Stage 23: Java

Ciwidey to  Cipanas
Date: 13-09-2014 Time: 05:52 h Σ Time: 136:15 h
Distance: 93 km Σ km: 2732 km Temp: 15/36 °C
Up: 1952 m Σ Up: 30720 m Calories: 2534 kcal
Down: 2103 m Σ Down: 29695 m Σ kcal: 62456 kcal
Conditions: Bad roads on all climbs. A surprise ‘bypass-detour’ after lunch. Very scenic and very challenging.

After the already 5 tough cycling days of this weeks the last stage into the rest day must be something special. It started with another ‘so-called’ bad road. The long climb into the surrounding tea & cinchona fields with a rewarded downhill on the other side, was slowed down by the really bad road conditions. The landscape was again very stunning and the ride kind of fun for me on my ‘Cadillac’. For others it was a torture, with more to come that day. With many photo stops and due to the bad road conditions it took me already 4 hours to get to lunch at about 60 km. This meant again a long riding day, as there was a 2nd huge climb thereafter. To our surprise we were told at lunch, that the track was officially changed and we will bypass the busy roads and cut short a part of the afternoon climb. Was it to our benefit? We would find out soon. The distance was corrected on the board and recommendations to ‘walk the bike’ were given for a steep downhill … to be continued in another post

This completes the 4th week of cycling in Indonesia. It is also the last week with 6 consecutive cycling days. This doesn’t necessarily mean, that the shorter cycling weeks are becoming easier.

 

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