Start 4200m, end 5000m elevation.
Bike 36hard Kms.
Riding time 3 hours ,31mins.
Brutal.
Just brutal.
The road from our camp to Rongbuk is a washboard road being further eroded by the landcruisers that fly by at mach3. It was 3 1/2 hrs of bouncing, ass killing, riding. Terry taught me the British phrase, "me ass is in bits", over and over. Never seem him so negative, but this road can break anyone I now believe.
Nothing to describe, it was barren, and hard, and was more a mental battle to keep moving so slowly than anything else.
But rounding a corner, I finally saw Mt Everest, at least i thought the whole thing at the time. It turned out to be less than half of the full thing I was seeing, but it still amazed me. Ive waited so many years thinking of it, it pushed me onwards. Dil and Nobu (bus driver) brought us out some soup and hot tea, as they recognized how beaten down the entire group was. By 3pm we biked past the highest monastery in the world, Rongbuk Monastery. Our camp is right next to it. I felt pretty exhausted after the ride, and after tea / lunch at 4pm, people were laying back needing a rest day finally. Meal time is becoming noticibly more aggressive as well, but we all need more and more food, bigger portions are happening. The snow started coming down, and Mike and I set to work fixing my rear shock for those bouncy days. Around dusk, Mt Everest showed her entire self to us, the summit! 8,850metres above sea level, the very highest point of the planet, unbelievable. Even if this little glimpse is my only sight of it, Ill be a happy man.
No comments:
Post a Comment