It really doesn’t get any easier, although for large parts of this stage, you might be forgiven for thinking otherwise. This is the first stage in a while that doesn’t climb incessantly for the duration. The elevation is steeply uphill for two miles, down for the next eight miles, then back up for ten miles before finally descending three miles to the finish. It does go mighty close to five thousand feet on the first of those climbs but settles down to four thousand eight hundred by the end.
The route is south once again, and while the cycle route follows the highways and the railway line, they do deviate, primarily near Lake Baiyinnao at eleven miles. Following the rollout, the road climbs and crosses the Erguang highway at the summit after two miles. As it descends, the cycle route goes around the lake on its eastern shore, whilst the highway goes around the other side. The two meet up again in Qahar Youyi Houqi at fourteen miles just as the second, much longer climb kicks in.
At Qahar Youyi Houqi, roads head west to Qahar Youyi Zhongqi and east to Shangdu. South of the town, the route hogs first the left hand side of the forest, before cutting through it and then hogging the right hand edge as the road heads relentlessly on to the south. The road hangs a left at twenty miles, at the second summit, and the run in to the finish is south easterly and downhill.
Distance: 24 miles / 38 kilometres
Ascent: 472 feet / 144 metres
RGT Magic Road: IUpJ0aTbXru3
Max elevation: 4972 ft
Min elevation: 4690 ft
Total climbing: 473 ft
Total descent: -478 ft
You must log in to post a comment.