The Odyssey of Gertrude and Bertha: Part one – Preparations
I’m now sitting, allowing the sweat to dry, in a hammock under a bamboo structure I helped build on a small farm a couple of hours outside of Kuala Lumpur. No, this semi idyllic scene is not a figment of my imagination. My sweaty, sunburnt, mosquito bitten, heat rash covered self is actually here in Malaysia, working on a farm while I plan for my biggest adventure yet: a bike ride through Southeast Asia for the next five months, or at least that’s the idea. Let me back up and start from the beginning.
I’ve been interested in traveling by bicycle for a while, probably since I met people who were doing just that while I was in Patagonia. So with that seedling firmly planted in my mind, I carried on with my bus travels through South America, lived and hiked in Ireland and Scotland for a little, and then returned home, where I very quickly began dreaming of the next adventure. Several changes of plans later, I was on my way to Malaysia to meet up with Sophie (the same Sophie who features in much of my South America travels), who happened to be in Indonesia at the time. And together we began readying ourselves for what seemed like the impossible.
The dream was to meet in KL, find cheap but good bikes and gear, plan our route and take off. But as with all dreams, reality set in and expectations were adjusted. Knowing ourselves, there was no way we were going to be staying in KL for any longer than necessary, so with many delicious tosai in our tummies, we found a farm to volunteer on while we figured things out. And with that plan in place, the universe gave us a break. The internet, though a wonderful tool, was proving fruitless in the bike and gear hunt, so we thought we’d go old school and visit a bike shop in person to ask questions, being the naive novices we are. As luck would have it, the bike shop was way out of our budget, but the guy working was incredibly helpful, with tips, contacts, ideas, and even some free biking tops (did I not mention we were woefully underprepared). He even sent us to another bike shop where he said we’d find things in our budget.
Turns out the trip to the next bike shop took us right to one of KL’s tourist attractions, the Batu Caves. Apparently even without trying you can be a sightseeing tourist! Our luck seemed to hold up, because at the next shop, we found bikes and gear for about 200$ each, and to our glee, all new. And matching. Why settle for a well made touring bike and waterproof panniers when your bike’s logo can be 2fast4u (a rather ironic name seeing as how we are incredibly not 2fast4anything) and your panniers can come with a sewing kit in anticipation of them needing repairs? With all that done and dusted, it was off to the farm with a somewhat unwarranted confidence, a few maps, and an optimism that just can’t be beat.
How can one set out on a bike trip without naming their bike? They cannot. And so I introduce Gertrude (Sophie’s ole faithful) and Bertha (my big, beautiful baby). These ladies may not be pretty, they may not be fast, and they may not make it all the way, but we’re hoping with packhorse names, they’ll survive it. From here it’s just a few more days until we sweat incredible amounts, sleep in the tiniest tents you could imagine, and begin what we hope will be the journey of a lifetime.
