Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category

Day 278. 123km. Pong Nam Ron – Takrao

Posted: December 12, 2015 in Cycling, Thailand
Tags: , , ,
0

We sat, together, in the airconditioned room. ‘And then there was that!’ – and another story would be told with a smile from ear to ear. I met world-cycler Bernadette in Amsterdam at a cycling trade show a few years ago when I was excitedly planning my own world cycle tour. And now we find ourselves on the bike in Thailand – in bungalows overlooking a beautiful lake. ‘Good to see you!’ she screamed and we wrapped ourselves in a big hug.

Me and Bernadette

Me and Bernadette

We met at a little shop out the front of the resort. Bernadette couldn’t cycle due to cramp, and I couldn’t walk – my right hip tends to give way when I walk. It comes and goes. So, I cycle at walking pace to our bungalows next to Bernadette.

Today was undulating landscape cycling, firstly in the sun, and then through a shady park, passing elephant signs. No elephants, though.

Elephants

Elephants

We arranged to meet in a town Takrao that isn’t called Takrao, off a road that isn’t the 3259. I asked for directions to a town that isn’t called Wang Mai. Google maps and Maps.me got everything wrong about the naming. So, I find myself in a town whose name I’ve forgotten.

Day 213. 98km. Abandoned Hut – Hongyuan

Posted: December 11, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
2

‘This is what it is all about’ I thought hurtling along in the sun on the flat smooth road, watching the high mountain plains and the Yellow River roll by. The absolute misery of the morning had turned with food in my belly and the sun on my back. The misery had now become adventure. I have been cycling for one year today and I am on the Tibetan Plateau. How awesome is that?

The plains

The plains

This morning sucked. I had another 16km to go to make it from my abandoned hut to the village where I wanted to have a late breakfast. The road can’t get any worse, I thought. Wrong. It was a mud bath plied by big trucks, ploughing through the slush. And the road climbed – always in the deepest slush. Bumping down a mini-pass I got another flat tyre – 7km out of town. It was raining, there was so much mud wedged between the tyres and the mudguards and brakes, that a tyre repair would have not been easy. I decided to walk. In the village I fixed the tyre, cleaned the bike, and had a horrible lunch of yak with rice. No chance of replenishing my chocolate supplies. This village had nothing that I felt like eating.

The mud

The mud

The roadworks continued, although much less severe. It was usually possible to find some bitumen to ride on, even it if meant weaving around rocks. After 89km, at my 4pm meal break, I was informed by the owner that the roadworks had ended. The sun came out, and the world changed. Fourty-two kilometres to the next town, and I ate up those kilometres to make my daily total almost 100.

P.S. I guess I must admit, the cause of the second flat tyre was as I had a fold of the inner tube inside the tyre. I guess I wasn’t at my best when I fixed the tyre in the abandoned hut.. ☺

Day 212. 114km. Hongxing – Abandoned hut

Posted: December 10, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
0

I wanted to post a 130km day. The Gods didn’t want that. An unexpected 60km of muddy road-works and then a flat tyre during the final sprint saw an end to that. It was raining and getting dark. I am in an abandoned hut a few hundred metres from where I had the flat tyre. The universe provided.

Evening flat tyre

Evening flat tyre

I guess I am a loner. Today I fled from a group of cyclists. I have seen them over and over the last few days – a group of about 10 Chinese cyclists. I ran into them on a pass this morning, and then a thousand photos were taken. I then continued up the hill, only to be passed by people planning to take photos of me climbing the hill with others in view. I just had to get away. I sprinted, passed everyone and fled into the tunnel at the top of the pass. They had to wait at the tunnel entrance for everyone to gather.

The cyclist group

The cyclist group

The photographers

The photographers

I like cycling with 1, 2 or 3 people. I like cycling away from the crowds, and away from the tourism activities offered by the tourism industry. I cycled straight past the lake viewing platform, and the tourist busses lined up there. The guided group of cyclists today gave me the willies. I am interested in my own reaction. Maybe I am a hermit.

I left the main road today on a major secondary road. The altitude profile was more or less flat, and there was going to be a tailwind. I set my sights for the 60km distant town. Well, there were serious roadworks the whole way. It rained. The tailwind stopped. There were no towns – or anything much on the way (except a few yurts). And it was hilly. Up and down and up and down. And then, a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere, 15km from the town. I know, at the start of this trip, I might have panicked. A flat tyre in the rain, getting dark, at 3500m on the Tibetan Plateau. Well, Mr Hermit didn’t panic this time (of which I am quite pleased), and found the abandoned hut – I am sharing the hut only with a very loud cat.

Day 277. 136km. Battambang – Pong Nam Ron

Posted: December 10, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling, Thailand
Tags: , , , ,
0

I have changed countries, and it feels like I have changed planets. In Cambodia the kids run around naked, screaming out hello and waving frantically. In Thailand the kids ignore me, but the slick cyclists sporting their lycra-wear, riding their ultra-light racing bikes wave hi. The little tin lean-tos selling drinks from their orange ice-chests are replaced by the always open airconditioned 7-eleven. It is a shame and a relief at the same time.

Entering Thailand

Entering Thailand

I stopped for a drink at a little lean-to in Cambodia. We soon got laughing, and before I knew it I was given some strange green fruits, and the naked baby on my lap for photos. My zombie-face gave some more laughs.

Funny faces

Funny faces

Over the border in Thailand, and the road got wider, the cars slicker, and the mopeds vanished. The new sim-card was to be bought in the 7-eleven – an air-conditioned paradise that never closes. They have chips, ice-cream, burgers and CHOCOLATE MILK.

I passed 24000km today.

24000km

24000km

I am no longer mute. I can say some rudimentary things in Thai, which is a big relief. It all feels more familiar – but less of an adventure. Bangkok is drawing near – my favourite Asian city.

Day 211. 94km. Luqu – Hongxing

Posted: December 9, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
2

My body is used to the heat of the desert. At 3500m there is not much desert heat left. My attempt at making lots of kilometres today was foiled by a flat tyre and lack of motivation to cycle into the cold without a destination with a roof over my head known. 94km it is.

Wrapped up bike inspection

Wrapped up bike inspection

I had a welcome surprise cycling into a little village. Paro and Dwayn were there waving. They had seen me from the bus and had got out to see me.

Me, Paro and Dwayn

Me, Paro and Dwayn

The high plains

The high plains

Day 276. 56km. Battambang

Posted: December 9, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
Tags: , ,
2

The bats were late. They were meant to start at 5:20.
‘Maybe it’s the first sign of the apocalypse,’ said Mark, the Scot, next to me.
Then it started. They poured out of the hole in the mountain like water pouring over a waterfull. A constant stream accompanied by the high-pitched squeal. The bats of Battambang.

The bats of Battambang. The stream lasted an hour.

The bats of Battambang. The stream lasted an hour.

‘Can we meet up a day earlier?’ I asked my Dutch cycling friend Bernadatte who is currently in the outer suburbs of Bangkok. ‘I’m ahead of schedule.’
She couldn’t, and sent me a list of things to do in Battambang. One by one I ticked them off – a ride on a bamboo train (a bamboo platform on two dismountable axles, run by a lawnmower engine), a temple, a ‘killing cave’ from the Pol Pot era, and a bat cave.

The bamboo train

The bamboo train

Me and Mark (the Scot)

Me and Mark (the Scot)

Phnom Banan

Phnom Banan

The Khmer Rouge killed about 30% of the Cambodian population. It was a dreadful part of this country’s history.

The killing cave

The killing cave

View over the Cambodian plains

View over the Cambodian plains

Day 275. 176km. Siem Reap – Battambang

Posted: December 9, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
10

Siem Reap was an oasis of luxury on my trip. Cakes, oil massages and temples abound. After 5 days there, I left for the distant (by road) Battambang on the straight, flat and boring main road. I left at dawn, and arrived shortly before dusk. In between I cycled, cycled and cycled.

The flat road

The flat road

Mark had been in Siem Reap for 3 or 4 days already, frantically sending me luscious photos of the cakes he has been eating. Just after I arrived, a whole battalion of his friends from Hong Kong arrived for the half marathon, and together we explored Siem Reap, Angkor Wat and the Tonle Sap lake.

Tonle Sap lake

Tonle Sap lake

Tonle Sap lake

Tonle Sap lake

Lynda and I on the Tonle Sap lake

Lynda and I on the Tonle Sap lake

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Bayan Temple

Bayan Temple

Ta Prohm temple

Ta Prohm temple

Siem Reap offers services to dream of. Just imagine – free WiFi while having a massage. The pinnacle of customer service!

WiFi and massage

WiFi and massage

After not having run for 8 months, I ran in the Angkor Wat half-marathon. I discovered running muscles are different to cycling ones. I could hardly move the next day. ☺

The Angkor Wat half-marathon

The Angkor Wat half-marathon

The Angkor Wat half-marathon

The Angkor Wat half-marathon

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Day 210. 104km. Xiahe – Luqu

Posted: December 8, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
0

The two young monks in front of us stood then dropped to their knees, then rose again. One was fast, the other (the one we saw yawning) was slower. The fast one was relieved from this praying duty by the head monk. The slower one continued. At six o’ clock in the morning, I am not surprised he was yawning.

The high plains

The high plains

My new friends Paro and Dwayn and I braved the early-morning rain to watch the monks. Then we had a nice breakfast of eggs, porridge and more. I don’t know what the monks ate. By eleven o’ clock I could procrastinate no longer, and I headed out into the drizzle.

Dwayn, Paro and me.

Dwayn, Paro and me.

‘Is the road flat?’ I ask the hotel manager who knows the region well. ‘Yes.’ Well, I discovered over again, what looks flat from a car is not necessarily flat. I was climbing or falling most of the day, but on excellent roads with little wind or a tailwind. My highest point was 3500m. My endpoint is 3100m. The scenery was grey and drab. I bet it looks stunning in the sun, but, with this weather, its head down and onwards. I will continue to take main roads until the weather improves. There are places to stay on the main roads, and bad-weather cycling is best on good roads.

New Video: From Holland to Australia by bike. Bishkek – Xiahe

Posted: December 7, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , ,
5

Time for a break and time for a new video. This stretch – a kilometre rich stretch – was dry, hot and windy. It was a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy the video. 🙂

Day 209. 37km. Wanggertang – Xiahe

Posted: December 7, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
0

They continue coming. Up the dirt path as I head down. Monks in red gowns. Old men and women in their simple clothes, propped by walking sticks. Wizened faces and old gowns. They have come a long way to walk this path, walk along the prayer wheel wall, and spin the wheels, symbolizing countless repetitions of prayers. The Labrang monastery.

Prayer wheels

Prayer wheels

Prayer wheels

Prayer wheels

The road continued, past the factories and the holiday yurt colonies. The guesthouses are perched directly opposite the monastery – on the road with its constant symphony of the honking of horns. Directly behind the pilgrims spin the prayer wheels. Pilgrims that have not been swept up in the materialistic tsunami, they seem from a different existence. In moments of quiet, they can hear the groaning of the wheels as their heavy weight rotates inside the prayer-hut. Then a cacophony of horns shatters the pathos. Angry and impatient drivers press to move forward. ‘I am here. I’m in a hurry. I am more important. Let me through!’ And one is returned to the ‘real’ world.

Labrang Monastery

Labrang Monastery

Today I passed 18000km. Tomorrow I rest.

18000km

18000km

Older Entries
Newer Entries