It would seem that my life and volunteering has settled back
into the same rhythm before my holiday back in Oz. It has taken a little while to know if I
will be heading on a road trip with only several hours’ notice but I have
now managed to go back to Maliana and a new place known as Ulmera, which is less
than one hour away from Dili.
Next week I will heading down Saui/Cova Lima which I have
not been to for several months, I hope the countryside is still green to distract
me from bruising and battering that the road south from Dili seems to inflict.
Speaking of being knocked around, as indicated in the last
post, I brought my mountain bike with me back from Oz. I have taken it out for a few spins, namely
to acclimatise to pedalling in high humidity.
I have adjusted to the weather here when walking the street or cruising
on the motorbike, but hard pedalling in this climate is another story. This is a brief run-down of the rides and
lessons learnt so far.
The hills are long and steep:
I have only been riding in groups and the first ride was up
the Becora hill, I do not think that I have ridden such a long and steep hill
with a sealed road under the tyres. The
closest I have experienced are the Adelaide Hills in Oz and maybe Mt Buninyong
near home. Sure enough everybody else
was rested by the time I reached the top, my recovery was achieved by zooming
down the hill; which is the good thing about such climbs, the descent is very
fast (60-70 km/h). “Careful Rob, I hear
you say”, especially my In Country Coordinator.
James, a fellow rider coming down the mountain, it is hard to see but it is really steep (about 45 degrees)
Drink plenty of water:
The second ride certainly made me feel a little dejected, it
turned out to be a 55km ride, the first (and only) hill climb was about an hour
long. I still had not adjusted to the
climate; I turned around with about one km from the top – I just had nothing
left in the tank. I rode home alone from
there. Lucky I did turn around, I soon
discovered that I was severely dehydrated, it took a concerted effort to
rehydrate for next day or so. It is
important to know when to turn around before feeling too sick as there is no
one home to look after me when I get into this state. I have had some people ask me about whether I
actually see this as fun. This
experience taught me to always cook a large batch of food, so after guzzling
1-2 litres of water, I have some food to scoff down straight after….
Eat like a Hobbit:
Last week’s ride certainly brought eating like Hobbits into
practice, so after scoffing lunch at about 11:00 am (elevenses or first lunch,
I am undecided), I found myself absolutely starving about 1.5 hours later. So I hopped on the motorbike to find the
biggest greasiest hamburger that can found in this town, so second lunch was
thoroughly enjoyed. I was so satisfied
that I did not each dinner that day…
The heat:
The less talked about phenomenon is pins and needles – I was
getting pins and needles in my hands as well as my feet. The heat makes me puff up so the clothing
feels a little tighter than back in Oz.
So extra effort is required to slip on the trusty lycra so there are no
constricted limbs and to get out of the saddle more frequently to let the blood
return to the feet. I have successfully
stopped the pins and needles by taking this approach. If I knew about how much more feet puff up, I
would bought a new pair of cycling shoes to accommodate this.
Bathroom scales:
I am not obsessed about my weight, I know I am built like a
brick sh!thouse, but it will be interesting measure how much fluid I lose from
a ride. This way I do not over-hydrate
which something else I need to be careful of…
Ride Safely:
To some people, tearing down a hill at up to 70 km/h is not
considered safe, I take the view that it isn’t if you hit the ground. I certainly am not complacent when I am
ripping down but there could be a stray dog (they are all strays) and it is
about managing the brake pad temperature too.
I am more likely to hit an animal on the motorbike considering I spend
more time travelling on that than I do on the MTB
So really what I am talking about is largely common sense
but being in a hot climate coupled with being in developing country makes basic
training rides all the more harder and riskier. So
much so that I am now wondering if the Tour de Timor I plan to do this year is a little
beyond me, I will see how I feel by the end of May and when they finally release the proposed route.
