Who’s Jay Leno?

No photos today, folks. Not a one.

Today was one of the most intense riding days I’ve ever experienced. We left Lanzhou in a downpour, and I put both of my cameras in the truck. It was raining so hard I didn’t want to take a chance on the cameras getting soaked.

The day started with our standard breakfast…fried bread, baozt (little buns with meat inside, and I know I’m probably spelling it wrong), and a hardboiled egg.  Then it was the mad dash through Lanzhou’s Monday morning rush hour traffic. Then two hours on China’s mighty G30 freeway in a torrential downpour.  I had on rain gear; I could have used a SCUBA outfit.

Then the sun broke through, but we didn’t see much of it. We must have bored our way through at least 40 tunnels today, and folks, let me tell you, nobody does tunnels like China.  I’m talking tunnels that are 3 to 5 miles long, with curves, going through China’s extreme mountain ranges. Green mountains with granite cliffs punctured with endless tunnels, with bridges connecting the tunnels over the deep valleys in between, with muddy rushing water below. Nobody does massive road projects the way China does, and the construction is ongoing. They have to have the most advanced tunnel and bridge network on the planet.

In one of the tunnels (I would guess it was one that was about 4 miles long) traffic stopped.   The tunnels are only two lanes wide, and there isn’t much room on either side.  I thought we might be stuck in there for the duration, but Sergeant Zuo was amazing. He bobbed and weaved between the trucks and buses and the tunnel walls. I wouldn’t have believed the RX3s would fit where he took us, but they did. If he went, I followed. There I was, with the tunnel wall on one side and a massive flatbed 22-wheeler on the other, with my mirrors dragging on both. Then Zuo would make a hard turn between the front of the 22-wheeler and the rear of a bus, and we’d split lanes between vehicles.  And on and on it went. The tunnels were so long that in some cases it was raining when we entered, and the sun was shining when we emerged. One of the guys told me China has a tunnel that is 32 kilometers long. We’ve gone through some that were nearly 8 miles long. Amazing stuff.

Then we left the tunnels and the superslab and took a two-lane road through the Chinese countryside. It was raining, but it was stunning scenery. I didn’t have my camera, but it didn’t bother me. Some things are better left unphotographed. They are better as a memory.  The sun set and visibility became a challenge. I rode with my visor up because I couldn’t see anything with it down because of the water droplets.   The rain stung my face like a thousand little needles, and then a truck going the other way hit a puddle and I got a mouthful of mud.  This was a ride I’ll remember the rest of my life.

Just when I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into, we pulled into the town square to applause that drowned out the rain.  Wow, was I surprised!  A large crowd was expecting us, standing in the rain awaiting our arrival. It was the Arjiu and Dajiu show all over again. A beautiful young lady handed me a bouquet flowers. More applause. More photos. There we were, Dajiu and Arjiu, standing in the rain beneath Chairman Mao’s outstretched arm under the incandescent street lamps. The crowd of Baoji Zongshen owners continued to applaud. Then they wanted more photos. A minute before I had been full of doubts about what I was doing riding in the freezing rain at night in the middle of China, and then I was on top of the world, being treated like a conquering emperor.  Our awaiting admirers fired up their Zongs and led us in a parade to our hotel, in a downpour, under the bright Baoji city lights.

Zongshen must have publicized the hell out of this adventure. We stopped for a break at a freeway rest area this afternoon, and two buses full of Chinese tourists followed us in. The Chinese passengers emerged and mobbed Gresh and me, all wanting photos. Selfies, iPads, iPhones, and more poses. It was amazing. It was like being Jay Leno at the Rock Store on a Sunday morning. Several folks showed us photos they had taken of us on the freeway. Arjiu! Dajiu! Folks, we are celebrities over here. I can’t make this stuff up.

So, like I said, no photos today.  I’ll try to grab some tomorrow.  We’re going to Xi’an (look it up; Xi’an holds the recently-discovered 8th Wonder of the Ancient World).   We’re riding to Xi’an.  In China.  As heroes.  On our Zongshen motorcycles.   Oh, life is good, folks!