{"id":5258,"date":"2014-03-29T08:54:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-29T07:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?p=5258"},"modified":"2020-01-04T15:06:21","modified_gmt":"2020-01-04T20:06:21","slug":"we-made-it-but-just-barely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/we-made-it-but-just-barely\/","title":{"rendered":"We made It (but just barely)!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We made it (to our own great amazement)!<\/p>\n

A whopping 3,563 kilometers around just one of Indonesia\u2019s 18,307 islands. In comparison, London to Istanbul measures 2,994 kilometers.\u00a0 Maine to Florida just 2,560 kilometers.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019ve covered a lot of kilometers on Sulawesi.\u00a0 Most of them pretty painful.\u00a0 I figure we had 3 days of relatively flat cycling.<\/p>\n

Only in the Andes have we struggled so much.\u00a0 Though I must say high altitude passes are far easier in one key respect: there\u2019s a natural \u00a0drive and determination to get to the top.<\/p>\n

Sulawesi, with its never-ending succession of hills, cheated us of the thrill of reaching the summit.<\/p>\n

The terrain constantly tricked and teased us.\u00a0 Sapped us of energy and resolve. After an hour grinding our way up an impossibly steep hill, we\u2019d be forced to fly down to a river crossing only to be faced with another equally steep climb up to 300 or 400 meters.<\/p>\n

I know, that probably doesn\u2019t sound so difficult.\u00a0 Just some short climbs, Amaya, stop your whining.<\/i>\u00a0 That\u2019s what you\u2019re probably thinking.<\/p>\n

Well, it was tough.\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 Really, really tough.\u00a0 By the end of the day, we could easily wring out a liter of sweat from our jerseys.<\/p>\n

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This was one of those roads that started out pretty good and got progressively worse. By the end it was like cycling on a dry river bed with a 25% grade. Big rocks. loose dirt… not a whole lot of fun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This is a pretty stretch of road near Lake Matano, depth 590 meters. It’s the deepest Lake in Indonesia and the 10th deepest lake in the world. There’s a big nickel mine nearby, run by a Brazilian firm. We were told this road would be 100% flat! HAH! It twists it’s way through the mountains as you can see.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A nice stretch of forest near the town of Beteleme.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Enough is Enough<\/h2>\n

I won\u2019t go so far as saying we regret the last couple of weeks.\u00a0 No, the landscapes continued to amaze and delight us.\u00a0 Primeval forests, rugged coastal riding and more fabulous Sulawesi sunrises.\u00a0 Who could complain about that?<\/p>\n

But we might have been better off ending our tour one month back, in Manado.\u00a0 Back then we were still in the throes of the honeymoon stage.<\/p>\n

Thoughts when everything is fresh and new:<\/h2>\n

These climbs sure are a fun challenge!\u00a0 I must be getting stronger every day.<\/p>\n

Look at those kids shouting hysterically at us\u2026 they\u2019re so cute and energetic!<\/p>\n

Yum!\u00a0 This fried rice is such a delicious <\/i>improvement from the food in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

How nice\u2026the locals want to have a photo with us.\u00a0 And they\u2019re so interested in our tour\u2014asking all those questions.<\/p>\n

Thoughts after 2 months on Sulawesi:<\/h2>\n

These climbs are torture.\u00a0 Please, cycling gods, afflict my bicycle with an irreparable breakdown so we can hitch a ride and end this torment.<\/p>\n

If one more kid shouts \u2018Hello Mister\u2019 and stares at me like a monkey in a zoo I just might explode.\u00a0 Please, cycling gods, don\u2019t allow the little monsters out to recess today.<\/p>\n

What, instant noodles, again?\u00a0 Please, cycling gods, don\u2019t they grow vegetables on this island?\u00a0 Send me a carrot, a potato, anything.<\/p>\n

If one more jerk lays on the horn when he passes, I swear I\u2019ll lob a great big stone through his windshield.\u00a0 And don\u2019t you dare ask me where I\u2019m going.\u00a0 It\u2019s none of your damn business.\u00a0 A photo?\u00a0 Forget it.<\/p>\n

Have we gone mad?<\/h2>\n

Of course, we never acted on any of these evil thoughts.\u00a0 But they were there.\u00a0 Even if only fleetingly.\u00a0 An appallingly bad attitude, I admit it.\u00a0 I chalk it up mostly to physical exhaustion.\u00a0 And tensions caused by lack of privacy.<\/p>\n

I realize now that being under constant scrutiny is a source of intense stress for me (less so for Eric\u2014he lives in his own world and is not really bothered by the eyes of others).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite natural that people are curious when they spot foreigners riding bikes in a remote place that sees very few visitors.\u00a0 We understand this.\u00a0 But it\u2019s still hard, after a long and exhausting day on the bikes, to pose for photos with complete strangers and answer the same 3 questions for the umpteenth time.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re used to garnering attention.\u00a0 This happens to us all over the world from Ethiopia to Australia. But Sulawesi has been the hardest yet to deal with. \u00a0The concept of privacy appears to be a rather foreign concept.<\/p>\n