It was even hotter than yesterday

Yesterday evening, I went to bed as early as 8:30 p.m. This morning, I didn't wake up until shortly after 6:30 because neither of us had set an alarm. The long sleep did me a world of good. Unlike yesterday, we had breakfast at the hotel, yet we still didn't set off until 8:09 a.m. By then, it was already 32°C.

On the way out of the city, the roads were packed with electric scooters, presumably with people commuting to work. After about half an hour, I bought myself something to drink because I had forgotten to do so in the morning, and I had already finished the half liter of water I had with me when we started.

For a long stretch, we cycled alongside a river. Today, too, the scenery was once again dominated by water. We also spotted another water-spraying machine, although it wasn't operating this time. Later, we saw another type of water-spray cooling system installed along a wall for several hundred meters. Before that, however, we took our first cooling break. I had promised myself to take more breaks than yesterday. We asked a real estate agent whether we could sit in the air-conditioned office for a while, and the 24°C inside—exactly what the air conditioner was set to—felt almost like stepping into a walk-in refrigerator. The contrast to the heat outside was enormous.

After just under 60 kilometers, we stopped for lunch. It was a little early, but Wenxin had noticed that there wouldn't be another opportunity for quite a while afterward. And she was absolutely right. After about 85 kilometers, I told Wenxin that we'd better find another place to cool down soon. It was now 38°C, and according to my phone it felt like 44°C—actually even hotter than yesterday. But there wasn't a gas station, a shop, or any other place to cool off until we had covered a little over 100 kilometers.

Fortunately, there were quite a lot of trees along the way, and from time to time a few clouds drifted in front of the sun, making the ride much more pleasant. Thankfully, I had slept a lot and recovered well, so despite the higher temperatures, I actually felt much better today. After just over 100 kilometers, we reached a kind of rest area with an air-conditioned room. Unfortunately, there was neither food nor drinks for sale there. On the other hand, hot water was available free of charge—typically China. I was getting a bit hungry, and fortunately Wenxin still had some sweet-and-salty pastries. Normally they wouldn't really be my thing, but after sweating so much, the salt was exactly what I needed.

We now had just under 23 kilometers left to the hotel. That part went quite well, but when we arrived at the hotel at 4:15 p.m., I realized that I had probably eaten too little. Wenxin's pastry hadn't been enough. I started to feel a little dizzy, so I immediately went to the nearest small shop to buy some snacks and sugary drinks. After eating and drinking them, I felt much better again.

After yesterday's stage, I had been a little worried about whether today would really go well. But it did, and I felt greatly relieved. Today I drank even more than yesterday—about one liter of fluid per hour—and yet I never had to use the toilet. Apparently, I still needed a bit of overthinking and unnecessary mental drama. My focus, however, was once again on riding as relaxed as possible, probably the only sensible approach in this weather. Now there are only about 60 kilometers left until the skyline of Shanghai—my declared goal. Several times during today's ride, I found myself smiling when I thought about how close I now am to the finish. And I'm really looking forward to meeting Jiabin there. She's currently on the plane and will arrive in Shanghai at 6:40 tomorrow morning.