Diary of the World Record: Day66

• By Vin Cox

13^th April. 51.6 miles cycled.

Booked on flight for tomorrow morning.  Stopped clock today [for Guinness World Records rules between ports] at 11:55.

Gorgeous descent after short climb out of Bukittinggi between two volcanos.  Only a couple of landslides and bridges out.

Made the airport without issue, but finding a bike box and hotel was more tough. A man called Hendra helped with cardboard after I found a room in the hotel next to his shop.  He also bought me dinner and declared us friends.  I spent some time in the circle of his friends enjoying the natural normality of people winding down in an evening.

The dinner was Satay Padang – that’s barbequed chicken guts and rice.

51.6mi @ 14.3mph

There’s some great video from this day which captures the full story; so watch and enjoy this:

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.

Diary of the World Record: Day65

• By Vin Cox

12^th April. 107.1 miles cycled.

Didn’t get good sleep or that early start. Sweated soooo much [in bed]!

Good old climb in the morning – then when I expected a plateaux it was a great descent.  Just after Rao I stopped at a shop and met a guy called John who gave me a coffee and told me the equator was at Bonjol – a place I could ride to in the same day.  That spurred me on!

I had a good lunch in Panti [how often can you say that!], where there are hot springs and many banyan trees. The big town – Lubuk Sikaping – was only a challenge to make sure I was on correct road.  Then I arrived in Bonjol: I had the GPS out to look for 0 latitude, but it wasn’t needed as there’s an arch over the road and a visitor centre.  There are also many [annoying] T-shirt sellers!  One thing there isn’t though, which I thought there would be, is hotels!  Ah!  I had to ride on to Bukittinggi up a massive hill [2500ft].  It got dark and rained, but I got there and to a nice hotel.

Got okay from GWR [Guinness World Records] to transfer to Java ASPA.  Good for my chances on the record!

Oh, and the Garmin… I watched it on the long climbs and the altitude gained [on the day’s ride] does not go up with the altitude [read instantaneously]. Sometimes it’s 90%, sometimes it’s <80%.  Erratic, wrong, crap!

107.1mi @ 10.3mph

The Equator, the half-way line point between the North Pole and the South Pole, was a big part of why I had come to Sumatra.  I felt cycling over the conceptual boundary between Northern and Sothern hemisphere’s of the Earth was something an around-the-world cyclist ought to do, even if the rules didn’t require it and it was hard.

Garmin troubles were very frustrating.  If it had been a reliable piece of equipment; if it were accurate, or even just repeatable/reliable in it’s wrongness, I’d have loved the Garmin.  To know my location, altitude, route taken so far, climbing done on the day, collect evidence for the record, and even be guided all by a one device is wonderful proposition.  My wife had spent a lot of money getting me the top-of-the-range model, so not only was I frustrated by it actually doing none of it’s jobs well enough, I was distraught about my ungratefulness.

The chap John I mentioned had been just a random friendly fellow on the street when I stopped for snacks, but he had good language skills and boundless energy.  He invited me a few doors down the road to his house and we sat on the veranda for coffee.  It was only there that I realised quite how close I was to the equator.  I had different lines drawn on different maps, so all I knew before then was that I’d cross it eventually.

I remember being very disappointed at the lack of hotels at the equator, but actually it brought the best out of me and the day.  The extra thirty miles, mainly climbing in tropical rain-forest, reminded me what I was capable of and allowed me to see jungle monkeys in the wild (until then I’d only seen them in sad dirty cages as I past street markets).

Over dinner in the pleasant resort hotel, I plotted my new course for the morning: Just fifty miles to the airport, mostly downhill!  It would be fun, and I knew I was back in the game for the record!

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.

Diary of the World Record: Day64

• By Vin Cox

11^th April. 69.8 miles cycled.

Garmin can’t add altitude up right.  It’s about 10% under – I watched it.

Got phone bill: £680! – need to cut back on that!

Met local police chief today and was offered stay at police station in the town I wanted to go to as there are no hotels… Decided on a shorter day instead.

Also checked GWR rules and think I’m stuck with Sumatra now I’m here.

Very early start planned tomorrow.

69.8mi @ 11.1mph

The police chief was summoned by a deputy who spotted me fixing a puncture, thinking the chief would want to check out the strange visitor.  He was very friendly, probably because he was campaigning for re-election to his office.  He used me to show how popular and cultured he was by having a photo taken and a quick interview.  The offer of shelter in the station’s cells was genuine and generous, but I worried that whatever the intentions, it would only take a change of staff and lack of communication for my shelter in the cells to be extended wrongly.

Everyone in Sumatra was friendly and interested in me. The adventure opportunities were endless – oh to have the ability to follow advice or take up offers of accommodation – who knows where it could lead.

It wasn’t as tougher day as the previous few – they had worn me down despite the small distance travelled.  My bike and body were suffering, so a shorter day let me at least maintain the bike and rest my aching bits.  It also gave me time to eat as much as I needed to re-fuel a bit.  I crossed the road from the hotel and found a locals café where they served me a noodley broth with a strange purpley-brown boiled egg in.  Knowing that the food was simple, local, and natural is all I could hope for in rural Asia: Knowing what it actually consisted of was not an option.

Finally, I was told that the roads I’d just successfully but slowly navigated through the mountainous jungle were officially closed and impassable due to earthquake damage.  That made sense, and made me feel better about my slow progress.  Guinness World Records would have no way to take it into account though, and having double checked the rules I believed I was just stuck with this tough route for as long as it lasted…

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.

Diary of the World Record: Day62

• By Vin Cox

9^th April. 67 miles cycled.

Hilly, hot, then rain so bad the locals were panicking – trees down, crops flattened… I took shelter at a shop/café, then got invited into the house to stay dry with the family.  The children practised English on me and I gave them one of my cards to take to school and look me up on-line.

Also made late start due to misunderstanding at breakfast, then punctured.

67mi @ 10.9mph

The storm was the big deal of the day. People in the area were not wealthy, and I could see that a crop being lost or roof destroyed could make them destitute.  I was just glad to be sheltering in the only suitable place for miles while the weather had this sudden fit.

I’d started to see more evidence of the earthquake which had hit the area the day before I flew in to Medan.  Mostly I saw landslips, from cracks/steps in the road surface, right up to major areas of hill-side collapsed and bridges smashed.  It made me take the descents more carefully.

This was very hilly land, with broken roads, not many places to stay, and nothing else to make life easy for me.  It was the adventure I’d been seeking for sure – now I just had to make sure the adventure didn’t slow me down too much and cost me the record.

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.

Diary of the World Record: Day60

• By Vin Cox

7^th April. 2.4 miles cycled.

Just rode from airport to town. Most of day in Singapore with Liz; visit Doctor, bike shop, restaurant, bike shop, electronics shop, then airport with Peter too.

Singapore very pretty. Not as ‘fake’ as I had feared, but not at all messy or nasty either.

Liz must have spent a fortune on me. I owe her!

2.4mi

The Guinness World Records rules said the clock was stopped while I waited and prepared for my flight in the evening, but the pressure was still on for a very busy day.

Breakfast news said a serious Earthquake had hit Sumatra, with it’s epicentre very close to the town of Medan where I was due to land that evening!  Simultaneously, I read messages from supporters pleading with me to stick to the faster places and make a race of it with Alan Bate.

For me, this was a key moment, and I saw it as a straight choice between adventure or racing.  Alan cast himself as the racer, and although I have a racing background too, I definitely saw myself as an adventurer.  I decided that unless my flight was cancelled or my seat was needed by an emergency relief worker, I was going to Sumatra.  Alan and I could both set the record, but I could also have an adventure.

Liz took me to a bike shop “Rodabike” in Singapore, where rather than replace my cracked wheel rim I was given new wheels courtesy of Shimano.  New tyres, brake pads, and chain all refreshed my ride too, and the team packaged it for flight double quick.  My old tyres (Schwalbe Durano 28mm) had made it all the way from London – amazing when you think about that!

Next on the agenda was a doctor, who looked at my worn-out bum-skin with pity. Then I picked up some memory for my cameras and a new diary book (the old one was posted home). And finally Liz took me to the airport, where Peter joined us for a good-bye and good-luck meal.

By the late evening I was reassembling my bike in Medan airport, with a nice airport official practicing his English on me.  He spoke really well, and used words which kept me thinking because they didn’t fit conventionally.  For example, as I put my rear wheel in the bike, he called it the hind wheel.  He gave me his phone number in case I needed any help, and he was my witness for Guinness World Records.

Medan is a rough town, where a lot of westerners apparently get mugged.  I got lucky by quickly and safely finding a hotel to rest in ready for my first full day on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.

Diary of the World Record: Day59

• By Vin Cox

6^th April. 161.9 miles cycled.

STUPIDLY long day.  Stopped the clock at 2 mins after midnight.

Dead pythons smell very bad! [I pay attention to road-kill, especially tree-trunk sized snakes]

161.9mi

As the day began, in the cool well before dawn, I rolled through the town looking like I hadn’t slept at all.  I know that’s how I looked because a man pulled along-side on a motorbike and said he owned a hotel just down the road if I needed it.  He was amazed when I told him I was just setting off and had to reach Singapore that day.  Grubby, red-eyed, stinking, and emaciated, I was a charity case.

In the day I remember beautiful orchards of Dragon Fruit cacti, then stooping for refreshments at a local café and being offered a strange delicacy of a sort of gazpacho featuring a lump of ice and various vegetables… I gave it a spirited try, but couldn’t adjust my taste buds.

By the time the sun went down I was closing in on Johor, the Malaysian city which is the gateway to Singapore. It’s a big and complicated place though, and frustrated me with navigational challenges. I think I frustrated my supporters quite a bit too – my on-line GPS tracker was showing me making progress and then following diversions, getting lost, and pausing.  I stopped for some fast food and to check the maps and quickly received a phone call asking what was wrong!

I’d given my friends plenty of cause for concern due to tiredness and being at the very limit of lateness for arrival into Singapore. My focus was wavering and I couldn’t hold my head straight anymore. Rationality was leaving me, along with my navigational skills. At least the climate was benign in the dark and I was well lit.

Somehow I found the causeway connecting to Singapore and crossed the border. I was met by Liz and Peter Neely, my sister’s in-laws, at a rail station not far inside Singapore. Guinness World Records rules required that I obeyed traffic laws and therefore avoided motorways. Our solution was simple; take the train to the airport.  “Scheduled public transport” was allowed to cross “impassable barriers” in the rules, which matched the motorways in my assessment.

We took the final night train to the airport at stopped the clock on the World Record by getting a witness at the airport. Then we headed to Peter and Liz’s flat to pack the bike for flight, and most importantly sleep.

I would have nearly 24 hours before the flight. But a lot to do in my ‘day off’.

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.

Diary of the World Record: Day58

• By Vin Cox

5^th April. 150.8 miles cycled.

Hills and headwind.

Snooze on beach hammock at lunch…. And late finish: 10:15pm.

150.8mi @ 12.8mph

I had no time or energy to write a fuller diary than the above.  But I had had an enjoyable tough day. The bike needed maintenance, finding food had become slower on the road, and I still needed to clean myself and my clothes, ready for another long hard day into Singapore in the morning.

There’s only 12 hours of cycling accounted for in the distance at that speed – so where did the rest of the time go?   The answer is eating, cleaning, sleeping and mistakes.  Eating takes time; buying food, waiting for food, and eating too slowly it when you feel rubbish.  It takes at least five times the amount of food an average person eats to fuel such long days cycling, so it’s a big deal.  Cleaning myself and my clothes was important to stay healthy, so each evening I’d spend an hour in the shower doing my laundry as well as myself ready for the next day.  Sleep and mistakes are more self-explanatory.

That lunch stop will always have a special place in my memory:  For the first time in a hundred miles of following the coast, I could finally see the sea rather than the back of a developed coastal strip or a palm oil plantation.  No sooner could I see the sea than a Chinese restaurant presented itself, so I went in for an early lunch.  Relaxing with a drink and some nibbles under a thatched picnic table beneath a row of coconut palms on the beach edge was heaven.  As my main meal arrived I asked about the hammocks and was told I could sleep off lunch there!  I probably only had 30 minutes, but it made a great deal of difference to me.

My little sister had tried to play some motivational games by telling me that I need to make it to Melaka in order to have an easy day into Singapore.  I didn’t check up on that until I’d finished.  Turns out I had to make it to Melaka to have any hope of reaching Singapore the next day.  Singapore was still over 160 miles away!

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.

Diary of the World Record: Day57

• By Vin Cox

4^th April. 148.5 miles cycled.

Took scenic route through hills, forest and coast. Joined a [cycling] club run for 30 miles.

Had late start and headwind, so good mileage.

Ate at KFC 7 miles before hotel – was smart move.  Saw monitor lizard and lots of kingfishers today.

Bike rough after yesterday’s rain.  Baby lotion saving my bum from total failure at moment.

Lost a glove!  Sun burnt back of hand.  Rode with helmet off for some time [heat and humidity]

148.5mi @ 13.4mph

Riding with other cyclists was great. They were very friendly and it was just nice to be in a group.  I took some video:

The KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) was such a good idea because it meant I could just check in to a hotel, wash, and sleep.  No reason to unpack anything or faff.

The heat and sun was intense throughout South East Asia, and I noticed some subtle behaviours to cope with it from motorcyclists.  Most applicable to me was a trick at traffic lights (which Malaysia has a LOT of!).  The trick is to look for a shadow, even if it’s just a foot wide from a signpost, and stop there rather than the line while the lights change.  It saves just a little bit of sweat, but every little helps!

That was my diary from precisely four years ago.  I’m writing up each day on it’s fourth anniversary as a motivation to get this long overdue task done.  These days I’m to be found spending my working days at a brewery, my leisure time cycling, and my family time with my wife and baby daughter.  I hope this entertains, informs, or motivates you.