Few weeks of coordination and a gazillion Facebook messaging later, here we are.....
Fresh off the ferry, all smiles and not knowing what lies ahead...
Grab-a-Bike-and-Go
Pokemon hauling war_virus's Pugs
Arrived at Stewart's place..looks to be blistering hot Will the sudden tropical storms rear up in the afternoon?
As usual, whose bike could be garnering more interest than the Pugsly! Everyone of the local riders just had to put a leg over those fatties for a spin in the compound
Just like good ol' military days, "Final Inspection" before NMT....
The SOP group shot as always.... :)
"Here We Go Again" ...Indonesian edition
Hot dusty singletracks. Brains cooked to the consistency of mashed bananas less than an hour into the ride
Spinning around waiting for the rest to catch up. Beats staying still in the breezeless open area.
Local rider Danny with a full face helmet strapped to the hydrobag and I was wondering why.... well later at the jump and drop features, it was all clear.
Riding through small local farmland and plantations... going up up and up....
XC Lovebirds
Turbo and Pokemon ...as usual, the first to reach all the break points....
Organic Isotonic Drink: Suck Me Dry
Yours truly lugging 18kg worth of El Gigantosarus playing catch up to the above and the usual XC billyCOTEs
Back down.......more singletracks and small crossings.
Looking at Jeremy... I cant help thinking of the movie title "Gorilla in the Mist".....
Finally down all the way. Definitely more my cuppa.
Welcome relief for busted lungs and burning quads. Not DH stuff but sweepy singletrack descending straight to some fun spots
Ber... our variable (0.10 -13) ton AirBear
Me performing some classic negative demonstration.
Kids- if you are watching do not follow
Bloopers: Marshmellow Legs & Banana Puree for brains after long hot ride = Bad Idea to Air
Aargh arrgh... Cow having a cramp
"Bagelman" Jones
Every bit of rest and comfort counts after the climb...
Tell me which part of him looks bagel-ish!
Nah...more like one of our local delight
Well Done Mrs "Virus"
Dylon-- one happy camper smiling all the way
with his new setup
Camwhore Frank before ride & after the big climb
More fun later... stomaches screaming for FOOD and WATER by now...
....almost there.
 |
Food Chain: Top and Bottom "feeders" ...
Looking here..it may not seem much for those who are used to miles and miles of crazy Northshore stuff... but
if there is one irony in Indonesia... its the lack of wood. That is wood like these made into planks.
Ridiculous eh! Well its all part of the law and conservation issues in Indonesia. With one of the largest tropical forest patches in the world it has been reduced to importing wood from places like China and Russia
Its still not stopping a lot of the illegal logging that's going on in the country though.
Enforcement officials makes it difficult for many businesses which have legitimate reasons to obtain much needed wood. Or in this case getting materials to build and maintain this place. A number of sections were unrideable due to the original planks decomposing fast in the humid jungle environment.
Dark clouds during lunch had dispersed and back to more sunny weather... everyone was promised the next stretch would be a flowy jungle trail snaking along the edge of the lake.... Nice.... Definitely one of the best stretch of the day after the slight disappointment at the Shore section.
"Psycho" Cheryl and Jon bringing up the rear in the jungle trail section.
Finally back!
And let the washing begin...and some are just too lazy to shower.
Guess me got to wash the pet monkey too
Worry not brother...we never leave our own behind
SAVING PRIVATE GLENN
Post Ride Carbo Recovery @ J.C.O.
"Bagelman" Jones
"Ah Gu" Frankie
"Ber" Bernard
"war_virus" Jeremy
Nice writeup. I think it takes a lot of effort to do a proper blog writeup of a long ride, as you need a conscious effort to take good pictures along the way. else it's just memories... in the Go-Pro HD cameras :)
ReplyDeleteThanks. I couldn't decide between Go-Pro and Drift just yet :D
ReplyDelete