BBC - Devon Features - Exeter cyclist Edward Genochio's latest diary with only 230 km to go

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24 September 2014

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Thursday 21st October 2004
Ed's Biking Diary - 11
Beijing - 230km to go

Ed poses with the tourists in Tiananmen Square

Edward rides into Tiananmen

Twenty seven year old Edward Genochio, from Exeter, is on a solo 12,000-mile cycle ride from Exeter to Shanghai.

Here's his latest diary entry from along the route.

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IN HIS OWN WORDS

Listen to an interview with Edward where he tells BBC Devon Online's John Govier all about his 8 month trip including having his bike stolen by Mongolian horseback thieves, getting a new bike delivered by a BBC Devon Online reader and what his plans are now.

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SEE ALSO

Ed's Story- In the beginning

Cycle Routes in Devon

Sahara Marathon

WEB LINKS

Ed's Website

Lotus Children's Centre

Nanren Project
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P H O T O - - G A L L E R Y

PHOTO GALLERY:
Take a look at some of Ed's pictures from the journey.

DIARY:

	January 4th 2005
	A c-c-cold Christmas
	December 11th 2004
	Back in the saddle!
	October 24th 2004
	The end!
	October 21st 2004
	Almost there
	October 5th 2004
	Absent friends
	September 5th 2004
	Ed's letter home
	September 3rd 2004
	New bike has arrived
	August 16th 2004
	Stolen bike and tent
	August 8th 2004
	Ulan Bator, Mongolia
	June 13th 2004
	Novosibirsk
	March 24th 2004
	Donaueschingen
	March 16th 2004
	Antwerp, Belgium
	March 11th 2004
	On the Channel Ferry
	March 1st 2004
	11th hour preparations

THE ROUTE
SO FAR

Odesa :
Rostov on Don :
Volgograd :
Buzuluk :
Ufa :
Chelyabinsk :
Ishim :
Omsk :
Novosibirsk :
Achinsk :
Abakan :
A loop South-east to Kyzyl, then West to Chadan, and North back to Abakan via Abaza :
Krasnoyarsk :
Kansk :
Irkutsk :
Around the southern edge of Lake Baikal :
Ulan Ude :
Across the Russian- Mongolian border at Kyakhta :
Ulan Bator;
Beijing;
Tiananmen;
Jingjiang;

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Almost there...

It's been a sprint finish from Beijing to Shanghai. The roads have been good and dead flat every day except one.

The wind has been on my tail and, like a horse that's turned for home, my legs seem to have a little extra strength now that the finishing post is in sight.

It turns out that it's quicker to write a PhD than to ride a bike to Shanghai - by 24 hours anyway.

Emily is is going to submit her thesis on Friday, while I won't be in Shanghai until Saturday!

Shanghai is still 230 km away, but after 17,700 kms, a couple of hundred kilometres feels almost in sight.

When I left Exeter in March, my girlfriend Emily had around 8 months more work to finish writing her PhD at Exeter University. I reckoned it would take me around 8 months to reach Shanghai.

It turns out that it's quicker to write a PhD than to ride a bike to Shanghai - by 24 hours anyway. Emily is is going to submit her thesis on Friday, while I won't be in Shanghai until Saturday!

(Emily will probably want to point out that she's
actually been working on her PhD for more than three years, but that would spoil the near-symmetry of our finishing....)

TAIXING TONIGHT
For the last 8 months I've been carrying a heavy set of tools that let me take apart my rear wheel in the event of a spoke breaking and needing replacement.

For 232 days I've never needed them, but often cursed the weight of them.

Tackling the Gobi Desert
There are lots more pictures in our PHOTO GALLERY:

I came close to throwing them out when I got to Beijing. Then today, two days from the end of my ride, I heard... "Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!"

Six spokes breaking! And suddenly carrying that extra kilo of tools on the back of my bike felt like a good investment.

As I crouched on the roadside doing the necessary repairs, a TV crew happened to be passing by on a scooter.

They reckoned that a foreigner getting his hands oily must be a pretty good story, so look out for me on "Taixing Tonight" or whatever the local TV news programme is called!

So with six new spokes in my back wheel, tomorrow I cross the Yangtze at Jingjiang in Jiangsu province (the last bridge across the Yangtze before it reaches the sea), and with any luck, should be riding into Shanghai on Saturday.

Edward