The Road Less Traveled

So this October Holiday (9 pleasant days off from school) our entire staff and the families of our staff attended a retreat near LaoShan. I recently just made a new investment in a bike so I decided to join the group of men riding to LaoShan some thirty miles away. Being that Qingdao is VERY known for its mountainous terrains and killer hills, it was SUPPOSED to take us three hours to get to the retreat, but little did we know....There were two groups of riders, the first being the 'follow the rules' kind of riders which chose to go the normal route via the highway. The second group (which I was a part of) chose to go the road less traveled. Our group of 10 triumphant athletes decided to follow our nose to the sea and create a new way to LaoShan (the hotel was on the sea so if we could FIND the sea, we could find our hotel, right?) Well after the first 20 miles we were ready for a new and more scenic adventure so we cut off the highway and started climbing through a nearby village. There was only one small road so we shared it with bikes, chickens, goats, tractors, and horses. After riding up and up and up through random villages we finally got to the end of the road and hit an almost vertical climb to the top of the mountain (and we still had no idea where we were-we were still trying to find the sea). During this time we were not able to ride our bikes because of the severe and drastic degree of incline and the lack of ample road to ride on. So, we created a new sport-bike hiking. We then for the next 3-4 hours CARRIED our bikes up the remaining portion of the mountain to the saddle and then down switchbacks on the backside of the mountain. After no more switchbacks we were on to plan C. We decided to follow a river bed (which was thankfully dry) and our poor bikes became our springboards for bouncing from boulder to boulder. We knew that all rivers lead to the ocean, so why not? After SIX hours and almost FIFTY MILES of biking and bike hiking we were able to find some farmland to ride down and FINALLY able to see the ocean. Our hopes were HIGH!!! During this time were were able to use what our bikes were created for=MOUNTAIN BIKING! Man, it was a rush! Our top speed was 40 mph although this was probably one of the most risky things i've been apart of. I loved EVERY minute of it. These are a few pics of the weekend and the special people I got to hang out with. The last picture is of Anderson, Eric, and Gloria (my co-workers at QMIS). Mom sent them Texas hats to wear as a gift for Mid-Autumn Festival. They are now converted to lovers of this great state, thanks mom. Enjoy!!