Bike Trip #2 Photos 自転車旅行 #2

Not only did I attend a few events at night, but I also got a LOT of exercise this past weekend... 

先週末パーティ外に、運動一杯した。日曜日エレナちゃんとステイベン君と一緒自転車トリープをした。香港の新界で24キロのライドした！すごい長かった！タイポからプローバー浄水地 まで。写真を撮った、一寸見てください！

In April I organized a group to go biking from Taipo Market to Sheung Shui which turned out to be a lot of fun.  So I planned another one, this time from Taipo to the small village of Tai Mei Tuk (大尾篤) along the Plover Cove Resevoir ( 船灣淡水湖) in the eastern part of the northern New Territories (relatively close to the China border).

Because of the crappy weather recently,  and the general sedentariness of my friends, only Elena and Stephen made it out.  We ended up tackling a rather ambitious route:

Route Map =  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1972317

Luckily the weather was nice on Sunday, not TOO hot, not really sunny either, and because of the torrential rains the day before, the bike paths were relatively empty!　土曜日の天気とても悪かったけど、日曜日の方が良かった、雨なかったけど、太陽もなかった。

Elena and Swang at the rental shop.  HK$50 for a decent bike w/ suspension.  not too bad, but this time I decided to use my own bike instead of renting. 

(the secret is that my bike has an aluminum frame, so its actually much lighter). :-P

彼たちレンタル車をした、僕は自分の自転車を乗った。

an easy 10km later (6 miles for you in the US/UK) we reached the Plover Cove Resevoir.  This used to be a bay that they turned into a fresh water resevoir (by building a really big dam across the mouth).  プローバー浄水地本来湾でした、60年代ロックフィルダムを建った、浄水地為に。

(picture stolen from Elena) its just a seawall built of rocks and paved w/ a road on top... open to bikers and walkers.  

The opposite side is an island called Pak Sha Tau (白沙頭) but of course its not really an island anymore, is it?  We rode down to check it out. there's just a turn around and a trail head for hikers.  No bikes allowed.  Doh. :-P

Looking back towards Tai Mei Tuk you can see the totally imposing  Pat Sin Leng (八仙嶺) mountain range, the name in Chinese is literally '8 Fairies Mountains'.

Total ride to get out here was 12 km! (thats like 7.5 miles). Pretty impressive.

After a short break, we rode back.  I took some time to take a few more photos:

帰った時一寸ビルの写真を撮った。これは古嶺南式建築です：

There were a few old buildings along the road back to Taipo.  I stopped to take a picture of what I'm guessing is an  example of Lingnan influenced architecture found in HK around the early 20th century.  The strange thing is to notice the difference between the three buildings...

yes, the one in the middle is derelict - no roof and there's trees and brush growing inside... and yet the one on the left actually was occupied and in good shape (there was even someone watching TV in there...)  I'm a bit confused how someone would still live in one unit while the adjoining units in their building are literally falling apart.  You'd think some time in the last two decades they'd either move out or find some time to fix up the place next door.

一寸怖い！ルーフがない。家の中が木が有る。。。でも隣の家が人は住んでいる。。。

Across the street there were two more buildings that looked like they had been recently repainted w/ some fancy roofs,  reminded me of the restored Taipo Market station building at the HK Railway Museum ( link to my visit in March).

Anyway, we got back to the bike shop by 7 and then walked over to the Taipo Market for  a post-biking dinner, just like my last trip - 　タイポでマーケトで晩御飯を食べた。

damn, it was packed! 　人が一杯居た！

We had to share a table for most of the meal, but it was still good,  three of us ate a pretty large dinner for about HK$50 each.  　僕達の晩御飯。。。でも私はクラムが大嫌い、食べなかった！