Over the course of this week our Willesden club mates will be travelling to all corners of the world.
Karl is setting off on a tour of the Far East where he intends to notch up over 3,500km on his bike. He is starting in Bangkok where he and his bike will spend a few days recovering from the ordeal of the baggage handlers. He will then set out for a 500km ride to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, one of the world’s largest religious sites. The 12th century temples at Angkor Wat are spread out over an area of some 40 miles, so the bike will be dead handy.
The next 500km leg will take Karl to Phnom Pen and eventually into Vietnam. He is planning to stay five days in Ho Chi Minh (the only capital to be named after a chef, apparently) before embarking on a 800km tour up the coast and then inland to the hills at Da Lat. When he returns to Ho Chi Minh he will then take the ferry back up the mighty Mekong to rejoin his route at Phnom Pen. He should be back in Thailand by early March.
Karl is taking a few Audax brevet cards in his back pocket, so that he can rattle off a quick 200km DIY Permanent ride in each of the countries he will be visiting. That should puzzle the adjudicators back at Audax UK!
This weekend also sees Hilary head out to the frozen wastes of Sakhalin Island, just off the coast of Siberia, where she will be working for the next two years. Her trip out there is exhausting as Karl’s tour. It will involve several flights, a 12 hour train journey and a three hour jeep ride to the site. At her side will be the ever faithful Zippy and her turbo trainer, so she will continue to get the miles in during the minus 30c winter. However come the summer I can see Hiliary taking a page out of Karl’s book and doing a 200km Audax ride on Russian soil.
You never know she might even bump into Ivo.
