Dicing with death? A bike ride in Hangzhou city

Tuesday 5 June

We're still at the West Lake Hostel in Yangzhou, China. As from last Sunday, we have 8 weeks of our epic journey still to go.

The hostel has bikes for hire at 40 yuan (£4) a day, and yesterday morning we booked 2 for today, so that we could cycle around part of the lake. However, the day doesn't start off well, because again there's no bacon for the English breakfast, and since we ordered breakfast last night, to get the discount, why weren't we told then? This seems a petty detail, when put in the blog, but it's an annoyance, and little things mean a lot when you're away from home! We are given a sweet-tasting fried luncheon meat instead of the bacon, but we don't like it much, and Reg doesn't eat his.

If a cooked breakfast is available we are always glad because we don't usually bother with lunch in China. We don't fancy a cooked meal at lunchtime – it's often difficult enough to find food we like in the evenings, although this hostel does have an evening menu which isn't too bad. The Chinese haven't cottoned on to sandwiches or Western style snacks for lunchtime eating; you can buy crisps though. There's always McDonalds and KFC, in the bigger cities, though we haven't ventured into either of those fastfood outlets yet.

While we are eating breakfast outside, 3 guests go over to the bike stand, choose their bikes, and off they go. After breakfast Reg goes over to inspect the 2 bikes which are left. The tyres are good, but they are old and rusty and in need of a bit of TLC – the brakes on one bike don't work. We speak to the hostel staff, reminding them that yesterday morning we booked bikes for today, but guess what, they don't have a note of it at all. Reg complains about the condition of the 2 bikes available (it seems that it's a case of the early bird catches the worm in this instance). The receptionist says we can hire bikes elsewhere if we want – she says that the other bikes which have already gone are in the same condition as the 2 still here – which gives Reg serious concern for the safety of the tourists who have taken out those bikes, if what the receptionist is saying is true.

The hostel is hiring out the bikes very cheaply at 40 yuan (£4 per day), but it's no good if they aren't roadworthy. “Bike mechanic Reg” asks for some tools, and some oil, all of which miraculously they have (including the equivalent of WD40), and sets to work, with one of the hostel staff assisting him. Half an hour later Reg comes to our room with black, oil-covered hands, and is happy; he's adjusted brakes and done minor things to make the bikes safe. Finally we're off.

It's great to be on a bike again; we did hire bikes for an afternoon a couple weeks ago in Xi'an, but to have them for a whole day is bliss. Reg's bike is too small for him of course, but he manages without complaining. Mine, with its wide saddle, straight handlebars and newly adjusted brakes, suits me just fine.

We cycle in a different direction from our walk around the lake yesterday – we go along a pathway that crosses through the middle. There are some areas, branching off from the main path, where cycles aren't allowed, but we lock up our bikes and explore these on foot. The gardens, greenery and trees, lake, pools, pretty little hump-backed bridges and especially overhanging willows, again make it a scene from a willow-patterned plate – perhaps it was this lake area that inspired that design?

Green tea appears to be a delicacy around here, and we sit in a delightful villa, overlooking a pond with geese, drinking the the large-leafed tea, which to be honest looks like weeds inside your delicate teacup. The trick is to wait a few minutes for the leaves to congregate at the bottom of your cup. It's quite a bitter taste actually but we're getting used to it; green tea is supposed to be good for your health. You are always given a huge flask of hot water to top up your cup – you can sit drinking your tea all afternoon if you like.

I'm feeling really tired today (Reg says I'm grumpy but of course I'm not! - of course not!). We sit down a lot, gazing at beautiful scenery, which is lovely, but I didn't bring my kindle with me today, as I thought we would be cycling all day! Finally the time comes to cycle back to the hostel; this means cycling on the road, mostly in cycle lanes; but we discover these are totally unsafe for cyclists. This is because motorised bikes use the cycle lanes too, hundreds of them, and they are often travelling in the opposite direction to us, even though we are in a one-direction cycle lane. At one point I pass a motorised bike going really slowly, it's driver intently studying his mobile-phone message.

Where we have to cycle past stopped cars, especially taxis, they will pull out without looking at all. I'm used to cycling on Bristol's busy roads, but I have never experienced a cycle ride like the one back to our hostel.

We eat in, choosing Chinese food, which tastes good; we are really hungry. I pay 9 yuans to do some clothes washing (another top loader – the Chinese seem to prefer these). The dryer is broken, but I may be able to hang some clothes outside tomorrow. When I return from putting the washing in, Reg is fast asleep in bed; it's 7.30 pm. He must be really tired as he stirs for a cuppa a bit later, then sleeps through the night.

I catch up on a few emails, collect our washing from the machine then collapse on the bed, and enjoy that cup of tea with Reg, while engrossing myself once more in my new novel on my kindle.