The longest cycling day (by distance) of the Trans-Oceania. We had to make a decision:

• Either ‘sleep with prostitutes’ in a less than basic place, get food poisoning or even worse
• Or add another 20k to the original 172km and end up in a supposed to be cleaner and better place.

The decision was easy and we agreed on a 192 km day. The strong riders, who would be able to finish 172 km would also make the 192 km, whereas the riders who only ride half a day could decide from where the begin, lunch or refreshment …

I decided to stay lightweight this day, DLR, extra clothes, … left in my daily bag. Only the necessary water, food and GoPro was loaded. Angry Bird got to ride a van.

I organized a small group (Gerald, Eric and me) to stay together, form a peloton and share effort to break the strong wind. However Eric was again late for breakfast and didn’t join us until our first Coke stop at 62km. Soon after Gerald and I left we run up with John and Paul, who joined us and we cruised along with a remarkable pace. 80km to lunch in less than 3 hours. After lunch, John left the peloton, but Shirley and Dan joined in. Soon the 2 afternoon peeks were reached and the final downhill to the hotel was a treat. Riding time less than 8 hours, with little more than 1 hour of stoppage time made it one of my shortest days on the bike. However the hotel was less of a standard than we expected after long sequence of upper class accommodation since the last basic hotel in Sumatra. For the new riders it was a first disappointment. Imagine how the brothel 20km back must have looked like …

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