Jeremiah Watt Cycling around God's Creation

By Jeremiah Watt-saddlemaker on May 31, 2014

This will be the first blog from mainland China. Have to be honest this clumsy single finger keyboard pecking on the tablet is enough to make my Pastor swear. So,if you see spelling mistakes, accidental gramerical errors,or ,generally a few cuss words slip thru. Count yourself lucky because the really bad ones lay here on the editing room floor. As I attempted to state in the beginning, this is a journey of two men, not a simple trip. My darling wife, my compass when all seems lost, the mast of our family ship, she gave me a talking too about 2 nites ago,when I was ready to quit the whole affair.

The street were Pine and I found some great noodles.
There are 4 very seriuos trip ending problems going on at the moment.

Chicken grissle and peppers is how the menu should have read…….all goood.

Lady wore out 3 rocks trying to polish this old spatula while we waited for the train…..percy veerance.

A few bugs to eat before we get down to seriousfood.

Wash down the dried salted bugs with a little Dragon Fruit

Number 1, I just aint as young as I used to be, I can feel those 8 years since my Across America trip, even though I do ride virtually everyday.

Number 2, the total bike weight, we are half loaded right now and each bike is about 175lbs. When we hit Mongolia, withthe added water and 12 days worth of food, we will quickly top 200lbs.Number 3, China is in a current heat wave. We had 116 on the rode for 2 days in a row. Each day, we consumed over 8 litres of water, and peed enough to fill a dixie cup at the end of the day.

Our first night camp, in among the 3 bajillion trees that Chinahas planted.
Only a handfull of roadside truck stops carry anything refridgerated. Onetime we stopped in particular because Pine called out FREEEZER CHEST. We rode eagerly over to find nothing but the frozen front legs of a goat. Our tongues were glued to the back of our throats, so speach was slurred at best. But I am sure I heard Pine say “Goat-sicle”. We really thought of buying it just so we could lick it. So staying hydrated and even a little refreshed has been a chore.Number 4,  And finally maybe the biggest concern, a brutish wind. We had winds of 10mph as a minimum, 2 days of continuous winds clocking 35 miles per hour. The locals tell us that the bad days will hit as high as 70 or 80mph.

Vegiie and fruit vendor heads to work
These are some fierce winds that blow down out of Mongolia towards Beijing all summer long, there is a name for them but at the moment, I am forgetting what it is. These winds are a head wind for us everyday.These same winds are killing me, along with bike weight and heat……..heck, I would sooner behung twice with rotten rope.Let me just intervene here for you folks who find God a hard thing to grasp. First let me say get over it, its real. Second, Hell is full of small, hot,dark rooms…….and you spend all dang day (cleaned up for my Pastor) there typing on tablets 2. My dear God, but this is aggravatingMy left knee and hip started to become a problem on day 3, and have only gotten worse as we go.

A fairly clear day awaits us.
Hence, the claim of this being a Journey with my son whom I have always loved of course, but as of today I have a different sense of respect for the man he has turned into. I still don’t like his hairdo. We have arrived in Beijing, and will take a slow train to Ulanbaataar. It allows my knee a few days to rest, gets us out of some heat.So food did I hear someone say………….for instance I never knew an earthworm had 2 anusses and no eyes. But they do, I know because I snuck right up on one with my chopsticks……….he didn’t even see me coming………and that is how he tasted too. We have had some strands of mystery vegetable soaked in salt and served with hot flat bread then dipped in cold chicken broth????? Nummer dude.

A bowl of Tofu Soup, eaten down at the street level with a fried onion bun makes for a great start to thedays pedalling.

Tonight we had stir fry veggies, with strangled beef and peppers, and some sort of dumplings we dipped in red hot chili paste……….as I type this I’am sitting on a popsicle……..not sure what flavor, it doesn’t really matter.So tomorrow, we figure out how to get 2 bikes and us to Mongolia by way of a Russian train. Yes, I am betting it will be fun.

Waiting in the train station……….eating noodles.
So long for now good night, and may God continue to bless us, and we ask those same blessings for all of you.