End of School Bike Ride

Only two more weeks of school left! This is the mad season of end-of-school musical and drama productions (both of which Tim was heavily involved in), last gatherings with so many friends who will be moving to other schools next year, and a recent notice that we need to move into a new apartment in the building next door before we go back to the States at the end of June. But today we forgot all that and went on an ambitious adventure. Our fearless leader, Ms. D. of Great Wall Half Marathon fame, led 8 teachers on a bike ride to a distant mountain which can be seen from our apartment building on a clear day: a mountain-top observatory affectionately know as Knob Hill.

It's a good thing we had a fearless leader because I was lost after the first two turns. We rode through some beautiful villages and enjoyed the clear and almost-cool weather morning.



After about an hour of riding we came to the base of the hill and began the uphill ride. Mostly it turned out to be a 2-hour uphill bike-push for us, since riding with Milan in the bike seat made the hills extra challenging.

The beginning of the uphill

Taking a break on the hill

Our goal in sight!

We all made it! Ms. D on the right is pointing to Beilun, where we started

We couldn't take a picture from the top of the mountain because it is a military zone and no pictures allowed. So this is a nice view on way down the hill. That downhill ride felt sooooooooo good!