Dalian update: snakebitten!

Beautiful weather last weekend in Dalian, but cyclists were in for a surprise when they crossed the hills separating the east from the cycling-friendly west coast of the peninsular. Whatever direction you turned into, the wind blew in your face. It was incredible! And I am not talking about a gentle sea breeze here but a relentless gale. After struggling my way to the western coastal route that leads to the peninsular tip of Lushvn Kaifaqu, I eventually saw no option but to retreat instead of closing the circle to Dalian. That 40km coastal route, by the way, is mangia e bevi all the way - continuously up and down. When I got back to my appartment after four hours of pure power training my eggs were boiled soft. It had been warmer than expected and I lost a lot of fluid. Inconveniently, I only had one hour of rest. Sonia, a Mexican expat and a coordinator of the ICD, had invited me for a paella dinner at a Dutch expat couple's flat starting already at 6 p.m. Shower in, shower out, rushed out the door, hit the Tesco supermarket nearby, grabbed a good Chianti Rufino and flagged a cab. I arrived at the gathering within the generally accepted timeframe and noticed with pleasure that a French expat couple had also brought a bottle of Vacqueryas. After that tiring battle against the wind, a good glass of wine was just what I needed.

And did it taste good! It accompanied Sonia's delicious paella perfectly, but in my enthusiasm I forgot one basic rule of endurance sports. A rule I tend to forget often: rehydrate!

After eating a royal tarte aux pommes as dessert, all of a sudden the muscles in my right thigh contracted heavily. As the pain increased I knew what was going to happen, having suffered from such nasty cramps before... Damn, the sofa was where I had to be! I still apologised to my conversation partners at the dining table and stood up from my chair... but the next thing I remember is everyone standing around me lying on the floor as I gradually regained consciousness.

It was all just a matter of seconds. And a minute later, sitting on the sofa, the cramp was entirely gone and I was fully conscious again. My right shoulder hurt because I was told I had hit a low TV sideboard with it in my fall. Luckily no damage to anything or anybody. The mother of the Dutch host used to be a long distance runner and understood what had happened straightaway. Sportspeople often refer to these painful and sudden muscle contractions as snakebites. She made me drink water glass after glass, and that is indeed all I still drank that night. Sigh. Quite embarrassing the whole episode, of course...

Sunday I was back on the racebike by 11.15 a.m. for a longish recovery ride. Or so I wished. That gale was blowing even stronger out there. No choice but to amend the plan and shorten the route. But because a full week of travelling and no cycling is coming up, I included the what-I-call Redoute climb. That went pretty well, confirming sensations of earlier last week that my punch on the hills has returned to a certain extent :-)

Back home I ate 500 grams of gnocchi with black pepper and sesame oil and went to the travel agent to try and negotiate an appropriate ferry ticket to Yantai in Shandong. In Mandarin of course. It worked :-). I'm off on Tuesday morning with the 9.15 a.m. Henry will accompany me for a few days travelling around Shandong, but we will split ways in Qingdao as I'm taking a plane there to finish some business in Nanjing.