Monday, January 30, 2006

Days 149, 150 - not cycling very much in Zhongdian / Xianggelila / Shangrila

0 km etc. Still waiting for the shops to open after Chinese New Year so that I can get something to eat.

Met another cyclist, always an exciting event. Chap from Sweden, could have sworn I'd seen him somewhere before. Goes by the name of Bjorn. Again.

Ah, you are from Sweden, I say.

Yes, says Bjorn.

You must know Janne Corax, I say.

Yes, says Bjorn. Again.

In fact I met him on a railway platform in Germany.

The world is indeed small. And full of Swedes. Most of whom know the meaning of the word 'garn' (see previous post).
Posted by a blogger at 13:33

40 comments:

  1. Oh Ed! You have no comments to yesterdays consern? I assume you are heading to Litang or whatever it`s called. The worlds highest town at 4.800 meter. I thought of cycling that way to Lanzhou in April 2002, but all the high altitude passes would have made the ride to dangerous, so I took the easterly route, for the second time, instead. You intend to cross "half" of China at an altitude between 3.000 and more than 5.000 meters to the desert out west. In the middle of winter! Why cant you understand that it is impossible and your somtimes stupid stubborness will keep you going untill it is too late to turn around. And you WILL die. There will be absolutely no one around to help you. NO ONE. If you think about the ride Vik. and Da. made in Tibet than that was in spring/summertime and they were two. Ed you are a very nice person, please don`t end your life this way!!! "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  3. Have you started Ed? Anyone who knows if Ed has started? Is his friend St.B. paying attention to this blog and a possible problem that he "easily" can solve? I have been nagging Ed since August about this impossible ride, lately he has not returned my e-mails so you may not get thrugh to him if you try. I bet he reads the comments on his own blog. That X was not someone who gave up, but me trying to get the 0 comments to move. I know Ed from a few days cycling together in Russia and Mongolia. And I met him again in Ulaan Baatar just after his bike was stolen. Losing his bike did not help his rather melancoly state of mind. I am from Norway and my "signature" comes from my pink washing-up gloves i wore to prevent moscitobites. Ed found them funny. Well Ed, I hope you are still in Zhongdian waiting for springtime. Or cycling down to Lijiang to start the easterly route. I have been working a lot of overtime lately so hopefully I will "soon" be reunited with my bike and belongins in Bangkok. Norway is terrible this time of year. I envy you your freedom, if only you could use it "safely".One thing for sure, I don`t share your longing for winter! Sorry if I have screwed up your blog, you obviously really don`t belive in sensorship! Take care! "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  4. TFXE - capt beakyJan 31, 2006 03:25 PM
    Howdy Ed! I've been lurking in the shadows for a while, and managing not to do any work as a result, while I trawl through much of your excellent site. Quite an undertaking of yours, and then of course there's the bike ride...
    I have no idea what lies ahead of you in the high altitude wastes, and nor do I know what being approx 70kgs makes you in fitness / health terms. What I do know (after cycling a much more comfortable trans USA in 1999) is that no one knows better than you do how ready you are to tackle a tough bit of the ride. Secondly, just make sure that someone knows roughly where you're going just in case. Lastly - don't be a slave to a set timeframe, since in this particular race you're already undisputed yellow jersey, and if things would be a lot safer / more fun if left a few weeks then do some sightseeing to kill some time. That should calm your nerves after "P G". Have fun, Tim.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Ed! Why don`t you write something in your blog? And why don`t anyone remotely close to you write something in "comments"? The ride you are about to start is so dangerous and impossible it is like playing "russian roulette" with five bullets in the gun! The only empty chamber in your gun is the hope that "gongan gu" (the police) will stop you. That is your only chanse of survival! If they do stop you, they will claim that you are showing suicidal behaviour, drive you back to Zhongdian, give you a 500 Yuan fine and four days to leave the country. If you after that still feel you have to cycle somewhere, then you can go on bike from Mengla or Boten (visa at the border) to Vientiane. But this time try to stay away from the closed "spesial zone"! In Vientiane you can extend your visa and get a visa for Cambodia. From Vientiane you can cycle to Cambodia. The main road in Laos gets a bit boring after a while so "inland" gravel roads can be more "fun" and interesting. From the border you can have a nice ride to the side river with Stung Treng on the other side. In 2003 they told me they would build a new road to Kratie. But if I go back for a third time (both times going north) on a bike, I still would choose the terrible, wonderful, old road. Remember that if you go camping in parts of Laos (undetonated bombs/bomblets) and Cambodia (5-6 million(!) unexploded landmines) then you are right back at suicidal behaviour again. From Kratie you can go on superb tracks on the east and south side of the Mekong river to the bridge. Then you can go to Phnom Penh, Saigon, Angkor Wat, Bangkok or wherever. Basically now in Zhongdian you have two choises, you can choose life, or you can choose death. Life for you has endless possibilities. While your death will bring endless sorrows. Some people try to explain to me that there is more to life than cycling. I still don`t know what they are talking about. Maybe something about marriage and children and comitments and so on. Not my cup of tea. Ed, I think you need a good long break from China now. According to your "ranting" you are well and truly fed up. I also think you need a good long break from your bike. Or else you`ll end up like me! Now if that didn`t scare you, then nothing ever will! "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  6. To whom it may consern: "How to stop Ed" comes as soon as I have written it. In about two hours. "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  7. HOW TO STOP ED: So nothing on the blog today either. I am left in the dark. Guessing. Has he started or not? Have you managed to stop him or don`t you know how to do it? Don`t you understand the dangerous stupidity he is about to start or don`t you care? Well you have two choises: if you want to see him again alive you stop him, and if you don`t want to see him again alive then you do nothing. In the last case you may have a chanse to see him again anyway if he is found after the snow has melted. He is 64 kg now. By the time he dies of altitudesickness (it is worse than it sounds)and exposure lets say he will be 60 kg. Then he will be dried-freezed for a month or two. Subtract whatever wolves and other animals will eat and you are left with a very lightweight and makabre corpse. Best to have him cremated. That will be the next time Ed will be warm. That reminds me, people who freeze to death often feel an incredible warmth in their body so they actually start to undress speeding up the death prosess. So he may feel warm again but he will not be warm again untill he is cremated. Oh no, now I am ranting. Well how to stop him: He wrote in an e-mail to me that he spent som days in January 2005 at the mansion with the B.C.-G. I guess that would be Stephen B. Those close enough know where and who. All you need to be is a British citizen and a family member and/or a close friend of Ed. You contact the B. C.-G. (Stephen?) and explain who you are, remind him of who Ed is and what you are worried about. To get a little bit worried before you contact Stephen and his office, you can read my "P.G." comments from the last few days. If you understand them correctly it may be like this: Eds melancoly has developed into a death-wish (he once denied he had one) and knowingly or unknowingly he is cycling towards a certain death. To have a slight death-wish is not uncommon in Norway this time of year, but most of us feel better when the summer comes. I don`t want to say Ed is suicidal, but he shows clear signs of suicidal behaviour. (No I`m not an expert.) But if you want the B. C.-G. to react than that is just the words you use: You fear Ed is suicidal and about to end his life. I am sure Eds friend Stephen(?) will be as interested as I am in stopping him as soon as he has been updated on Eds plans through his blog and the comments from me. By stopping Ed he will also save another office for a lot of extra work. He will contact the correct branch of the police, either centrally or directly in Zhongdian. The reason he will give for stopping him will maybe be the same: Ed is feared to be suicidal. Or he may give other reasons. The Chinese goverment does not like foreign tourist dying. It is bad for immage! The police in Zhongdian needs to know where he is going: Probably on the road to Litang "the worlds highest town" at 4.800 meter. That road is as far as I know, open to tourists. Then they need to know that he can cycle 100 km a day. So they have to think 100 km a day x X days, then start looking. By asking oncoming cars about where they passed him, he will hopefully soon be found. He may be a bit angry. They need a car big enough for his bike and belongings. The punishment will be about a 35 GBP fine and four days to leave the country. Why I can`t do this myself? Well first I don`t know if Ed has started or not. Secondly I am not a British citizen, so I can`t ask anyone to act on my request. Thirdly I guess I am no longer his friend. So I will be a foreigner asking them to help someone I hardly know. I guess they wont help me nor Ed. First I ruined his blog and now I am trying to stop his trip/suicide attemt. Ed will be murdrously angry after this comment in his blog. I know him as a hairy wild looking guy, but now I have just printed a picture he sendt me from Shanghai. So I know who to look out for if he comes after me. Two kind eyes staring back at me from someone who does good things for charities and other people like the summer camp he was at years ago at lake Baikal. Or some kind of animal conservation in Yunnan he helped not long ago. Why can`t he go back there and stay untill springtime? Oh, why do you british people waste away the lives of the best men you have? Wait a minute! On the picture he has a red down(?) jacket on and under another TWO jackets! In Shanghai! How many jackets has he now packed for the winter with -30 degrees centigrade and full storm and nowhere to hide? He has absolutely no wish to surwive! Stop him! STOP HIM! Oh sorry Sir I didn`t mean to scream. But if you read this then you need no request from others, you are a British citizen, you are a friend of Ed so you can come with the request yourself. You probably noticed a sertain melancoly in Ed? Well I am afraid it has developed two steps further! His impossible plan is this: To cycle every km from Zhongdian and after a month or so reach the track/road south of the Taklamakan desert. That would be about 2.500 km constantly between an altitude of 3.000 to more than 5.000 meter. In the middle of winter, with temperatures down to -40 degrees centigrade! It is so stupid anyone can see it is a suicide attemt! Or maybe rather a cry for help? Well the B. C.-G. is not gone stumble across this information himself. So someone got to e-mail Stephen(?) and call his office as soon as it opens. If this office cant help, try the one in Beijing, and then the one in Guangshou. Don`t give up! If you want to see Ed again. Alive. Oh in case this comment will wanish in thin air (sensorship), print it now and give it to someone who cares and can do something about it! Oh what a wonderful and terrible two edged sword a blog can be. With several long trips totalling more than 130.000 km on bike abroad I shure have a lot to tell. But if I ever come to the suicidal stage Ed is at now, I don`t want the whole world to know. I will go quietly without a blog and people trying to stop me. "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  8. Look mate! directed at PG we (I) live in polite world it has physical borders the web does not I don't know you, I found Ed and his activities by chance. There is a reason why I have found him but I don't know it's course yet. I have said my piece with him in an email and explained wind chill, altitude and calories consumed and weight loss and long term effects etc... If it's his karma then that is that, if it's your karma to stop him you will and you writing a phone book full of words won't help.... If you are in the same country or same continent then you stand a better chance of doing something you think is right.

    However if he's out of web range or has no access I can not help. I am not Yuri Geller!

    I have tried to make his journey better, by being a nice, polite set of words that are friendly and funny when he's had a chance to mail and a faint voice at the outer edges of the web that's keeping a watchful eye. "Ranting on!" chum will not have the effect you wish for! If I where him reading your stuff I would become more determined to continue.

    People are able to do extra ordinary things, when they look inside themselves.

    It takes more than most people know, to know when to slow down and stop. It's not a sign of being beaten, it's a sign of understanding your limits within the world.

    I can not atest to his mental state, yours, or my own. Who am I, you or anyone else to judge his actions.

    If it's his karmic path as I've said then that is what it is. We the witnesses to his actions and deeds will be different for having known him or known of him.

    We will have news soon, no news is good news, as bad news travels faster.

    Now do me a favour and stop posting stuff for a bit to let Ed get himself sorted.

    Cos your getting on my tits, as I'm hoping for news myself.

    kind regards

    C.

    darkest surrey
    ReplyDelete
  9. Nothing today either: Ed are you there? Looking at the print of a mail you sendt me August 4. Did you write this just to get me off your back? Hey (my name) - thanks for your thoughts! Don`t worry, I don`t want to die. Not just yet, anyway. For various reasons I can`t shoot off on plan B (my suggestion) just yet. I have to go down to Vietnam and Thailand first. But I will take it nice and slow, so I won`t get too high up in Yunnan/Sichuan/Qinghai while it`s still mid-winter. Towards the end of March, the worst of it is over. I`m sure it can still get pretty cold and "pretty",even then...//// I don`t know - will have to see what it looks like when I get there. I`ve got plenty of time. If it`s cold, I`ll hang out in Dali for a month or two waiting for the sunshine. //// Well Ed I think you tricked me. So if you are annoyed for me starting to ruin your blog, then you got yourself to blame. Or maybe I just spiced it up a little? When I started to send you e- mails again after you came back to China and after many months breake, I thought you would stick to your plan. But I nagged you about the mountain anyway. Then you speeded past Dali without writing back. Suddenly you were in Zhongdian and I started to fear something was really wrong. Well is it? Where are you? Where is Ed? "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  10. Ed! I guess there is a hundred to one chanse that you would make it all the way to Litang. So maybe you read this at the wangba there, if they have any. You should know by now that the rest of the mountainroad to the Taklamakan desert is impossible to cycle in wintertime. For you and for everyone else. Please just stop! Whatever you have read about Tom/Tallabomba and whatever advice your "hero" Janne C. has given you just forget it. If you are thinking about to go on to Kanding, just forget it. It is just too many high mountain passes to cross and too bloody cold. Why cant you take a truck back to Zhongdian then cycle to Lijiang before you start on the easterly route? It will still be dangerous,but not over 4.000 meter. Then you can cycle on to Urumqi ,Almaty and Bishkek. Visa you get along the way. No need to go to Beijing or to die in the mountains or the Taklamakan desert. Maybe you are making your life dangerous just to spice up your book about the trip? Well try to save your life until you get out of China. You will have enough danger in the planned ride for the summer on the worlds highest higway in Tajikistan. And for the August crossing of the frying hot desert in Turkmenistan. Now I get that bad feeling again, your plan can be read like this: First I die of cold in the mountains, then I die in the remote Taklamakan south track of thirst, then I suffocate in the thin mountain air in Tajikistan before I finish it all off with overheating and death in the Turkmenistan desert! You know me as an mindnumbingly dull person. But on your blog I have been behaving like a "frothing wilderbeast"(more or less like a tibetan shepard dog)to get your and other peoples attention. If I did, and if it helped you? Well it looks like the jury is still out on that one. If you want you can use any of the comments from me in your book, even the silly picture with me and the pink gloves or any of the other pictures you took. But please don`t use my full name because if my old english teacher reads this, he will start to cry and pull out the rest of his hair. If I look now will there be a message about where you are? I must look! "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  11. No nothing. So I might as well sit here and wait a little bit longer. I guess Edward found out the hard way that cycling alone can be a terrible strain on the mind. Months after months all alone with himself. Cycling and living mainly in tent on your own month in and month out would play tricks on anyones mind. I should know. Nearly all of the more than 130.000 km cycled abroad I cycled alone. Minor things can be blown out of propotins, while important things can be ignored. The train-of-thoughts can really lead you astray. Normal people can end up mad, while mad people finally finds somthing they are interested in and become more or less normal. It can really alter someones personality. When I met Ed he had clear signs of deep melancoly. Although he was an incredible nice person. I don`t know what he was like when he left. Nor do I know what he has become. Only one person can tell if he really has changed. Emily-his girlfriend. I am not on his e-mail list, and I just resently started to read this blog. But I think the ranting (I still don`t know exactly what it means)is getting worse. Is it? It is quite common that cyclist lose the interest in "nomal" life and "normal" people. I did that years ago. And "normal" people find "cycle-touring people" unberable odd to be around. So even if Ed has had people around him, he may not have had the right people to talk to. Something that is not important became important, like cycling back to England and doing it in an impossible way. Outdoing Janne, Tom, V, D, me and any other cyclist he ever had met or read or heard about. On top of this you add a common poison in all of us road warriors, well in many of the rest of you for that matter: lead. I don`t want to think about it so I tend to ignore it. Nothing can be done about it when it is in your body, and some of it goes to your brain and alters something. I got heaps of it and Ed got some. I guess bodies can handle it differently. If some of it is stored in body fat together with other poisons, then I guess it can be re-released back into the blodstream when a person is losing weight. If this is sientific proven for people I don`t know, but it apparently can happen to seabirds and polar bears in the arctic. So why not humans? Well let me see, obviously my brain is not as quick as it used to be so what is the connection here? Oh-yeh I remember, Ed had lost a lot of body fat lately. Well it probably doesn`t matter I`m just treading water until it is time to check on an explanation from Ed or any other, and since my comments are getting more and more embarrassing for both me and Ed I hope it will come very soon. I guess when I hear he is safe and sound, I`ll get angry in stead of happy just like a worrying father. My australian girlfriend used to call me the greate worrier. Yeah, yeah, I said. I`m the greate warrior! -Shit still some more minutes to kill.- I am sorry if I offended someone with my angry ranting. We have a saying: "Maalet helliger middelet." Loosly: as long as your goal is pure, almost sacred, then you are alowed to do nearly whatever it takes to get there. Oh no! That sounds like something a fanatic religious terrorist would say! Have someone given any information? I have to look! "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  12. your talking to the mirror mate watch taxi driver and you'll know what I mean.

    If you want to do something contact FCO (foreign and commonwealth office). report your cyclist friend as a nut and they'll be forced to look into it.

    http://www.fco.gov.uk

    British subjects whatever where ever are under the protection of the government. We pay taxes for that very reason, to be members of the club, now please stop writing.

    The other bloke summed it up nicely your getting on my tits too.
    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm embarking on a reasonably sized bike tour of Europe myself in a couple of months. Hopefully not all the Norwegians are like this; heart in the right place, brain full of lead.

    Yes, Ed is quite possibly nuts to go the mountain trail in winter; it's his life, it's his trip, it's his decision.

    E.
    ReplyDelete
  14. Well, well. My comments were ment for Ed, first as a warning and then more like a begging to stop. I wouldn`t have written anything in this blog if he had returned my e-mails and stopped like he said he would in Dali. Later comments were ment for his family and friends as a very makaber wake-up-call. This is the worst I ever have written, but desperate times, desperate measures. Better as just a warning, than cold reality later. Then the comments were ment as a begging for some action. And where to get help. I would have sendt them all as e-mails if I knew where to send them. Yesterdays comments were more background and further explanation, and to calm Ed down when he hopefully can read the comments in his blog. I don`t want to read any of my comments again now so I can`t get into more details. That I come across as an idiot, just proves my point. When you add several poisons among them lead to a person who is cycling and living alone, then he may become someone different from the person who left you two years ago. Able to do very irrasjonal and stupid things. Why I can`t report him missing? Well is he missing? Only family and close friends would know. In 2004 he had a mobile phone with him and I didn`t get the number. Zhongdian is big enough to be covered so that they could call him. They probably got calming e-mails from him saying he knows what he is doing. Well he doesn`t. As far as I know he has never ever been to a high mountain before, far less cycled in one. Same goes for winter, he has never been in a real winter before! Now he has 2.500 km of high mountain roads between 3.000 and more than 5.000 meter in altitude ahead of him. In the middle of winter! Something doesn`t add up! Imaging he is a really good swimmer, who wants to do something uniqe. He wants to swim across the English Channel alone, unsuported in the middle of winter. He knows the idea is madness but something is telling him it can be done. And if it will cost him his life it doesn`t really matter. He is tired of it all anyway. One sunny day in February he starts. Nobody knows anything, but his swimming buddy now living in Australia has lately been sending e-mails warning that something is wrong with Ed. He has been ignored. Then an old fisherman comes ashore telling them he tried to pull Ed up of the water. But Ed got angry and didn`t want any help. The old man fell in the water and Ed said he was sorry and pushed him back on board. All the time he had been uttering something about a "unbroken line". He is out there swimming towards France. In the middle of winter. You know he soon will die. Would you go against his free will, although obviously a bit "mental" and get someone to take him back or not? Once he is gone, he is gone for ever. But a broken mind can be fixed. I guess Ed now has started to "svim across the channel". Singing "It`s better to burn out, than to fade away". As long as everything goes well, he will resist any help or rescue. But the minute he "cramps up and goes under" there will be no one around.... So you want me, a foreign citizen, to report to your Foreign Department that a cyclist, a British citizen that I cycled with in 2004 might be missing? And expect them to do anything? Only family and close friends with a genuin fear for his safety and life, can do that. And expect them to react. To report someone missing is a serios task not every Tom, Dick ang Harry can make. Ed is probably on the road to Litang. Not really missing in the correct term. It is called suicidal behaviour. And only the police can stop him. If they are asked by Embassy or Consulate. On a very good day he might do 80 km in the thin air. In snow much, much less. If the snow is so deep it is reaching his panniers he has to walk, ploughing his way through the snow. Very slow going. He may use a whole day walking up a very icy hill. Then he might use the rest of his life going down an icy hill....How to stop him is written in another comment. But you have other Consulates and the Embassy, and the Foreign Department. All I need to reach with these comments is one person who can see there is a problem. Then that person contacts a family member or friend and convince the other person something must be done. The three comments I have got here, shows clearly they classified me as a lead poisoned idiot after spending too much time cycling alone. So then the same can be the case with Ed. Able to take stupid, life ending desisions like the one he probably has taken now. "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey there,

    I recently found your website through a friend of mine who's living in China right now. You've got a pretty nice setup and look pretty well-prepared. I have no idea what the winters are like in China, but I'm pretty sure it's manageable considering people have ridden across alaska in the winter.

    This summer I rode my bike across North America. It was amazing. I plan to continue the solo ride by riding from Europe to Kamchatka Penninsula in Russia.

    Take Care, Good Luck, and RIDE ON!
    ReplyDelete
  16. PG I suspect if Ed is fine but out of touch ie. no phone, web, bad weather etc. Your doing his family and friends the world of good with your writings. I suggest you slow down for a minute and stop either smoking the lead or lay off the tablets.

    Someone up there put it well "Bad news travels faster than good." I'm sure his family is doing what ever can be done.

    You are not helping and I assume that while your motives seem well meant, the method of delivery leaves lots to be desired!

    ukp
    ReplyDelete
  17. OK I am not saying he in any way will delberately harm himself. He is probably having a very good time as long as the weather is nice. But he is playing with his life, maybe he doesen`t care if it all ends up there. But he sure as hell will make the best of it while it last. Every day will be like playing russian roulette once. So on average someone would last for six days, if he is lucky even longer. But it is not humanly possible to do what he is trying to do. To cycle 2.500 km at altitudes between 3.000 and more than 5.000 meters. In the middle of winter. In addition he has "no" experience with real winter, high mountains and espessially how he reacts on altitudesicness. He thinks a lot about not "breaking his line". Meaning everything must be cycled or walked. No car transport. Stupid? Well in addition I don`t accept food or drinks or anything from passing cars. Not even people pushing me a few meters up a hill! So I am obvious worse. As long as he thinks he is doing fine, he will resist every offer of transportation. But when things go wrong ther will be no help around. He wrote earlier he expected -40 C. He is not prepared even for - 20 C. Lets say he is at 5.000 meter in - 30 C in a storm. How du you expect him to survive? Oh, I forget to mention he got altitudesicness. If he doesn`t get down to 3.500 meter quicly he will die. Only problem is there is so much snow on the road there won`t be any traffic for days. Nor can he cycle anywhere either. If a foreign embassy gives Beijing 24 houres to find a foreign tourist they can do so nearly every time they try. First the police in Zhongdian will find out when he left the hotel. 31.of January? Then they will figure out that he is on his way to Litang. By asking oncoming cars they can find out if he is on the road now. Everyone who has passed him will remember him and tell others about the suicidal foreigner. If his track runs cold, several things could have happend. Has there been an avalance lately, he could have skidded down into a george trying to cross it. There could have been an accident, him solo or with a car. A fatal accident with a foreigner could mean prison. In addition he has a lot of tempting stuff. So he cold have been thrown into a gorge. Unlikely? I know, but could happen. He could have frozen to death in his tent or simply too ill to get out. The tent could have collapsed during the night in heavy snow, and won`t be found until springtime. The second time I met Ed I was camping in the bottom of a forest for the second night in a row. Suddenly I got the urge to get up and out to get some air with less moskitoes. And just when I got to the edge of the forest I see a cyclist stopping in the distance. Takes a picture of a large sacred pile of stones then starts to look around. Then he starts to put up his tent, next to the road. Who is so gullible that they would put the tent where everyone can see it? Ed. I tried to ask him to be more careful but no. "It is safe", he said. A few nights later a horseman rode away with his bike and half his tent near Ulaan Baatar. Next time I met him he was brokenharted. And quite famous back home in the papers. Due to the lack of news in the "silly season " he explained. The point? He has become much more careful now. He wants to stay out of sight. If he expects someone (the police) is looking for him, he will hide his campsite very well. So the easiest would be to find him during cycling hours. All my good maps are in storage in Bangkok but I guess the road between Zhongdian and Litang is around 400 km long. If not Litang police can report him in by tomorrow night (sunday) he may be missing or delayed. A lot of snow would stop him completely. Missing in those mountains, at those altitudes and at those temperatures could mean dead or dying. So if someone waits too long to do something he`ll be dead. I think he wrote that he no longer wanted to cycle to Tibet. But for a while he was very keen on information about Tibet. To get there he would go past Deqa or whatever it is called, far south of the border. At the border there is reportedly a checpoint. Where all foreigners will be stopped and sendt back. One way around this is to hide underneath the cargo in a truck. Paying a high price to the driver. But then his line is broken! If Ed feels his line has been broken allready, it won`t take too much to do it again if the "grand price" is to cycle in Tibet. And also a broken line would not mean much to him as long as he knows himself that he never will survive the mountains. This road in Tibet is closed to foreigners, but he could get far enough to die without any official would know he was there. The road to Litang is supposedly open. Why Ed would start something that he knows he can`t survive? Well we all have done stupid things. In Mauretania in 1986 I walked for a day with my bag and some water to see some amazing mountains. The next day for some odd reason I just kept on going into the desert. I knew what direction I had to walk in but not how far I would have to walk. I passed a dry well with hardly any water left in my bottle. But the oddest thing was that when a car passed (maybe the only car for the hole day) I refused to get in! But someone calling himself "prefectur" (still don`t know what it means) refused to leave me, if he had not done so I would have had to walk about 100 km. Would I have died? Probably. OK, I admitt it, the answer is YES! Was I suicidal? NO! Why I did it? I have no idea! Maybe his plan was just to get out of town for a while and then he just kept on going. Not thinking about the probability of dying, or maybe thinking it probably would be worth it. Ed! Keep on living! Hope you are safe somewhere! Help may be on its way, if you like it or not! You still got 50 good years ahead of you, with many more mountains to cross - safely! "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  18. Many people wants me to stop writing. But since I am the only cyclist with some experience here, and the only one here who has cycled with Ed and who knows him. The answer is NO I won`t stop. What goes into this page anyone can decide, what stays here Ed can decide. I won`t read the other comments again, not even my own. But com on. How can you compare cycling at very high altitudes, in areas with hardly any people, with comfy Alaska Highway? Or was it Denali Highway? I have criss/crossed Alaska and Western Canada on bike but in summer and fall. Any way, the roads in Alaska are ploughed for snow, the roads Ed are on are not. Do you understand the differens??? Do you? "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  19. I remember he told me that his homepage had becom like a chore. Maybe he got a lot of e-mails from people who doesn`t understand anything about cycling? I was surprised that he still wanted to keep his updating going on the return-trip. It would keep him bussy in lonely towns, that is correct. But I bet good hearted Ed kept it going to keep his charities running! "P.G."
    ReplyDelete
  20. I thought this blog was for encouragement well wishing and stuff like that. You go away for a few minutes for a breath of fresh air and all hell breaks loose.

    PG you may well think your the only cyclist on the planet to have done something difficult, 2 of my friends have stood on Everest perhaps if they bikes jammed up they're *rses they'ed count in your world. I've flown my paraglider sky high and got it wrong on the way down. Any sport/ activity taken to extremes can be extreme, so don't come all this better than anyone else or more qualified in the face of danger crap.

    We all worry about Ed's location and condition and hope he makes an appearance soon.

    It's been said before "Bad news travels faster than good" and your making yourself look like a nutter.

    I've emailled the Embassy and the news paper who ran the story about the bike theft. If anyone else worries then they should do the same. So if Ed gets kicked out of a warm bed due to **it storm you've stirred up. I don't think he's going to be all that pleased. If they drag him into jail and his bike trip goes pear shape we'll know who's finger prints are all over this. (MR. RANTING NUTTER aka PG)

    Now do me a favour and SHUT UP!
    ReplyDelete
  21. Carl W - you are a man on wise words. As ed's sister, I appreciate your support towards my brother and I, likewise, wish PG would stop his stupid writings and start being supportive.
    ReplyDelete
  22. It's handy my new years resolution was to stop swearing. I'm just me not wise, brave or anything in particular. I just thought about the situation and all this negative rubbish that was being written.

    So Ed if your hiding behind the Chippie in Exeter as has been suggested in the past. It's time to come in mate as your teas getting cold. I'm sure you can go out later as long as you play nicely and don't cause any trouble.
    ReplyDelete
  23. PG, you should stop whimpering like a woman and let Ed just get on with it. He's perfectly able to make his own estimate of the risks. The whole point of doing a trip like this is to take risks and do something unique he can tell his grandchildren. Assuming he makes it back :) (I'm Sure he will of course!)
    Dan
    ReplyDelete
  24. PG, you should stop whimpering like a woman and let Ed just get on with it. He's perfectly able to make his own estimate of the risks. The whole point of doing a trip like this is to take risks and do something unique he can tell his grandchildren. Assuming he makes it back :) (I'm Sure he will of course!)
    Dan
    ReplyDelete
  25. ACTION NOW! It is hard to understand why Ed`s family or friends have not come with any explanation or calming words here. Clearly I was and still is in a lot of pain over the dissapperanse of Ed. I don`t think they understand Ed`s problem at all. Ed told me he would stop and wait for the spring time. He didn`t. Instead he cycled to Zhengdian clearly intending to continue towards the Taklamakan Desert south track. To get there he has to cycle 2.500 km in altitudes between 3.000 to more than 5.000 meters. In the middle of winter! With temperatures down to -40 C! On roads that are not ploughed for snow! Altitude problems can start to be a problem at 3.500 and up, depending on the person. Altitudesicness can easily kill, phnaumonia and other illnesses as well. Only a suicidal person can do that. Or someone from England. Every winter many tourists are rescued from the mountains in Norway. And, surprise, surprise many of them are from England. Unable to comprehend what a killer winter can be. Ed has no experience with winters or high altitudes. You have a tiny rock in Scotland named Ben Nevis or something. How many of B.N. can you put on top of each other before you reach 5.500 meters? Ed claimed he would cross 6.000 meters passes, but I don`t think they are that high. And how thin air would it be up there? Someone said I was "talking to the mirror" but I am not. Family and friends would soon see that one of Ed`s cycling friends was on the blog. About 1.000 subscribe to Ed`s e-mail letters. (I don`t). They + xxxx others would be looking at the comments when Ed himself went silent. Ed told me the British Embassy in Beijing was monitoring his ride across Russia. Now that he is in China I find it hard to believe that they don`t. Espessially when he showed interest for Tibet. A Brit, on a bike, in Tibet in the middle of winter would mean extra work for the Embassy and they don`t like that. As I mentioned a few days ago Ed stayed at someones mansion in January 2005. It was the British Consul-General Stephen B. I guess he noticed Ed was a bit melancoly so he has probably kept an eye on his friend in this blog as well. So people of importance in this case, do look on this blog. Why none of them have come with a calming comment to me, I do not know. Even if Ed is missing, his family and friends, like some English tourists, may not be able to understand the true meaning of "killer-winter". They are from the south of England. They may think "He has cycled so far-he can probably do the rest as well." To me Ed is just a newbeginner. Impressiv, yes, but still a newbeginner. I have cycled more than 130.000 km abroad on 5 continents. In China I have cycled more than 6 times. I have crossed many passes between 3.500 and 4.000 meters. But I have so severe problems with the altitude I must forever stay below 4.000 meters. There is no reason why Ed who never has been at high altitudes should cope better than me. On the ride Ed has done so far, he has had maybe a 2% chance of dying. So of every 50 equally determined young men, with his average strenght, with the same time to spend, only one would die before he came to Zhongdian. Not too many would get to Zhongdian, but only one would die. What Ed (probably) has started on can`t be done by anyone in wintertime. The death rate for Ed now will be 100% unless he stops or are beeing stopped. I admitted yesterday of a exactly 20 years old secret. I walked straight into the desert no roads, no cars. If I had not been stopped I would have died. Why I did it? I don`t know! I was not suicidal. And that was before I started cycling, so I was not lead poisoned. So Ed is doing something even more stupid. And like I was, he should be stopped. Ed is no child and he is not married, so no one has a special right to decide if he should be stopped or not. According to his sister, they are not going to try to stop him. So others can try to stop him. The telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to Beijing and Hong Kong are easy to find. To get some attention the persons trying must be British citizens, I am a Norwegian and as you can see is fighting a uphill battle. Equally important is the understanding of what he is doing will kill him. Or else you can`t get any interest in the problem. In every life we come across a situation where we could have made a greate differense to a suffering persons life. But for some reason we did not. Now we can, please do! Stephen, please Sir, Ed is your friend too, don`t you have a nagging feeling something isn`t right? It is very easy for you to "silently" check out where Ed is. And to stop him from what he is heading for. Please do. Local papers in England, like The Daily Mirror, can be interested and may have a "story of the week price". Please give it, if any, to the charities Ed is supporting. The Embassy and Consulate are opening in a few hours. I don`t have anything in Norway including no computer, so every day I go to the lokal "wangba" to see if there is any news about Ed. Anyone trying to contact me through this blog can`t until tomorrow night. Any family and friends of Ed who want my name and e-mail? My name is Asmund and if you want you can find two pictures of me, one with my pink gloves Ed was so facinated by. Ed can give you my e-mail address. Can`t find Ed? The Chinese police can in 24 hours. Hopefully. If he is on his way from Zhangdian to Litang all it takes to find him is a car big enough to take his bike back. And two men. To speed things up another car could start from Litang. If he thinks he is doing fine, he may get angry. I have written yesterday and another day about what to look for for cycle ignorant chinese policemen. Daily distances and so on. In 2005 Ed had a green tent. I don`t know if he still is using it. When Ed is tired he may still camp near the road. But if there is a track or easy acsess to a secluded place he will choose that. The search won`t cost much. Maybe a free service from China. England you can`t afford to loose Ed! Ed is my friend too, so I do have a right to have a say in this! So sis. I have cycled with Ed. I know Ed. What he has set out to do can`t be done, not in wintertime, not by Ed or anyone else. No matter what people write here. What do you think you have to lose if you do try to stop Ed? His friendship? The person you know is not able to hate someone, long time anyway, is he? But even if you did lose his friendship, would it not be better if he lived happily somewhere as a stranger to you, than to let him die now? Knowing that those who could stop him and should have stopped him, in his hour of need, didn`t. Do you do this to protect his free will? Ed is sick. Your brother needs your help. When he is well, then he can choose his own destiny. Even if that is to take his own life. But not now. Listen to your heart and think. Asmund.
    ReplyDelete
  26. I don`t like this silence! As if you know something bad and I don`t. My mom told me the other day I looked like 70, and that is just how I feel! ( I am 40 something). Yesterday I spendt 4 hours here writing yesterdays text. Now I start on todays text, please tell me "To shut up, and go away!" I am finished writing in an hour or two! Do you know something about Ed? Are they looking for him? If I am right, the "window of oppurtunity" is about to close for him. If not allready closed. I am his friend too. I can`t demand an answer, but I shure would like one! Asmund.
    ReplyDelete
  27. "No news is NOT bad news!"

    I really like it when I put a bit more of a positive note on things. Yes! There is no news but hanging around the web like expectant fathers, as they did years ago waiting for news.

    Won't I believe make the news come along any faster.

    Nor will typing your life story or revisiting countless times the stuff you've already typed in.

    "Just give it a rest."

    Just because we live a world that runs 24/7 has phones, email, TV, fast food and transport etc. does not mean things run that smoothly in the back of beyond. In these places everything slowes down to a stop, before they start again, moving at a pace that can not be altered. People are busy living and don't have time for chit-chat and what we call the polite things.

    It's the way it is! Ed does not seem a silly bloke and I'm sure he'll have sorted himself out with a plan B. just incase when things get exciting. So you, me and everyone else will have to wait till he comes up for air, which I'm sure he will.

    Then we should all treat him with kid gloves as 27 comments on his exploits. Plus a stack of probably bad and unwanted PR, as well as eyes from all directions looking a bloke, a bike and a few bags of belongings. I'm sure will upset him!

    When I travelled I went to get away from everything, not to sit in the spotlight. Live day by day by my rules, I think the web is brill, but if he is going to live under a microscope for the rest of the trip. What fun will there be in that? Having your judgement questioned by people unseen, who are not on the ground, dis-joined voices in the dark reaches of the web trying to second guess you for fun.

    Give the bloke a break, actually give yourself a break. All this stress, angst and typing won't help. Unless you have unresolved issues and then I suggest you seek professional help. This is not the time nor the place.
    ReplyDelete
  28. As usual all I write is "To whom it may consern". If we knew who has been reading Ed`s blog I think we would be surprised. As this blog belongs to Ed, and as long as I write about Ed and cycling, I shall not feel bad about it. As you noticed Ed doesn`t believe in sensorship. I luckily had no e-mail address to his family. She probably would have read the e-mail and thought "stupid writing, why can`t he be supportive?" and deleted it instead, whitout a second thought. So I had to take my writing to the blog instead. If I had written a e-mail to Stephen B. in Hong Kong he probably has a Hong Kong Chinese who screens everything he gets. "Bicycle in China? But it is so big! Only poor people use bicycle and only localy. Edward is probably rich, and can use a car or train. But bicycle? No way." and then my e-mail would be deleted. When first one e-mail has been deleted, the same could happen to every e-mail about the same "impossible" subject. And an e-mail from me to the Embassy in Beijing would also be screened by only one person. "Ed? Oh the wild looking cyclist! I remember him! Jolly good, he is cycling home again! He made it all the way to Shanghai on bicycle, then for shure he will make it back to England as well! Stupid Norwegian, why cant he bother his own Embassy with his stupid thoughts!" My mail deleted. Then this bloke who wrote here a few days ago that he had written to the Embassy. Clearly not agreeing with my fears. I guess it said a lead headed, raving mad Norwegian cyclist saw a problem that an Englishman, for centuries the worlds greatest and finest explorers, would be riding across the top of the world in wintertime. Of course he can! I will go to the bookies right now and bet on it! To prove I am sure. What will be the next they will clame? That Scott was ignorant and underequipped? Every man, woman and child in Great Britain knows that is a stupid lie. Stupid fools these Norwegians! What do they know?" His mail would be deleted. And every other mail about a possible dissapperance of Ed will be deleted. Then two weeks goes by and his family starts to worry. But it is too late. The "window of oppertunity" has closed. That is why it was so important to me that a British citizen who knew it would kill Ed, would contact the Embassy and Consulat. Not a foreigner like me. And not someone who would "numb" any later approach about the problem by beeing "disbelieving". Ed has been "missing" for a week now. If he was cycling to Litang he should have been there by now. It is maybe around 400 km. Goes from 3.200 meters and up to 4.800 meters. If he moved too fast up, he can have been struck by acute altitudesickness. He then should have stopped a car to get "quickly" down to Zhongdian. But ignorant as he probably is, he may have stayed in his tent thinking it would go over, out of sight from the road. Unable to get well, or take care of himself or to have any clear thoughts in his head. If it then gets really cold he would have very small chanses to survive. The "window of oppurtunity" could be closing very soon now. Is anything beeing done for Ed? Did he say when he would write the next e-mail? In Litang they would have a "wangba" I guess. So if no e-mail no Ed. Oh, here comes another important question: I wrote to Ed that he had to have the Central-Asia map from Nelles Verlag, if he was going to C.-A. In China he can`t get it. I wrote he would not be able to get it in Thailand. So he would have to ask family or friends to buy it in England and send it to him. (I had mine sendt to Urumqi).He needed it when he planned his trip in Shanghai. Did anyone send it to him? This question is important! It would show if he intended to cycle on after China-or not... If he got it early on, he may have changed his "plans" afterwards. I have been thinking about V. and D. who Ed cycled so long together with in Russia. And with me a few days. When we parted I didn`t wan`t their e-mail adress and they didn`t want mine. But today I thought about the possibilities that Ed had sendt the same mail to them and me. So he had, so I have written to them to comment here on Ed and the situation. I don`t know where they are in the world, or if they will reply. So time has come to send and then see if any answers has come to the wearabouts of Ed... Asmund.
    ReplyDelete
  29. I am still in the dark and I know nothing. And the internet knows no news about Ed. No calming words. And calm is what I need. I will leave Ed`s blog now. I am sure you all will be glad for that. Today I totally snapped at work, and if it happens again I will lose my job. That is not important, but worse is that I am about to lose my mind. You and others have allready noticed it, and now I am noticing it too. 8 Days have passed and I am giving it up. I think he is gone. Only time will tell if he did it himself or not. But don`t give up looking, maybe he got amnesia or something somewhere. Maybe he becomes a legend of some kind? Ed knew perfectly well that I would snap as soon as he went "missing". If you get to open his e-mails, you will find many e-mails warning him against the plans from me. On the 16. of January note from Ed, I wrote a reminder in the comments 21. of January. On the 29. of January he could see in the comments that I had taken the warnings to the blog, big time. If he read what I wrote on the 30. of January, I don`t know. But he knew I would continue untill I gave up hope for him. Or in this case, have to give up thinking about him to save my own life. Ed never ment to harm me nor anyone else in his life. And espessially not now. If he really wanted to end his life, than there is really no good time for it. In my naivity I think someone who got to see and feel the nature splendour that he was surrounded of, would change his mind. But even if he did change his mind, it could have been too late. The high mountains in wintertime are mercyless, and will kill anyone trying to cycle there no matter if they plan to live or die. That is a lesson for you all to learn. You obviously haven`t got a clue. If you ask every person over 10 in Finland, North-Sweden and Norway if a person would die trying to cross the high mountains in China in wintertime, they will be stunned and dissbelieving of the question. So for them to comprehend, you have to tell them the cyclist is from England. Then they will understand. More than 90 persent will say "Yes, he will die". The rest will say "No, God will stop him". With close to 7 billion souls to keep track of, I guess God can`t be blamed for loosing track of one of his finest. I guess I could have tried to call your Ambassador in Beijing or The British Consul-General in Hong Kong myself. But knowing how important it would be to get the message across, I would stutter and choke so many times the secretarys would hang up time and time again. Even if I got through I probably still would have to explain why winter is a killer in the mountains. And if I can`t explain it to you in a "book full of words", I can`t explain it to them in a few minutes. So I left it to you to explain if you understood. Soon this blog belongs to someone else and all my warnings can be deleted. I will make a print now and analyze it later, when I am well again. I thought I would be angry now like a "written thorax outburst", but I just feel tired and empty. I will be fine. I am used to be alone and take care of myself in crises. Now I have family and friends nearby. Nobody should blame themself for not doing enough for Ed. Nor will I blame myself for not beeing able to make you understand the problem. If Ed wanted to do what he maybe did, then I guess he would have done it anyway. If we came across the same problem again, we probably would want to handle it differently. Like, do a suicidal person really have a "free" will? Life was easyer earlyer. Cycling friends would come and go, and I would in my mind think and hope they would live long and happy lives. Now with the internet everything is so "in your face" all the time. Of course there could be a 100 good reasons for Ed still beeing alive. It is just I can`t see them in my current state of mind. Please keep looking for him! Please give generously to his charities! Maybe you can start a charity in his name? Asmund.
    ReplyDelete
  30. Litang is currently enjoying sunny weather with a daytime high of 11 degrees centigrade. I bet Ed's just sunning himself, and enjoying the heightened tension that comes from an extended gap in his blog. Someone, somewhere, knows that he's just fine and making good progress. Perhaps the people posting comments don't know that Ed's been on an Everest Base Camp expedition before, and coped just fine with altitude?
    I'll sleep well tonight, in any case.
    TFXE
    ReplyDelete
  31. +11 degrees perfect weather for sunbathing and anything over 5000m is the best place for a game of football.
    ReplyDelete
  32. I consider Ed a good friend. While I haven't yet had the pleasure of cycling with him, I know him to be an intelligent, level-headed and resourceful guy who loves a challenge but doesn't take stupid risks.

    He knew that this part of his ride would probably be the most difficult, and there's no doubt that it will be an awesome achievement if/when he successfully completes it. But Ed isn't stupid, and if it does become too dangerous to continue he will either stop or turn around. There is nobody in whom I would have more confidence in this situation.

    These scaremongering comments don't help anyone. If I wasn't so confident in Ed, they would have really upset me - and I'm sure Ed's family and other friends feel likewise. Please can we have less negative comments and more goodwill.

    As it happens yesterday there was an article in Ed's former local paper, the Exeter Express and Echo, in which his mother was quoted as saying she had heard from him recently and wasn't unduly worried.

    She said: "My daughter has read the comments and said they were very scary and not very nice.

    "Edward has seen them, too, and said there is a lot of exaggeration in what has been said.

    "He knows it is very cold, but he thinks it is the best time to go now before the snow.

    "He is in an area where there aren't many internet cafes so he can't send emails that often.

    "It is a tough bit of his trip and he is quite isolated. He said he would be in touch with us every week to 10 days, so we hope to hear from him again soon.

    "We are very proud of him. Having done it one way, he has turned around and come back. But he is sensible and has taken precautions. He is aware of what the places are like that he is going through."

    You can read the article at: http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=137199&command=displayContent&sourceNode=136986&contentPK=13970042&folderPk=79934

    All the best, Ed. We're all thinking of you - and secretly very jealous...

    Sam
    ReplyDelete
  33. Ed when you have a minute, are we still on for Kashgar? as easter bunny box packing is reaching fever pitch at this end. Everyone is throwing stuff in and it's out of control if you ask me. (do they sell trailers for bikes out there?)

    Also did you have any idea how big the Hemmingway book is? I think they sold me reading age nine or something it's 3 times as thick as a phone book and therefore NOT going. If you want it come get yourself. However you might want to mail me first as I will laugh if you cycle 15K + miles to get a book and I'm out when you turn up.

    Keep yourself out of trouble as best as you can.

    all the best mate

    C.
    ReplyDelete
  34. Finally someone who came with some comforting words. I guess my worrying got into a spiral and totally out of controle. I still say the route ahead is far to dangerous in wintertime, and my worries can easily come through, but I guess I have to give it a rest. If he`s been to the Everest Base Camp, then he has had more experience than he ever told me. Soon we move to another page, so hopefully all my very embarrassing comments on this page are forgotten. Or even better: Ed can you forgive me and just delete all my comments? I still say you should wait for springtime, but by the time you get to Litang you have more high altitude experience than me, so I guess I should try to shut up. Sorry for questioning your mental health, it is obviously better than mine. Try to write something from Litang that proves it, and not only "ranting". I am very glad you are well!!! Got to go, nurse is here with my daily pills.... Asmund.
    ReplyDelete
  35. Ask for extra helpings on the tablets and nice that your posting is small enough to read in one sitting.
    ReplyDelete
  36. No Ed, but I am not worried. TFXE + Sam gave me just the information I needed. He has been to very high altitudes at EBC and know how to cope and how his body will handle it. That was all the information I would have needed to be "supportiv". So those of you who had that bit of information and wanted me to shut up, only got tourself to blame. And Ed should have known that I would react sharply if he suddenly left without commenting on my worries in both this blog and e-mails. That I got a bit "over the top" will probably be surprising for him. Why I became so fond of him, I do not know. Family and friends can probably put it in words. Not many people can cope to be alone on a bicycle tour 24/7. We need some kind of software program in our brains that is constantly scanning for possible problems. Something that keeps us from going insane. Something that tells us it is time to take a breake for a day, a week or a month to avoid mental problems. Something that prevents the brain to get stuck in self destruciv thoughts that can drive any person crazy. Imaging you got no one to talk to and these thoughts comes back to you "all" day, day after day after day...It can be anything, unresolved problems you have with family or friends, thoughts about moments in life where you did wrong. Oten minor things that won`t go away. Ed had been acting even more odd than usual, so I suspected he had some kind of "virus" in his software. By them self they did not mean much, but suddenly I saw a pattern. Always complaining about the country/system. Not stopping in Dali to wait for late winter, as he promised me. His "ranting" got worse and inkoherant(I am using words I can`t spell and don`t know the true meaning of). My warning of the route ahead both in e-mails and in comments was totally ignored. Then he suddenly left. To high mountains I tought he had no experience with, to winter I thought he had no experience with. When I added the melancoly I had notised in him in Russia/Mongolia I "knew" something had to be terrible wrong. What kind of friend would I have been if I said nothing? But I did not know who to say it to so I said it here. Not much comfort to get. "Bad news travel fast". Well that is correct if you are on the M1. The road Ed is on has maybe 5-6 cars an hour. The roads he will go on to Golmud (Qinghai) maybe 10-20 cars a day. The road to the crossroad far south of Korla (Xinjiang), maybe 4-5 cars a day. If he is cautios and hides his tent so it can`t be seen from the road, then no one will know exactly where his track "went cold". So whom gonne spread what news? The main thing for me is that he knows high mountains, and his slow progress could be the time it takes to acclimatise to high altitude. It would be much worse for me if I died out of my own stupidity and ignorance (preventable) than if I died in some freak accident. He probably feels the same. His trip is very difficult to plan. No matter what he does will he get frozen or fried. If he waits too long now, it will be bloody murder to try the Taklamakan desert south track in late spring. 3-4 Years ago when I read about it, there was nothing (no house, no food) for 700-800 km! You would not expect to find such empty spaces in China would you? And much of the water in Qinghai is saline! He can go further north now using "plan X" Litang-Kanding(I warned him about going to Kanding but that was before I knew he hed high altitude experience)-lowland valley-Markam(Sichuan)-Zoige(Sichuan)-Urumqi(Xinjiang)(visa for Kazakhstan)-Almaty, Kazakhstan (visa for Kirgistan)-Bishkek, Kirgistan (visa and GABO for Tajikistan)and avoid most of the danger. No need to go to Beijing. Not safe but a lot safer. But for some odd reason he wants the in winter impossible suicidal route he has planned. Oh no, the Docktor is here, he says I am "hording" the computer blocking for all those who wants to look at p... before bed time. Got to go. Well, maybe I stay and watch.... Asmund.
    ReplyDelete
  37. Asmund will not be writing anything here tonight.Last night we had to put him in a straightjacket.He had a visitor who really upset him.She said maybe Ed(his imaginary friend) had gone to EBC(what is that?)during the mild season.So Asmund started to scream "He does not know what real winter is"!We had to sedate him.Now he is waking up after nearly 20 hours sleep.Mumbeling something about "Ed is fine!Ed is fine!".And "Do not ever do that again!"Well at least he is smiling and we have not seen that in over one week. Nurse Linda.
    ReplyDelete
  38. Asmund - you're on the BBC Website!

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4702120.stm

    Nice to hear from you again, Ed.

    E.
    ReplyDelete
  39. Hello! It is me nurse Linda again. Asmund is banned from writing anything on the computer. But I promised earlier to write for him if it was very,very,very important. In other words - never. But suddenly today he had a very good point that really stunned me,and made me worried too. Asmund may be dum and currently living in his own private la-la world. But he is not stupid. For me to deliver his point I need to give some tidious background. But please read on. I had a long talk with Asmund today. Cycling alone year after year aparantly can mess up someones brain.
    Turns out this Ed,who we thought was a fictious person in Asmund`s very vivid imagination,really was Edward an Englishman Asmund cycled with a few days in Russia and Mongolia. This Ed cycle great distances helping charities to raise money. As a professional I will say Ed has become a cross between a hero and the son Asmund never had. Asmund would love to cycle raising money for charities,but he got some problems with his chest and his loungs that he was born with. He needs to spend his life in constant physical activity,cycling is perfect for him. His problems gives him physical abilities limitations and he allways have to look for signs that tells him to slow down or stop for a while. Cycling on flat ground he can cycle in ordinary speed,while going uphill he constantly has to stop and rest. Therefore he is allways cycling alone. He feels that if he had been cycling for charities he would push himself beyond what he possibly can do physically and die. Benefitting the charities but Asmund,beeing slightly selfish,wants to live as long as possible. In Norway we are the desendants of people who stupidly followed the melting ice edge north after the last ice age. It was a very harsh environment. All those who were "dangerously daring" were killed before they reached the age of reproduction. Leaving behind a people who are "cautiously daring" and who would call the trip Ed has ahead of him as suisidal. If it had been tried done by a Norwegian. But when beeing tried done by an Englishman,we do not know what to call it. As children we all have to learn about Scott and his men. To us it looks like suicidal behaviour. It was not. They just did not understand what they were getting in to. Oh,sorry,I will try to get to the point: A short while ago I saw Asmund looking at web pages at "this is exeter". "But I am,but I am" he said repetadly,pointing at the text "claiming to be an experienced cyclist". I looked at the text and got hold of the good doctor. The doctor had resently got his sister`s son a job as an evening nurse to keep an eye on our "guests". Too late we found out he was bussy day-trading shares on the Nasdaq. So our "guests" could do more or less what they wanted. Asmund used the time to write in someones blog. No body knew. We thought the damage of this nurse missuse of his job was limited to the hospital. But when the good doctor and I read that Asmund had upset people in another country,the good doctor totally lost his head. Seconds later he was trying to choke Asmund who did nothing to defend himself. Two other "guests" started to screem,and so did I. Seconds later two guards came. But they just stood there,bewildered,as if something was wrong with the picture. Then they pinned him to the floor and I gave him a trancualiser. Now he is a "guest" at another mental hospital. So I have no one more senior than me to back me up on my claim that Asmund is correct on what I finally are about to get to. When I came back from the ambulance,Asmund was sitting in a corner sobbing. "So you regret what you have done?" I asked him. He just shoked his head and tried to explain. "What Ed is about to start on is impossible. If he does not die in the high mountains,he will die in the remote uninhabited desert." "But then he will turn back,when he understands he can not do it" I said. "No" Asmund said. "He will just keep on going." Pointing at another page on the website. "Ed is now cycling for a friend who died of cancer. That will give Ed powers and determination to go beyond what is normally humanly possible. In the end he will be in a place and a situation no human on this earth can survive. It will be too late to turn around and no one around to save him." I was stunned. He is correct. Determination beyond normal can make people do wonderful and unbelivable things. But in the end a human is just a human,with basic life prolonging needs and natural limitations. Sooner or later nature will crush anyone trying to step over the invisible limitations that are within each and every beeing on this planet. I support Asmund. The trip is apparently dangerously suicidal. Please try to convince Ed to wait in Litang until the worst of the winter is over. Then maybe he can go on a "Plan B" or something that will be dangerous enough to keep it exiting,but still safe enough to get him alive back to England. If he waits for late winter,then continnues across the planned route,the desert part will be murderously hot when he gets there. Even for people in a car. So he has to take a different route from Litang. The friend of Ed who died of cancer. If he had a say in all of this, would he wish that Ed played "5 bullet russian-roulette" with his own life? Now this information I am about to give you is confidential: I asked Asmund why Ed would not take a car across the worst areas. Asmund looked at me shoked. "No that is cheating! Ed would never do that!" Then he leaned forward reveling the dark untold secret: When in Russia Ed was arrested for coming too close to the border with Kazakhstan. First he was arrested,then brought back to the station for interrogation. Before he was released he was given a new uniform of a russian borderguard! (Do people love this guy or not!) He was then driven back to the spot where he was arrested. Then he was on his way leaving behind even more friends. But later he realised he left the car on the other side of the road,leaving behind a few meter that he actually did not cycle. He did not cross his track when he continnued cycling,his unbroken line had been broken by a few meters. By the time he got to Ulaan Baatar it was bothering Ed so much he told Asmund. Does that sound like someone who is willing to cheat? How Asmund became a "guest" at our hospital? He was rescued in the high mountains of Kyrgystan a year ago. He was cycling over a doubble pass when he was caught in a terrible snow storm camping between them. He made snow shoes and could have left his stuff behind and walked out the low pass he came in,but no,not him. He was not willing to turn back. The next days he kept on walking and crawling through the snow carrying his stuff up the mountain pass ahead of him. Very slow progress. A month later he was rescued by soldiers sendt in to look for his corps. How he managed to survive? Nobody knows. But then his ansestors were "born on a slab of ice". Was he happy to be rescued? No! He was whispering:"I rather die than give up this mountain pass!" They had to wash him for a long time,burn his stinking clothes and send him handcuffed on a plane home. He could not cope with everyday life so his family had eventually to send him here. Years ago he used to say that anyone should be allowed to do whatever they wanted to do as long as they knew exactly what problems that are or may occure ahead of them. That they have no mental problems and are not suicidal. And are not endangering any other lives during or after whatever they are doing or are going to do. But now he is not so sure any more. There may occure problems,like mental problems,no one can accuratly predict in advance. Nor can they be solved or self cured "on the spot" by someone travelling alone. Asmund claims that what sendt him "over the edge" was simply sleepdepravation. It was so cold at night he could not sleep properly,night after night after night.....Now that little story about a few meters missing in Ed`s unbroken line must remain a secret between us. To prevent Asmund from reading it I will stop him from using the internet. And if this Ed is really such a nice person,then I guess he will not harm Asmund in any way if he ever finds out. To put all of this into one sentence? If Ed`s friend Richard could make Ed take a much safer route back home to England, would he? Nurse Linda.
    ReplyDelete
  40. I think one of the commenters here needs a lesson in paragraphing...
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)