Garry McGivern is in Indonesia, cycling to Australia on Tuesday the 21st of February 2012. Dumai to Pekanbaru. 124 miles. I like hotels that serve an early breakfast. Last night’s hotel served breakfast from 6 am. It means I can get a few miles under my belt before it gets too hot. Mind you. It was raining for the first two hours today, keeping the temperature down anyway.
The locals give me strange looks (doesn’t everybody!!) as I cycle along in the rain, in my shorts and top. They all take shelter or put on waterproofs, or more often than not, just a plastic bag! But then I suppose it cools down quite a lot to them, whereas I’m not as acclimatised to the heat. And find it a much more comfortable temperature for cycling. It’s still swelteringly hot, though!
It was a bit of an indecisive day today. From what I could see on my map, there were two routes I could take. So last night and today, I’ve been asking people which way was best. And of course, everybody had a different idea! And funnily enough, the way they tell you is best is where they live! None of the advice mattered in the end. I completely missed when the road split! At least it saved me from having to make a decision!
Hotels seem to be few and far between. And when you do find one, you find several others in the same town. I passed a bunch of hotels after around forty miles this morning. But then that was it until I arrived here in Pekanbaru. A long day!
Don’t forget the main reason behind my ride, which is to raise as much money for cancer research charities as possible. Even the smallest donation helps. You can donate to Cancer Research or the Australian National Breast Cancer Foundation. Click on either one to donate.
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