第２日目（8/12)～４日目(14)少林寺～鄭州市

橋本　恵美子

２日目（8/12) 　少林寺～洛陽　8:30発　17:50着　９７ｋｍ

３日目(8/13) 　洛陽～鞏義　9:15発　１５：２０着　

　洛陽から鞏義までの道はアップダウンのほとんどない平坦な道の自転車で走るのに最適の道だ。３日目ということで走行にも慣れてきたのか、途中、バスに乗るメンバーもほとんどなく、皆、平均時速２４km前後で快走する。
天気は曇り。車の排気ガスか、砂ぼこりか、遠くの景色はかすんでいる。河南省を走り始めてからまだ青空を見ていない気がする。気温は涼しく走りやすい。
途中の休憩では村の子供たちが集まってきて小さな日中交流の輪ができた。言葉は通じないけれど、子供たちの無邪気な笑顔に心が温まる。
昼食、数回の休憩をはさみ、１５時２０分、鞏義のホテルに到着。走行距離は７６，９km。

On August 13,we started Lou Yang in the morning. The road from Lou Yang to Gong Yi was flat, almost no up and down, suitable for riding bicycles. It was the third day of our trip, the members accustomed themselves to ride bicycles, therefore there was almost no drop out. We run a velocity approximately 24 kilometers in an hour average. It was a cloudy day, exhaust gas of vehicles and fine dust made the scenery hazily. Since we began to ride bicycles in He Nan Sheng, we didn’t saw any clear blue sky. But temperature was comparatively low, we could ran in a pleasant cool air. When we stopped at in a small village for a rest, we were surrounded by local inhabitants. children asked us many questions, but most of us could not understand Chinese. Even though innocent smiles of children made us happy. We stopped at in Yan Shi to take lunch. After that we began to run again, and arrived at a hotel in Gong Yi at 15:20. This day, we could run 76.9 kilometers.

４日目(8/14)　鞏義～鄭州　８：１５発　１２：５５　７７．５ｋｍ

　今日は午後からの表敬訪問を控えているため、８時１５分に走行開始。天気は昨日と変わらず曇りで過ごしやすい気温。前半はアップダウンの激しい道だったので、こまめに小休憩を取りながら走る。１km以上続く上り坂では、ギアを軽くしてマイペースに走る人、一気にかけ上がる人、それぞれだ。初心者にはギアの切り替えや、ちょっとしたアドバイスが嬉い。
郊外の道はトラックにさえ気をつければ比較的走りやすい。中国の（河南省の）トラックは対向車にもお構いなしで、クラクションを思い切り鳴らしながらすごいスピードで走ってくる。公安の先導もなんのその、という感じだ。
町中では通行人にも気をつけなければならない。車間距離があけば自転車の間をすり抜けて、向こうへ渡ろうとするからだ。人も、車も、交通規制なんてあまり気にしていない感じだった。
１２時５分、予定通り鄭州のホテルに到着。走行距離７７.５km。その後、河南省人民政府をを表敬訪問する。

On August 14, because that we had an appointment of a courtesy visit for He Nan Sheng government in the afternoon, we began to ride bicycles at 7:30. It was cloudy, as same as yesterday, but due to not hot temperature, it was comfortable to run with bicycles. In the morning, we had to climb up three long uphill slops, it was so hard that we repeatedly took a brief rests and shorter runs than usual. There were members who selected lowest gear and climb up a slope. There were another members who ran uphill road without rest. Beginners were encouraged by the experts giving them brief advices how to change gears. A road in suburb was not difficult to run except taking care for tracks passing by. Tracks in He Nan Shen sometimes ran at the opposite side of the road with full speeds and with noisy horn sounds. It seemed to us that they even ignore a police’s patrol car which lead us. When we ran in a town we also required to take care of brave pedestrians because they even try to across our row of bicycles when running. Drivers and pedestrians both didn’t pay any attention for a safety of traffic.