Today’s distance / ???????: 53.1 miles / 85.5km
Average speed / ????: 7.7mph / 12.3km/h
Time on skateboard / ????: 6h 56m
Total skateboarding distance to date / ????????????: 7,050mi plus 386mi (?) / 11,346km plus 622km (?)
Ascent / ??: 275m
Descent / ??: 305m
End-of-day GPS coordinates: N30°59′11.4″, E119°53′33.8″
I wasn’t feeling the greatest this morning, but decided to try to push on for a bit. By the end of the day I was feeling a little stronger.
It was a scorching hot day, cooled slightly only by a stiff headwind. I was on the expressway until the Zhejiang border (mid-morning) before I was kicked off by the police at a toll booth. The alternative G318 highway was still very nice, and much quieter.
My body is still weak, but my apetite is returning, although I still cannot seem to fit much food in. Rice in particular seems to fill me up much faster than it used to.
I ended up skating until about an hour after dark today. There were no places to stay until the city at N30.59.11.4 E119.53.33.8. I checked into the first inn I came to, even though the room was dusty and smelly. At times like this I wish I had my tent. On the way to the inn, I had passes countless orchards where I would have happily camped, lulled to sleep by the crickets.
I thought you preferred 'off the beaten track'. The main highway seems like a road to avoid.
Aunty Les…welcome to my only major gripe about travelling by skateboard. You are right; I do prefer getting off the beaten track. The issue on this day was that on the previous days the alternative was too potholed and gravelly for me to skate on. So today it came as a surprise that the alternative was in better shape. I wouldn't have been on the major expressway had I known!