Gravel Route Guide: Lingsar — Sesaot, West Lombok
23 kilometres of pure fun on various types of tracks.
Route Profile
Lingsar — Aik Nyet was my first gravel riding playground. It wasn’t hard to consider to explore it; it’s located in West Lombok which is where I’m from, I’ve visited it a lot when I was a kid — which makes it intriguing to visit and see what it’s like now, it’s lush, green, and there’s a river to save you in case the heat gets too crazy.
Getting There
The route starts with a light track that I discovered by accident. Trust me, you’d wanna shred the shit out of it as soon as you see it, it looked so tempting because it guarantees that beautiful sound tires make when you enter a path such as this one.
Entering straight from the main road, you’d feel an immediate change of air. It’s fresh even though you haven’t entered a forest yet.
You will pass several rice fields, and then a kampung. Say hello to people as you pass, or at least smile because they will do the same. After a little bit of a rocky path, you will see an asphalt road and take a right. Enjoy more rice fields and a better look at the hills.
Keep following the route and you will be asked to take a right turn. It looks like a small alley, where there’s usually no one there. After a few hundred meters, you will find a couple of rice fields. This time with a real thrill of singletrack.
If you’re a slow rider, there is a shady spot in between the two rice fields, under a tree where you can rest and inhale that fresh air. I sometimes spend a few minutes there just to look around, often saying hello to passing farmers.
The next one has become quite an attraction among my friends. It’s a super short tunnel, honestly don’t know what it’s for. Looks eerie but definitely an attractive spot for a photo.
I won’t bother explaining the next few kilometres as I want you to enjoy the surroundings but still sticking to the route. Because the next gravel track is, I’d say the longest one on this route.
There are two things that you should pay attention to the most:
- Trucks are passing sometimes which cause the dust to contaminate the air. You should stop to let the truck passes and cover your face.
- The beginning of this track, to my knowledge, is always dry and sandy. Lack of trees could be the cause but there’ll be more and more as you ride deeper. Sandy track could be a problem for some tires, at least it is for my Continental Speed King CX 35c which forces me to go slow for the first 200 meters.
Other than that, enjoy the ride!
Going through a kampung could be tricky. So like I’ve mentioned before, keep following the route. Soon enough, you will find another rice field singletrack and personally, my favourite spot to rest.
Soon enough, you will reach an area called Sesaot. There are a lot of water springs around the area, which will be perfect to visit for a dip on a hot day.
Unfortunately, I haven’t visited those places to take pictures and map them; maybe I’ll add them later. If you’re curious, be adventurous and ask for directions from locals as I’m sure they’ll be happy to show you the way.
If you decided to carry on, you will be in a position, for the next two kilometres, where you can feel the strong temptation to go fast along the singletrack and the wide, smooth gravel track. While of course you can do that, be sure to be careful as people are walking around, passing the path, mostly going to the river.
As a bonus, maybe an extra spot for resting, the route will then take you to a dam. The water obviously could rise higher during the rainy season, which will make the place looks better. I consider the existence of the dam itself as something fresh and different along this route, adding spice to the flavour. It’s not even an amazing dam, but I guess it serves as a good addition to the route.
The destination is really close now. You will arrive at the forest of Aik Nyet where you can lie down or even take a nap, get a proper lunch (this area is famous for its Bulayak Satay which costs IDR 20,000 per portion), and/or go for a dip in the river to let that heat dissolves from your body.
I sure hope that you will find Aik Nyet as refreshing as I do.
Strava and Komoot
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