CSC Blog

Cats and dogs…that’s how our new Chinese friends described how hard it’s raining in Chongqing today.   We saw a bit of flooding, but it doesn’t matter:  We’re starting the ride tomorrow morning after a departure ceremony at the Zongshen plant. It’s supposed to clear up before we get to tomorrow’s destination (Chengdu, a city about 390 kilometers to the west).   Whatever.  We’re up for rain, or no rain, or heat, or cold.   Joe and I, and our five Chinese riding partners, are ready for the road.

Our good buddy Tracy took Joe and me to get a Chinese cell phone today, and while all of that was occurring, I grabbed a few photos of Chinese riders in the rain.

I’m digging those moto-umbrellas.  I’ll have to talk to Steve about them when I return.   Perhaps we can add them to our RX3 accessories catalog!

Enjoy, folks…this may be the last blog entry for a bit, depending on what time we get in tomorrow night and if I can get connectivity.

We’ve got a storm coming in, which may delay the start of our cross-China ride by another day or two.   Evidently, storms in Chongqing are enough to get everybody’s attention.   Chongqing had a significant storm just prior to our arrival (Fan showed us photos he took on his iPhone of the flooding in Chongqing).  Joe and I are hanging out in the hotel until we know.  We may visit a Harley and Ducati dealer here in Chongqing today.

All of this is okay by me.  I could spend a few weeks just in Chongqing…the photo ops, the food, and the people are that great.

Joe and Joe, reflected in a mirrored glass window…

Everything but the kitchen sink….

A Chinese bus rider…

Dong, one of our fellow riders on this adventure, at the rider briefing yesterday…

Yesterday’s lunch…that’s Ma and Sean in the background.

A scene from our hot pot dinner buffet last night. This is real Indiana Jones stuff, boys and girls…

Joe Gresh with Shiyar at a Chongqing motorcycle tea house last night…an amazing evening!

Furem, another one of our fellow riders…

I’ve got another hour and a half before the guys from Zongshen pick us up.  It’s back to writing Riding China for me.   We haven’t even left Chongqing yet, and I’ve got a ton of stories to tell you about this trip.   Grand fun, grand times, and the adventure of a lifetime.   Gresh is loving it, too.   Later, folks!

Just a quick blog early in the Chinese a.m. folks…these are scenes from in and around Chongqing and the Zongshen plant.

First, a quick hello to my good buddy Art, direct to you from in front of Zongshen’s world headquarters…

I am getting good with chopsticks (hey, I’m not going to starve over here!), and we are trying some interesting restaurants.  Here’s Sean and Joe Gresh.   This was the tastiest Chinese food I’ve ever experienced.

The bank where we changed US currency to Chinese RMB…

A few street scenes…

This was definitely cool…that’s our interpreter, Tracy, with Joe in front of the entrance to Zongshen’s headquarters.   Check out the photos on the bottom of the poster at the very entrance to Zong Central…they are all from our Western America Adventure Ride!

Here are a few photos from inside the plant.   One of the things I saw yesterday that was very cool was a fire-engine-red RX3 configured as, well, a fire engine!

The new RZ3, the naked version of an RX3/RC3…

This young Chinese fellow was in the plant on his RX3…

Here’s an RX3 that’s part of a shipment bound for Panama.   Check out the decals on it.   Now, you just have to know that one of these bikes is ultimately going to a Senor Gonzalez…

Another cool thing…check out this bike…

I think the bike you see above uses the same drive train as our new TT250.   That would greatly ease the CARB and EPA approval process.   Hmmmm….

And finally, a photo of Isabella, who was part of the media team that interviewed Joe Gresh yesterday…

Folks, it’s time for breakfast, so I’m headed downstairs to the buffet line.

We’re going to be in Chongqing for another day or two, and I most definitely will keep you posted.   Ride safe and stay tuned!

Chongqing:  The city from which our ride will begin.  Wow.   We’re here!

Check out this evening view of Chongqing’s central business district…

You’re seeing Chongqing’s hub at the point where the Yangtze and the Jia Ling rivers converge, and the water you see in the foreground is the Yangtze River.  That’s the river our CSC bikes sail on their way to Shanghai, and then from there on to the US across the Pacific.

It was noticeably cooler in Chongqing at a brisk 71 degrees F, but when Bella, Tracy, and Mr. Ma met us in the airport they assured us this was a temporary condition due to recent rainfalls and flooding in the city.    They said Chongqing would jump back up to Guangzhou’s sweltering heat and humidity in the next day or so, which is how I remembered it from my last visit.

Today is going to be busy.  The Zongshen folks have a media interview set up for me and the rest of the riders will be filtering into the city on this fine foggy and humid Chongqing day.  It looks like there will be seven of us on our cross-China ride, and we’ll all be riding the new Zongshen RX1 and the RX3.   The RX1 is Zongshen’s 200cc, air-cooled, fuel-injected model.   I’ll let you know more about that bike as I learn it.   I’m glad I’ll be on the RX3, too.   I love my RX3 and the bike is proven long-distance mile muncher.

That’s it for now folks.

That’s what they told us we would be in China, and that’s what we learned we are.

The Guangdong RX3 owners group rode to our hotel yesterday, and basically, it was a day long party, complete with tea sampling, checking out the guys’ fully-farkled RX3s, swimming, enjoying ice-cold watermelon, ending the day with an incredible dinner, and lots (and lots) of toasts.   Hey, I could go on with the descriptions, but I don’t want to convince you don’t need to buy Riding China.   Here’s a sample of just a bit of what you’ll see in the book about this, our first full day in the PRC.

You may remember Mr. Tso, one of the guys who rode with us on the 5000-mile Western America Adventure Ride.  Tso is naturally photogenic, and this shot I took of him in Zion National Park is my hands-down favorite of the thousands I shot on that great adventure…

Like I said, Tso is a naturally photogenic guy, so much so that he appeared in the photo gracing the cover of 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM…that’s Tso on the left when we were in Joshua Tree National Park.

Tso owns a motorcycle clothing manufacturing company here in China, and he bought gifts for Joe Gresh and me yesterday.   Wow!

Yep, it’s Tso, Joe, and Joe.   I can’t make up stuff this good!

Another grand surprise…my good buddy Lester (who also rode with us on the Western America Adventure Ride) joined the party yesterday.   That’s Lester on the right…the good-looking tall guy who’s a dead ringer for Yul Brynner!

I mentioned the guys’ farkled RX3s up above.   Here’s just a sample of what I saw in China yesterday…you’ll get to see a lot more when you read Riding China!

One of the guys had an Anniversary Edition RX3…

At this grand gathering of the Cult of the Zong, the club had brought along a poster.  So, back to this business of Gresh and me being rock stars:  The Guangdong RX3 guys asked me to be the first to sign their poster…

I was asked to pose for more than a few photos, too.  Here’s a shot on the new RZ3, the latest incarnation of the RX3 engine (this time powering a naked bike)…

Meet Jasmine, an international trade representative who was with the group yesterday…

I know, I know…it’s tough duty.   It’s what they pay us the big bucks for, though.  Somebody’s got to do it, folks.

Zongshen reserved a party room yesterday in our hotel, and we had a great time.  The room opened up out to a pool, and it didn’t take long for us to jump in.   The heat and humidity are high out here, and the pool was a welcome relief.   After cooling off in the pool, the guys were all showing each other (and Joe G and me) their photos of past adventures.    We couldn’t speak Chinese and some of the RX3 club members didn’t speak English, but we didn’t need to…

Steve and Maureen, the guys absolutely loved their CSC T-shirts, and they all send their thanks!

The day ended with a massive Chinese feast.   The table alone was incredible…the lazy-Susan kind of deal you sometimes see in a Chinese restaurant in the US, but much, much larger.   Joe G put his video on the rotating table top and it captured stunning video of all the guests as the table completed a 360.   Cool stuff.  There were lots of toasts (and I mean lots and lots of toasts), so much so that I worried about the guys riding home on their bikes.  These fellows were way ahead of me, though…they were all spending the night here in the hotel.

You know, we’re having a grand adventure over here, and the riding hasn’t even started yet.  It will soon, my friends.   In a couple of hours we’re headed to the airport to catch a 600-mile flight to Chongqing, the Zongshen Holy Land, and then we are in the wind.   I can’t wait.

You have to know that I can only put so much into the blog.   There’s going to be much, much more in Riding China.   Don’t forget about Steve’s preorder “Don’t Miss The Book” special for all three books (5000 Miles At 8000 RPM, Moto Colombia!, and Riding China) for only $39.95.

As they say, operators are standing by to take your order (it’s 909 445 0900)!

Until tomorrow, my friends…Bye-bye!

Joe G and I are killing time until our meetings with the Guangdong RX3 start this afternoon, so we wandered around the Green Lake hotel and its surrounding areas in Foshan.   It’s at least a 5-star hotel, and when we wondered out into the oppressive heat and humidity this morning, we saw this Bentley parked in front of the grand lobby…

Bentleys seem to be following me around.

We wandered down the road into a secluded area until Joe was chased by a goose (a real goose, not a Moto Guzzi).   We were out in the jungle, with bugs making the kind of noises and stuff you hear in movies about, well, the jungle…

Joe in China…

Joe 2 in China.   I am getting old.  I can see it in this photo….

The weather is like being in the Everglades in the summer.  It’s brutal.  But this is a cool place to be.

Here’s a shot of the very pretty young lady who helped us in the lobby this morning.  Her name is Tracy…

Here’s another beautiful young lady we had a nice conversation with down by the lake…

The Master at work…

Here’s a photo of another young lady on a scooter…

And finally, it wouldn’t be an overseas CSC moto adventure tour without my obligatory ornithological photo…

Josh, I know you’re reading this.  That rooster sends his regards to Cal.

That’s it for a brief bit, folks.  Joe and I are back in the hotel soaking up the air conditioning.

As Arnold likes to say, I’ll be back, so as I like to say, stay tuned.