July 3 - "Tibet Closed"

The highlight of our trip (to cycle the friendship hwy from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal) has been quashed today when I stumbled across a news article stating that Tibet will be closed from July 1 to 26.  It has been closed due to the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party in China and is an effort to head off possible trouble around the sensitive anniversary.  Turns out it is the absolute worst timing for us as we were planning to enter Tibet next week via train from Beijing.  Our Mongolian visas will run out soon and our China visa is only good for 30 days so we have to make some serious changes to our travel plans and and I am definitely going to try and send home all of my winter weather gear (down jacket, thermals, goggles, camp booties, etc) as they were all for the cold 4000-5000m passes of our 3 week bike trip in Tibet.  Until now I have reasoned with the extra weight due to the harsh elements that we were going to encounter....but now!  China will be sweltering hot this time of year and heat exhaustion will be more of an imminent threat!  Msg me if you've been to China and know of some good cycling routes.