Final road home and the Velodrome

Final road home and the Velodrome
As the sun dawned on the last but sunny day of our excursion, we had no idea what was in store for us via our route home. After climbing and descending over yet another mountain...getting lost and riding through endless rice fields... and losing to a roadside chess grandmaster...we pulled into the first 'large' city of the trip for lunch. Which was a good thing, as my still wet shoes were starting to make my feet look similar to that of a prune.
(more after the jump)
A warung was found and a selection of meat was ordered, and just as we were heading out of the city limits, Julian spotted a sign that made both our our eyes widen..."Velodome 8km."
We asked the nearest local if the sign was in fact what we thought it was...and the answer was yes! There was a velodrome somewhere nearby...so that became our new destination. After navigating tiny backstreets, receiving conflicting arm gestures and ending up at the sign we had seen in the first place...we finally found what we were looking for.
The size of the thing was what first struck us...we were expecting a half decent concrete bank, but this was stadium sized....and empty to boot. We tracked down a sleeping keyholder and asked politely if we could maybe take a look inside. To our surprise he hopped straight out of bed and unlocked the gate which stood between us and the concrete playground.
After a couple of tester laps we were soon reaching the upper echelons of the oval track, our smiles growing with each complete round. We managed a good half hour run before the man with the key told us we were attracting too much attention for him to be comfortable with. We thanked him kindly and happy with our experience, hit the tarmac once again.
From there it was a long stint of no nonsense driving, with Bali in our sights and a cold brew on our minds.
We pulled up to the Temples doors just over an hour ago now, and still have smiles from ear to ear over our velodrome ride...its not everyday you get to do something you have always dreamed of.
So the trip is done, our legs and eyes are sore...but we had a helluva run...and would do it again tomorrow if we could!