August 6, 2023
Day 98 - I didn't reach Pangandaran but I did find Paradise.
It's easy to gauge from "blog love" that readers want things cheery - smiling faces among a bunch of pretty pics. Unfortunately, there are days that just don't fit that mould for the touring cyclist. Instead, they are mournful, like the broadcast from the mosque that I can hear now. My day was like that, more or less, from the start. I feel better than yesterday but I'm not quite right.
Some of my difficulties relate to food. I want to cycle with a full gut. I had a poor meal last night. I wanted hot food but that wasn't available nearby. Instead, I had the cold rice, cold tofu, cold egg, cold vegetable option, that I've been eating most days but try to avoid at dinner. I want food to say hello to smoking oil at the bottom of a wok! Breakfast was problematic too. Hotel Karaoke didn't have karaoke so it's not surprising that it didn't offer breakfast. I ate a stack of biscuits, a few bananas and a couple of mandarins. That's a snack, not breakfast. I set off with the fuel tank hovering around empty. This is not good on a Sunday, when many warungs tend to be closed of a morning.
I saw a bunch of cyclists today and one group early on made me smile. A little later, I saw more women doing aerobics.
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I knew I had hills and I knew they were steep, but nothing could ever prepare me for the four spikes ahead. The action started straight after a bridge.
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1 year ago
One thing was definite - there was no point even trying to cycle up some stretches. I'm sure that anyone who has toured a lot has been in this predicament. If there's two of you it's easy: push one bike up and return for the second. Well, I'm alone. It was hard work and I could wring sweat from my shirt from the moment I started ascending. Also, the road was rough so descents were tough. But, the scenery was nice. It was classic "minor road syndrome". After two hours I had done 15 km.
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I finally got over the spikes and onto flat road, at another river, of course.
Unfortunately, the road for 20 km or so was patchwork and I just didn't roll and nor did I see a suitable warung. I ate more bananas and biscuits and pushed on to near Cilicap.
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I managed to find a warung that would cook a nasi goreng, near the turnoff to Pangandaran. I had a good feed, cups of tea and coffee and pondered my next move. Should I go the short distance to Cilicap and call it a day after 75 km. Alternatively, I could try to reach the Paradise Hotel that's 47 km away on the way to Pangandaran. I chose the latter because I'd at least have the climbing done. Unfortunately, I made a small error in navigation and when I thought I should be at Paradise, I was seven km short.
It was a pleasant enough ride that climbed gently through a teak plantation to a plateau. The road was excellent and I made good time.
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Eventually, I found Hotel Paradise and it's fitting of the name - clean, tea and coffee and breakfast included, a/c, etc. They even use a trike to deliver supplies to rooms.
Yesterday's hundred was free. Today's was anything but. It was a hard day in the saddle.
But that's not my bike of the day. I was taken by this purveyor of porridge.
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1 year ago
Today's ride: 126 km (78 miles)
Total: 7,176 km (4,456 miles)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 3 |
1 year ago
1 year ago
I’m thinking a general strike by hardworking cycle tourers (and the Friday Peloton) at the nearest beachside warung would sway the negotiations in a favourable direction.
1 year ago