At around 10 a.m. on July 5, at the entrance of the Chinese Stone Drum Garden in Baoji City, Hu Hao and his relatives and friends held flowers in their hands and looked anxiously toward the road. High altitude and bad weather test your will and physical strength.

htmlAt around 10 a.m. on July 5, at the entrance of Baoji City China Stone Drum Garden, Hu Hao and his relatives and friends held flowers in their hands and looked anxiously towards the road. Carrying 58 days of thoughts, today they will welcome a relative home. Although the Xiaoshu season is approaching, the gentle cool breeze on the banks of the Wei River makes people feel more comfortable.

At 11 o'clock in the morning, several cyclists came quickly from west to east. The "rider" headed by him was Hu Hao's father, Hu Baoquan. 58 days ago, Hu Baoquan set off from Baoji via Chengdu to Lhasa, then from Lhasa to Xining via Golmud, and then returned to Baoji. Along the way, he rode a total of 5,838 kilometers. Along the way, he may have forgotten that he is already a 65-year-old man.

After retirement, he wants to realize his Tibetan dream.

Hu Baoquan, 65, was born in 1955. Before his retirement, he was an employee of Baoji Natural Gas Company. Talking about the original intention of this ride, he told reporters that he wanted to go to Tibet when he was young, but never had the chance. I have plenty of time after retirement, so I wanted to challenge my body and will, so I started planning to ride to Tibet last year.

Hu Baoquan has not received professional cycling training, but in order to exercise his body to go to Lhasa, he spent almost all his spare time on cycling and exercising. In his own words, he usually climbs mountains more, sweats more, and can go to Lhasa only after exercising. Not only for exercise, in order to go to Lhasa, he discussed the riding route and schedule with his riding friends early, and made a complete riding plan. Before setting off, he had basically reviewed every mountain pass on the way to Lhasa. It's all clear.

On the day of departure, with the blessings of relatives and friends, Hu Baoquan set off from Baoji and arrived in Chengdu after six days of riding, officially starting his dream journey to Tibet.

High anti-reflection and bad weather test the will and physical strength

Enter Tibet from Chengdu along National Highway 318 , and from Lhasa along National Highway 109 to leave Tibet. People who are familiar with Sichuan-Tibet Highway and Qinghai-Tibet Highway will lament the endless beauty of snow-capped mountains along the way, but only those who have actually traveled these two routes can appreciate the hardships of riding alone.

When entering Tibet, Hu Baoquan suffered from altitude sickness when he was about 3 kilometers away from Dongda Mountain with an altitude of 5100 meters. "When I rode more than 4,700 meters that day, I suddenly felt like I was filled with lead from the chest down. It was all uphill. I had no choice but to push the bike up the mountain. But I couldn't lift my legs at all. I gritted my teeth and pushed up. My throat was too tight and I couldn’t breathe. My whole body ached. I had to take a break every time I pushed for more than 100 meters. I will never forget that feeling in my life. Hu Baoquan was still frightened by the reaction.

"When I entered Tibet, I rode to Bangda Town in Basu County and stayed there at night. A dozen people who were riding with me collectively suffered from altitude sickness. That night, more than a dozen people suffered from headaches. We couldn't sleep. We had no choice but to open our mouths and try to sleep. We were tired, sleepy and had headaches after riding for a day. "

was riding on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau , at an altitude of 4700 meters. Above, the oxygen content of the air is low, and the body cannot exert any effort at all. When it is exerted, it becomes difficult to breathe, which makes cycling very difficult. The climate of the plateau is changeable. It was sunny and windy just now, but in the blink of an eye a cloud drifts over and it may be rain, snow and hail. The bad weather once caused Hu Baoquan to encounter strong winds, rain, snow and hail three times a day. When riding to the Tuotuo River protected area, a strong wind suddenly blew, and the instantaneous wind force could blow people down. Large cars passed by on the highway and sucked people under the cars. There was Gobi Desert on both sides of the road, and there was no shelter from the wind and rain. Hailstones as big as soybeans hit people in pain. Hu Baoquan had no choice but to run to the roadbed. Take shelter from the rain.

Loneliness and hunger are companions, but I am moved by the harvest along the way

Compared with the bad weather and thin air, loneliness and hunger are more unbearable. On the return trip, I rode for 14 days from Lhasa to Golmud. The entire journey was through uninhabited land and the Gobi Desert. Breakfast in the morning was a luxury and I could only eat the dry food I brought with me. However, riding on the plateau was physically demanding. It is large and requires constant replenishment of energy.Therefore, every time he arrived at a hotel, Hu Baoquan would buy at least two days' worth of dry food from the locals so that he could replenish his physical strength at any time.

The Qinghai-Tibet line is sparsely populated. Hu Baoquan did not meet anyone for three days. When he was riding to Nagqu City Anduo County, he saw a man riding a bicycle from a distance and heard the man shouting: "Come on, come on! Come, let’s talk!”

’s journey of riding alone made this man in his sixties feel the mutual love and help while riding. Speaking of cycling stories, Hu Baoquan was filled with emotion. He clearly remembered that fellow riders from Sichuan shared lunch with him, fellow riders from Guangxi gave him several cans of Red Bull as encouragement, and chatted with fellow riders from Henan in the Gobi. Riders from Guizhou Friends helped him repair his vehicle... It was these warm little things that gave Hu Baoquan more courage on his cycling journey.

After the storm, there is always a clear sky and beautiful scenery of snow-capped mountains. When crossing the Kunlun Mountains with an altitude of more than 6,000 meters, looking at the clouds and mists dispersing to reveal the true face of the "ancestor of all mountains", and recalling the hardships along the way, Hu Baoquan couldn't help but shed tears in his eyes.

Family is a concern and a huge spiritual support

Before departure, his family wanted to persuade Hu Baoquan to give up riding, fearing that his body might not be able to bear it. In addition, he set out alone and passed through no-man's land along the way, so his family was inevitably concerned. But unable to defeat Hu Baoquan, who was determined, his family turned their concern into a daily video call.

In order to make his family less worried, Hu Baoquan always reported good news instead of bad news. When riding the Qinghai-Tibet Line, the cyclists who agreed to ride together gave up due to various reasons. There was no other way, so Hu Baoquan started riding alone without telling his family. Every time the family asks where their companions are? Hu Baoquan would always say that they were riding too fast and were in front. In fact, only he knew that his only companion was the bicycle at his feet.

After 58 days of riding and a 5838-kilometer bicycle trip, the 65-year-old Baoji man realized his dream. Perhaps as long as the body is on the road, the soul will not grow old.

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