Day 1: From Beijing to Langfang

Distance: 59,3 km Cycling time: 03:12 hours

This is the first day of our cycling trip in China, from Beijing Fengtai to the center of Langfang, it is nearly 60 kilometers. We converted our old mountain bikes into road bikes and shipped them from Germany to China. The modified mountain bikes have their advantages and disadvantages. (But the shock absorption should still be retained)

The route had wide bike lanes, much better than we expected (we were worried about the traffic and narrow roads before we set out). We rode along the Liangshui River for a while, and the metropolis of Beijing finally fell behind us, and gradually entered the countryside. The temperature rose to 35 degrees in the afternoon, and the birds and cicadas chirped loudly in the trees and bushes. It was so relaxing to ride on the country roads. I was always worried about encountering wild dogs, and my aunt was right, there are wild dogs everywhere in China. We arrived in Langfang sweating, but everything went smoothly.

Our hotel is located on the 9th floor of Wanda Shopping Center - who could have known in advance that the hotel would be in a shopping center? (It took 30 minutes to find the hotel) Wanda Plaza is blocked by a half-meter high fence, and no vehicles are allowed to enter. The two of us lifted the bicycles over the fence, and then we entered the shopping center and squeezed into a narrow elevator (there are 5, but they are all very narrow). Arrived on the 9th floor, found the hotel, and was told that they do not accept foreign guests. Because they do not have a foreign guest registration system.

Lesson learned: Before booking a hotel, always check whether foreigners can check in! Thanks to Trip.com we booked another hotel, we walked down the narrow elevator, lifted our bikes over the barricade, rode to the street, and checked in at another hotel only 50 meters away.

Note: During the bike check-in, although protected by a special bike bag, unfortunately, Sascha's hydraulic hose on the seat post broke. Therefore, the seat could not be raised and lowered automatically. The search for a bike shop that happened to have the right spare part was unsuccessful. Sascha had to manually raise the seat to the highest position, but the seat position was still a little low. Hey, sometimes you just have bad luck... The day before departure, we went shopping and Sascha locked the bike outside the supermarket. He actually lost the key. This has never happened to him in the past 50 years. How to open the anti-theft lock? We lifted the bike to the nearest bike shop, where a friendly salesman handed us a pair of pliers. The result is predictable. The salesman gave us a great idea, which was to use the vise from the community housing management office. He arranged a small truck for us, helped to lift the bike into the truck, and we returned to my aunt's residence in Beijing. Once there, I found the housing management office and I cut through the anti-theft lock like butter.