Inform me a bit of bit about your bicycle tour. The place did you go? And what was it like?
My buddy “Partha” and I traveled from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Singapore. We traveled a distance of 5 hundred kilometers and it took us six and a half days. A lot of the route was hilly: nothing tremendous steep, however rolling hills one after one other. Malaysia is a tropical nation, and we had been handled to dense vegetation all through our tour. There have been loads of palm plantations on the hillsides that we traversed, together with fruit bushes: mango, rambutan, banana, guava. All alongside the roadside had been coconut water stands, sugarcane juice stands, and an entire host of eateries offering a number of sorts of cuisines. The folks had been heat and pleasant, and at no level was anybody aggressive in the direction of us. However be cautious of using in both Kuala Lumpur or Johor Bahru (Singapore’s twin metropolis throughout the strait): these are massive cities that aren’t bicycle pleasant, and using there could be scary.
What was your largest concern when planning or making ready to your journey by bike? And the way precisely did you overcome that concern?
I used to be the extra skilled bicycle owner of the 2 of us, however I had by no means completed a bicycle tour by myself earlier than! Plus, we’re each over fifty (we had been faculty buddies over thirty years in the past, and have remained buddies since), and due to this fact, considerably extra threat averse than most bicycle vacationers! After all, this was not a wholly self-supported tour: we allowed ourselves the consolation of staying in accommodations at night time as a substitute of tenting. However that mentioned, this might be a serious accomplishment for us if we may pull it off given our inexperience.
I used to be additionally afraid of mechanical breakdowns. I used to be using a Bike Friday New World Vacationer, and Partha was using an off-the-shelf hybrid. I had ordered low gearing for my BF, however his bike solely had the usual vary of gears. So, we did have our basket stuffed with doubts about our finishing the journey. However one of many benefits of being over fifty is that you’ve fought different battles in different arenas earlier than, and also you study that in any battle, you simply obtained to take one step after one other step after one other step…listening to your fears however not permitting your self to be taken hostage by them. We did simply that, and briefly order, discovered ourselves on the objective submit in Singapore!
What was the factor you preferred MOST about your bicycle touring expertise?
The independence, the sensation of fine well being, of camaraderie, the expertise of seeing a rustic on the floor degree as a substitute of from a vacationers’ standpoint, assembly “actual” folks in small villages, studying primary phrases in different languages (on this case – Bahasa Malaysia), and sure, the sense of accomplishment on the finish!
What was the factor you preferred LEAST about your bicycle tour… and the way did you assume that side of your travels might be improved upon sooner or later?
Looking back, it’s arduous to label something on the journey as having preferred it the least (though, by sheer logic, there needs to be one such factor), as a result of even the “least preferred” tag has a destructive really feel about it! Sure, there are some issues we may do higher, however I wouldn’t need to label these as “least preferred.” As an illustration, each of us would have panniers (solely I had them). As an illustration, I’d additionally carry a wise cellphone (solely Partha had one).
Because it turned out although, because of my having devoured touring blogs hungrily (together with TOURING-BICYCLE’s www.bicycletouringpro.com), I discovered that we had been fairly adequately ready, not less than for this degree of “credit-card” sort touring that we did. So thanks, all earlier weblog writers, and thanks Darren!
What one piece of knowledge inside “The Bicycle Traveler’s Blueprint” or from the web site at www.bicycletouringpro.com helped you essentially the most in planning, making ready for, or executing your bicycle tour?
As in my reply to a earlier query, I realized many issues from many blogs, together with Bicycle Touring Professional. Maybe the one most helpful factor to me was the recommendation to get low gears for hill climbing. Once I ordered my Bike Friday I informed them that this was a should, and I needed gearing down to twenty gear inches if doable. They gave me a 8-ring cassette with one chain ring, after which augmented that with a 3-speed hub gearing that in its lowest setting, reduces gear ratios by 27%,
Identify three belongings you realized out of your bicycle tour:
1) Beer is the lengthy distance cyclists’ finest reward.
2) It actually helps to have a buddy to journey with.
3) And most significantly, angle issues.
So all in all, bicycling mirrors life.
Do you assume you’ll conduct extra bicycle excursions sooner or later? In that case, the place do you need to go? And why do you need to go there?
Completely! I’d largely do quick journeys of about one week or ten days. I’m open to a number of elements of the world, with a slight desire for South East Asia. Partly due to the dense inhabitants—I don’t have a lot expertise tenting and would love accommodations each 50 to 100 kilometers—and partly as a result of I’m vegetarian and it’s simpler to get vegetarian meals in South East Asia. I’d additionally like Europe, once more as a result of there are cities each 50 to 100 kilometers.
What one piece of recommendation would you give to somebody who’s planning their first bicycle touring journey?
Learn each weblog and e-book you’ll find, so that you could be as ready as you’ll be able to earlier than you begin your tour. There’s a goldmine of knowledge and helpful recommendations on these websites. That mentioned, I assume that no two excursions could be alike, so you might be certain to have your personal fantastic set of adventures!
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