Bike Life

With nothing to do and our time on Bali slowly but surely disappearing we decided we had to do something yesterday. We looked for things to do, and found exactly what we needed. Mark and I have thought about ditching the scooters and just going dirt bikes as our full-time mode of transportation for some time now. The only issue with this glorious plan is neither of us know how to ride a manual bike and we also have never ridden dirt bikes before. Realizing these key flaws in our plan, we decided we should probably learn how to ride the bikes before we get them We hit the internet and found baliwilderness.com . It is a company run by a few guys up in the Canggu area, led by a man by the name of Gede. We contacted Gede and told him our situation, and he was very happy to let us know that they encounter people like us all the time. Gede recommended that we do the half day training lesson/ track ride and informed us that his staff was very well versed in training people how to ride bikes and get used to the clutch and manual gears. We basically immediately decided this was the move and told Gede we would see him the next morning.

After a decent drive from Jimbaran to north of Canggu we arrived at the Bali Wilderness Bike Tours facility. Breakfast was waiting for us and the staff was getting the bikes and our gear together. We ate and hopped in the truck with the bikes and crew after Gede assured us we would be fine and the crew would take care of us. We drove about 15 minutes to the track, upon arrival we found probably the most ideal set up of all time. The dirt/sand track looked like it was designed for legitimate races and people who actually knew what they were doing on bikes and it was located right on a black sand beach. Both were deserted. The crew, Mark and I were the only ones there. We had a massive amount of room to learn. The guys taught us how to use the clutch and gears and let us get used to it. After about 20 minutes we had it down enough for the guys to tell us to go onto the track. We stayed in second gear for the most of the first session as the guys with Bali Wilderness ripped by us hitting jumps, making us look ridiculous. Regardless of this, they were insanely helpful. For our first few trips around the track, they were following us telling us when to shift, when to brake, and any other input we would need. They were always right there if you messed something up and always had to help restart the bikes, but they didn’t seem to mind as they got some laughs out of it.

After riding the track for a few more hours, getting better with the gears and turns and such, the guys told us it was time for our last obstacle. The sand on the beach was sitting there looking like a postcard, just waiting to be ruined by us with the bikes. The guys took us to the beach and were incredibly patient with us for the first 20 minutes as we were stalling the bikes every 30 seconds I the thick parts of sand. After getting the hang of it, the boys told us to really let the bikes go, and hit the high gears. On the course, you could only really hit 3^rd and 4^th gear, but on the beach, you could basically max the bike out in 5^th gear. The only thing to be careful of is the sand as its really shifty and you could eat shit at any second if you hit a section wrong. After about 30 minutes on the beach, we had had enough riding for the day, and headed back to base camp.

Getting back to camp, they had a pool waiting for us to jump in since you get insanely hot in the gear they give you. They also had lunch and waters waiting for us. Throughout the day, they fed us twice, had a little stand for food at the track, constantly had waters available for us, gave us all the gear (helmet, goggle, pads, gloves, jersey, pants, and boots) and gave us the bike with gas. All of this cost 1.2 million IDR. For 4 hours of riding, plus all of this, it was definitely well worth it. 10/10 would do again. 10/10 would recommend. It was also probably my favorite thing I’ve done here so far.

Good on ya.

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Program Info: www.asiaexchange.org

SONG OF THE DAY

P.S. I didn’t have my phone or camera to take any pictures so the featured picture is what #bikelife looks like in Philly.