October 28, 2024
Miles: 39.61. Total: 8,157 miles, 13,125 km.
I'm up in the mountains now, and crossed from Sichuan into Yunnan. The towns are fewer and farther between, but a ton of construction projects are making them bigger and more connected.
They clearly don't get many folks like me in these parts. The stares are getting longer and more intense.
Yet the people are just the kindest. Even the police, with whom I had an interaction today. My route included a three-mile tunnel through a mountain. I had the place to myself, so I was blasting music, singing at the top of my lungs, and stopping to take some photos and a video.
At the end of the tunnel, a cop was waiting for me. Through my Google translate, he told me that stopping in the tunnel was unsafe. I explained that I had to stop to turn down my music and take a photo.
"How old are you?" he asked when I took off my sunglasses, revealing my crowsfeet.
"Fifty." I answered. "And I'm riding my bike around the world."
This bit of news is always a showstopper, and so we kibbitzed about my trip for a bit.
At the end of our convo, he said, "Please be safe, sister, and have a lot of fun."
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