"I Have a Car" original self-driving travel manuscript: Before this departure, I often imagined that I was alone, traveling around China and the world by bicycle, but all the time, these were just fantasies and some emptiness in my mind The plan was never put into practice. After all, everyone is burdened with a heavy burden, whether it is work, life, family, children, etc., it is very unlikely that I will be allowed to leave like this willful and selfish...
The days are always repeated in the ordinary and busy, never paying attention to the changes in the spring and autumn, suddenly looking back, more than four years have passed since the age of forty, except for the occasional life insights that come to my mind, maybe buy one get one free The so-called "middle-aged crisis". One day in October 2018, I suddenly had an epiphany! The American writer Jack Kerouac once said, "On the road, the years are too late to grow old, we are forever young, and the truly unruly souls don't care about anything, because we still have the pride of a king deep in our hearts."
So I decided to turn my fantasy into action, but where to start? It just so happened that Mr. @Anqi, the big V in the car circle, talked to me about a route. A few years ago, he took a convoy through, starting from Beijing all the way north to the Sino-Mongolian border, and then along the border defense road through the southwest foothills of Daxing’an Mountains to Al Mountain. Well, this route is not bad, and you can also go to Alshan Hot Springs. While I am not old yet, and I am eager to go on the road, pursue my original dream with passion, and experience the most exciting experience, then I will cross the Greater Khingan Mountains by bicycle at the end of the year, let’s go!
Teacher An said that the snow on the Arshan side is casually 1 or 2 meters thick. In winter, minus 35°C is just the starting temperature. A single bicycle without backup is actually a bit overhanging and a bit ZUO! But I am a veteran of the car industry for 14 or 5 years. I have participated in countless winter ice and snow test drives of various car manufacturers every year. Harbin is considered warm, and most of them will choose Hailar, Yakeshi or Mohe. I have encountered 50°C, and -35°C is really nothing, and no matter the driving experience on ice or snow, it is still quite rich.
However, no matter how much driving experience you have, you are afraid of encountering the "white-haired wind" (snowstorm, real snowstorm!) on the grassland. Don't be a little bit back! I still remember that there is a chapter in the Chinese class of elementary school - the little sisters of the grassland heroes. It talks about two little sisters on the grassland. Qun until he fainted, his limbs were amputated due to severe frostbite. Facts tell us that if you encounter a white hair wind on the grassland, whether you can survive or not depends on your fate!
Although my itinerary is to drive through, I am still blinded by the white hair wind, and I don't stop or stop. Let's go, you can't see the road at all, if you stop and wait for the snow to stop, the snow will bury the car, and there is a high probability that no one will pass by for a few days, except... wolves! So there's still a bit of a drum in the back of my mind, but whatever the case, let's start with the prep work.
The first thing is to look for a car. For a single-person bicycle crossing, what is most needed is a reliable SUV with considerable off-road capabilities. It is also very important to have a full-size spare tire as standard! In fact, I first wanted to drive my own BMW X5 on the road, but due to the great uncertainty of the road conditions on this trip, apart from the snowy road conditions under common sense, there are still many non-paved roads and off-road performance requirements The environment, the X5 is not very suitable, and BMW has always been equipped with run-flat tires, there is no full-size spare tire. If a tire blows out in the desolate wilderness of minus 3 or 40 degrees, there is really no place to cry... and it is still a single bicycle ride.
After looking around, there are very few qualified SUVs. Fortunately, Chrysler lent me a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6L flagship Zunyao after learning that I wanted to challenge the Daxing’an Mountains with a single bicycle without backup in winter. Version. I figured that not only the problem with the car was solved, but it was also very practical. At least after such a lap, I didn’t feel bad if it wasn’t my car (Note: Exemption≠manufactured), and even if there was any problem with the car, I didn’t have to pay for it myself Money to fix the car...
After solving the vehicle problem, the matter of crossing is almost inseparable. The next step is to purchase various outdoor equipment and off-road rescue equipment. Since it was a borrowed car, it was not practical to install a winch, so I had to go to my friend's "Yunliang Outdoor" store to borrow two sets of ARB sand control boards, and a set of rescue equipment such as tow ropes, tree hugging belts, and shackles. Later, I purchased Michelin rescue crawlers, 432-watt suction cup and strong magnetic roof LED spotlights, 12V double-cylinder air pump (160 liters) for vehicles, engineering shovels, water tank anti-leakage powder (for fear of snow and road conditions) Squeeze the water tank when driving in snow), windshield anti-fog spray, two spare explosion-proof gasoline barrels of 20 liters, and the most important snow driving equipment - snow chains.
I originally thought that with snow chains, I don’t need to spend money to change to a set of snow tires. After all, buying four snow tires for an 8-day trip is quite painful and not cheap. But it turns out that snow tires are really necessary, even more useful than snow chains! First of all, snow chains have a maximum speed limit, which is generally 4 or 50 km/h. Secondly, it is definitely not suitable for driving on roads with little snow or no snow, and it is not suitable for urban roads. It is very limited, and it is more suitable for snowy or icy road conditions. . The snow tires are different, they are suitable for most winter roads. Now that I think about it, I really shouldn’t change to snow tires to save money!
The car equipment is almost ready, and the next step is the outdoor equipment for my own use. Because I am worried about cold waves or white hair wind, I adopted the multi-layer rule suggested by professional outdoor professionals in the dressing structure, that is, the innermost layer is Smart Wool's Australian merino wool underwear and long johns, which feel very comfortable on the body. Sweat will be drained to the outer layer by the clothes; the upper body of the middle layer is an Arc’teryx 800-pack lightweight goose down jacket and a windproof and rainproof soft shell jacket, and the bottom is a pair of 700-pack Tianshi lightweight goose down pants, which can be worn when driving , as long as the warm air is not turned on too much and the temperature is not too high, you will not sweat from the heat; while the outermost thickened down jacket and the bird's army version of the soft shell pants need -25 ℃ and colder snow The environment, and long-term activities outside the car need to be worn. For example, if the car gets stuck in the snow and fails to rescue itself, you need to go out on foot to find rescue. Although there are wolves on the grassland...
Let me explain here that buying Niaojia products is not for pretending to be X, but after all, Niaojia is famous outdoors and has a high technology content. It can really save lives at critical times, and this money cannot be saved! In addition, we must also beware of fake products, and we must carefully identify them with keen eyes. It is best to compare them carefully with the ones in the Arc'teryx store after you get them.
In terms of other equipment, I wear Bird's wool cap and a spare large cotton cap on my head, a National Geographic multi-purpose face towel around my neck, merino light wool gloves are usually worn, and a pair of thick fleece gloves are also prepared. I also purchased two pairs of shoes. One pair is The North Face (North Face) waterproof down shoes that I usually wear. They are light, comfortable and breathable (this is the only pair of shoes I used for the whole journey), very light and warm. I also have a pair of wool insoles and Two pairs of Smart Wool wool socks. The other pair are Columbia heat-reflective warm snow boots that lie in the box all the time. The official claims that they can be worn in extremely cold weather at -54°C. They look thick but are actually very light.
In addition, we also purchased some outdoor equipment, such as maritime satellite phones, Beidou satellite boxes for recording travel trajectories, MSR integrated windproof reactor gas furnaces, Maixian Plateau high-cold gas tanks, Huofeng high-power outdoor ignition spray guns, brothers BRS crampons, Stanley thermos, Arc'teryx waterproof backpack, various maps of Inner Mongolia, Glacier 610 handheld Beidou navigation GPS locator, Phoenix headlights, tent lights, lifesaving whistle, military dagger, and a 1000-watt xenon "cannon lamp" . Of course, you should also bring some essential foods such as instant noodles, small cakes, ham sausage, braised eggs and drinking water, but you didn’t eat much until you got home, so you should be prepared.
This crossing trip has a certain adventurous nature, and there is no detailed road book. I just plan in advance where I will drive every day, and book the hotel first. As for which way to reach the destination, I am not sure yet! If you don't think about it and do a detailed road book, you will be surprised to find that this kind of starting feeling is not too refreshing, and it feels like the world is suddenly full of any possibility.
This Jeep Grand Cherokee was only given to me on the afternoon of December 13th. I picked up the car and went straight to the airport for a business trip... Chrysler gave me feedback that the car has been maintained in a minus 40-degree environment. Work, and the tire size is 265 60 R18, so I bought two sets of American wire rope snow chains according to this size. It's not that the rubber material is not good, but I'm afraid that in the environment of minus 3 or 40 degrees, the rubber anti-skid chains will become brittle and hard, resulting in cracking and falling off. It was not until the afternoon of the day before departure on December 16 that I discovered that the car was not equipped with 18-inch wheels at all, but 265 50 R20 large wheels, so the anti-skid chains I bought before could not be installed. Fortunately, it was discovered in advance, and the correct type of anti-skid chain was urgently found that night.
This 3.6L top-end version cuts off the most basic off-road equipment, and is also equipped with an air suspension that can be adjusted up to 65mm. Coupled with its own minimum ground clearance of 220mm, 28.5cm is theoretically enough. It turns out that Fortunately, I didn't drive the X5... This Grand Cherokee has already run more than 28,000 kilometers when it was given to me. It is in the middle-age stage, and it is easy to drive. The 3.6L self-priming V6 engine is matched with the ZF 8AT gearbox. The acceleration linear shift is smooth, and there is no abrupt feeling of a turbocharged engine. The configuration of this top-of-the-line car is quite high. It has adaptive cruise control, real-time tire pressure monitoring, lane departure warning and other safety configurations. The audio is equipped with Harman Kardon. Although it is not as good as the B&O of its own X5, it is acceptable. up.
On the evening of December 16th, I moved some equipment ants to Daqieri. The LED spotlights were also connected to the battery in advance, but they were not sucked on the roof to reduce wind resistance on the road. I put them in the passenger seat first, and the wiring was glued to the vehicle. Outside the A-pillar on the right. It was very cold in Beijing that night, minus 7 or 8 degrees, which made the pasting process a little damp, which was very unsightly. At the same time, the wires were thick, and there was a bit of air leakage after being introduced into the car from the door. This caused some troubles to the NVH in the car at high speed. , just let it go!
After the installation is complete, your hands are frozen and your nose is sucking. Get in the car to warm up. The leather seats of this car not only have heating and ventilation functions, but the coolest thing is the winter driving artifact - the steering wheel heating Don't get too comfortable! I wiped my hands with a wet paper towel, and held the steering wheel that was gradually heating up. I felt that all this happened too fast and suddenly. I was indeed courageous enough. If my daughter-in-law knew about it, I might not know what to do. I'm in a hurry!
Hey, by the way, there is one more important thing I haven't done yet! It is still a certain risk to cross the Daxingan Mountains by bicycle alone this season. My family just thought that I went to participate in the test drive event. It is necessary to leave some text and video materials to explain clearly. Stock account and bank card passwords, etc., XXX is omitted here... In addition, I have to make it clear that my family asked me to use it one month in advance. The smog in Beijing is too serious, which is not suitable for children's development and other reasons. Otherwise, you can't hide it at all!
Some people may say that this is not very responsible. Well, what you say makes sense, but sometimes people have to make a choice, and I think I have done all the guarantee work. For example, I bought a 7.2 million yuan car for this crossing. Accidental insurance, the rest depends on fate...
On the morning of December 17, 2018, I will say goodbye here, and a crazy adventure under the blue sky is about to start!
Cycling through the Greater Khingan Mountains & measuring the border
-- The first episode of 3600 words, finished draft --
Zhang Yansong, the founder of the public account "I Have a Car", wrote "secretly" at his home in Hainan on New Year's Day 2019...
Note: If you need detailed ".gpx" format track navigation documents, equipment information, and high-definition pictures of this crossing itinerary, please leave your email address in the backstage of the official account or Weibo @张玉松_我有车!
