July 7, 2023
Day 68 - Up and up and up some more
Well, while the gents back home are doing a pretty tough ride to Tuggeranong, I've decided to have a crack at the 100 km with a couple of thousand metres of climbing. I am sure that people are converting to their equivalents - ten Black Mountains, for instance, but this is rather different. It's Aimere to Ruteng. There are no equivalents in the developed world.
I had about 40 km to Borong that looked as though it had a lot of climbing. I couldn't gauge the altitude from maps.me because the cycling icon drops me into the sea! A local tour guide suggested it wasn't too hard. But as I say, there's only one source of useful information and that's a fellow cyclist and there were none around.
I was up early and in lieu of breakfast ate biscuits and bananas. This followed two plates of dinner last night. I was away by 7 on a very nice but testing ride through habitat I'm now most used to - past the football field on the coast and then the turn inland and the start of the climb.
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
What I haven't mentioned in my blog is the paucity of birdsong. I suspect that many species disappeared with the original forest. On top of that, birds are persecuted - put in cages if they sing or eaten, if they don't. Collecting eggs is common too.
My call on the landscape proved correct - flat for 5km, climbing for 20 and then a descent and flat for 15. It took me the best part of three hours with breaks.
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I found a good but expensive place in Borong to pig out and rest in preparation for the afternoon. A plate of fried noodles with vegetables, followed by a plate of fried rice with vegetables, a mug of tea, a coffee with condensed milk and a few cakes for the road cost me 90,000 rp - that's $9 or about double the usual rate. I might add, that the place has WiFi, so this blog is done to here!
I left at 1115 and spent the afternoon aiming at numbers. The start was cruel: the road climbed before dropping back to a river. I managed to get to 56 km for the day before stopping for a few minutes. I then managed to get to 63 km before a quick cake stop. My next aim was 70, which I made, but when I looked at my watch it was 1340 and so I pushed on until 1400 and 73 km - halfway from Borong to Ruteng. This called for 15 minutes off the bike, a couple of doughnuts and three bananas.
The next aim, of course, was 80 tens are important, but the ride had a cruel ending. At 79 km, I reached the high point (1364 m) before descending for 10 km to 1000 m. I climbed for a km, had a short break and rode to Ruteng (1188 m) in one go, with juice still in the tank.
It was a brilliant day in the saddle bar the last ten - garbage, horns, overloaded trucks belching fumes, more kids screaming "hello mister", "money, money" or, simply, "bole" or white foreigner. People live in a loud world here. I couldn't help but compare it with our climb from Khancoban to Dead Horse Gap years ago when the dominant sound was the creaking of gang gang cockatoos.
It took me a little time to find D Rima Homestay, a fine place with hot water and WiFi and one guest - me. Five minutes walk away is a good restaurant, where I decided to have a large plate of deep fried eggplant with sesame sauce for dessert.
Here's a pictorial record of my afternoon.
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 104 km (65 miles)
Total: 5,360 km (3,329 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
It appears that even in the less touristed areas you are readily finding food & accommodation; except for that stint of police billets you used when it seemed that camping wasn’t an option in any case.
Would you recommend cycle touring in eastern Nusa Tenggara with minimal (or even zero) tent, pots, stove, fuel etc?
9 months ago
As you know, I sent my camping gear home. In hindsight, I may have kept a tent and put it up near a church or a police station. Forget anywhere else because suitable places are few and far between. The main problem will be getting a bit of privacy. At times, I'd like some cooking gear to get a change of food. But again, I don't need an audience. Having said that, I acknowledge that I'm a visitor.
The good thing about today's ride is that I did 40 km to Borong, had what I call a quality break and then did 1600+m of climbing in the afternoon. On this subject, I remember getting to China in 2011 and people not taking any notice of me. It was the most wonderful thing and something I can thank Mao for.
Here, as in many places, I begin to understand how animals in zoos must feel. People cannot see that you've just cycled up a huge hill and would like to rest in peace for a moment. Likewise, those at home who have never traveled in Asia, can't understand that 2000 m of climbing in hot and humid conditions is the easy bit.
Something else that's clear is the lack of tourists. COVID had a huge effect. Tourists, especially those on bikes, are the best sources of information. As I say, looking for accommodation on the internet is hopeless. 1. You might not have internet. 2. You have no idea how far you might get. 3. You get swamped by booking.com etc, that suggests accommodation 50 km away!! A tent solves some of these problems.
Ian
9 months ago
A couple more questions while you’re on the line.
Are biting insects, especially mosquitoes a problem? I’m thinking of the risk of catching malaria and dengue. High? Low?
And would petrol be the only fuel available for camp cooking stoves? ie for a multi fuel camp stoves like yours, if you were carrying it.
And can I assume that ethanol for a Trangia, or small gas cylinders (for gas camping burners such as JetBoil) would be very hard to obtain?
9 months ago
I'm assuming.ing that cheap fuel, calked"solar" at service stations is ethanol. I haven't looked for small gas cylinders but imagine they're hard to come by. All these questions explain why I use more multifuel stoves. Ian
9 months ago