Home at Last – Together with Laojun!!!

After sleeping in this morning, we rode the little over four kilometers from our hotel to Laojun's home shortly before 11:30 a.m., because we had arranged to cycle together to Jiabin's parents' house. Laojun and Zhen only started cycling not long ago, and Laojun told me that she had been inspired by me and my journey. That naturally made me very happy and gave us even more reason to celebrate with a ride together—a wheely good time indeed. Since the total distance there and back was a bit much, her husband Zhen came along on an electric scooter so that they could switch vehicles if necessary.

On the way to Laojun's house, there was a light drizzle that felt more like a slightly overenthusiastic humidifier than real rain. The temperature was pleasantly cool, almost at the lower limit of what still felt comfortable. Before setting off, however, we had lunch together—noodles, as is customary in Henan.

Then we finally set off, and I was genuinely excited, as happy as a child. By then, the rain had stopped, while the temperature remained wonderfully pleasant. Instead of taking the shortest route, we rode along a very quiet road with hardly any traffic. Laojun and Zhen ride this route regularly, and I could immediately understand why. Apart from the first few minutes leaving the city, there were hardly any cars on our side of the road.

Shortly before crossing a bridge over the Luo River, we stopped for a photo break. After that, we continued on a fairly direct route toward Xiaocun.

Before long, the roads and houses began to look familiar. I even spotted a small shop where I had bought something on a previous visit. In Daikou, the nearest somewhat larger village to Xiaocun, we met Jiabin's parents. Even then, it still felt a little surreal that I had actually cycled all this way to arrive at such a familiar place.

When we arrived home, the temperature was a pleasant 27°C, nothing like the almost 40°C of the previous days, making the afternoon ride very comfortable. Once again, everything had worked out perfectly. We were then treated to a wonderful meal prepared by my mother-in-law. In fact, two or three days earlier she had already sent me photos of the dishes she was preparing. And there truly was an incredible amount of food—over the next few hours, we ended up eating what felt like four separate meals.

In the evening, one of Jiabin's cousins also came by. I hadn't seen her for a very long time. We spent some time together playing the Chinese card game Dou Dizhu. It was wonderful to arrive here and be surrounded by so many people I care about.

By the way, Laojun ended up cycling back herself that afternoon after all, setting a new personal record of more than 80 kilometers ridden in a single day. That's a very impressive distance—congratulations!