Mumble In The Jungle – Part 1

Jason Miles is in Sri Lanka, racing the Rumble in the Jungle. He’s been telegraphing his reports in and we’ll be following his progress here.

Come in Capt. Chippendale…are you receiving me?

It’s very hot in Sri Lanka, the bothersome humidity is making moving around a sweaty affair and I’ve not even started the cycling part yet.
We’ve arrived at our hotel near Kuda Oya before the first stage tomorrow. It was a six-hour, arse-clenchingly terrifying coach drive from Negombo, where there seemed to be no limit to the risks that Sri Lankan motorists would take. Buddha was watching over us though, cos we’re not dead.

I had a coconut for my lunch. I didn’t trust anything else. Last night I ate a chicken curry that I swear was a tin of chicken soup with some on-the-bone meat in it. I’m also quite sure that one of those bones was a skull…

Over and out…

(more tomorrrow, after the mountain biking)

Day One – Let’s race!

It seems like yesterday’s hot and humid weather wasn’t a flash in the pan, it’s hot and humid today too. We started day 1 of the mountain bike race at Kuda Oya where I conducted my pre-race nervous business in a ‘long-drop’ khazi. The entirely manual flushing mechanism (a bucket) was the second lowest point of the day.
The lowest point of the day was on the way to the highest point, geographically speaking. A 20km, 2000+metre, steep, rocky and loose climb to the finish line at Haputale in 30-plus degrees has set the scene for the rest of the week. This race isn’t for messers.
I got a bit of cramp but I think I’m off to a reasonable start…

Over and out, more tomorrow!