At some point today, probably near to the Zhejiang-Jiangsu border, I passed the halfway point of my journey. Halfway is the most difficult place to be. The excitement of the beginning is behind you, the end still seems a bit far away. I’m just pumping away at the pedals, wind hitting my face, slowing me down, feeling lonesome, wondering what possessed me to do this. It didn’t help that the road lost the lake just after Changxing. Then it’s just another road.

I can say now with some expertise that the south bowl of the lake is genuinely great riding. There’s about 100 kilometers of good tarmac that hugs the lake with low traffic and little development (Taihu Paradise being an exception). The photo below is a nice symbol of that part of the lake. “Sit awhile and enjoy” is the message. I raced the white cranes. I stared off into the distance straining to see the other side. Nothing. Just lake. Here is where it finally feels like an ocean.

This is it right here. A random bench in like 50 km of nothing. Need much more of this.

Jiangsu is a different story. There’s no leisure here, just industry. Ceramics factories. Stonecutting yards. Big orchards. But what really changed was the smell of the air–in Jiangsu it is tainted with the sharp tang of fossil fuel combustion. Big trucks rattled past me constantly and I wasn’t even on the interstate.

Huge stonecutting yard just off the highway

Today was the first time I saw mountains, okay hills. Xiangshan-sized, smaller than Moganshan. At the province border they come right down the lake. Here in Yixing they provide a quiet backdrop.

My destination was actually something on the map called the Taihu Wetland Botanical Gardens. Let me tell you, there is no Taihu Wetland Botanical Gardens. After figuring that out, I detoured off to Yixing. Never been here, I only know it’s famous for teapots. It’s undergoing one of those building booms. Outside of the city proper is a ring of empty buildings including one incredible already-completed 50-story tower that has only a dirt road running to it. The tang of exhaust and easy credit.

Like Wangjing 10 years ago

This is not Taihu, but it is emblematic of Jiangsu for me

Today I wondered: if I pedaled like this for a year, how far would I get?

What I learned today:

1. The south bowl of Taihu is great riding (see above)

2. Jiangsu is blah

3. Don’t go to Yixing

4. The most important thing is: keep pedaling.

Tomorrow I have the last tough day, a 70km kick to Wuxi. After that it’s pretty much a Sunday afternoon cycle in the park.

Another vision of the future of Taihu–this courtesy of Changxing, Zhejiang

Taihu, south bowl

Me at the border, halfway