tour of east java!!!

we are in east Java now, me, Sony, Sam, Fan the Man and new member of the team, Vincent Ang. it's hot, hard and lots of fun - so far. the lace is beautiful, the people are amazing - we had a parade the other day, literally thousands of people turned out on the street. we were driven around in rickshaws, but me and Fan ended up on a horse-drawn cart! i said "hello!" to people, and got a hundred replies, a hundred smiles. these people had no idea who we were, they just came out to see us - it was a great experience, i felt like a famous rider!

the only problem was our pony - he was crazy - started jumping up and charging into the crowd, then trying to bite the riders in front of us! i also forgot that i'm allergic to horses - half way round my eyes started to hurt, then my skin got itchy. by the end i looked like i had an incurable disease... everyone else thought it was very funny, of course...!

earlier in the day i went on a ride... It’s my first time in Indonesia, and though I’ve travelled all over S.E Asia and lived in Thailand and Hong Kong, it never ceases to suprise me how fantastically beautiful this part of the world is. I went on a training ride on the first day with Fan, but when he turned back after an hour, I carried on up the gradually rising road for another hour and a half - too long really for a pre-race ride, but I was too entranced by the countryside to realise.

It was like a voyage of discovery. Every turn revealed another mesmerising vista of terraced tea fields, ornate wooden homes, lush, opulent jungle backed by jagged mountain ridges, all laced with the smells of ripe fruit, pollenating flowers and that sickly-sweet odour of the famous Indonesian clove cigarettes.

Smiling children played by the side of the road, workmen, people in the fields, families sat eating by makeshift barbecues, all were ready to wave, smile and shout encouragement to me. On the way back I met up with a local cycling club out for a ride, and they guided me back to my hotel. It was truly one of the most memorable rides I’ve ever had. .. great place, truly... we are very lucky.

(sorry don't know why the fotos are like that...!)