Mongolian toothpaste?

The end of a tube of toothpaste - after a good innings, this tube of Russian-made toothpaste finally bows out. I bought it in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, after its predecessor was stolen, along with my bike and a pair of underpants, by a Mongolian horseman.

Shanghai sweets

Something I'll miss about Shanghai - nice chocolate crunchy cakes from the bakery down the road.

2wheels website visitors approach the magic 60,000 mark

Latest news from the man with the abacus (he's locked in the bottom drawer of the 2wheels webserver):

We're just about to go past 215,000 page loads since the 2wheels website was launched. 

And some time this week, the 60,000th visitor will stumble across the hallowed turf of www.2wheels.org.uk.

That's like four Roystons, all wiping their greasy fingers over my website. Wow.

This is the big time.

And now, for the first time, you can watch 2wheels being hit, live and in real time.

EG

Bicycles bicycles bicycles

This blog is supposed to be about my bike ride from Shanghai to England, so I suppose I ought to write about something vaguely relevant at some point.

I'm counting down the days till take-off. D-day is set for 5th September. I'm hoping the temperature will come down a little before then, because cycling in high humidity at 38 degrees C is not too much fun.

Shanghai seems to have drained pretty quickly after yesterday's flooding. Rob Lilwall ran into quite a bit of flooding a month or two ago in south China. He also managed an embarrassing slo-mo wipe-out for which Jeremy Beadle standing by, camera at the ready.

I don't have my route through southern China planned in detail yet. Somehow or other I will make my way to Nanning, where I can pick up a visa for Vietnam. Last time I was waiting for a visa application to be processed, in Ulan Bator, some bloke's horse nicked my bike. I will try to be more careful this time.

Emily has just accused me of having "really hairy elbows".

I'm off to get them waxed.

EG

as good as it gets

If you're English, you might enjoy listening to this.

If you're Australian, you might prefer the scorecard from Lords, but you'll have to find that for yourself.

To beard, or not to beard

March 2004:



January 2005:


December 2006:
?????

Seeking your guidance on this... should the beard come back for the return journey?

Flooding in Shanghai after typhoon Matsa

Woke up this mornin'....

Looked out the door, Hui He Lu in north-east Shanghai's Hongkou district was under water, after Typhoon Matsa passed through in the night. A night that I was pleased not to have spent in a tent...