We were excited about todays ride, which promised to be super tough, with a monster 2000m climb. Breakfast consisted of carbo-loading with many slices of toast and omelettes. Slap on the sunscreen and we were off down the hill back Chalsa, then turned right to head towards Lava.
The first part of the ride was very pleasant, with rolling countryside of tea plantations along a quiet country road. The tea picking ladies all waved to us as we rode past.
After about 20km of rolling terrain, we finally hit the monster climb. The gradient wasn�t so bad, but there was only one direction�.UP!
Daniel lost his cycle computer, but was most relieved to have a local ride up in a motorbike and reunite him with it. p
The hills were all covered in tea plantations with many people out picking tea. The villages resembled those in Nepal, with many of these people originally from Nepal. The weather was much cooler as we ascended the mountain, and made a pleasant change from the heat and humidity of the lowlands.
Daniel lost his cycle computer, but was most relieved to have a local ride up to us in a motorbike and reunite him with it.
We snaked our way up the switchbacks for several kilometers until we reached a Tibetan monastery where we stopped for lunch. Many children came and watched as these crazy one wheeled riders devoured their packed lunches.
After lunch, we continued our upward climb, which took it�s toll on our induni riders. One by one they were dropped back into the support bus, until only Christian, Geoff, Nathan and Ken were left to grind out the final few kilometers into Lava.
The town is situated on the side of a hill, near the top of the mountain, and is an incredibly impressive sight as we approached. It is a small mountain town with few visitors, so the locals were even more surprised to see a whole bunch of people rolling into town on one wheel.
We finish at the Yankee Hotel, perched up (an even steeper) hill that turned our already tired legs into jelly. We were greeted with hot mugs of tea as we arrived. What a perfect way to end a long days riding!
Dinner was a huge feast of curries, dhal, naan, momo�s, chips, and rice, that was very quickly demolished by our ravenous bunch of riders.
Quotes
Geoff: �I just had a really interesting conversation with a Bhutanese monk at the monastery�
Nathan: �Oh great, where was he from?�
Geoff: �Bhutan�
�Man, there were some sexy rocks on that hill�
Daniel�the Geologist
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