Hi Bernd,
I also wrote you in your personal mail.
Lots have changed within 19 years, most to the better for independent travel in China( and Tibet), some worsened.
I quite disagree for not to worry about the PSB. Back 2000 I been always cycling sharp along the Tibetan border for months between 3500 and 5200m, in Yunnan, Sichuan, Quinghai and Xinjiang. More than once I got charged by suspicious PSB officers in perfect English and could just manage to talk my way out. Other bike travelers, who actually entered Tibet without a permit got arested, got confiscated their bikes and had to pay horrendous fines. Yet most manage to get to Lhasa okay. Some PSB -officers are very eager to catch easy-prey western cyclists as they can extract nice bribes, especially so in Markham or in Chamdo, in every big town on Tibetan side near the border.
I may take the risk going without the permit, for risk is calculable, if you know the whereabouts of the checkpoints and retrive some fun from a daring game of hide and seek in great scenery.
www.bikechina.com just wrote me saying, that apparently you can get a valid permit for Tibet in Golmud, yes, even as a solo-cyclist- if you stay on the main road to Lhasa. However, I wouldn t be so sure about that, and this road is not so nice due to the many trucks on this road.
best spirits from Korea, seb.