2012 has dawned and I even risked a quick swim in the sea on New Year's Day - think of balmy tropical water and then try and think of something that's as far removed from that as possible. It was freezing cold but I managed the briefest of dips before dashing out again.

On foot and by bus we explored Beijing beginning with a trip to the Great Wall of China, call me Mrs Ignorant, but I had no idea it was so steep. We climbed up the side of a hill to reach a ladder which led up onto the wall itself. This somewhat rickety ladder was a test in itself, being over 20 feet high and with a narrow window at the top to scramble through into one of the towers along the wall.

The party and speeches at the BMW dealership were finally over. As the bikes weren't allowed any further into the city, we were being transferred by bus. Once more for us all the ignominy of decanting bike panniers into a bus luggage compartment. Off we went though the traffic jams of central Beijing to our hotel which had a great location overlooking the Forbiden City.

Our final day of riding was to be one with a difference, it was a misty morning as we loaded up our bikes for the final time and set off. We were going to be given an opportunity to try the “forbidden fruit” of the expressway. Apparently the area manager for this section of the roads is a BMW bike fan and we were to be permitted to ride along it.

This blog is not for the faint-hearted. As Patsy Cline says “Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman”, and although I can name lots of advantages to being a female bike traveller, there is one main advantage that the blokes have.

There are quite a number of expressways in China which as their name suggests allow the traffic to move at a more rapid pace- they are the motorways in this part of the world. However they are strictly no-go areas as far as motorbikes are concerned, as almost all of the bikes here are 125cc models and they’re considered too slow and too much of a hazard to be allowed onto high speed roads. To be honest they’re pretty much a hazard wherever they go.

 Xian to Beijing was to prove one of the hardest parts of the journey. It’s probably the most densely populated place on the planet and is also home to a large proportion of China’s industrial and manufacturing bases. For our final 10 days in China, we didn’t see the sun at all, the days were hot but the sun was constantly obscured by dull leaden skies due to a combination of the pollution and smog caused by the burning of immense amounts of fossil fuels.

 As I sit here in the comfort of my house, I've been watching with fascination the northward progress of James Cracknell and his cyclist pal Jerome Walters. They set off from just down the road near my house at 3.00am yesterday morning (Saturday am) and are attempting to break the record for the fastest tandem cycle ride to John O'Groats - 842 miles away. They've been on the road now cycling for 42 hours non-stop and have just 117 miles left to go.

But not THAT wall, or at least not yet. We'd reached the famous and fabled city of Xian which could only mean one thing, a visit to the renowned underground Army of Terracotta Warriors.

  Never one to be shy about what I eat, I've been making the most of the street stalls and stands that are scattered throughout every town and village in China, with some varied results. The dark brown boiled egg merited a small bite before being given to one of the street people. The weird and wonderful array of tofu has been a big hit with me. I have to admit, I often don’t even know what it is I’m putting in my mouth, just that it’s definitely not meat or fish.