A lot of people have mailed me about this "record". I think I have to give you some details about it, because it may sound like a downright lie.
I cycled around a bend on my way towards a pass between Qamdo and Riwoqe. A dog was trotting along, in the same direction I was heading. It immediately started to bark when it saw me and attacked in a half-hearted way when I passed. Just when the barks from the dog grew more distant, the climb started. It was a standard Tibetan five %-er, but the progress was slower than usual, due to the muddy road conditions. The dog came closer and started to trot'n'bark about ten meters behind me. It was ok for five minutes. I was mightily fed up with it after ten and stopped and started to throw small stones at the dog after fifteen. The dog stopped, just out of reach for my stones, still barking as loud as it could. I continued to cycle, the dog followed, trotting along barking. It was driving me nuts, but I couldn't do anything about it and the dog and the barks were my company all the way up to the 4600 meter high pass.
The barks got more and more husky the higher we got, but it never gave in. It stopped a couple times and drank some water, barked one or two times in between the gulps and raced after me until it was at the normal distance of maybe ten meters behind. I thought I could loose it if I went for it, I did, lost my breath and finally gave up, grinding my teeth.
It was a fantastic relief to reach the top of the pass and race like mad in the downhill. I had been expecting the dog to try keep up with me in the downhill and I had felt the pleasure to drop it further and further behind. But, no. The dog was smarter than that and when it reached the top of the pass it just stopped. Stopped trotting, chasing and barking. I sat down and didn't even gave me a look. The feeling of defeat was very real when I rolled downhill.