I left the unknown village and headed down hill. The road was still bad but the down hill made it a million times easier. After lacerating my tires for so many miles I'm sure Little Wheelie was more than happy to hit nice flat roads again.

Hubei has some lovely old buildings nestled in amongst the tributaries to the Chang Jiang. Cycling from Chongqing to Hubei has been a great journey in itself. I think many people only think of Chongqing as a city, but the areas outside the city are stunning and when you cross over into Hubei the beauty continues. The houses in Hubei are very picturesque, situated in peaceful valleys on quiet roads.

The Road to Maoping was quick, with many down hill sections.

I had no idea what was the Changjiang and what was a flooded valley. All the same I guess, but it is not obvious any more.

The mountains the river cut through were incredibly steep atsome sections. These were bypassed by numerous tunnels, ones that brought dry relief from a fast approaching storm.

I thought I saw the Three Gorges Dam but I couldn't be sure. It was great fun riding in the rain. Flashes of light would tell me where theroad was, puddles would tell me how close my arse was to the ground. All very nice until I smelt the puddle.... pooh puddle.. but a refreshing pooh puddle. Idid 112km, starting on the worst roads in the countryside, ending up on the flattest roads leading to the biggest civil engineering project in the world.