Greetings From China.

Shem

Hello there!

I suppose an introduction is needed and seeing as I didn't find an introductions thread I guess I'll write one up here.

Obviously, I like bikes.

I live and work in China, as a school teacher, which is half way around the world from my home in London. I've been here for just over 3 years and commute, much as I did in London, by bike.

It may seem like a natural thing to be a bicycle commuter in China but I seem to be the only one in this city! The problem lies in the city itself; it's built on mountains. Motorcycles are the preferred mode of transport.

I came across this site a few times in the past when friends of mine from another forum had posted links in our biking thread. It was only when I was wondering if I'm the only person who 'races' on a commute that I found the Silly Commuter Racing thing. The problem I have is that the only bikers here are old chaps out on a leisurely ride. My only competition lies with buses and scooters. (I took the test and apparently I'm a 3 on the chart for SCR)

Bikes
I owned a generic Chinese mountain bike with front suspension for a few years to get to work on but recently, after giving up drinking (ex-alcoholic) I had a few quid spare to drop on upgrades for the bike. It was already running semi-slick Maxxis tyres and some aero bars for improved speed and when I went to my local bike shop to inquire about purchasing a new crank set and rear cassette so the gearing would be equal to a road bike I realised that buying a road bike would be a better idea. So as of the beginning of this year I've been the proud owner of a Giant OCR3500 road bike.


Mine is in blue, 16 speed.


My Commute
Depending on the weather and how much time I allow myself my route changes. My basic, most direct route sees me ride 14km down the Yangtze river into city centre. It usually takes me around 30-40 minutes depending on how much I want to attack the hills, which there are 3 of, huge, step, monstrous mother.....sorry, back to the trip, it's a pleasant ride generally. Since my new bike has full slicks I haven't ridden it in full wet condition and draw the line at anything over light rain/ damp road due to the tyres having no grip in the wet.

I often make a note of the licence plate number of the bus that is at the top of my road and then set off when it does. When I arrive at my destination I wait for it while having a cigarette and see how much time I have beaten it by. I really wish there were more cycle commuters to race because keeping up with and overtaking tuk-tuks and scooters over 30+km a day is tiring work. I do sometimes take it easy but once I see a challenge I can't hold back unless I'm on a warm down ride.


My main reason for joining this forum is to find out information and chat about general commuting stuff. I've recently ordered a Specialized S-works lid that I'm hoping will turn up soon, I've never worn a helmet before but I'm guessing as soon as I'm wearing one it'll find itself needed, Sod's Law!

I've also just ordered a Zefal bar end mirror because, due to wearing a helmet, I fear my vision will be impaired, hence my reason for not wearing one before now. I do have a question: does anyone use a bar end mirror and how useful are they?

Shem (Only my wife and mother call me by my real name!)

meanredspider

Well done. Kudos to you. I lived in Guangzhou for 6 months and it certainly felt as though you'd need to be particularly brave to cycle there (I felt pretty brave taking the taxi). I don't blame you for not riding in the rain there (for pretty much the same reason). Lovely country and lovely people.

phy2sll2

Please get a helmet camera and show us some footage of your commute - would be great to see how different it looks!

EKE_38BPM

Welcome.
Your Giant OCR reminds me of my Giant OCR 2 from 10 years ago. The frame looks virtually identical.


I wonder, can you see this and if you can, is it true in your experience?

EKE_38BPM

phy2sll2 wrote:

Please get a helmet camera and show us some footage of your commute - would be great to see how different it looks!

Don't be silly. Where would a guy in China get a cheap helmet camera from?

SimonAH

Welcome! Great to hear from you and love the enthusiasm.

A helmet shouldn't affect your vision significantly or at all - but a bar end mirror (whilst not a substitue for a shoulder-check) can't hurt in the sort of mayhem that I guess you have to ride in!

Shem

Thanks for the warm welcome!

If I could get some footage (I'd need a camera first!) I'd post it here. My route is surprisingly similar to a London commute being that I live in the big city. It'd probably be more interesting if I was to film on of the longer rides out into the sticks. I'll work on it!

I'd love to show you all the hazards of the traffic here, rules of the road are non-existent
which makes for some hairy moments sometimes. The police are usually the worst culprits!

@EKE_38BPM - I can't see that I'm afraid, it's most likely blocked by the Chinese Firewall which is a nightmare! :roll:

When I'm able to borrow my wife's camera I'll try to put some pictures of my actual bike on here since the picture I put in the original post was just taken from the web. I've made a few modifications since I bought it.

phy2sll2

How many times do I have to say it? Chain on dinner plate when photographing a bike.

(I appreciate it's Giant to blame in this instance!)

cjcp

phy2sll2 wrote:

Please get a helmet camera and show us some footage of your commute - would be great to see how different it looks!

+1!

EKE_38BPM

Shem wrote:

@EKE_38BPM - I can't see that I'm afraid, it's most likely blocked by the Chinese Firewall which is a nightmare! :roll:

I guessed you wouldn't be able to see that. I choose something I thought would be likely to get blocked.
Can you see the 'Girls in...' threads over in Cakestop?...

My helmet doesn't obscure my vision at all. My rucksack is more of a problem in that respect.

PBo

Don't worry about vision - I remove the need to check behind, 'cos i wait for red lights and then go - it's weird, but all the rest of the traffic stops.....!

notsoblue

PBo wrote:

Don't worry about vision - I remove the need to check behind, 'cos i wait for red lights and then go - it's weird, but all the rest of the traffic stops.....!

Er, you don't check behind yourself before you stop for a red light? I've been almost rearended a couple times by cars before.

rick_chasey

notsoblue wrote:

PBo wrote:

Don't worry about vision - I remove the need to check behind, 'cos i wait for red lights and then go - it's weird, but all the rest of the traffic stops.....!

Er, you don't check behind yourself before you stop for a red light? I've been almost rearended a couple times by cars before.

What's to check? If you've got to stop you've got to stop right?

Shem

Can you see the 'Girls in...' threads over in Cakestop?...

That I can see.

I never find my pack to be a problem, I usually travel light and leave most of my things in the office so I only have to take the little things like keys, phone, hard drive and money.

kieranb

Shem wrote:

. Since my new bike has full slicks I haven't ridden it in full wet condition and draw the line at anything over light rain/ damp road due to the tyres having no grip in the wet.

hi slicks should not be a problem in the rain, road bike tyres are narrow enough that they don't need grooves to stop you from aqua planing, if the tyres have no grip it will be due to the type of rubber used and the pressure (reduce for wet conditions). Many slick tyres are good for wet conditions.

notsoblue

Rick Chasey wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

PBo wrote:

Don't worry about vision - I remove the need to check behind, 'cos i wait for red lights and then go - it's weird, but all the rest of the traffic stops.....!

Er, you don't check behind yourself before you stop for a red light? I've been almost rearended a couple times by cars before.

What's to check? If you've got to stop you've got to stop right?

Plenty, if you're riding in primary.

PBo

tis possible you have taken my "witty" answer a little too seriously......

kelsen

Greetings Shem, welcome to the forum.

A long, long time ago, when this place was called Cycling+, there was a chap called Keith Oates who was also based in Hong Kong/China and regularly posted on this forum. Then there was a mass exodus due to some disagreement with the moderation of this place, and he along with a load of other regulars went off to another forum. I'm not sure if Keith is still in China, or if he still cycles, or if he still posts on another forum. Anyway, my point is if you scalp a cyclist on your commute, it might be him, that's all

And +1 to seeing some video footage of your commute!

Twostage

Hi. Videos/pictures would be good. Are you a user of any tracking software like garmin or endomondo ? Then we could 'see' your route.

Zingzang

Shem wrote:

rules of the road are non-existent

There are rules there but they're very, very flexible. For example, in the UK we take it for granted that when entering a major road from a minor one the traffic on the major road has priority. This is the basic principle in China too, but it is not always applied. If you are part of even a modest swarm of cyclists moving at the obligatory six miles an hour you frequently find your swarm has the collective muscle to bring vehicular traffic that strictly has priority to a standstill. Try doing that on a club run over here and you'd get no quarter.

You mention that the driving of the police (公安, 还是警察?) is particularly bad. I would say nearly all cars containing public officials are at risk of being particularly badly driven and the more senior they are the worse the driving. I remember once being on the motorway (in a car) going from Shijiazhuang to Beijing and we were doing about 85 mph in the inside lane with cars in the outer two lanes going even faster. Without warning a big black car with a flag on the front (it was army personnel, apparently) suddenly overtook everything up the inside on the hard shoulder at about 130mph. And there was one of those 高速清洁工人 (roadsweepers) standing just at that spot on the hard shoulder where the army car overtook. He was missed by about three inches, and funnily enough didn't even react.

The other problem with the official cars is that if you are unfortunate enough to get creamed by one carrying someone of high rank, there is a real chance that the blob of jam that was once you will be buried anonymously and unceremoniously under cover of darkness, and no-one will ever be found who can give answers about the circumstances surrounding your mysterious disappearance.

In the meantime, please do let us see some helmet cam footage. Oh, and 慢点儿, 注意身体, 好不好?

Shem

hi slicks should not be a problem in the rain, road bike tyres are narrow enough that they don't need grooves to stop you from aqua planing, if the tyres have no grip it will be due to the type of rubber used and the pressure (reduce for wet conditions). Many slick tyres are good for wet conditions.

I'll bear that in mind. I've been out a few times on the slicks but felt my confidence to ride hard was diminished. I have a spare pair of Dominator tyres which have tread but they're not on quick release wheels so changing them is a bit of a pain every time the heavens open.

Another issue with wet riding is that finding guards here that will fit and keep the clean lines of the bike is so difficult. I've checked out the Crud MKII guards and RaceBlades but will have to wait until I'm back in London in summer to pick some up. The clearance between my tyre and forks isn't large enough for any other type of guard.

A long, long time ago, when this place was called Cycling+, there was a chap called Keith Oates who was also based in Hong Kong/China and regularly posted on this forum. Then there was a mass exodus due to some disagreement with the moderation of this place, and he along with a load of other regulars went off to another forum. I'm not sure if Keith is still in China, or if he still cycles, or if he still posts on another forum. Anyway, my point is if you scalp a cyclist on your commute, it might be him, that's all

The city I live in (Chongqing) has very few foreigners and even less bikers! On the odd chance I get to race it out with someone on the way home they're usually semi-pro competition riders. It's tough keeping up until we hit the hills where these guys have a disadvantage against me, weighing in a 65kg! Hills are my forte!

If I do see another foreigner on a bike I'll definitely get his name to see if it's Keith. Most cyclists here are called Wang or Yu.

Zingzang

It's an odd situation here in China with regards to the rules of the road. People seem to think because they can operate a car they can they drive. It drives me crazy. I was nearly rear ended by a guy in a Toyota today who was texting while driving. He got a torrent of abuse hurled his way as you can imagine.

The problem lies in common sense which seems to fail most drivers here. When leaving a dual carriageway they find it acceptable to swing across from the fast lane over to the exit about 30m before it, cutting me up in the process. My biggest gripe would be with the prats who drive around with full beam on during the evening on well lit roads. It isn't necessary and is out right dangerous to anything, including myself, coming the other way!

Shem

Hi. Videos/pictures would be good. Are you a user of any tracking software like garmin or endomondo ? Then we could 'see' your route.

I'm not currently using either of those. I use Kinect on my iPhone but recently it's been playing up. My bike computer cross referenced with Google Maps is currently how I get my route data. (GPS systems in China seem to be a nightmare!)

I'm in [work] late tomorrow so I'll see if I can get the camera out along the trip and make some short videos or get some snap shots.

EKE_38BPM

This thread isn't really painting China in a great light.

Terrible driving, censored news, censored web access, GPS issues and anonymous burials if killed by a high ranking official.
It might have a lovely landscape, but I think I'll give it a miss.

I wonder if this post will be censored to Shem?

andyrr

I was in China about 8 years ago but only for a 2 week holiday, staying in the main with my sister-in-law who was there for a few months teaching.
I've looked up where your location is and see your relatively far south of where I spent most time - initially we flew in to Shenyang (was mega cold, -20 or so in February) then Beijing and finally Shanghai

I was fascinated by China - probably Shenyang the most and then Beijing as they were the least western. Wandering Shenyang I quickly got used to people literally stopping in the street and staring. Also found it weird that pretty much no-one whatsoever could speak English so if I went off for a wander around then I needed to make sure I wasn't going to get lost or need help because asking for help wouldn't get much response from the locals.
Certainly recall Shanghai having loads of cyclists but the rapid increase in car ownership is maybe changing that but many Chinese are pretty poor so bikes (or maybe cheap motorbikes or scooters ?) should still be very popular ?

I recall feeling like we were standing out as foreigners and my sister-in-law was convinced her apartment was searched on more than one occasion - maybe as she was coming in regular contact with Chinese students - she could not speak to them about the Tianamen Square revolution - it just did NOT happen for the Chinese. Tianamen Square was where, instead of being asked to take someone's camera to take a photo of them and their friend, I was asked to pose for their photo !

A lot of the cars seemed to be pretty badly maintained cheap looking things and in busy areas I'd imagine the pollution might be an issue.

I'm sure it is an interesting and challenging place to work.

EKE_38BPM

andyrr wrote:

I was in China about 8 years ago but only for a 2 week holiday, staying in the main with my sister-in-law who was there for a few months teaching.
I've looked up where your location is and see your relatively far south of where I spent most time - initially we flew in to Shenyang (was mega cold, -20 or so in February) then Beijing and finally Shanghai

I was fascinated by China - probably Shenyang the most and then Beijing as they were the least western. Wandering Shenyang I quickly got used to people literally stopping in the street and staring. Also found it weird that pretty much no-one whatsoever could speak English so if I went off for a wander around then I needed to make sure I wasn't going to get lost or need help because asking for help wouldn't get much response from the locals.
Certainly recall Shanghai having loads of cyclists but the rapid increase in car ownership is maybe changing that but many Chinese are pretty poor so bikes (or maybe cheap motorbikes or scooters ?) should still be very popular ?

I recall feeling like we were standing out as foreigners and my sister-in-law was convinced her apartment was searched on more than one occasion - maybe as she was coming in regular contact with Chinese students - she could not speak to them about the MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE - it just did NOT happen for the Chinese. MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE was where, instead of being asked to take someone's camera to take a photo of them and their friend, I was asked to pose for their photo !

A lot of the cars seemed to be pretty badly maintained cheap looking things and in busy areas I'd imagine the pollution might be an issue.

I'm sure it is an interesting and challenging place to work.

You do realise that Shem probably won't be able to see original of andyrr's post.

Shem

I wonder if this post will be censored to Shem?

It's fine, I can see it. It's usually political stuff that gets blocked. A biking forum is the last place they'd look for undesirables. I'm a member of another forum where they love to make fun of the fact I live in China, yet I never seem to get blocked.

andyrr

What you say is similar to my daily experiences. I get stared at no end as if it isn't rude, I often just stop and ask if they'd like a picture as they seem to be a big fan of mine. :P

China has some lovely landscapes but city living is nothing different from what I dealt with in London, albeit a bit more dangerous here.

There seem to be more and more vehicles on the road every week. I notice because traffic seems to start further back along the roads even at the same time each morning.

The pollution is pretty hard to deal with some times. The city is sited in the clouds and is shrouded by smog around 350 days a year. Filtering through traffic without a mask/ scarf/ buff is not recommended. I smoke 20 a day and still cannot see myself getting used to CNG exhaust from the buses.

This is what I'm up against every day:

andyrr

That's a fair bit of motorised traffic but does look to be a bit of a bottleneck, from that picture the cars look relatively modern - my recollection is of really dirty and cheap Chinese-marque cars, certainly in Shenyang which would probably be the poorest of the 3 cities I stayed in. I wonder how your commuting there compares with back home - it sounds like in your location you will be a relative novelty but whether they give any more attention to you for that ... ? From my own recollection and also speaking to my sister-n-law Chinese people have learnt to very much look out for themselves - the state and no-one else is going to do this so other people's welfare, outside of their own circle, is not necessarily on their radar. That's maybe an incorrect stereotyping - I'd go back (not sure about working there long-term tho') in a flash.

Twostage

This - GMT +8 always amazes me. The whole of China in the same timezone.