Day 125 - S < 0 < N - Unfinished Business

September 2, 2023

Day 125 - S < 0 < N

And so the calendar ticks over to another weekend. I'm told that the wattles at home are magnificent this year. I look forward to seeing them soon.

I was just thinking that I must be getting close to that magical line - The Equator. It was lucky I checked because here at Hotel Simkang Raya, I am 0.366322 degrees south. If we assume that there's about 110 km per degree, then in 50-60 km, given that I'm not riding due north, I'm going to be in the northern hemisphere. I've been running parallel with that line since arriving in Dili, 8.5 degrees south. It wasn't until I turned north in Sumatra that the final attack began. Of course, I ate up most of the latitude in Australia, from 35.28 S in Canberra to 12.46 S in Darwin. So folks, this piece of total irrelevance gets me excited. I'm sure that I'll notice a little jolt of electricity on the line.

Hotel Simpang Raya is 0.366322 degrees south.

Not only is Hotel Simpang Raya 0.366322 degrees south of the Equator, but it serves up a breakfast that gives a touring cyclist a fighting chance of getting over the line.

After sorting out my internet, yet again, I got going at about 8.30, taking a few photos on my return to the highway.

Your country but every creature's planet

Once back on the highway, I got close to 100 km of Devil's Pinches. It was a hard day in the saddle, mostly through palm plantations.

I'll find something for everyone! Royal Sumatra.

It looked as though, in its day, it was designed for the tropics

I had a break after 40 km in a typical dusty, ramshackle Indonesian town, where there's always something to photograph.

Just out of town, I came across a bastion of Christianity, with three churches within a km. I felt closer to home. All looked as though they would benefit from barrels to slow the traffic and collectors with butterfly nets.

Resorts have never been my thing; I'm unsure what you do at them.

I found some shade, outside a school, in which to check my phone. I was less than 0.1 degrees from the Equator. Something inside me doubted whether there would be an appropriate marker.

I cycled a little bit further, found another square metre of shade, and decided that I was as close as I could get to zero.

To my great surprise, however, Indonesia dished up the goods 100 metres further up the road. I went to town at this salubrious little spot, purposely left treeless I assume, so touring cyclists could appreciate the equatorial sun. Perfect! I was there at midday.

Back on the road, I stopped almost immediately to photograph a gorgeous roadkill varanid. I couldn't see anything on my screen and made a hash of it. But here it is anyway.

Messing about at the Equator meant also that I didn't go far before my hunger appeared. I stopped, reluctantly, at a Masakan Padang place where there were several trucks. The food was dreadful; vegetables hadn't made it to this neck of the woods. I hope this isn't the one that catches me out; I ate many chillies!

From here it was another 50 km to Pangkalan Kerinci, a sizeable town where I was confident of finding a hotel. I more or less slugged it out through the remaining 30 km of pinches followed by 20 km of broken concrete road. I pulled up knowing that I had done something.

Here are some photos from the final 50 km.

The elderly faithful refused to use the new mosque due to the steps.

It's terrific seeing a sporting field in use. I see so many falling into disarray.

I crossed a wide river on the edge of town.

I went in search of some decent food and found it - squid in sauce and stir-fried greens. As usual, I doubled up. Unfortunately, the gorgeous couple responsible did not want to be photographed.

The town is raging. Here are some photos from my walk back.

My day was split, almost perfectly, between hemispheres. Even so, i can't say whether cycling was easier in one.

It seems that I am about 250 km from Dumai. Unfortunately, due to preferring accommodation, tomorrow will need to be big.

Today's ride: 121 km (75 miles)
Total: 9,287 km (5,767 miles)

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Ian DouglasIan, how accurate did your 70 miles per degree rule prove? Tis average should have slightly overstated because of Newton’s equatorial bulge. “Measure the Earth” by Laurie Ferreiro (my holiday reading on a Vietnam trip) relates the early 18th century French expedition to Peru to resolve the cross channel debate between Newton’s theory of gravity and Pascalian followers who postulated an elongated earth and vortex-driven gravity. Newton won, until Einstein kicked on from E=mcsquared to his General Theory.
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7 months ago

Ian WallisTo Ian DouglasIan, my guess was pretty good considering that I wasn't traveling due north. The difficulty in looking at a screen meant that I didn't want to stop every few minutes. My first guess was pretty good. Ian
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7 months ago