Hey everyone! I’m on the 3rd day of my tour around a SE Asian country. Today I had a short biking day comparatively so halfway to my destination I decided to go on a little side quest. There was a temple on top of a small mountain right near the road. I was feeling confident, and hours to kill, so I headed over. To get up the mountain, you can either walk up a million stairs or pay for a moto ride. I didn’t want to leave my loaded bike at the bottom unattended, and I thought how bad could the road possibly be? I paid my $2 foreigner fee and pedaled on.
I made it halfway up, riding the flatter sections and walking my bike up the steeper inclines, before I bailed. I felt like I was tiring my body out way too much and I still had 20 km more to go to the next town. And I was worried about wearing out my brakes coming down. I could have gone and found someone to drive me up to see the temple but I decided to just move on. Currently sitting in a gas station eating an undeserved snack feeling like a failure. Anyone else ever bit off more than they could chew like that?
by laurezinha
7 Comments
Heck ya man, happens all the time! The posts we see are biased because the top ones are always the wins. People don’t see tge foibles, but they are always there.
Good luck on the rest of your journey!
Just because it’s a bike tour doesn’t mean you need to bike every single mile of the way, nor does it mean you need to take on and surmount every possible challenge. Sounds like you made a good call in unfamiliar circumstances and hopefully still had a good time… that doesn’t sound like “failure” to me.
Rule 1 bicycle touring: adapt to the conditions! Rule 2: mind over matter. If u dont mind it doesnt matter.
You made the right call. Its only day 3, dont beat urself up over it. By week 3 u will be doing 100km/day. Enjoy the tour….
When i was in the town of sete in southern france, there was a small hill that was recommended to me so that i could have an amazing view of the sea. The incline was too much for my loaded bike and so turned around a quarter of the way up. Didnt let me beat me up too much, thats part of the experience. So many days i planned to do more kms that i actually did, i felt bad for not doing the daily mileage, but it still gave me experiences that were fun and im glad i had.
What you’re doing right now, most people in the world would never attempt. Be proud of yourself.
Sounds epic rather than failure. You’re living the dream. Every second is gold.
Just returned after my 5 days bike touring. I miss the road tbh and jealous you are still out there. Kms, incline and other metrics are just numbers. Keep going and as you did listen to your body. I am sure there are even better temples and hills out there which you will encounter.
It’s hot as balls in SEA. No shame in putting some big ass hill on your fuck-it list.