Distance: 163.46 km
Ridetime: 07:10:10
Average: 22.8 km/h
Total distance: 11947 km
I managed to leave my hotel room earlier than usual as I was expecting a long day in the saddle. Until noon everything was on track to reach Purwokerto before dark. Then I broke a gear cable. I have been carrying a spare since India, but as I was about to install it I realized that it didn’t fit.
My first thought was to find a hotel room in the small town I had just passed and then take a bus back to Bandung. I had just located the first hotel when I saw a bicycle shop across the street. It was a simple shop with local bicycles, but to my great surprise the guy at the counter came back with exactly the gear cable I needed. 15 minutes later I was rolling again.
Later in the day the traffic got heavier so I opted to try the “Jalan alternatif” or alternative route. A few minutes later I found myself on a steep 18% climb. On the other side of the mountain my small road joined the highway again. Oh well, at least I got another natural interval build into my training.
About 20 km from Purwokerto I ran into more mechanical issues. This time my whole rear rack was getting unstable. It turned out I had lost two screws. I guess it says something about the state of the roads here. They are just not very smooth.
I managed to make a temporary fix and rode the last 20 km into town in darkness. I probably would have stopped and found a hotel much earlier today if it wasn’t for an appointment I had made with Yuyun, a medicine student in town I had met trough couchsurfing. After a quick shower we went out for dinner. I was feeling fine but must have looked pretty tired.
The day had lived up to the expectations I had in the morning. It had been hard.
