Category Archives: Personal stuff

First bike ride in Cambodia a bit tougher than mileage would indicate

Personal stuff, Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

At the end of the bike part, we had a boat ride along the Angkor Wat moat.
Well first of all, I didn’t start Strava until maybe half a mile into the ride, so it really should have been 14-something! But generally tougher because an awful lot of it was on either narrow trails or dirt goat paths as we wound our way out towards Angkor Wat. The temperature, in the 90s, could have had something to do with it too. And finally maybe the fact that I took two Advil PMs by mistake prior to the ride, which contain Benadryl and tend to make you a bit drowsy.

Still, it was a lot of fun negotiating the traffic with a tour guide who knows his way around the place. Tomorrow is the “real” temple ride though, with the bikes being more a means of transportation than a way to see the road less traveled. It will also be a fair amount longer, so hopefully Becky will hold up. She hung in there well today, so a good start. The easy day will be Monday; that’s when we do the around-the-town “food” tour, where maybe we get to eat fried bugs!

Riding in the clouds

Personal stuff, Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride


The final bike ride before heading to Cambodia tonight. Just a bit different weather than Becky and I will experience in a couple days; mid-40s and heavy fog, vs 89-92 degrees in Siem Reap and likely even more damp due to humidity. But those bike rides begin Friday; today it was one last ride around the park (OK, just an expression, and since Tuesday we didn’t go “through” the park so maybe it’s accurate) before heading to work, home for a shower, then off to the airport to catch a 10:40pm flight to Singapore.

Did I mention it’s a 17 hour flight? 17 hours, 20 minutes actually. Then 6 hours in Singapore, followed by a short 2 hour flight to Siem Reap aka Angkor Wat. We leave on a Tuesday and arrive on a Thursday???!!! On the other hand, flying home, we end up arriving before we left. Figure that one out.

Friday will be an afternoon ride through the back roads with a temple sighting or two; Saturday will be a long day on the bike seeing Angkor Wat, the famous “Tom Raider” temple, and everything in-between. Sunday will be a combination of cycling and kayaking on the big lake nearby. Monday, a “food” tour hitting up the places serving only the fanciest fried crickets, snake meats and who-knows-what-else. Haven’t planned Tuesday morning yet; we leave at 4pm to fly to Singapore, staying overnight at planning to eat at one of their famous “Hawker Centres.” The sort of place Anthony Bourdain likes to head to. Then Wednesday morning, Singapore to LA (an even-slightly-longer flight than SFO-Singapore) and then the short flight home.

It will be a lot of fun. Just have to get Becky to believe you can fly in a metal tube for 17 hours and still come out alive at the other end.