Ride SUNDAY April 3rd – Huairou

This weekend is the Qing Ming long weekend. The air forecast is looking great and Spring is well and truly here. That’s the good news. The bad news is that half of Beijing will be trying to get out of the city for the holiday so traffic will be bad. As a consequence we will organise our ride on the middle day of the holiday – SUNDAY. The traffic is better on the middle day late morning so we will organise the ride for the AFTERNOON and travel back to Beijing in the evening when traffic is at its best.

Instead of wasting our time stuck in traffic we’ve organised some serious food and beverages at the awesome new Kempinski Hotel on Yanqi Lake. After a hard ride you’ll be rewarded with some fine German food and beer in the Paulaner Brauhaus by the lake.  We think the food and beer will be the highlight of the ride and certainly better than being stuck on the road.

Huairou is our favourite riding destination and we have 3 great rides lined up. We’ve picked the X004 road which is usually quiet past the Shanba area. The Elites will do an out and back route starting from the Kempinski and riding all the way to Dong Bei Kou and back. There will be some traffic around Shanba but it will be manageable on the bike. There are 5 major climbs on this route so it will be quite tough.

The Beginners and Intermediate will meet at the Kempinski Hotel and then drive up together to the meeting point of  X310 and G111 (if you self drive we will drive you up in the van) and start riding from there. The route is undulating with a few small climbs and one medium climb. For the intermediate group there is an extra climbing challenge up a dead end road about half way along the course. Both rides will end up at the Kempinski Hotel.

There is also an option to stay the whole weekend in Huairou with Serk. Check it out here. We will be watching the Tour of Flanders live in the mountains !

All riders are required to fill the form below (including self drive) by Friday morning.

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Name:*

Transport Options :*

10 Ride Pass (pre paid)
15 Ride Pass (pre paid)
1 Ride Pass (350 RMB)
Self drive (50 RMB)

I'd like to join the following ride :*

Beginner
Intermediate
Elite

I have read and agree to the waiver terms and conditions in the link below*

Yes
No

If this is your first ride with Serk please leave your wechat or phone number :

Food Options :*

Paulaner 5 course meal + 1 beer (298 RMB)
Paulaner a la carte (price variable)
No food

Departure Time SUNDAY  :
11.30 Serk.  Arrive at 11.15 am to load bikes
Return Time : 21:30 Serk

1. Beginner – 69km 1000m Climbing
More downhill than uphill  again this week ! However overall there is a bit more climbing than last week. By now you are all enjoying the climbing right ? This is a point to point course on lovely smooth roads. There are 3 climbs and 2 awesome descents. Watch the area around Shanba on the final descent as it will be busy this weekend. The ride finishes off at the Kempinski on the shores of Yanqi Lake. Step off the bike and straight in the Paulaner Brauhaus. Does life get any better ?

Ride leader : Liman

Average Speed : 15 km/h – 20 km/h

This ride is recommended for all new beginner riders. If you find the pace too slow next week you can move to the Intermediate Group. Its much better to start out on the easier ride and then move up rather than start on the faster ride and find yourself getting dropped and left behind.

 

2. Intermediate – 75 km 1200m Climbing

Same as the Beginner ride above but we add in a gorgeous little climb up to a dead end. There are some parts of the climb that are steep. You’ve got five courses to get through when you arrive at Paulaner so concentrate on how good the food and beer is going to taste while you are battling the climbs !

 

Ride leader : TBC
Average Speed : 20 km/h – 25 km/h

This ride is recommended for all Intermediate riders. If you find the pace too slow next week you can move to the Elite Group. Its much better to start out on the easier ride and then move up rather than start on the faster ride and find yourself getting dropped and left behind.

3. Elite – 119km  2200m Climbing

This is an out and back route with a bunch of awesome climbs immediately followed by an even more awesome descents. There is hardly a flat straight road on this course. Going through the Shanba area will be a little busy but apart from that we guarantee you’ll be smiling ear to ear – even before the first mouth full of German beer.

Ride leader : Morten

Average Speed : 25 km/h – 30 km/h

This ride is recommended for all Elite riders only. The pace will be pretty fast and on the flat parts of the course we will ride together as a bunch so the km pass quickly. The group will wait at the top of the climbs and regroup for the descents. If you are not sure of your fitness or endurance then please do not join this group. Instead go with the intermediate group and as your fitness improves later in the season join the Elite ride group.

 

 

The Food.

Our ride will finish up at the 5 star Kempinski Hotel on the shores of Yanqi Lake. We will enjoy a feast from the Paulaner Brauhaus restaurant in the complex. The are offering Serk riders a special menu for 298 RMB per head. The service fee will be waived and we need a minimum of 10 for the group menu. It’s a 5 course meal (even though the menu mentions 4) and the manager has guaranteed we won’t leave without a full stomach. It’s also happy hour from 5pm – 7pm so there are plenty of reasons to stick around, enjoy the scene and eachothers company.

It’s not compulsory to take part on the 298 RMB feast. If you prefer you can order a la carte from the menu or just join for drinks.

More info on the Kempinski can be found here.

Waiver

Every rider is required to read and accept this waiver by clicking on “yes” in the form above before participating in a Serk Ride.

Self Drive

The start and finish point is Kempinski Hotel Yanqi Lake Huairou. 1.5  hour drive from Serk,  1 hour drive from Shunyi.

Payment

If you have already signed up for a multi-ride pass you don’t need make any additional payment for this ride. If you haven’t you can sign up for a multi-ride pass here or just purchase a 1 ride pass for the day. Our vehicles have limited seats so preference first goes to multi-ride pass holders and then those that pre-pay the 1 ride pass.

To pre-pay on Wechat please extract the following QR Code by pressing on it using your smartphone and then select “Extract QR code” You will be taken to a we chat payment page to make the 350 RMB payment.

For self-drive please extract the following QR Code by pressing on it using your smartphone and then select “Extract QR code” You will be taken to a we chat payment page to make the 50 RMB payment.

Cancellation / Refund AQI Policy

Please read our Cancellation / Refund AQI Policy Carefully here.

Process

Once you have signed up for the ride we will add you to special group chat for the ride. Here you will be able to see which of your friends have already signed up plus we will release the route GPX files and detailed route instructions here. During the ride we will use this group for communication and also its the place you can share photos post ride.