the other guides decided not to get the bikes from the dealership last night since it was still raining.   No one wanted to get into and out of wet riding gear two nights in a row.

 The BMW motorcycle dealership at the Audi Goldenport Motor Park in Beijing did an outstanding job of getting all 11 bikes serviced in less than 48 hours.  Arriving at the service center early on a Sunday, the staff and motorbikes were outside to greet us. 

Green (her American name) and

Yingchu helped us settle our bills with the cashier.  We were required to pay cash because their credit card machines can’t accept foreign credit cards.  Dave and Mona had a similar experience in the mall attached to the hotel.  Poor David was left sitting in a restaurant until I returned with more cash to bail him out.

Marilyn’s crashed bike was also removed from the van and prepared for shipment to Shenzhen for shipment back to the US when the rest of the group arrives there, one month from now, on October 4^th.

We are now at the halfway point of our trip both in terms of mileage and time.  We will spend the remaining month traveling around the Chinese countryside.  We will head west and play in the Tibetan mountain area of the country

 We left the Motor Park and headed out to the freeway.  We are allowed to get on it near Beijing.  However, if we get off outside the city, we cannot get back on the high speed road.

 We spent the first hour trying to get out of Beijing.   The city is 100 to 150 miles wide. It is home to 22 million people and is expected to grow to 28 million by the time they host the 2020 Olympic games.  So we rode on the shoulder for many miles, bypassing much of the slower traffic.

There wasn’t much to see today since we were on the freeway all day.  The most conspicuous thing were the hundreds of new apartment buildings being erected just outside the city's 5^th ring road.  The 5^th ring road is more than 400 miles around – Baltimore to Boston. 

The toll plazas have a variety of themes.  Dave and I liked the pagoda style best.

Gas stops were uneventful.  We filled at the pumps, assisted by John and the station attendants and exited back onto the freeway.  Lunch was at a service center similar to all major highways in the US.  The noodle bowls we purchased were filling, and way too much to finish. 

As we returned to the motorcycles, we said hello to the people who gathered around.  This mother really wanted to get on the bike.  We put her not-so-thrilled little boy behind.  Dad took a picture.  I hope we made their day.

We’ve changed the group/s riding style. At 11 bikes, the group is too large to keep together in heavy traffic.  So instead of a lead and sweep guide, the sweep guide is now in the middle of the group, essentially splitting us into groups of five and six motorcycles.  One guide (John today) leads 4 or 5 bikes with David riding sweep and the second riding guide (Mike today) leads the rest of the riders with Boz riding sweep.  We stay with our leading guide – that way each guide is only responsible for 4 or 5 bikes and we don’t get too strung out and lost in traffic.  The guides have headsets in their helmets and can speak with each other instantly.

With this riding pattern, we are often witness to some of Mike’s antics.  By the way, can anyone see Marilyn riding pillion behind him?  Note the double-wide car carrier.

John and Janis scouted this trip about a year ago.  In that time, this section of road was completed, but is not is not yet on any GPS or paper map.  It cut off at least 10 or 20km from today’s boring ride.  Yay!

Of interest on the freeway are the different ways the Chinese transport goods.  This car transport truck is a good example.  The top deck is two cars wide and it’s overall length is much greater than the ones used in the USA.

We arrived in Xingtai around 3:30 in the afternoon.  Xingtai, as Beijing, is experiencing a boom in apartment buildings.

At an intersection, this little old lady was in the middle of the road.  We think she was begging, but she didn’t put her hand out.  She just pointed her empty water bottle at us.  I was struck by how tiny she was and concerned about cars seeing her.

Our hotel tonight is the Wanfeng Grand Hotel.  We’ve been warned to enjoy our stay tonight, as our hotel tomorrow is on the lower end of acceptable.