Day 18. Rizhao to Lianyungang
We were constantly under the attack of loud truck horns which left us deaf long after the trucks disappeared from view.
The day started off with a fantastic ride, almost 40km under our
belt and we hardly broke a sweat. The only interruption was
Dave's second flat tire in as many days. The roads were wide,
very little traffic and far away from noisy trucks. We passed
through small fishing villages, rice fields and forests.
[Fishermen doing their business]
As we neared the half-way point we realized that what was
supposed to be a 95km day, ended up being 142km - we forgot to
count a small section in our calculations.
[Bill asking for directions - I'm sure that red sign says
Hooker]
Unfortunately for us, the second part of the day was plagued by
road construction and deviations though dusty and uneven roads
which seemed to carry more traffic than they were possibly designed
for. We were constantly under the attack of loud truck horns
which left us deaf long after the trucks disappeared from view.
[Where did the good roads go? - We are cycling on moist fabric to
keep the dust down]
As we neared Lianyungang the roads got better and traffic
steadily eased away from the slow moving bicycles and scooters.
[Yet more construction]
Finding a hotel wasn't a problem either. I was tired after
the ride and welcomed the early night. We've come to the
conclusion that we need to make up some ground since there is still
some 360km to Shanghai and only two cycling days left.
[Wish you have a plain sailing and a success in your business]
It looks like we may need to bus some of the way to
Shanghai. Depending on availability of seats, we could be
there sooner than we originally expected.