The morning I woke up in Wudu, besides having all my bones in pieces I really did I not want to look outside the window...

... rain.

Rain was coming down again. That morning it took me a few hours to get out of bed and believe me, a lot, a lot of determination.

Somehow I made it downstairs for a very long leg: 450km estimated.
Already in a bad mood, I also felt upset to leave so late in that I knew would have been a very long day.

So I rode on, as usual asking here and there the way. The road out of Wudu was surprisingly nice. It was going all along the valley along the river.

This time the river was flowing in the opposite direction. Very good sign since this meant I left the huge mountain range of the day before. The scenery changed a lot. Instead of the green and very steep mountains of the day before very brown and naked scenery was all I could see. All was brown and the river surrounded by very green rice fields was giving an incredible contrast to the world around.

One of the things I found interesting to notice was how from one valley to the other there can be so much difference.

The villages and house made of stone and bricks leave the place to houses made of mud. Typical Chinese roofs made of tiles leave the place to quare, essential unidimensional houses often surrounded by walls of mud. All the villages, understandably are build high up in respect to the river and they seem fortresses. The atmosphere is again very relaxed and still a lot of Maoist uniforms!

Happy to have a good road to start I say it too early. I should stop doing this, because every time I think it is a good road the road becomes bad right away. The road becomes the usual irregularity of potholes but the biggest worry seems to me a big white cloud far ahead. Soon sun turns in clouds. Hot in cold and fog welcomes me at the bottom of a steep road. This time I cannot estimate how the climb will be. Thick fog doesn’t allow me to see anything. All I do is to ride on.

Soon the fog is so think that I can only see about 10 mtr ahead. The more I go up the more the fog become dense and wet. The more I go up the more the fog become water and makes everything wet. Suddenly the paving stops: clearly designed to stop there. The road becomes off road. The more I go up the more it gets cold. I stop for a picture and to wait for a truck to pass by so I can follow it.

From the fog 3 kids appear like in a fairy tale. They are shepherds and they just stand on the edge of the grass above me staring. They look very funny. Very small, overdressed and with very red faced touched by constant cold weather.

They smile.

I just have one second for a click and here come the truck. I stick to its back at 20km/hr until the top of the pass. If the temperature would be a few degrees lower it would surely snow. Very glad to see the road going down I stay behind the truck until it gets too slow and I pass it. I still cannot se anything so I have no idea what I am crossing or what is ahead. All I know is that I am on the right way. In fact this time I just had to follow road 212 all the way to destination.

The other side of the mountain holds heavy rain. Not happy at all I decide to keep on riding at least until I find some sort of roof where to stop for a second. Unfortunately the way the houses and villages are built here doesn't offer any such a place. I have no choice but to ride. The rain keeps on quite heavily so I decide to stop and to cover the saddlebags and the tank bag. Whoever designed the saddlebags I bought was either NOT a genius or NEVER USED these bags on a rainy day. The covers of the bags are plastic bags with an elastic at the edge. Something like a shower cap. The only problem is that they made them way too small and they cannot cover the whole bag.

Arrive into the next valley rain stops and I can maintain a faster paste. I am worry about time. I cannot see the sun so I don't know. Here we are on a different time zone even if China keeps it all as Beijing time, so the watch does not give a good reference point.

Arrived in a small town I decide to stop for some rest and some chocolate I have in the bag. I am in no mood to deal with the locals so I chose to stop at the end of the village. The escamotage lasted only a few minutes. Suddenly I find myself surrounded by 50 or more people. Most of them are either old or very young. All the people of 40 and up still wear the Mao uniform. The minutes that follow are simply priceless. I start talking with these people and playing with them and my camera. One after the other they want a picture to be taken, they want to be part of the moment, they are curious but polite and they are just a lot of fun. I smile with them for a good 1/2 hour. The mood went up to the stars and I seemed to have forgotten all the rain. When it is time to go I sit on the bike. I put my helmet on and when I turn up my head I see them all.... They are all around me, very near. They are now all serious and attentive. All so different in their faces and yet all so alike in their expression and outfits. I cannot resist. I take out the camera and I take another shot!! They all burst in laugh, seemingly happy.... "What a moment!" I think.

After one hour I have to cross another pass. Same fog, same road but no rain. On the other side I discover I am still 100 km from Lintao. Not a good situation.

When I arrived in Lintao is already 6.30 pm. The weather improved. I have 100km to destination and about 1 hr of light. I sit on the bike for a few minutes. I ask what is the road like and if there is any other mountain to cross!

I make my choice. I ride on. From that moment onward I am a man in a mission. I am determined to get to Linxia before dark. The road is good and I can drive like a mad man at 110 on a busy road.

For anybody that cares about records here is one. I think I settled the world record for fastest time ever made to cover Lintao - Linxia at sunset.

As soon as I turn off road 212 to go to Linxia the whole world around me changed. Completely changed. I am crossing Muslim towns one after the other. The Maoist disappeared and all I can see are white Muslim hats on everybody's head! I cannot believe the drastic change so quickly. At regular intervals I see now mosques. These mosques are made with a typical Chinese structure, the typical Chinese shape of a temple and the typical Chinese roof. But there is the moon on top, the moon....

No time to stop and not time to look too much either. I make it to Linxia in less than 1 hour. Exhausted, I am happy to have covered all the 460 km and to be able to crash on the bed.

One more task... I have no food with me so the only choice is to go down and see what to find. I am too tired to even think and I let the security to take me to a Muslim restaurant.

I look at the guy and tell him to give me what he wants. "suibien....." (in Chinese) and if there is a god he was around at that time. The guy arrives with a plate of spaghetti on one side and with a plate of beef made with a tomato sauce and onions on the other. He explains me that I have to pour the beef on the pasta.....

"che mito!!" I think. " che mito!!!!"

sqm.. instancabili viaggiatori