Hami - More desert 103km

Yesterdays wind had made riding something of a joke. As the wind inevitably picked up in the afternoon I moved over to the other side of the expressway which is currently under construction and therefore has no vehicles zooming along it. This was done predominantly for safety measures as the gusts of wind had become stronger and stronger and I was seriously worried about the prospect of being pushed into traffic.

It served the purpose of removing that element of danger from the ride but the wind was so strong that I was reduced to laughing at how insane it was trying to cycle into it. With very little progress being made I decided to duck down under the culvert for the night.

The comfort that is a culvert!

It was a day of mixed emotions as I’d receive the dreaded news regarding my grandmother this morning; she passed away that day back in England. I don’t think this is the place to be expressing my obviously sad feelings at this news but suffice to say that it was on my mind all day and the gloomy grey clouds that had formed over the mountains really summed up my feelings.

That night as I lay under my very low culvert I peered back onto the face of the mountain; a bright light shone and it was clear that somebody lived up there, a monastery perhaps? I spent a long time looking at it and just wondering who on earth would live there. I was glad when I finally drifted off to sleep in my tent; it was a hard day not in terms of cycling but because of everything else.

I have little option, I feel helpless to do anything and it's simply a case of clipping in the next day and going again.

Sun going down at the end of a strange day.