if you can’t fight it – jump on it

Posted on

Google Maps

By loading the map, you agree to Google's privacy policy.
Learn more

Load map

Yesterday had been a disaster, but little did we know that today was going to be even worse.

Robozwerg‘s eyes were a mess: a funny pink color, all swollen up, and constantly watering.

The poor dude couldn’t even blink.

So we figured he best take some antibiotics and apply an ointment, and then put on every kind of protection that we could find:

blind Robo

(Yes, it’s Winnie-the-Pooh.)

Then it started to rain.

I had Robozwerg lay down on the Cucumber, put the sun shade in his hands, and then I was going to push the whole thing as far as I could go:

method of transportation

…against the wind and the rain, hauling the bike with my blind little brother through the Gobi desert, as far as I could go was only about 4 hours – and 9 kilometers.

Then I gave up.

We devised a new plan:

sad Robo

Little dude was going to sit on the bike and pedal. And here’s where it gets tricky: he was supposed to stay blindfolded the whole time, so I had to walk next to the bike, hold the handlebars and take care of the steering.

…and so we went, Robozwerg not knowing where the hell we were going, and me not knowing how far we would get.

We passed some old ruins that seemed like they belonged to the Great Wall fortifications in this area:

ruin

My brother didn’t see them.

The mountains in the south were very pretty at times:

rocks

…but he didn’t notice that either.

red Gobi

Then both our brakes on the Cucumber failed.

And I mean failed as in f-a-i-l-e-d:

losing the brakes

So now we had a new problem – the tailwinds and the downhill force:

Gobi road

With the brakes gone, I just couldn’t slow down anymore.

I wasn’t going to leave my blind Robozwerg alone on that bike either.

Suddenly I found myself in a very uncomfortable situation: the Cucumber with the Caboose and my brother were all moving downhill, and they were getting faster.

So I did what I had never wanted to do.

I jumped on the bike.

And I rode downhill.

Sometimes the winds and the downhill gradient were so strong that we reached speeds of up to 35km/h.

The Gobi desert passed by in a rush – my brother behind me – and the brakes were gone.

“Are we going really fast?” he would ask me sometimes.

I’d just say yes, and pray that we didn’t crash.

And so we rode.

There wasn’t that much downhill though. We even passed by a place where there were a few houses and some people living in them:

dudes

This place had been a mine a few decades ago, then it had been abandoned, and now they were planning to make it into a new one.

We rested in the shade of a tower of the Great Wall:

ruined tower

Then we moved on for a couple of hours, until the sun was about to go to sleep behind the vast nothingness of the Gobi desert:

sunset

Again, with the sandstorm going on out there, we opted for the one-man tent:

camp

Feeling that I had just cheated myself out of walking about 10 kilometers, I wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

Robozwerg’s eyes seemed to get better though.

Robozwerg says:

“Where am I?”



  • Barry aka Ba Lli

    Fuck eh, das war heftig. Und trotzdem ne irre Tagesleistung, gab es schon mal mehr?
    Aber der Sonnenuntergang ist natürlich echt klasse und der reflektierte Chris in der Sonnenbrille ebenso.
    Leider hat sich wieder mal bewahrheitet: je mehr Krams und Gedöns man hat, um so mehr kann auch in Dutten gehn.
    Simplify your life, vielleicht hättet ihr doch die Plastikhocker weglassen sollen. 🙂

    Reply

  • Florian (Flo Li Anh,

    Uiuiui. Na wenn das man kein Abenteuer war. Und dann gleich so ne Tageskilometerleistung – alle Achtung. Dass davon nun 10 nicht zu Fuß waren kann man den Umständen entsprechend ja nun mal akzeptieren, wenn auch zähneknirschend 😉 Also nach Deinem Kommentar, Christoph, glaub ich Dir nun gut und gerne, dass Du richtig den Willen hast, das ganze Ding zu Fuss zurückzulegen – wie geplant – so soll das sein. Nun gut, erinnere Teacher Xie, da hast du wohl im richtigen Augenblick das richtige getan. Obwohl ich stell mir das schon ziemlich lustig vor (auch wenns vielleicht in dem Moment nicht so war, aber im Nachhinein…) wie ein Bärtiger mit seinem Vermummten Gefährten ohne Bremsen durch die Wüste kachelt. hihi. nungut zumindest machen die 10km den Kohl nicht fett. Weiter so Jungs, bin stolz auf euch 😉

    @Ba Lli: Bin heut übrigens auch so 32km marschiert, nachdem ich fast ein Monat aus dem Training gekommen bin – geht ja mal gar nicht… – , jedenfalls hiess es ählich wie bei Dir: Clausthal – Altenau – Wellner Weg – Dammgraben – Magdeburger Weg/Steile Wand – Wolfswarter Fussweg – Wolfswarte – Gustav Baumann Weg – Altenau – Clausthal. Und oben auf der Wolfswarte war eine herrliche Sicht, und kein Schwein weit und breit, ausser so ein paar "Waldhooligans" (Mountainbiker) die meinten über den Magdeburger Weg zu müssen, man hörte nur das Knirschen der Zahnräder an den Findlingen 😉 und dann haben sie doch getragen…

    Reply

  • Freddy

    He looks cool, though.
    Your update seems to be quite slow lately. Is everything going well? Hope the sand in the desert didn't give you too much trouble.

    Reply

  • Florian (Flo Li Anh,

    …well I guess it did indeed as he has stated above!

    Reply

  • Gisela

    Den Sonnenuntergang dort hätt ich mir ja schon gern angesehen aber den Rest muss ich nicht unbedingt haben. Gute Besserung Robo – ist bestimmt nicht lustig das alles im dunkeln zu erleben.

    Reply

  • Doris

    Ich hoffe, dass sich alle Euere Probleme lösen lassen. Für Robo: Gute Besserung. Trotzdem habt Ihr so viele Kilometer geschafft!!!

    Ich wandere fast jeden Sonntag 10 bis 20 km, heute leider nicht. Habe gerade einen Johannisbeerkuchen gebacken. Würde Euch Beiden gerne 2 Stücke schicken, aber leider geht das noch nicht übers Internet.

    Reply

  • Hermann

    falls du später einen Ghostwriter für deine Geschichten brauchst, melde dich ….

    Reply

  • Patrick

    glad you 2 are safe. looks like you DO got a little bit of McGuyver in you……

    Reply

  • Anonymous

    : All my Respect, MAN! ://

    (hope, U had a deep, long sleep after all that shit!)

    Reply

  • Christoph

    Barry aka Ba Lli: Irgendwann im März gab es mal 47km.
    Florian (Flo Li Anh, 開花): Och, Leistung ist so ein Behördenwort, das Leben soll doch auch Freude machen!
    Freddy: Hey man, you're right about the slow postings. The reason is quite simple: I'm trying not to spend as much time working as long as my little brother is with me. But I'll get the blog up to date later!
    Gisela: Robo sagt danke.
    Doris: Boah so Kuchen wär VOLL SUPER!!
    Hermann: Schreibe ich das hier bisher so schlecht?
    Patrick: McGyver would be proud.
    andy aka Anh Di 勇敢: Not in that one-man tent we didn't.

    Reply

  • Anonymous

    …dacht ich mir schon ;o)

    Reply

  • Greg

    Hey,
    Just wanted to say how much I admire you for what you've done. I've always wanted to do something like this. I've been considering the American Discovery Trail back here in the U.S. It's not quite the caliber you tackled, but it's definitely life altering. Anyways, incredible job…

    Thanks for the inspiration….

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *