Photos of Stage 10
Mukomuko to Seblat – Sumatra
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Monthly Archives: August 2014
Stage 10: Sumatra
| Mukomuko to Seblat | |||||
| Date: | 29-08-2014 | Time: | 06:27 h | Σ Time: | 59:21 h |
| Distance: | 142 km | Σ km: | 1246 km | Temp: | 20/38 °C |
| Up: | 1469 m | Σ Up: | 12434 m | Calories: | 2855 kcal |
| Down: | 1408 m | Σ Down: | 12380 m | Σ kcal: | 28063 kcal |
| Conditions: | A cool and flat start in the morning. First 20 km along the coast, the 100 km inland through palm oil plantations. Rolling up and down +/- 70m all day, accumulating to 1400m ascent. Road good, some open patches. Many bridges over brown rivers. Until 11 am the temperature was bearable. Thereafter very hot. Steep climb with 13% grade at 136 km. | ||||
Today was faster, as I was on a different mission: Don’t stop too often, get more time in camp to write up some stuff from past days. It perfectly fitted the change in the mentality of the locals. Although there is almost no meter of unoccupied land along the whole road through the plantations – you can’t make out borders between villages – there were much fewer ‘Hello Mister’ and ‘Good Morning’ calls during most of the day. This made riding quicker. Only closer to the coast the friendliness popped up again and extra time was added for stops and interaction with locals. Another basic hotel, with cartoon beddings and bucket showers.
Gold’s Empire
Although Henry is doing his first Tour through Indonesia, he has already set remarkable footprints 
in Sumatra. In Central America it was the impressive number of TdA Shops, that marked the tour. However in Sumatra and probably all over Indonesia it is Mr. Gold himself, who plastered the roads with is name:
Throughout Sumatra you can find signs like:
My favorite and the new slogan for Cycling Adventurers and Explorers – “Do it with Henry and his exceptional Team”
Live your Freedom, go ahead with Henry
Thanks a lot Henry for offering such a unique way to explore this part of the world. Keep the good work and spirit alive. You and the TdA team are my No. 1!
Stage 10: Sumatra
| Mukomuko to Seblat | ||||||
| Date: | 29-08-2014 | Time: | 06:27 h | Σ Time: | 59:21 h | |
| Distance: | 142 km | Σ km: | 1246 km | Temp: | 20/38 °C | |
| Up: | 1469 m | Σ Up: | 12434 m | Calories: | 2855 kcal | |
| Down: | 1408 m | Σ Down: | 12380 m | Σ kcal: | 28063 kcal | |
| Conditions: | A cool and flat start in the morning. First 20 km along the coast, the 100 km inland through palm oil plantations. Rolling up and down +/- 70m all day, accumulating to 1400m ascent. Road good, some open patches. Many bridges over brown rivers. Until 11 am the temperature was bearable. Thereafter very hot. Steep climb with 13% grade at 136 km. | |||||
Today was faster, as I was on a different mission: Don’t stop too often, get more time in camp to write up some stuff from past days. It perfectly fitted the change in the mentality of the locals. Although there is almost no meter of unoccupied land along the whole road through the plantations – you can’t make out borders between villages – there were much fewer ‘Hello Mister’ and ‘Good Morning’ calls during most of the day. This made riding quicker. Only closer to the coast the friendliness popped up again and extra time was added for stops and interaction with locals. Another basic hotel, with cartoon beddings and bucket showers.
‘Bunny’ Night
No Mickey this time, but also no Superman. UPS must have delivered the wrong parcel, Katrin.
Tonight is ‘Bunny Night’
Luckily so far there are no Soccer Team motives yet. I don’t know what I would do if I was assigned an Bayern Munich bed.
Tweet ##transoceaniaHigh Noon in Ipuh
I completed another metric century. 100 km done in the brutal midday heat. 42 km to go – piece of cake?
A 1000 Hills
9:45am, 75 km into the day. The last 55 km thru dense palm oil plantations and rolling hills. Good that the morning temp is below 30°C. I passed the halfway cemetery …
Make sure there is a bed for me tonight 
VIP Escorted
Today I received a special VIP service, that I’ll never forget and every western police should take as a positive role model.
I entered a town and was looking for the next turn to tak
e on my direction write-ups, when a police officer on his motor scooter pulled over. He introduced himself as Riki. We had a short chat about where I come from, what I am doing, … He recognized my German jersey, and when I confirmed that I am from Germany, he asked me if I am friend of ‘Thomas Müller’ which I did not deny. Soccer, Germany, World Cup opens doors! He asked me for my name, and when I said Joachim Löffel, his face was in a big smile: ‘You are Joachim Loew?’ – Yes, I am Joachim Löffel, I replied. And he again Joachim Loew? I showed him my website on my Smartphone with the Title ‘Joachim Loeffel – Trans-Oceania 2014’ and he again stopped reading Joachim Loef. Now the story developed.
I briefly explained to him, what I am about to do next, when he asked me ‘You help me?’ I was a bit puzzled that he wanted my help, and first thought he wanted some ‘toll’, when I recognized that he wanted to offer me his help. So I gladly accepted, what then ended in a 
police escort – with signal horn and flash light – thru town with a final reception at his brother’s shop for a Coke and loads of fun. Now I am facebook friend with a Sumatra police officer and I probably made his day, as he can tell his colleagues that he escorted Joachim Loew. (The German head coach of the National Soccer team which won the World Cup 2014 in Brazil)
Being escorted by police in Sumatra
Swapping bikes
Just around the corner was a police check point and the friendly encounter with Sumatra police officers continued. Smiles where big, when they discovered Riki’s telephone number on my notepad.
Tweet ##transoceaniaStage 09: Sumatra
| Francs Hotel to Mukomuko | |||||
| Date: | 28-08-2014 | Time: | 06:00 h | Temp: | 21/41 °C |
| Distance: | 142 km | Σ km: | 962 km | To Go: | nnnnn km |
| Up: | 859 m | Σ Up: | 11350 m | Calories: | 2716 kcal |
| Down: | 855 m | Σ Down: | 11589 m | Σ kcal: | 25208 kcal |
| Conditions: | Another hot and long day on the road. In the morning we made a short detour thru urban villages away from the main road. Then back to main road away from the coast. The day was very hot and water consumption high. | ||||
Again I spent a lot of my time with stops next to the road. The people are so inviting that I can’t just greet an continue. A motor cycle group passed me and greeted me as if I was also riding a Harley and wearing a leather jacket. A later met them again at a stop and a had a nice session with them. The highlight of the day was young Lisa at a shop 25 km away from camp. She was very good in English and a nice conversation developed. I’ll will post photos in another blog.
Stage 08: Sumatra
| Padang to Francs Hotel | |||||
| Date: | 27-08-2014 | Time: | 05:30 h | Temp: | 15/38 °C |
| Distance: | 119 km | Σ km: | 962 km | To Go: | nnnnn km |
| Up: | 841 m | Σ Up: | 10491 m | Calories: | 1875 kcal |
| Down: | 860 m | Σ Down: | 10734 m | Σ kcal: | 22492 kcal |
| Conditions: | Make a short riding day, a long one! Hot, quiet and remarkable good. Many stops and exceptional contacts |
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This was elapsed time wise one of the longer rides today. First of all, we were told that the next place to sleep at is very, very, very basic. Thus I decided to not arrive prior to sunset, to not see the rooms at daylight. And second, simply because I enjoyed it so much that I had to stop more often then on other days. I have several highlights to report on in separate posts. Keep your tension and be patient.
