| Kupang to Soe | |||||
| Date: | 10-16-2014 | Time: | 05:35 h | Σ Time: | 261:14 h |
| Distance: | 107 km | Σ km: | 5242 km | Temp: | 25/47 °C |
| Up: | 1569 m | Σ Up: | 64688 m | Down: | 760 m |
| Calories: | 2806 kcal | Σ kcal: | 121577 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | This was definitely the hottest cycling day so far, with temperatures exceeding 30°C at 8am and climbing into the upper 40°C at noon. The air is getting much dryer. Roads were perfect, some road works patches, and traffic o.k. after leaving Kupang and the morning rush hour. After 3 days of rest (besides some partying) it was good to be back on the bike and road. | ||||
And HE did it again! Cristiano found a route, which added another 1500m to our daily climbs – just about the average. On arrival to Timor everyone thought, that we were now out of climbing and into a flatter warm-up session to get adjusted to the soon to come ‘Australian profiles’. On arrival by plane, we got the impression, that the island is flat, no volcanoes or major mountains in sight – some thought were were high jacked to a different location but timor, but we accepted the new location. At the rider meeting we were taught different, when the whiteboard listed 1540m ups for the first stage on Timor! Lesson learnt: Don’t celebrate until you get the elevation profiles and route details! I think Cristiano will even find a 100km/2000m up route in the Netherlands 
! The climbs were comparably easy, not very steep, but the final, long climb to get to Soe was right at day’s end, when the heat reached its maximum of 47°C! The ride was quite surprising. The island’s vegetation and climate changed with every mile we got into its interior. The climate changed from humid at the coast to really dry and hot further inland and as we got higher. Lots of water needed to wet the dry mouth. Also the countryside changed. Many times I was reminded on some parts in Africa, savannah and thatched huts, people with darker skin, however transferred back to Asia and into rice fields around the next corner back, as soon as water was available. Lunch was located at a partially dry river and right before the final 25km/750m climb. The kids are a little bit shy and tend to backup when I stop the bike to take a photo. Probably it is because they are not so used to ‘bules’ (white men). However, a few Bahasa words later they come closer and enjoy my sudden appearance. Besides the ‘Hello Mister’ or ‘Sir’´, I heard some ‘Hello Papa’ here and then! Surprisingly. Do I look all of a sudden that different and much older? Just before Soe there were some food and fruit stands along the road. I stopped to buy some mangoes, but the young girl insisted on ‘insane’ 25000 rupias a piece, which is almost the price I have to pay in Germany. So I left without a delicious afternoon fruit treat, and bought me a magnum ice cream at the town’s mini market, hoping that the temperatures go down a bit when the sun sets …
2 more cycling days in Indonesia and 1 day in Timor-Leste, before starting into the Australian adventure.
