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Feb
10

70 km bike ride and one half dead chicken

by

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh

We started early on a Saturday morning and we were lucky with the weather as it was slightly overcast and not too warm. It took us the best of 15 minutes to get away from the hectic traffic in Phnom Penh before we hit the muddy tracks that immediately reminded me of APE.

Neil through another puddle

Neil through another puddle

I had borrowed a Trek bike, bought at bargain price in Bangkok. Luckily, it had normal pedals as I was riding in my sandals, the only footwear I had brought with me to Cambodia.
During most of the ride the Khmer people looked and laughed at us when we passed them with mud in our faces. Others just shaked their heads in misbelief. In Cambodia the poorest people still use bikes for getting around so to see two white guys doing it for fun and at the same time getting wet and muddy was just too much for them.
Oh, the villagers laughed when they saw us riding through the mud

Oh, the villagers laughed when they saw us riding through the mud

However, my American friend Neil and I chose to give everybody a smile and pedalled on.  70 km is roughly 50 miles, so we allowed ourselves a hot noodle soup break after 1 ½ hours ride in one of the many small cafes we had passed. Price 4000 riel ($ 1) including hot tea (total rip off  :-) )
Enjoying a noodle soup

Enjoying a noodle soup

Price $1

Price $1

Most of the ride went on small tracks past villages, colourful Buddhist temples and miles after miles of lush green rice fields. As the morning went the weather got hotter and we ran out of water. Not a problem in Cambodia where you always can buy cold bottled water on ice either from a café or from one of the many street sellers.

Neil knew the route very well, but he hadn’t take into account  the chicken that ran out in front of his wheels when we passed through a poor village. He had no chance to avoid the chicken and hit it with his front wheel. The people in the village stared at us and I suggested we better left in a hurry. But Neil was a real gentlemen and offered to compensate for the half dead chicken. Initially, the villagers didn’t want to take the money but in the end he persuaded the girl to take  $ 2 (although he still thought it might had been too little).

Cows, too big to run over…

Cows, too big to run over…

However, the run over chicken was the only accident we had during our 4 hour long ride. The last 10 km back to Phnom Penh was on tarmac. We didn’t mind, having already had our portion of muddy tracks that day.
Back in Phnom Penh

Back in Phnom Penh

We returned quite muddy and so were our bikes. But no problem. At home we just handed the muddy bikes to the day guard who spent the next hour cleaning the bikes while we had a well deserved cold shower followed by a cold beer.
The day guard is told how to clean the bikes

The day guard cleans the bikes

Great ride even though we hardly climbed any hills
There’s a few extra pics here.
Kim

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6 comments

  1. Hummerlicious says:

    February 10, 2010 at 10:43 pm (UTC 0)

    Thanks for a great ride report Kim :-)

  2. Steve says:

    February 10, 2010 at 10:55 pm (UTC 0)

    Really enjoyed the read, found it from a twitter link.
    Looks like a great place to be *looks out of window to see yet more snow*

  3. Hummerlicious says:

    February 10, 2010 at 11:22 pm (UTC 0)

    It was still muddy there though Steve ;-)

  4. Big Daddy says:

    February 11, 2010 at 9:14 am (UTC 0)

    Nice one Kim – a little different from our rides…

  5. Flying Dane says:

    February 11, 2010 at 8:05 pm (UTC 0)

    Yes, no nasty chalk where you could crash :-)

  6. Big Daddy says:

    February 12, 2010 at 9:22 am (UTC 0)

    Thanks for the reminder…

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