10th Cycling Trip from Kashi to Xi'an (Selected Party)  (1992)
    Dreams Come True---Cycling for 2,400 miles on the Silk Road

                                           Hironori Koike, leader of Ishikoro-no-Kai

  It was 17 years ago that an idea to cycle on the Silk Road was talked about among some of my cycling friends.  It was just a dream-like hope to obtain permission of cycling in China from the Chinese Government.  With the assistance of Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City we organized a friendly group (named Ishikoro-no-Kai) to pay a visit to China by bicycle.  It was 1983 that we obtained the first permission of cycling in China as a foreign group.  We have been sending a cycling group to China and promoting friendship and good will on a common basis.  As a result, we have obtained from the Government special permission to cycle in‘not opened’areas and have been cycling every part of China.  And at last permission has been given to us to cycle on the whole Silk Road.  Seventeen years have passed since we organized Ishikoro-no-Kai.
  10th Ishikoro-no-Kai cycling party consisted of two groups.  One was the ordinary or main group of 42 members including newcomers who were to cycle from Lanzhou to Xi'an.  Another was the selected party of nine members who were going to cycle for about 2,400 miles from Kashi to Xi'an.  The members of the latter were selected from more than 250 members who had joined in the past nine cycling trips.  The nine members had finished one-year severe training and aimed at covering all 2,400 miles of the Silk Road.  This cycling challenge would be the first event in the world.
   Chin Shunshin, Japanese writer of Chinese historical novels, says, “‘Dreams sure to come true.’is a belief of the Silk Road maniac.”  With this belief we left Japan for Kashi, the westernmost parts of China.
   On July 21 we took the first step on the pedals from Kashi.  At ten o'clock, only an hour after the sunrise, the temperature was already 48 ℃.  There was not a single tree or a hut in the Taklamakan Desert to escape from the sunshine.  While cycling we took tea or water from the bottle equipped with a bicycle and during a brief stop we had a lot of watermelons.  We had little sweat and our shirt was dry owing to the dry and hot weather.  We cycled for 60 miles in the morning and got to the first oasis where we had lunch.  After lunch we resumed cycling under the hot sunshine.  Due to the heat and fatigue almost all members had vomit or diarrhea but we went on cycling.
   The next morning most of the members were not feeling well---vomit, diarrhea, stomachache, fever, nosebleed, etc.  After two days struggle in the desert, we got to a oasis town named Yijianfang.  To our surprise only one family settled there---eleven people were the only inhabitants of the town.  It was clearly marked in a map but we wondered if it was called a town. They had been leading their lives for thousands of years without gas or water supply.  We spread a blanket outdoors and slept under the stars.  The temperature got down and we moved into the house at midnight.
   On the seventh day of cycling we came to a place called Kankoh.  It was located between the vast deserts of the Taklamakan and the Gobi.  They said there was no other way but cars to pass this place.  The road was rough and steep.  When we came across cars from the opposite side, we could see nothing but a cloud of dust and even the cars had to stop and wait.  All the Chinese staff including local guides said, “It' s quite impossible to ride a bicycle.”  However, we had decided to tread all the way of the land, so we were determined to go ahead even if we had to carry a bicycle on our shoulders.  That day we covered 155 miles including 30 miles of dirt road. It took us about 18 hours---from 6:40 in the morning till 1:20 in the next morning.  It was really a long day of hard work.  The hardest was a ride on the steep dirt downslope of 30 miles.  We rode carefully not to fall off the bicycle in the lowest gear, pressing hand brakes all the way.   On our way to Dunhuang we had to cycle on a dirt road of about 55 miles.  It was also hard work for us.  As we cycled keeping hand brakes on all the way, our hands and arms ached, and all over our body-- elbows, shoulders and backs-- ached.
   Maenaga, nicknamed Joiner and our only female member, fell off the bicycle more than fifteen times, got injured but kept cycling in spite of the doctor's advice to ride in the car. Togo also went on cycling bearing stomachache.  Okada hit his helmet on the car and scarcely escaped from an accident.  I was blown by a gust of wind, fell off the bicycle and had my shoulder nearly dislocated.  Thus unexpected events occurred every day. 
   We came across every kind of trial---long and steep uphills in the Tianshan Range, a fierce gust of wind near Tulfan, a long uphill at the Tienzho Pass (2,400m above sea level), heavy and cold rain in the mountain near Lanzhou, etc.  We cooperated with each other and got over all the difficulties standing in our way on the Silk Road.  At last we got to Xianyang where we were welcomed by the members of the main group.  I was very pleased to see the members in red uniform.  There our members joined the main party and 51 people cycled together and got to Xi'an.
   We have attained our aim of cycling all the way of the Silk Road.  It was a result of cooperation of every member of the party.  We also owed our success to the Chinese Government which gave us every possible assistance.  I am proud of being a member of this great event and I am most grateful to all of you for kind cooperation.