After our first day of riding, we were actually not as tired as we'd expected and got to bed at a good time.
The only drawback was that none of us had camped for a long time and the uneven ground and freezing temperatures made for little sleep.
But we were up the next day ready to tackle the mountains once again! After a breakfast of hard boiled eggs and biscuits, we climbed out of our campsite and started the day with a massive set of uphill switchbacks. Luckily this was followed by really fun downhills - pretty much setting the theme for this ride!!
We arrived at Baishuitai (White Water Terrace) at around 2pm, debating whether to mount horses and go to the top or not. In the end, we decided to go ahead and do it!!
The locals that rented out the horses were very reluctant to let Dom and Wang Feng ride the horses, but after about an hour of reassurances, the brought the first horse down to try.
Wang Feng was the first to try it out and having never been on a horse (before or after being in a chair), he was very nervous. He had a hard time keeping his balance and in the end decided not to go up.
Dom, how had ridden a horse once since his accident, was more daring and after feeling out the horse decided to go all the way to the top.
The guides (about 10 of them - all women) were with us the entire time and insisted that Josh stay right by the horse just in case Dom should lose his balance.
The views at the top were amazing and well worth the ride up. Going back down was smooth and Dom became more confident and the horse more comfortable. By the end, they were best buds!
By the time we got down, it was around 5pm and we debated trying to get a little more riding in, but ultimately decided to camp in the parking lot of a hotel (inaccessible) for the night and have a decent meal instead.
The concrete made for a much better surface than the ground the previous night and we all slept much more comfortably. This was good too, because we were now behind in the distance that we needed to cover and would have to work hard to make that up.
Riding Stats:
Leg 1: (47.81km, 3h09m, 15.1km/h)
The only drawback was that none of us had camped for a long time and the uneven ground and freezing temperatures made for little sleep.
But we were up the next day ready to tackle the mountains once again! After a breakfast of hard boiled eggs and biscuits, we climbed out of our campsite and started the day with a massive set of uphill switchbacks. Luckily this was followed by really fun downhills - pretty much setting the theme for this ride!!
We arrived at Baishuitai (White Water Terrace) at around 2pm, debating whether to mount horses and go to the top or not. In the end, we decided to go ahead and do it!!
The locals that rented out the horses were very reluctant to let Dom and Wang Feng ride the horses, but after about an hour of reassurances, the brought the first horse down to try.
Wang Feng was the first to try it out and having never been on a horse (before or after being in a chair), he was very nervous. He had a hard time keeping his balance and in the end decided not to go up.
Dom, how had ridden a horse once since his accident, was more daring and after feeling out the horse decided to go all the way to the top.
The guides (about 10 of them - all women) were with us the entire time and insisted that Josh stay right by the horse just in case Dom should lose his balance.
The views at the top were amazing and well worth the ride up. Going back down was smooth and Dom became more confident and the horse more comfortable. By the end, they were best buds!
By the time we got down, it was around 5pm and we debated trying to get a little more riding in, but ultimately decided to camp in the parking lot of a hotel (inaccessible) for the night and have a decent meal instead.
The concrete made for a much better surface than the ground the previous night and we all slept much more comfortably. This was good too, because we were now behind in the distance that we needed to cover and would have to work hard to make that up.
Riding Stats:
Leg 1: (47.81km, 3h09m, 15.1km/h)