June 8th, 2008 | categorizilation: all categories,China
Today’s distance / ???????: 27 miles / 43km
Average speed / ????: 9.9mph / 16km/h
Time on skateboard / ????: 2h 43m
Total skateboarding distance to date / ????????????: 4765mi plus 280mi (?) / 7668km plus 450km (?)
Ascent / ??: n/a
Descent / ??: n/a
End-of-day GPS coordinates: N43° 01′ 13.10″, E090° 38′ 12.80″
Well I have finally bitten the bullet and taken off from my comfortable zone that is Shanshan. I was there for just over two weeks, getting over some fairly serious traveler’s burnout. During the two weeks, I spent no time on the skateboard. I lay in bed, sat in a chair at the internet cafe, read, slept, ate, and slept some more. Today I arrived back in Shanshan from Turpan, where I got my second visa extension. I arrived back in Shanshan at 1pm, and hung out at my regular internet cafe until 6pm.
By 6pm the heat of the day had died down from about 40 degrees celcius to 35 degrees, and it was time to head out.
The 45km I did out of Shanshan was easy. Very easy. A tailwind all the way, and slightly downhill. A perfect start to the onward push east.
The roads were smooth, traffic was light, and all in all a very pleasant start. A short but unimpressive dust storm made things a little exciting.
I passed many stores and small vilages on the way, and half an hour before dark I bought a water melon and rock melon (for a total of 2 Euro). After being told there were no places to stay, I skated out of the small village where I bought the fruit and slept under some grape vines for the night.
Sounds like the layover was a good idea. I figure you'll be a home-dawg for a long spell after this skate is over. 
Cheerios,
Scott
Glad your first day back travelling was a good one.
