Today dist : 63.7 km Temp 15-35c Warm morning and Hot afternoon
Ride time: 6 hr 33 min
Ave speed : 9.7 kmh Max : 55.5 kmh
Ave climb: 4 % Max: 15 %
Trip alti : 969 m Max: 5138 m
Today spend : Rs 470 Total spend : Rs 14630
We started very early at 5.40am without any breakfast cos all shops still remains close at this early hour, but I have in my bag 2 pcs of sneeker chocolate bars and 2 roll of biscuits. The climb started immediately thru' the village,hopping to see whether i can have any breakfast along the village,but no luck and climbing with an empty stomach,somewhat affected my performance,but for Chee,he is not that desperate having breakfast before ride. Chee was always in front of me while i am struggling to keep sight of him.At times, he waited for me if i am falling too far behind. Even we were only half loaded,keeping most of our stuffs in the Ree-Yul guesthouse,especially the tent,stove and pot,taking only the necessary clothing tools as we plan to stay a night in either North Pullu or Nubra valley after the Khardung La Pass.But still we were laboring up the steep climbs like fully loaded, we were stopping frequently to catch breadth as the air is getting very thin with the gain in altitude,both of us were coughing very often, average speed was down to the lowest of 3.5- 4.5 kmh .I was very cautious with my new toy 20" rim, but so far it seems pretty ok on the climb,the real test i guess will be on the descent. Along the way,we did not see any other cyclists riding up,but saw many mtbs were loaded on the jeeps,as most people only wanted the thrill of a downhill ride from the top. We were being waved,camera-ed from the passing vehicles, most probably being laughed at seeing these 2 crazy guys doing the most crazy thing on earth,whats more with my recumbent, most likely being seen such funny bike for the 1st time. At South Pullu, after 25 km , we were feeling very exhausted and the cloudless sunburn, and also the start of the 16 km bad gravel road, we took the better way of getting a lift from a cement truck to the top without any charge, while sitting at the back of the open truck, looking at how the truck engine laboring up the steep terrain, we had no regret that we made the wise decision. It needed 2 solid hours even for the truck to arrive at the top, we wanted to pay some money to the driver and co-driver, but were not successful as they drove away after unloaded our bikes. We had the best hot maggi mee soup and chai in the cafe, touted as the highest cafeteria in the world at 18350 ft. There were many mountain bikes,vans and jeeps, It's like a pesta up there with many people posting pictures at the stone marker of the World Highest Motorable Road at 5602m or 18380ft, but my cyclometer only showing 5138m, so forgive me as i am not very sure which is correct. After spending and rested for about 1 hour and pictures taken, we started the descent back to Leh, abandoning the earlier plan for staying in the Nubra Valley. My toy rim was put to real test on the bad gravel road down to South Pullu, with flying colors,that gave me added confidence on the good tarmac road to Leh, as i overtook some mtbs and reached the max speed of 55.5 kmh. Then the tragic
stuck rather unexpectedly, as i was nearing Leh ,I fell on a sandy bend, with no injury to myself but the toy rim was twisted with the road impact, self cursing and annoyed,i disconnected the front brake to finish the ride back to the Ree-Yul guesthouse at 6pm to end a dramatic hell ride but wholesomely satisfied what i set out to achieve on this tour.
Ride time: 6 hr 33 min
Ave speed : 9.7 kmh Max : 55.5 kmh
Ave climb: 4 % Max: 15 %
Trip alti : 969 m Max: 5138 m
Today spend : Rs 470 Total spend : Rs 14630
We started very early at 5.40am without any breakfast cos all shops still remains close at this early hour, but I have in my bag 2 pcs of sneeker chocolate bars and 2 roll of biscuits. The climb started immediately thru' the village,hopping to see whether i can have any breakfast along the village,but no luck and climbing with an empty stomach,somewhat affected my performance,but for Chee,he is not that desperate having breakfast before ride. Chee was always in front of me while i am struggling to keep sight of him.At times, he waited for me if i am falling too far behind. Even we were only half loaded,keeping most of our stuffs in the Ree-Yul guesthouse,especially the tent,stove and pot,taking only the necessary clothing tools as we plan to stay a night in either North Pullu or Nubra valley after the Khardung La Pass.But still we were laboring up the steep climbs like fully loaded, we were stopping frequently to catch breadth as the air is getting very thin with the gain in altitude,both of us were coughing very often, average speed was down to the lowest of 3.5- 4.5 kmh .I was very cautious with my new toy 20" rim, but so far it seems pretty ok on the climb,the real test i guess will be on the descent. Along the way,we did not see any other cyclists riding up,but saw many mtbs were loaded on the jeeps,as most people only wanted the thrill of a downhill ride from the top. We were being waved,camera-ed from the passing vehicles, most probably being laughed at seeing these 2 crazy guys doing the most crazy thing on earth,whats more with my recumbent, most likely being seen such funny bike for the 1st time. At South Pullu, after 25 km , we were feeling very exhausted and the cloudless sunburn, and also the start of the 16 km bad gravel road, we took the better way of getting a lift from a cement truck to the top without any charge, while sitting at the back of the open truck, looking at how the truck engine laboring up the steep terrain, we had no regret that we made the wise decision. It needed 2 solid hours even for the truck to arrive at the top, we wanted to pay some money to the driver and co-driver, but were not successful as they drove away after unloaded our bikes. We had the best hot maggi mee soup and chai in the cafe, touted as the highest cafeteria in the world at 18350 ft. There were many mountain bikes,vans and jeeps, It's like a pesta up there with many people posting pictures at the stone marker of the World Highest Motorable Road at 5602m or 18380ft, but my cyclometer only showing 5138m, so forgive me as i am not very sure which is correct. After spending and rested for about 1 hour and pictures taken, we started the descent back to Leh, abandoning the earlier plan for staying in the Nubra Valley. My toy rim was put to real test on the bad gravel road down to South Pullu, with flying colors,that gave me added confidence on the good tarmac road to Leh, as i overtook some mtbs and reached the max speed of 55.5 kmh. Then the tragic
stuck rather unexpectedly, as i was nearing Leh ,I fell on a sandy bend, with no injury to myself but the toy rim was twisted with the road impact, self cursing and annoyed,i disconnected the front brake to finish the ride back to the Ree-Yul guesthouse at 6pm to end a dramatic hell ride but wholesomely satisfied what i set out to achieve on this tour.
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| The new rim failed the test after Khardung La |
8 comments:
Bro Meng, I think your luggage could be too heavy for the rim to take. Plus the road condition, its going to be twisted even further. Sad that you are not going further, but proud of your achievement. From TTK.
Glad your fall wasn't serious n you didn't pull a stunt like flying your bent over d cliff!
18xxx ft ..that's 4000 ft higher than mt Kinabalu .
I was hoping u had taken a pic of d maggi mee.
Pauline
I agree with TTK and Pauline that we are proud of your achievement and your fall wasn't serious.
There is always another chance to do it again!
Keep it up!
Awesome pics too!
Great experience!!
Kait
TTk, I am now in Manali,and taking another bus to New Delhi,fr there we will try to book a train ticket to Kolkata b4 our schedule flight home on the 9th. See u all soon for my longing teh tarik session with you guys.
Pauline, The maggi mee is the lousiest if u taste it in Malaysia,but on top of the Khardung La in the world highest cafeteria,it is the best when u r shivering in the cold.
Thanks, Kait for liking the pictures.
Glad you are ok. What an achievement!
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