| Gisting to Kalianda | |||||
| Date: | 05-09-2014 | Time: | 06:15 h | Σ Time: | 95:47 h |
| Distance: | 142 km | Σ km: | 2017 km | Temp: | 20/40 °C |
| Up: | 962 m | Σ Up: | 19798 m | Calories: | 2952 kcal |
| Down: | 1310 m | Σ Down: | 19532 m | Σ kcal: | 44140 kcal |
| Conditions: | Sumatra Highway, all day long. Lungs are fully tarred now – feels like being a chain smoker for a life time. Got a mask now. | ||||
After the scenic rides of the past days, this is one to file under ”We don’t need more of these” . Although we were awarded with a long downhill, the ride as such was a ‘dirty’ and ‘hectic’ one. All day between a million trucks and motorcycles, blowing their exhausts into our lungs. I guess the Indonesians are being paid for burning their ‘gas’ (bensin solar) instead of having to pay for the fuel. I don’t know what they are doing on the roads all day?! Sure bringing kids to school in the morning and picking them up in the afternoon and carrying goods from here to there. But there is no rest in between. Roads are always busy. A few traders with goods on the bike, but others just youngsters cruising around … We had a small detour in the first larger town. However these attempts to bypass major traffic routes are often more difficult and dangerous to ride then staying on the main road, as the road conditions can get really bad on the secondary’s. Unfortunately another crash on a downhill of one of the fellow riders. 6 stiches in the local hospital and back on track!
You can sense, that your body is going weird, when you are wearing 3 layers of cycling functional wear (incl. wind stopper), but you still feel cold at air temperature of 40°C. I hope the rest day in Carita (after tomorrow’s 112k m) will get my body back in sync with my riding plans …
