Stage 12: Sumatra

Bengkulu to  Manna
Date: 01-09-2014 Time: 05:47 h Σ Time: 70:58 h
Distance: 140 km Σ km: 1511 km Temp: 20/39 °C
Up: 1082 m Σ Up: 14665 m Calories: 3056 kcal
Down: 1052 m Σ Down: 14567 m Σ kcal: 34374 kcal
Conditions: A fast marathon warm-up in the morning. The 42 km flat out of town would have been a treat, if the air wouldn’t be so polluted from the early morning commute.

It was easy rolling on the first 40 km. Thereafter it became more rural, hilly and the road sometimes a bit broken. The landscape did not change much until we turned back to the coast. Rice fields and palm trees build the scene. Lunch at a police station with a school next to it. This guaranteed spectators and entertainment. After lunch temperatures increased to reach upper 30th.

Today I was stopped by two girls on a motor scooter. They followed me quite a while, then passed, fall back again, passed until finally stopped next to the road and signaled me to stop, too – which I did. The first word of the girl was ‘OMG, I want a photo with you’. So I had a road side photo session and many more “OMG’s” …

 

stage-12