Our team got the wonderful opportunity to race in the Tour of the South China Sea this year. The connection comes through Champion System, our clothing manufacturer, which is based in Hong Kong.

In years past, Dave Sommerville had organized teams to race around the world, and I wanted in on that action. So when I asked about joining up with whatever team was racing there, our entire team was invited instead. This was a seriously lucky break. The race will be 8 days, from Dec.23 to 30, and will be in Hong Kong, Macau, and in mainland China. The team we have is me, Pollo, Amaurys, Alberto, Wilson, and Hong-Kong rider Simon, with Katie Lambden and Gus Carrillo as our staff.

We arrived late Wednesday night after a long, long flight, and were taken to our lodging at a summer camp (dorm-style rooms). Immediately we assembled our bikes, and dropped into bed. But after a couple of hours in bed, I couldn’t sleep any more. So I decided to go out for a ride– it was 3:30AM and dark. I rode into a nearby park that had some crazy hills in it– some of the roads were lit, others weren’t. But it was a beautiful way to ride. There was an eerily calm feeling of quietly climbing a lonely mountain road in the dark with a light drizzle coming down– the road ahead, and the surrounding environment, completely unfamiliar and mostly shrouded in darkness. The sounds, the scents: all being experienced for the first time in semi-blind vacuum. And then on a stretch of partially-lit road, I saw an animal that I would never have expected to see: a wild boar. I had heard that these guys are known to charge, and they may have small tusks, so I approached cautiously. When I got close, he grunted and ran of into the woods. Death by boar averted. I decided to leave the park and ride into the nearby town. As soon as I crossed through the park exit, the ground was dry. It had only rained in the park behind me.

When I got back from my ride, the other guys were up too and they went for a ride later in the morning, On their ride, they got the benefit of the daylight views, and they also saw some wildlife– a large baboon-type primate. (If I had known those things were in the woods, I may not have gone out the way I did.) Katie took some pictures of their first morning out.

One of our sponsors, Louis, told us about a group ride in the evening. There were some kids who regularly attend, and Louis wanted us to do it. The ride was on a road that was closed to traffic, so it was like a race. These guys were hammering! There was occasionally some friendly yelling going on near the front. A guy next to me explained that it was important not to go slowly, so someone always had to be drilling it at the front. It was great fun. Afterwards, another of our sponsors (Mr. Tang) took us out to dinner with a few of the other riders. It was a nice dinner. A couple of our guys are uncomfortable without their usual food choices, but I’ll eat almost anything. When ordering (the menus had no English translation), I asked the guy next to me to order for me, and his selection was delicious.

At this moment, it’s about 4:30AM Friday morning, and I can’t sleep again. I’m not sure how long it’ll take adjust to the time difference, but I hope it happens soon. I didn’t want to wake anyone, so I dropped the power and internet cables out of the window, and I’m tap-tap-tapping outside. It’s a calm, quiet night.

It’ll be 3 more days before we race, so I’ll probably write in again before then. Katie is also simultaneously blogging our trip, so check it out.

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