On the eve of our ascent, however, our initial romantic notion of riding over a volcano, was tempered with the reality of a tough physical challenge that lay before us. To reach Malang, our starting point for Bromo, we had already worked hard climbing steep and twisting mountain roads, to bring us between the volcanoes of Gunung Butak and Gunung Arjuna. With the arrival of the rainy season, we had found ourselves amongst steamy undergrowth, and our sunhats had become shades from the torrential rains. But the challenge was only just beginning. From Malang we would need to ascend some two thousand vertical metres to reach the Tengger crater rim, the enormous 12km wide ancient outer volcano. A sharp descent into the crater bottom would see us riding 'off road' for 12km across the mighty Tengger Massif, beside the inner crater of Bromo, the currently active volcano which steadily pours forth a plume of steam and sulphur. Our intended home for the night would be in the village of Cemero Lawang. The next morning, hoping for a clear sky and one of Bromo's famed spectacular sunrises, we would rise early, to see first light on the volcano, before shooting back down the precipitous descent on the Northern side of Bromo, towards the sea at Probolinggo, the end of our volcano ride.

In order to give ourselves a fighting chance of reaching Cemero Lawang before dark, it was settled that we would get up at around 5am, to see the first light of day, hoping to be on the road shortly afterwards. Six o'clock came and went however, the team still making last minute maintenance adjustments to their machines. Seven o'clock, and finally the four of us were making our first eager turns of the pedals, beginning our long climb towards the clouds. From the outset, the day had a special feel. Unlike the main roads that had carried us through the Western and Central Java, we now found ourselves on a small country lane. A new buzz had replaced the horns and the roar of lorries and bemos; the gentle ting-a-ling of bicycle bells, and becaks horns. A steady stream of cyclists were making their way into Malang city; what a refreshing change from normal rush hour traffic. A flat ride out into the green country fields brought us surprisingly quickly to our first landmark; the village of Tumpang. Although the morning air is relatively cool, we still take the chance to ask for 'Minum Dingin - Coca? Sprit?'; cold drinks being our main fuel for today's climb. We're held up very briefly by a broken spoke on a rear wheel, which we repair quickly, but not before a few locals have come out of the fields to inspect the four strange cyclists stopped at the roadside.

A calm descends over the countryside as we make a left turn after Tumpang. We head away from the through road, and on to the single track that will take us, we hope all the way to the crater rim. A handful of workers look up from scything sugar cane to wave breezily, as we pedal past. With the clean air, and the now perfectly quiet road, we can appreciate the early morning properly. It feels that by leaving the main roads, we have taken a step back in time, for a glimpse maybe of a Java from a bygone era. The weighing of sheaves of the sugar cane by a man perched high on a bamboo tripod, is certainly a special sight for us, something which none of us has seen before. He too waves happily back to us, from beneath his umbrella but with a certain knowing smile. Seeing our direction, and our bicycles, he puts two and two together to grasp the magnitude of the challenge that lies ahead.

With about 23 kilometres on the clock, we have still barely ascended a fraction of the total required. With the forward distance remaining now dwindling, we know that the climb between here and the top is going to be a slow, steep, leg wobbling, grind. Sure enough the road grows ever steeper as we meet the contours of the outer volcano proper. Although our speed has slowed to a snails pace, we at least have the satisfaction of seeing the altitude on our watches rising steadily. An archway welcomes us into the village of Gubuh Klakah, where once again we pause for rest. A new friend 'Porjee', watches intently as I clean up my bike. After exploring the limit of his English skills, he skips off down the village main street reciting 'My name is Richard', 'My name is Richard'. His interest is a genuinely inquisitive one, and leads us to suspect that this village is rarely visited by travellers making their way up Bromo. It's a nice feeling to tread away from the beaten path.

From Gubuh Klakah, the gradient steepens another notch, and we soon find ourselves hemmed in to our tiniest gears and we're pushing hard on the pedals just to keep ourselves going forwards. This effort can only continue so far, and eventually we settle for a stint of walking. According to a well known rule of thumb, the air temperature should drop approximately one degree celsius for each one hundred metres that we climb. Here as we reach 1500m, we're feeling a cool breeze whistle through the trees, and it refreshes our tired legs. The steep slopes now become occupied with fields of potatoes and onions, neatly arranged and perfectly tended. We're approaching the last village on this side of the crater - the village of Ngadas. We ride once again on our way into the village, to be greeted by excited kids, who run along behind us. The scene is enough to send a shiver down the spine. It's no more than a single street perched upon a narrow ridge, at 2000m on the side of the crater. The view down the main street is straight into clouds, and everyone here is dressed up in warm clothes. To a native Javanese person, it must feel like the arctic, but for us it's a home from home! We have time to push down a couple of packs of instant noodles, but we must move swiftly along. It's already 2 o'clock, and although the crater rim beckons, we still have to find our way across the sea of sand and to our night stop.

We crest the last ridge, and we can barely contain our excitement for the view that lies ahead. We rush through the thick forest to where the view opens out. We're met with a wide sweeping plain, which surprises us by being lush and green as we look down. The broad sweep of the rim shelving steeply down into the crater is breath taking. We push off and bump our way down to the floor of the Tengger Crater. Just a few minutes into the traverse and we're encircled by a thick mist, and a gentle fine rain dampens our faces. Our spirits however remain high, as we ride alone, and unguided across the plateau. The vertical wall of the crater is on our right, whilst Bromo itself, shrouded in fog is unseen but lurking on our left. For the first 5 kilometres we're riding across lush green moorland, ferns lining our path. Then suddenly the ferns give way to a vast expanse of grey volcanic sand. We look in amazement at the desert that stretches away before us. Our path is discernable only by the line of rocks, and a couple of tyre tracks of local four wheel drives who made the journey maybe earlier in the day. As the day draws to a close and light begins to fade, we find ourselves making the climb up and out of the crater. The vicious gradient is hard on our weary limbs, but we drag ourselves up and out into the village of Cemero Lawang. The Lava view Lodge cooks us up a fantastic Nasi Goreng, followed by a couple of celebratory Bir Bintangs. It's the perfect end to a hard day in the saddle.

A rap on the door from Andrew signifies that the day has dawned clear and bright. We had been warned that it might not be worth the 4:30am wake up call, considering yesterday's gloomy conditions, but we're all ecstatic to discover that there's a cloudless sky overhead as we make the short dash over to Bromo for the sunrise. The short staircase up to Bromo's steaming crater is teeming with Indonesian sightseers, eager to see the day's first rays. We're half way up as the first rays cast their warm orange light over the volcano. A muffled cheer goes up from the assembled throng, and some kind of party seems to be underway; guitars, stereos and small bottles of local whiskey getting passed around. We try to escape the throng and wander down the ridge away from the carnival, hoping to find a quiet spot to soak in the majesty of the moment. Deep in the bowels of the crater one can clearly make out the vent, and a huge sulphurous cloud billows upwards, bringing a powerful stench with it. The knife edge ridge that runs around the volcano has a great path and proves to be easy to follow, and wide enough to be quite comfortable, so we wander right around to the opposite side. The sky is a deep shade of blue, it is truly good fortune for us that we have this brief opportunity to witness the massif as it's meant to be. In the distance we can even see the dramatic mushroom cloud that is pluming up from Gunung Semeru, Bromo's elder brother, and an even more active volcano, who is officially off limits at the moment due to dangerous levels of activity. Watching from a distance is fine for first time novices to the Volcano game, we're in awe of the whole scene anyway!

A hearty breakfast awaits back at the guesthouse. We have tear ourselves away from the perfect surroundings, the sparkling clear air, and mild temperatures, to make our descent to Probolinggo. We head downwards at breakneck speed from immediately outside the guesthouse, and we don't relent until just a few kilometres before Probolinggo. Initially we use our brakes in serious earnest, not wanting to overshoot on any of the tight hairpin bends, but as the descent unwinds, we begin to let ourselves fly. As our speed edges faster and faster the adrenaline charge takes hold, and we whoop for joy as we belt down past tiny villages. On the way up we had our chance to quietly savor the surroundings. Now we speed through with just the briefest of flashes to record the images in our minds. The road winds smoothly around the contours of the hills,and brings us safely back down to sea level. As we drop the final few hundred metres we feel the air temperature rising once again back to the normal 25 to 30 degree temperature that we have become accustomed to. Our final view though is one to never forget. We've conquered Gunung Bromo by bike, but rising up ahead of us, as if in defiance, and laying down the next challenge is Gunung ... the next perfect conical peak in the chain of volcanoes. Maybe next time we shall rise again to the challenge, but for now, our road is heading for Bali, and we shall be taking the flat road.