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Cycling in the zone. Paranoia. Heat and hills. Cramp. Amazing spread of food for dinner. Today was a weird day.

River

Clement and I both are bursting with energy. The road is flat and straight, and we power on, going faster and faster. It’s great feeling the energy flowing through my body. I feel strong. I feel I can conquer the world, and I guess I am conquering it, in a strange kind of way. I pass Clement as my music reaches a climax, and am overtaken as Clement does the same. People wave, pass us giving the thumbs-up. We are fast, and we have come a long way to cycle in this blur of a tropical background.

After 80km we stop for lunch, and we talk. And talk. And talk. Two hours pass – two hours of the hottest part of the day. And then we continue, this time at a slower pace – the sun is pounding down and it is hot. The landscape becomes hilly. The sweat pours off me – Clement calls me a ‘spring’ – a spring of sweat.

Then the mood changes. Suddenly people seem threatening. I don’t know why. A guy invites us to his lake to swim, and we both don’t trust him. Strange people drive past making us feel uneasy. Are the tired looking women, plastered with make-up and dressed to kill, standing by their cars, standing there for a reason?

The cramp hits – well, the preliminary twinges of cramp. The hills are steep, and it’s a constant up and down in the heat. No amount of water can fix my twinges, and I know that it is only a matter of time before I buckle over in agony from cramp. We stop – a truck stop – everyone looks weird and suspicious. Or is it us?

A fantastic dinner – a spread of tiny dishes of incredible Indonesian food – and we feel more relaxed. What was the problem? Cycling makes you learn your body, and your brain. Some unusual brain chemistry was at work today. I have experienced it before, and will undoubtedly experience it again. It’s all part of the adventure.