I guess that after you read the title you will think “What is he talking about?! What reunion? HQM is every freakin’ weekend!”. Yep this is all true. There is well established HQM ride, now even including two official groups – superfast smashers and HQM intermediate (not to mention other smaller groups going at different pace). But for me that was first HQM since I started training in April so loooong time no see most of those guys. Too long! It was great to see my boyz and girlz again! After welcoming party we started our ride. First turn, then going on Huqingping with jumping over some road works. I was leading the whole group so the pace was slow but at least we were going as one pack, not spread all over China as I remember from my last rides lol. Hitting Outlets without any issues, then going to Happy Valley and BOOOOOM! Got a flat in my Jiading victim tire. I was expecting that to happen and I was prepared. The group went and I fixed the flat with help of Max and TS so we could continue in no time.
On the way to Drinkstand we met few guys that were already going back so it meant we need to rush a bit. After getting there and having a short break we decided to go to Dianshan lake. Lots of trucks here and there, would be nice to draft one of those but as we need to keep it safe we were declining all the offers from truck drivers. Second drinkstand, giving water to a young stray dog (unfortunately we couldn’t take it with us), refuelling.
Lake was windy like hell (actually all the way was windy like hell) so when you drop from the train with John and Luca as locomotive you can forget about catching up! It happened to few guys so I cut meself from the pack and picked them up as we don’t leave men behind! We caught the train at third drinkstand which surprisingly was moved to a new place so I was lost a bit for a second lol. Again refuelling, taking group pic and time to go back home!
Songze was finally offering the wind from the right side so the pace was easy but the speed was around 38 without putting much effort. We did a team work so we were changing leaders often, Wouter the Dutch Terminator was smashing like a boss today! Few times almost dropped me but I ain’t so easy to drop so I fought back and in the end we did a good job together!
On the way back we hit a new place close to Luca’s home. Beers (yes, beers at 11am, this is what you do when you are a proathlete!). We got some free food! Superhospitable owner, regards! We will come back for sure! Maybe we should include that place as Puxi’s La Parisienne 😉
And that’s it! It was awesome to be back on the road with my ppl, weather was perfect, no big issues on the road, no crashes and stuff!
One more important thing (which I should mention in the beginning but if you are here already then it is also a good place!):
Last time there was a big talk about Uncle Xu who joined HQM ride but unfortunately had no helmet… Discussion was mainly about the safety. Today Uncle Xu came again and boom! Helmet where it should be. This man is a LEGEND!
Few pics from today. Enjoy!
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