27.5.15

Salatiga - Tuntang via Rubber Plantation



From Salatiga towards Sari Rejo, the rubber plantation, then Tuntang.



The plan was to ride towards Banyu Biru, Muncul, and back to Salatiga. But the gear broke down and its bearing literally fallen apart. Took the bus home for a $3 replacement (Rp27,000).









20.5.15

Salatiga to Mt. Telomoyo via Kopeng


The goal was to ride to a resort village right between mt. Merbabu and Mt. Telomoyo below. It would be a 900m climb over 15km distance.


The first go was ill-fated yesterday, as I ran out of puff just 1/3rd of the way. The bike lacks lower gearing which makes climbing really hard. I pushed it and nearly fainted. I could not recover and returned home.

So today I focus more on energy conservation. That means dismounting from the bike for steeper climbs *early*. It worked quite well..

Early stages exiting Salatiga towards Kopeng:



It took me 3+ hours to reach the resort village for the 15km climb. My legs were sore, tired, and bit dehydrated. I took a long rest... now I could turn back and enjoy the downhill ride ... or ...

Kopeng (1,500m)

 I made a rather impulsive decision to climb mt. Telomoyo (1900m). The mountain was too appealing to ignore! It would be a 700m ascent in 7km, so quite steep. 

The road is sealed as there is a repeater complex at the top. But the condition was poor.

The road to Mt Telomoyo Peak. A landslide had buried a section of road

About quarter of the way I could start to see the view to the 3 neighbouring mountains


Halfway, there is a mountain spring. Very refreshing!


Another breathtaking look towards the 3 mountains

About 3/4 up, a view towards the bigger mountain (3000+m). The villages look very tiny by this stage and I was quite exhausted.



By the time I got to the top I was in/above the clouds



The return trip was quite interesting as the bike had to go through bad roads (boulder/gravel) surprisingly it held really well for the punishment. This mountain would have been really great for fully-armoured downhill cycling!


Finally arrived back towards the village at the foot of the mountain.


What goes up must come down, and from there I rolled downhill for 15km... fast enough that I passed every cars and scooters! In total it was an exhausting 10 hours trip but I felt very happy!  :)