(Big Chris, Little Chris)
It was an amazing experience, and I was very well taken care of by Todd McKean and his crew with Trek China. It was basically a two part adventure...
The trip started the day after the Sea Otter. Since I hadn?t been planning on winning the Sea Otter, my legs were in reasonably good shape when I boarded the plane following the nearly three-hour long XC race. My traveling partner was Jason Berry of Gripped Films (the director of "Off Road to Athens"). Jason was accompanying me on the trip to begin accumulating background footage for their next movie, which will focus on this year?s 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo World Championship. (Check out www.24-solo.com for details on the movie project, as well as a great 5 minute mini-movie of the race in China.)
(Opening Cermonies)
When we arrived in China, we first we went down to Huangshan, about 200 miles south of Shanghai, for the mountain bike race. I think the highlight of the race was the opening ceremony. It was very much in the style of the Olympics with flag parades, cannons firing confetti, speeches from dignitaries, and singing performances by huge groups of children. The crowds were big and very enthusiastic.
(The Mayor Speaks)
The race itself was supposed to be a marathon, but it was cut down to 50k (regular XC length) since the organizers were concerned about a marathon being "too hard". Nice of them to be so concerned, but I think we would have been fine either way. The venue was spectacular with beautiful mountains, lakes, and tiny villages that have been preserved as historic sites for hundreds of years, but still have people living in them. The course weaved it's way between these villages on farming paths through rice fields, then headed up a long road climb along a ridge with 360 degree vistas, and back downhill on sweeping singletrack through the bamboo forest and tea fields. One part of the course actually wound through the bamboo forest that was used for the famous fight scene in the movie ?Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?.
(Emerald Pond)
My race was smooth, and I led from start to finish, cheered on by the locals yelling, "Cha-Jo", which I later learned means, "give it more gas!" I think there are some promising athletes
mountain biking in China, they just need a bit more experience, especially on technical terrain and in the muddy sections. The competitors were mostly Chinese, but there were also quite a few Aussie, American, and European "x-pats" racing too. After the race, I did four separate TV interviews for different stations, but all with the same interviewer, since he was the only one that spoke English!
(On The Course)
We had a few more days in Huangshan to enjoy the countryside and the trails, and then we packed up and flew back up to the city for the Shanghai bike show. Trek had a major presence there, with great product displays, big screen TVs showing Lance at the Tour and Jason's mini-movie from the Huangshan race. The bike show was huge and I saw some neat technology, but I think the coolest thing was the huge 30 foot billboard poster of me out front racing a Trek Elite 9.9 at Mammoth last year. It was interesting to see the urban side of China, and to witness the incredible growth of cities like Shanghai. Their economy is taking off, but there are still more bikes on the streets than cars. I witnessed some great bike handling, like a woman carrying 2 mattresses on her back and a sack of rice on the top tube while riding a $20 rusted out basket bike and dodging pedestrians, mopeds, and cars on pot holed city streets. It definitely looked more challenging than riding a Norba course, but it was just an everyday task in Shanghai! Air quality in the city was very bad though, so I opted to ride the trainer and swim in the hotel pool for my workouts.
(Riding Through A Village)
The journey home was the longest of my life ? nineteen hours total in the air with a five hour layover in San Francisco. A total of 24 hours to get home ? what a coincidence. Well, here?s hoping that it will be just another part of preparation as I continue training for my seventh consecutive 24 hour solo world title this October!
|