China, in my sights…

It hit 109 degrees out here in my neck of the woods in So Cal today.   It’s too hot to ride, so I’m bunkered down sipping a cold one with the AC running flat out.  I’ve spent the last hour or so painstakingly translating the itinerary our Zongshen friends sent to us for our upcoming China adventure (with the capable assistance of the Google Translate page), and here’s what this epic adventure looks like….

Wow.  I’ve been to China perhaps a dozen times, but this journey is going to be the definitive Chinese adventure ride.   The things on that schedule above are going to be epic.

You’ll notice Day 18 casually mentions “terracotta.”   Folks, that’s the Chinese Terra Cotta soldiers, which I first encountered approximately 25 years ago.  That site (located in Xi’an) has been named the Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World, and I have to tell you it is unquestionably the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen.  I’ll be telling you more about Xi’an roughly 3 1/2 weeks from today after (and I love saying this) I’ve ridden my motorcycle there.

And Day 18 is only one day.   One day out of the 37 days I’ll be putting around China.  “Epic” is perhaps the best word I have to describe this upcoming RX3 extravaganza, but it somehow just doesn’t seem strong enough.

Over the next few days, I’ll be researching each of the destinations in the above table…I want to know more about each place before we get there so I will be able to more fully appreciate what we are about to experience.   One of my Cal Poly Chinese students gave me a detailed map of China, and I’ll be studying it before we leave (and carrying it with me on the journey).

Oh, this is going to be a grand one!