Almost Home

Originally, I had planned to ride a shorter distance today, but it seemed to make more sense to go straight to Luoyang. That way, we could meet friends in the evening, and according to the forecast, it also wouldn't be unbearably hot today, so everything should work out well. (My luck with the weather continues to amaze me. Just a few days before I arrived in Xi'an, the temperature had reached 41°C. By the time I got there, it was a much more manageable 36°C.)

We set off from the hotel shortly before 6:30 a.m. Just a few meters later, we made our first stop of the day—for breakfast.

In pleasantly cool temperatures, we rode out of the city, with the road climbing gently right from the start. One road was closed despite what Amap had indicated, but fortunately the detour wasn't very long. My legs already felt somewhat tired from the beginning, so I naturally stayed in a very low heart-rate zone. But how am I supposed to ride about 130 kilometers like this? I wondered. Meanwhile, Wenxin told me that his legs actually felt much better today than they had yesterday. I had been surprised by how strong he had looked yesterday, considering that he had ridden more than 180 kilometers the day before.

The answer to my earlier question was simple: focus on my breathing, relax, and don't overthink it. Before long, the air became very hazy, almost like riding through light fog, making it feel pleasantly cool. Although we were facing a headwind, we patiently kept pedaling eastward. The route constantly rolled up and down, so we ended up accumulating quite a bit more elevation gain than I had expected.

In a small town, the two of us devoured an entire watermelon. It wasn't particularly large, but it was wonderfully sweet, and the extra fluids were exactly what we needed. By then, the sun had come out, and my clothes were completely soaked with sweat.

I was also feeling rather tired. It really wasn't my best day on the bike. But after a lunch break at a restaurant and a large bowl of noodles, I felt a bit better again.

By then, the headwind had mostly disappeared. Instead, I received news from Luoyang that a very heavy thunderstorm was pouring down there. About 30 kilometers before reaching our destination, we also felt a few raindrops. After checking the rain radar, however, we decided to simply keep riding—we were almost there anyway. And indeed, those few drops were all we got.

When we arrived in Luoyang, the streets still bore the marks of the storm, and the temperature felt pleasantly comfortable—officially 32°C. We reached our hotel shortly after 4 p.m. under sunny skies. Barely had we checked in when it started raining again outside. That's what it's like when good weather seems to follow you everywhere—so thanks to whoever is in charge of the weather.

After that, I finally had some time to rest, and I even fell into a deep sleep for a while. Shortly after 7 p.m., we met Laojun—one of Jiabin's closest friends—and her husband. We had dinner together, and I thoroughly enjoyed the warm, family-like atmosphere, as well as the delicious food. Afterwards, we strolled past several of Luoyang's sights on our way back toward the hotel when we were suddenly caught in a torrential downpour. For the remainder of the journey, we took a small vehicle similar to a tuk-tuk and managed to reach the hotel reasonably dry. Laojun and her husband, however, were not nearly as lucky—they still had to ride four kilometers home on their electric scooter through the pouring rain.

It feels absolutely wonderful to have reached Luoyang—I'm almost home! From here, it's only a little more than 30 kilometers to Jiabin's parents' house. At times, the whole thing still feels rather surreal. Did I really cycle all this way? Yes, I did! In a way, it already feels as though I've reached my destination, and everything from here to Shanghai is a bonus—a chance to truly enjoy and savor this achievement. We'll see whether it actually feels that way over the coming days.