The two friends left Shanghai on May 12 and finished in Beijing on May 30, arriving back in New Zealand on June 4. Mr Bennetts had already spent most of his winter holidays cycling portions of the route from Singapore to Shanghai, and reaching Beijing completed the more than 16,000km trip he started in 2002. He said he wanted to join all his rides together.
"You should take off the .87km as Gary kept falling off his bike," Mr Wanoa said.
They had enjoyed themselves immensely and every day had a highlight.
"It was a buzz and I enjoyed interacting with the people," Mr Wanoa said.
"The people are so resilient, and had strong family values and everybody worked hard for the common good."
"We didn’t know what to expect and we embraced the culture," he said.
Mr Bennetts said it was important to have the right attitude.
"We went to have fun, so it was fun," he said.
They were impressed by the cleanliness and straightness of the tree-lined roads and how friendly and eager to talk the people were. They stopped to talk to orchardists, students and stall owners, and shared meals with a lawyer and a farmer and their families. They saw nuclear power plants, and were "staggered" at the number of electric cars and electric motorbikes on the road.
When their bikes and cellphones needed repairs people were keen to help. During their trip Mr Bennetts had eight punctures and Mr Wanoa had four. Mr Bennetts also broke his handlebars and damaged his shoulder when he hit a road partition.
"He had three accidents and caused my one," Mr Wanoa said.
Mr Bennetts also fell off his bike after his slippery sandals got stuck on the pedal clips and he could not move them. On another occasion Mr Wanoa braked too hard and went over the handlebars.
They stayed in nice, cheap motels and ate in food markets. Mr Bennetts used a cellphone app to translate for them and another to show them the best cycling routes to their destinations.
"It showed us the shortest routes, sometimes through people’s back yards," he said.
Mr Wanoa lost his medication in someone’s back yard, and they were 18km further on before they noticed. They used an app to locate the McDonald’s and KFC outlets in cities, not because they wanted to eat there, but because chain restaurants often would be located in areas with plenty of accommodation options and markets.
When they arrived in Beijing they visited the Olympic City and also climbed the Great Wall of China. Mr Bennetts is keen to ride through Myanmar next year and Mr Wanoa is considering going as well.
