The alarm is ringing at 4.30 and around 5 with the first glimpse of light we are dragging us out of the tent. We would like to sleep a bit longer, especially since the last days have been hard and we can feel our legs. However, in order to avoid the merciless heat of the desert, the mornings are the only time of the day where physical activity is actually possible. We have breakfast, pack our stuff and before 7 o’clock we are on the road. At this time the shadows are still long and the temperature is perfect. However, I know too well that sun will soon switch on the afterburner and from 8 o’clock I am sweating. Latest around 9.30 we have to make a stop in order to get dressed with our long clothes. The sunshine is simply too aggressive and every square centimeter of skin that is not covered would hopelessly burn. Until 12 o’clock bicycling is somewhat bearable, thereafter the heat is so overwhelming that it feels as if it was a physical substance. As if the air got heavier, more dense and dough-like, every movement is tough costs quite an effort. Bridges, the only source of shade in a treeless world can be seen from kilometers away and are highly desired spots for breaks although they do not provide protection from the winds that seem to come right out of a hair dryer. But we were lucky with the wind directions and on 2 of the last days we had strong tail winds blowing us to speeds we otherwise can only dream of: 140 km in as little as 5 hours.
Lucky we were also with the splendid road conditions since currently the new freeway connecting the provinces of Qinghai and Xinjian is being built and we had an entire freeway side with fresh good rolling asphalt for us alone.
Now we have arrived in Hami aka Kumul. We are considering taking the train to Urumqi from here, I am not made for the heat.
pedalsk 