A tough one. It was said that the road conditions weren’t good, which turned out to be the case for a major part of the day. But what made it more difficult was the strong blowing headwind, all day long.
The all day blowing headwind from east and the mostly bad road conditions made it a long riding day. However very quiet and scenic once we left the main road and turned into the coconut and gum tree fields. The temperatures felt really comfortable. From km 40 to 105 the road was really bad; loose gravel and rocks required full concentration at every second. However I could play out my ‘joker card’, the full suspension mode of my MTB made me ride the rocks like a Cadillac. I really enjoyed the roughness and difficulty of the ride. Cristiano wasn’t wrong when he announced the bad road conditions during the briefing, the night before. What he did not mention was, that we are riding eastwards and the wind is constantly blowing into our faces. This slowed down progress dramatically and made riding an all day and exhausting fight. Only a few of us made it to the next camp.
Lunch was setup at a nice place in the woods, where a local was boiling palm zap to make sugar and serving us fresh coconuts.
Tomorrow is another ‘killer’ stage: just 71 km, but a constant climb to 1800 m from sea level. I hope that the rest day that we have on Sep 14., will give me enough time to post photos and special reports.
Another joy ride. Roads good. Climb long but never steep, easy to find a pace to make it to the top effortless. Temperatures moderate. Head wind in the afternoon turning back to sea.
Another enjoyable cycling day. The morning climb after 15 km on the main road from sea level to almost 800 m was a ‘piece of cake’. Easy to find the right gear and pace to finish the 20 km gradual slope in one turn. Thereafter all day long downhill. That is how it should be. The vegetation and landscape changed. Hilly with endless tea plantations, with tea pickers at work. I stopped to ‘chat’ with some of the tea pickers – great fun. Another stop at a school where girls and boys were playing soccer together in heir school uniforms. I ‘crashed’ another school lesson and turned it into a ‘the stranger entertaining the kids’ lesson. At the end the kids formed a quire and sang an Indonesian song for me. The day ended at the Turtle Beach Hotel – nice, spacey and clean. Unfortunately someone must have told them that we must all be Germans! Only Beer at the bar, no soft drinks. We were told that the turtles usually come to the beach at around 8/9pm, so we will have a chance to see them tonight.
A dangerous encounter on my way through the Java coastal region. I was just taking up speed again after a short climb, when this guy passed my way, trying to escape into the bushes and keeping John and Colin in a respectful distance …
Road bad to very bad. A hot day, 2 steep climbs but very scenic.
I would call it a perfect mix of everything. A tough cycling stage considering the day temperatures, the road conditions and the very steep climbing sections, but awarded with scenic views and similar amount of fast downhills to relax the legs. We had to leave the coast line and climb over two ridges to get back to the sea. The hotel is excellent, both from accommodation and food. Beach is a short walk away, but not for swimming. It is a surfer paradise.
Again quick 33 km after leaving campsite. Rather flat with good tailwind. However the smog is still bad – my new mask gave some relief. Turning inland we ‘climbed’ a bit into the green fields. Road mostly good. Turning back to the sea, the wind was blowing strong into our faces.
This was the right starter after the rest day. Time and distance wise short and doable. Very scenic ride after leaving the coast line. The air also turned more consumable after leaving the busy main road. We climbed a bit, but not very steep and long. Ended up in fields of banana and coconut trees and rice. Timber is also a big business. The sawing mills are everywhere and piles of wood waiting to be turned into boards. The people are very friendly but reserved. I stopped at a house with a big satellite dish and was invited to have shade on the veranda with the owner family. The kids were wearing European soccer team jerseys – as so many in the country. So I ended up playing soccer with little Messi and Benzema.
I am still riding with fever and coughing. Temperature control is still not calibrated. I am shivering at 35°C. Hope this will improve within the next few days.
) can get easily to camp
