16.5.2008 von Ines.

Today I had my first accident with my Corima track bike. I was going straight when suddenly an elderly guy on the right side of me decided to turn left with his bike. I was not riding very fast as the traffic light ahead was red anyway but surely much faster than him. He bumped into my back wheel and then fell on the street. I said sorry when he stood up and he started saying I should take him to hospital. I said everything seems to be okay as he can move and stand and there is no blood but he insisted that I need to take him to hospital (which means that I should pay for his health check up). By that time we already had a huge quiet crowd gathering around us waiting to see what will happen. Finally a lady on her electric bike stepped up and said she saw the whole thing and it is actually the old mans’ fault to turn without looking. Then another guy also said that you have to look what is coming from behind you before you turn and then another person… So yes, I was allowed to leave while they kept on telling him that it anyway was his fault and he should be more careful in his age.

In the evening we went to the Stoneboat for a small concert - Hedgehog was playing. Hedgehog a Beijing band with a female energetic drummer. They played acoustic guitar versions of their songs at the Stoneboat. And it was a nice evening for sitting around the lake.

Geschrieben in Music, Fixed Gear | 1 Kommentar »

15.5.2008 von Ines.

Finally I managed to sort through the pictures of our rock climbing holiday in Thailand. This was long ago but I still like the pictures. Thailand is a nice for escaping the cold weather of Beijing. And Krabi is a beautiful place to climb - it is the climbing spot of South-East Asia.

More interesting are the pictures with the wide angle lens. I just find it hilarious how it distorts faces.

When we flew to Thailand was just the time when there was the bad snow storm over Southern China. It covered 6 Southern provinces in snow creating a disaster. We actually saw the white fields (that is not clouds) of South China from the sky.

Geschrieben in Thailand, Climbing | 1 Kommentar »

11.5.2008 von Ines.

Is there any other way to spend a rainy Sunday than to meet your friends for a Game-A-Holics Gathering? We came a bit late but still had many hours to play Shirades. And the wine did help to improve our body language for all the funny acting.

Chris - master of “yang rou chuanr” (羊肉串) and organizer of yesterday’s “3rd Ring Road Yang Rou Chuanr Challenge” - tonight still wanted to eat again yang rou chuanr (lamb skewers). His comment was “The beer in this ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant is colder than yesterdays’ number 4 restaurant”. And the prices were reasonable despite the small chuanr size (and also small lamb balls) and the difficulty getting the vegetable dish we ordered cooked in the way we ordered it. Unfortunately these kind of restaurants are getting harder to find in Beijing as more and more are torn down due to the upcoming Olympics.

Geschrieben in China, Beijing | 2 Kommentare »

10.5.2008 von Ines.

Sarah got married! What a great wedding party! I rode my pink bike to get there. So I had to wear a black & pink Qipao to go with my bike. I like this picture despite the fact that we were late and it was not so easy to take it riding my fixed gear with no brakes wearing the Qipao.

The ceremony was very nice. They are a great couple. Sarah looked beautiful in her dress and with that sexy tan from climbing in Krabi (Thailand). A brides’ best lady fainted and two of the grooms’ best men were wearing white shoes. But they all looked really cool.

The friends were a colorful bunch. After the dinner Sarah and ZY had to go from table to table and drink with all their guests. ZY looked drunk when he arrived at our table but danced like crazy during the party. More pictures are here.

Geschrieben in China, Beijing | 1 Kommentar »

3.5.2008 von Ines.

May 1st is always a public holiday in China. This year it was proposed to work on May 4th (Sunday) in order to get May 2nd (Friday) off. Most companies agreed to that suggestion. So 5 friends and me decided to go for a 3 day 2 night wild camping plus rock climbing weekend. Unfortunately I had to participate in the bicycle race in the morning of May 1st, so two of us took a long distance bus to get us out of Beijing and into the North near the new rock climbing site.

As it was the May 1st holiday also other people were traveling with buses. It was actually good that we took the bus in the afternoon as the mass of people had already arrived at their destinations and the queue to buy a bus ticket was shorter than we feared it would be.

We met the others who had set up the tents right in the small bee valley where other Beijing climbers had set up 30 new climbing routes late last year. It is beautiful rock with many more possibilities to be developed. If you have a close look at this picture you can see a tiny white dot in the middle of the cliff (slightly right of the center of this picture). That is Echo climbing one of the longest routes in this area.

The first morning the weather was okay. It was slightly overcast but very pleasant temperature. We had a big breakfast together on our private “camp ground”.

And then we went rock climbing. There were some really interesting routes. Some had overhangs - some were face - some had chimneys. It was a lot of fun. Click here to see all of the pictures of this trip.

We were looking forward to the next climbing day. That morning we had nice breakfast when suddenly very strong wind started. We just finished packing away the breakfast remainders when it started to rain. We waited and read books in our tents hoping the rain would stop soon. After a while we decided to wait for the rain to get less and then pack our things and head back to Beijing. Echo and her friend decided to wait in her car. When we had a look their tent had already flown away… So we packed up despite the rain and drove back. Friends who stayed in Beijing that day said that it was a big storm with hail.

Geschrieben in China, Climbing | 1 Kommentar »

1.5.2008 von Ines.

On the topic of the GREEN event organized by Beijing Radio: I did not know what the next step after the Games would be. But already on Tuesday April 29th late afternoon I was informed that I have to come to some kind of bike race on May 1st. That was almost 2 days in advance. And it was not so easy to find out what kind of race it would be or how many races or what we would be doing starting at 7:30am. I was told to meet at the Velodrome stadium so I asked if we were going to cycle in the Velodrome on the track and the answer was yes. As I was not really convinced that the answer was correct I sent an email to an English speaking person got some answers to my questions:

Can you please send me a schedule of what is planned on May 1st?
A:just like physical ability test,rides the line in the specialized cycle track.There should be have mountain road and ordinary racecourse.The test from exactly 7:30am in the morning and until around 11am.
How many competitions will there be?
only one.:)
How long will the race that you mentioned be? How many meters/kilometers?
How is it determined who wins this competition?
These two questions I can answer together.we have specialized trainer to make decision. may be he/she think your power and skill enough to join trip he/she will stop the competition.
What will we do at 7:30 am?
Starting competition.Observes the time arrangement also is to decision that you win or not.
What time will the whole event be finished?
28 of May

The race turned out to be on a street with a minor and a major uphill section, 5km each lap and we had to race 6 laps. So a 30km street race. I had asked them to give me a bike (as I was not clear what kind of race it would be and I only brought my commuter track bike as a backup). They gave me and about 8 others heavy mountain bikes. I was happy to find some road race bicyclists that I could pursue and that could help me fight against the slight wind on the long straights. It was exhausting but fun - here are some pictures. I came in as one of the first (maybe third) but that was not the goal. The goal was to be selected to ride from one of the Olympic cities to Beijing. And I was selected.

Actually I had already planned to go camping and climbing with friends over this May 1st public holiday. So I had to change that and arrange that we join the others later today.

Geschrieben in China, Beijing | Keine Kommentare »