CYCLING BALI DAY 9: THE KILLER MOUNTAINS

Bali’s central mountains

Bali’s central mountains

CYCLING BALI DAY 9: THE KILLER MOUNTAINS

beautiful scenery at Medewi Beach

peaceful terraced mountain sides

Eventually I reached the ceremony spot at a tiny cluster of stone houses where all the guests were milling around the road. A wedding? Funeral? Baby ceremony? I didn’t stop to inquire but pressed on up the grinding road. The sky held out. Thankfully, my energy did too.

I avoided my mistake of Day 2, when I’d pressed on until completely wiped out. Today I stopped while I still had some energy. In another tiny town I found a small stall selling fried foods. It was 10:30. I’d cycled 3 hours already and estimated I was at mile 19. Wow, slow going. Including 2 km on the coastal road I’d ridden 21 km in 3 hours- 7 km/ hour. SLOW! Guess it WAS a climb! Definitely time for a break.

I stopped and ate some very delicious fried bananas, fried veggies and fried tofu with hot tea. Mmmm! Then I decided to take a well-deserved nap. After all, according to my notes the road climbed for 25 km then headed downhill. That meant I had only 6 more km of climbing from here. Since it was still quite early in the day, I had plenty of time. I found a quiet spot in front of a closed town store and laid down to sleep. Little did I know that was a fateful decision.

I woke up refreshed just before noon, gathered my belongings and wandered over to my bike. Literally just as I reached it, the sky split open with big wet rain drops. Uh ohhh! In moments the village was engulfed in a torrential downpour. No! Wow. Nothing to do but wait it out. Luckily I was in a cement market plaza, complete with toilets and a small food shop. I had everything I needed. I ate again. Drank more tea. The rain pelted on… an entire hour, sometimes in torrential buckets, sometimes a bit lighter, but steadily dropping. Time ticked on. By 1:30 I realized I’d just have to pedal in rain. I needed to get going. I had a raincoat and pants, of course. However, I knew my rain coat had lost it’s water-proofness and would be drenched quickly in heavy rain, so I bought a plastic poncho to wear over my rainsuit. I pulled on my gloves, unlocked my bike, got astride and very reluctantly started up the mountain road in rain. I could not believe I was here in this same situation on this same road again. No, it couldn’t be! That kind of bad luck just doesn’t happen to me. Apparently not never.

Up the mountain in rain I grinded, counting the roadside km markers… 20.. 21.. Oh, I actually reached a flat section. Yippie. Then, oh, more climbing. 22. 23.. 24..25… I hit a downhill! Wow, I’d made it. Climbing finished… So, what was that up there? Another hill? More climbing? Yes it was. Another hill. No, no, no! I was supposed to be gliding down hill now! Instead the hills went on and on. Up and down. Up and down. The rain kept pelting down too.

Man, was I pissed off! Pissed off at the rain and weather. Pissed off at the mountains. Pissed off at my stupid notes. My anger powered me on, up and down those never-ending hills, completely socked in with fog. Again. In pelting rain. Again. I grind-ed along angrily yelling and cursing at those mountains, those hills, that rain… all the way to Pupuan town at km 35. I’d cycled 16 more kilometers. It seemed like a century to reach Pupuan, but it had actually only been an hour. Oh! Well, that was ok for speed and timing.

Pupuan, the largest town up in those mountains, was what I considered my halfway point. There were several restaurants, a school, many shops, even a convenience store,. I stopped and rewarded myself with a chocolate candy bar, something I rarely eat. I took only a quick break then I was back on my bike pedaling towards the north coast.

The rain had lightened up but was still falling steadily. On the encouraging side, I’d summit-ed the mountains and was now heading downhill towards Bali’s north coast. That lasted about 10 minutes until I hit the next hill. What? I remembered from my motorbike trip that several hills awaited me beyond Pupuan before I could start gliding down the mountain. But, wow, I didn’t realize they were such big hills. So I found myself, yet again, expecting a rewarding down hill glide but instead getting slammed with more and more hills. In rain. So I grind-ed on, angrily yelling, cursing and swearing again at those hills and rain. Another hour. 10 km. Pretty tough hills. But, at long last, I did eventually complete the very last uphill climb. Now I had to make a decision…

At the junction to Munduk I asked some locals about public transport. Nope, none. I wasn’t surprised. It was 4 pm and buses usually stop running in early afternoon. I further inquired about hiring someone with a pick up to drive me. Strangely, nobody in the village seemed to have a truck. Or perhaps they just didn’t want to drive up the mountain? In any event, I was out of luck. I was also completely out of energy. I managed to find one tiny food shop open, though with little food left. Happily, the cheerful owner cooked me eggs and veggies with rice. Her husband tried contacting a Munduk guest house to come pick me up. Also no luck. So I ate my meager meal and accepted my destiny to cycle down to Seririt city. Perhaps tomorrow morning I could catch a bus up to Munduk?

I remounted my bike and this time actually did get to glide down the mountain. The rain had finally stopped and gorgeous wet terraced rice fields popped out of the steamy hillsides. Amidst beautiful scenery I glided the final 10 km to Seririt. I checked into the city’s only hotel, flopped down on the bed until my body stopped zizzing, then took a shower and went out to eat.

It had been a long hard day: 5 ½ hours of cycling on steep grades, in cold rain, on more hills than I wanted to remember. Whereas I’d optimistically hoped to finish by 2 pm and spend the afternoon lazily gazing at gorgeous mountain views in Munduk, instead I hadn’t finished until 5 pm, completely wiped out, and gazing at dull hotel walls. But I did have the satisfaction of completing the entire route  by bicycle, every pump of the way. Best of all, my dreaded day in the Killer Mountains was behind me. Glorious flat coastal roads beside the Bali Sea awaited me tomorrow…
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If you’re inspired to cycle around Bali, check out my guidebook-

Cycling Bali: Guide to Circumnavigating Bali by Bicycle

Cycling Day 11: Bali’s Arid NE Coast

Cycling in Shanghai

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