Shanghai

Our adventure to Shanghai in pictures:

First we hopped on a bullet train...due to a recent crash they have slowed them down to 200mph. It was SO smooth.

Upon Arriving, we entered the subway... wowzas

The Shanghai TV Tower..

Lunch at Hooters in Shanghai (we wanted "American" food)... I couldn't decide between the WARP and flatbread

The Shanghai World Finance Center. The tallest building in the world if you don't consider Antennas. Also, it has the highest "Observation Deck" (read, somewhere the public can go view from)

I am scared of heights, not deathly though, but the glass floor at the 100th floor observation deck was about more than I could take. I walked across the glass panes but didn't stand on them.

The views were UNREAL.

A new bike brand coming...just like the original only better.

And of course, shopping. Need genuine Ray Bans?

This is the first time I have found fake bike jerseys and bibs. They had every sports jersey fake you could think of. I was going to buy a vintage Mike Madano North Stars Jersey, but they didn't have my size.

Lost in translation...completely lost =)

More exploring

A couple co-workers and I went to the center of the city yesterday for some shopping. It was quite entertaining....

This guy was pretty happy about his faux wood fairing his bike.

I am still trying to figure this one out. The sign says "Transformers Bag Co." but it was a women's clothing store.
My wife gets so worked up when someone has a child in the front seat of a car (I certainly was up there when I was growing up). Child safety is all relative.

Just really, really, really crowded.

I have ridden every day (mostly a quicky in the AM before work) and I took my camera today. I am blown, but had a good time.

I found an ancient grave burial ground on the side of a hill. Creepy but unique. You should have seen the looks my Trek kit got this far of the beaten path.

They decide to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower that I stumbled into. Who knew that Suzhou had an Eiffel tower?!?!

Yep, that is a Bentley stretch limo. The disparity between rich and poor and the number of poor (proportionally) here far exceeds what we have in the US. I wonder what the I-am-not-working-but complaining-rather-than-looking-for-a-job-and-am-gonna-need-unemployment-help-from-tax-payers-who-ARE-working-while-I-complain (read Occupy Wall Street) people would say? ;-)

More exploring

A couple co-workers and I went to the center of the city yesterday for some shopping. It was quite entertaining....

This guy was pretty happy about his faux wood fairing his bike.

I am still trying to figure this one out. The sign says "Transformers Bag Co." but it was a women's clothing store.
My wife gets so worked up when someone has a child in the front seat of a car (I certainly was up there when I was growing up). Child safety is all relative.

Just really, really, really crowded.

I have ridden every day (mostly a quicky in the AM before work) and my camera today. I am blown, but had a good time.

I found an ancient grave burial ground on the side of a hill. Creepy but unique. You should have seen the looks my Trek kit got this far of the beaten path.

They decide to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower that I stumbled into. Who knew that Suzhou had an Eiffel tower?!?!

Yep, that is a Bentley stretch limo. The disparity between rich and poor and the number of poor (proportionally) here far exceeds what we have in the US. I wonder what the I-am-not-working-but complaining-rather-than-looking-for-a-job-and-am-gonna-need-unemployment-help-from-tax-payers-who-ARE-working-while-I-complain (read Occupy Wall Street) people would say? ;-)

Far from Kansas

My view of Suzhou, China. No, that is not fog.

Introducing the latest in my collection delivered to my door about a week before I left. The Cronus CX Ultimate has made the long journey with me. I shall call her Toto.

Some things I have learned on my ~100k ride today:

1. Traffic lights only for advisory purposes only. The larger your vehicle, the less strong the advisory.

2. I am faster than the scooters here. Most are actually E-bikes (think electric moped).

3. Most roads have lanes dedicated to scooters and bikes that are separted from the road by a small boulevard...awesomely progressive. Cars stay off these lanes most of the time.

4. The bike and scooter lanes are 2 way even though there is one on each side of the road.

5. Ebikes do not require helmets, but I saw at least on ebike to ebike collision, where a helmet would have been useful.

6. A honk from a truck or car means, "I am coming but not considering using my brakes, just FYI."

Actually, the riding here seems to be very pleasant at least on the weekends. I am not sure they will let me bring my bike into our factory if I commute on it, and Toto is too precious (and guaranteed to be stolen) if I park it with the rest of the bikes outside.

Signing off...