Last day- A Hot Day

After 4 days of cycling we finally come to the last day of the trip. I basically drag myself up from bed on 6:30am. Apparently, we still haven’t recover from yesterday’s ride and hustle. However since today is the shortest ride (around 60km), so we basically take our own sweet time. We went across to Kuala Selangor fort to take some photos and took a breakfast before we leave Kuala Selangor at around 9am. This is also the latest time we start our journey. We soon regret to start so late……

View from Kuala Selangor Fort

A visitor saw us, take initiative to come and take photo with us

The stretch before entering highway was very hot. In fact the whole journey till my Selangor house was hot. But unlike sun on noon, which it shine from top, it shine from front hitting on our face. The scorching ray that hit on our face was unbearable. It is like there were thousands of needles pricking on it. The brain feels like being fried and cooked.  It has been detach from the body. It feels terrible....

We were pushing all the way under the hot sun, pedaling as fast as we can so that we can make it back on time for Nasam's welcoming lunch. For the past few days, Prem has had cramps while cycling. But today seems to be worse, even so he still insist on continuing the journey. Really respect him. When we reached the intersection of Guthre highway around 12pm, Prem's tyre deflated.  Once again, excitement drops to the bottom. He try to inflate the tyre hoping that it is just air leaking. But we soon comfirmed after cycling for 500 meter, the back tyre was actually punctured. There, we have people waiting for us at PJ on 12pm, here we are stuck with puncture tyre under 12 noon scorching sun. Our brain felt like being fried. It is very depressing. Prem has a nerve break down. Quitting come across as an option, but i refuse to consider it. I rather missed the welcoming party than ending the journey just like this. I do not sign up the trip but end like this. Well, sitting there wont help. So, Prem have to change the tyre under the hot sun. After 20+ min we continue the journey again.We are very tired, but we have to keep on cycling. The road seems endless....

As we pass by the last killing hill near Guthrie entrance, I knew that the destination is near. The spirit begins to rise. There are no words in the world that could possibly describe the joy and excitement of that moment. At the same time deep down inside my heart I was really praying hard hoping that there will be no more tyre puncture especially at this critical finishing time. (Have to admit after yesterday, I have tyre puncture phobia.) As we cruise through the congested traffic and pass by Central Sugar Refinery, the spirit rose higher and higher... We start pushing like there is no tomorrow. Finally, we reached home. Yeah! i have done it! 5 days with 545km. It feels great to accomplish my dream projects! Looking forward for more to come......

Finally arrived!

Warm welcome party by NASAM who has been there since 12 noon. Honestly speaking we were not expecting it to be this grand. We are very touched and blessed

Thoughts
It is indeed a wonderful and fulfilling trip. You will never know what is going to happen next. Every moment is a surprise. Plan may get out of hand, tyre may puncture consecutively. In my opinion, 

bike touring is not suitable for those who is pessimistic and complains a lot. 

But you will also meet interesting people who you will never meet before sitting on your office chair in one of the cubical/room. You will see and feel things which you will never ever see while driving. On top of that, you will get spiritual and mental growth. It is priceless. I guess the trip really teach me to slow down my foot steps to smell the roses and be patient when things are not going accordingly as planned...

If you ask me "Will i do it again? " I will say "You bet!"

Thank god i have made that bold decision to do it.

11th August 2013 6:20pm

Day 4- Friend Discovering day

    It was Friday evening after work and it just started to rain. With this kind of situation, there will sure be jam all over KL. Friving from KL to Kuala Selangor will take about 1 hour drive for normal day without jam. With jam, it would at least 2 hours. Besides that, the guy will have to rush to a bike shop before it close to get the spare inner tube. It is just too hassle and troublesome to come to assist. When I called Noobus Chang Wai Yuen, he agreed to help without any hesitation. I am very touch even up till to this point. I and Prem waited for him in the mamak and have our dinner (Thanks Prem for sticking with me all the way).  

    Noob arrived around 9pm without dinner. He seems to have a pair of magic hands. With his magic touch on bike tyres, everything settled within 10 min’s time. He then rush all the way back to KL without any food. If you ask me what I gain from todays challenge, I will say god show me what a true friend is, Noob and Prem…….     

Noob and Prem fixing the tyres, no words can represent the appreciation that i have to Noob

Thought

While cycling somewhere between Sg. Besar and Sikinchan, some voice inside urge me to continue cycling. It is at a state where as if the world is left with me, my bike and the road ahead. There is no future, no past, just the present moment. Cycling just gives you mental and spiritual fulfilment. You just want to keep on cycling…..I think I am addicted to cycling. I love running, but running cannot bring me from town to town. The maximum distance one can cover running is 40-50km/ day? Taking car will be too fast to enjoy the scenery and details along the way. Motor bike will still be a bit faster. Bicycle will be just nice. It will be able to take you from town to town. I am kind of addicted to touring……

Day 4- The Tyre Puncture day....

When we arrive at Teluk intan at around 8am, we actually covered more than half of morning’s journey. For the first time in the trip we are actually ahead of schedule. We are very delighted about it and decided to take a half hour breakfast break. As we were leaving with excitement, I got my first puncture of the day. Same as yesterday, Prem helped me change the inner tube. It was good to go within 20 min. Seems like Prem is getting use to tyre changing process. 

However, we failed to realize that the puncture was actually caused by metal piercing. This leads to second tyre puncture while I was halfway cycling up the bridge near to breakfast area. Once again we have to stop by and fixed the tyre. The excitement went from peak to bottom. What to do? We still have schedule to follow. Everything went well all the way after this. 

Tyre puncture halfway again when climbing the bridge, have to push all the way up....

The bridge is very narrow have to be cautious with the vehicle passing by

Cause of 2nd puncture.....

Have to carry the tyre all the way all the way in case the tyre gone flat again....

We rode pass by Sungai Besar, Sikinchan…… At around 7pm, we are about 10km away from Kuala Selangor. I was a bit hungry but happy as we are near to destination. The spirit was high. 

       Just as I was relieve, tyre puncture for the third time. Come on man! Not again?? How could tyre puncture happen 3 times in a day?? Once again, my heart is like falling from heaven to hell. I have to push to the nearest BHP petrol station to fix the tyre (Special thanks to the BHP staff for giving me a spot to change the tyre). To add complications to the problem, the inner tube I get from a bike shop in Sg. Besar was not suitable. Now I do not have any spare inner tube. I was hungry, tired, disappointed and very demotivated.

I was actually being suggested to consider ending the trip here and take cab home as the next 10km ahead will be extremely dark and dangerous. We are also so close to the destinations and the trip can be considered as done. This rural area bike shop might not have suitable inner tube for my bike. I rejected the idea immediately. First of all I am running on a campaign, I cannot disappoint the donors who have their faith on us. Eventhough people might not find out, even though they might understand, it is still considered as cheating. Worst case I rather stay in the nearby hotel and wait for bike shop to open tomorrow. I might arrived late and miss the lunch organized by NASAM, but I will never quit. I try my luck by calling friend for help. To my surprise, a friend came to help……. 

[Please check back 4th August for "Day 4- Friend Discovery "]  

Day 4 - The longest day.....

I was actually thinking about what should the title for day 4 be like? Should it be the longest day? The puncturing day? The friend discovering day? Or a blessing day? or........? I think i will split the day into 3 parts. As it is indeed very long day. 

 

The longest ride

Due to some changes on itinerary we decided to be back by Saturday, so we decided to ride 150+km today. This is the longest distance that we have ride since we begin the journey. It covers from Setiawan till Kuala Selangor. We decided to still start on 5am even though we failed to start on time ever since the journey begins. After taking the photo, we actually left on 5:15am. I was happy for a while until I realized that there were barely street light along the stretch from Setiawan until Teluk Intan. 

For the past few days, we have been starting kind of late, and the street lamp was functioning well. Because of this I didn’t really check my bike light battery. It was still working but very dim. Road in front is kind of unclear. I was kind of scare, but due to time constrain, we decided to continue the journey. 

Arrive Teluk Intan earlier than planned before the bridge, nice morning view

Playing with different phone camera setting and the view is breath taking...

At Sg. Besar

Sabak Bernam

I really thought that with the early start, we can really finish early as planned. But little did I expect that we would arrived Kuala Selangor after 11pm. The journey actually took around 19 hours. This is all due to tyre punctures…. 

After 19+ hours finally arriving at Kuala Selangor.....

[Please check back tomorrow for "Day 4- The Tyre Puncture Day"] 

 

Day 3- Discovering of my cycling mate- Prem

Since the cycling under hot sun was unbearable, we decided to start at 5am so that we can finish early. I checked out at lobby at 5am. While waiting for Prem I decided to take some photos of the clock tower. 

The clock tower

After the photo session, Prem still did not show up. I decided to take this opportunity to explore Taiping town as I was unable to do so yesterday. It was a simple 4 km+ loop around the town. But I was surprise to find out that the hospital and all the facilities were so close to each other. You can reach these places even by walking. It is quite convenient. Nice town. I was tempted to take photo of a monument in front of market but decided to do it after I finish the loop. This was a wrong choice because later I never manage to do it and time no longer permits. 

Lessons: Whatever you want to do, do it now. Enjoy the moment and don’t wait because when opportunity slipped it might not return anymore.

When I saw Prem back at the hotel I finally realized the cause of delay. His bike tyre punctures. This was our first tyre puncture. We found a petrol station few blocks away and fixed it. After changing the tyre, we decided take a quick breakfast before depart. 

According to the wife, they have been doing business for the past 45 years, the business was pass down by the grandfather from the husband

We end up starting at around 6:30am. After KFC Taiping we actually lost our way for the first time. We went extra ~ 10km. Today’s route is totally different from the past 2 days. It is very hilly and narrow. There were a lot of big lorries that pass by along the way. It is surrounded by mainly palm oil plantations. Residents were staying far away from each other. Petrol stations were like 30-40km apart (thank god, the bike was not powered by petrol. But still, we need petrol stations to replenish the supply). I would recommend cyclist to avoid cycle this stretch during morning or night. It is very dangerous. We overcome the hilly route easily chatting with each other. We basically talk about all things, personal life, house, work…… I guess today the interesting person that I discover is Prem. 

Just buy a rm 3 pear, but auntie help peel the skin and cut into pieces for me. 

Interesting village name....

Somewhere before Setiawan, I had my first puncture too……. We took a lunch break in Setiawan KFC and arrive at Setiawan around 4:30pm .

3 more km

Thought

I heard Sam mentioned before that along the way you will start to appreciate every piece of rice. You will be thankful even though it is just a tiny piece because it is your source of energy. Personally speaking, I don’t really feel that. However, I learn to appreciate fruit stall on road side today. I never really understand why people would like to support this people. It seems very unhygienic. The fruit seem to be overpriced. You can get it from hypermarket at a far cheaper price. But when cycling under hot sun for a few hours, it would be great to have nice cold fruits to kill the thirst and fill the stomach. There is no word to describe the joy at that moment. Personally speaking, if I haven’t go on this trip I would never realized this. Thank god for the blessing.        

Posting Delay until 15th July 2013

I have just recently change job and will be out of country for the following 2 weeks. So, the posting for day 3 , 4,5 will be delay till after 15th July. Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Thank you for understanding.

Day 2 - The interesting discovery and wonderful 1 hour nap

Can I sleep more? Can we just relax today? I am very tired. Can I stay 1 more night just for the food in Gurney drive as yesterday? I want more. It was suppose to be a leisure ride, I can sense flu coming, but why am I cycling today? That was the thought that came across my mind when the alarm went off at 5:30am. After preparation and taking some photos, we left for Butterworth for breakfast. The journey eventually start at 8am after breakfast.

Taking some spot of interest before depart to Ferry Terminal

Waiting for Ferry

Leaving Penang...

This uncle saw us cycling, approach me talk to me about how he use to cycle until he went  working in other countries

After coming out of Ferry

Photo taken from chain Ferry bridge

As we were cycling between Parit Buntar and Kamunting, the scorching noon sun has climb high. To avoid repeating yesterday's mistake, we decided to look for a coffee shop for a break. In the middle of no where, we found a small coffee shop call "Happy Garden Coffee Shop". To our surprise, the owner is a deaf and mute couple. Initially I thought that they were faking, but soon to find out that it was true. According to one of the customer, the shop has been operating for 5 years plus. All the customer take initiative to help out when we don't understand what the owner say. Looking at the weather while we were having lunch. We were glad that we made that decision to rest in the coffee shop. After lunch, Prem fell asleep on the table. A while later, I also follow his footstep to slumber land. Frankly speaking, I have never sleep on table since school. I have to admit that was a wonderful 1 hour sleep (thanks to the owner for letting us to sleep there). I felt refresh and energetic after the short nap. 

The photo was taken by the owner under Prem's request. Prem, of course is faking the sleep. I was having great nap not noticing that I was capture in the photo until waking up later. Up to this point, I still wonder why there is not much like on this photo in FB...... =p

I notice there were another deaf and mute couple in the coffee shop when I wake up. They were doing tele-conference with sign language and having fun with the owner. Happiness is writing all over their face. It takes so little for them to be happy. We stay until 3pm then we decided to leave.



The one on left with the kid is the owner, the 2 on the right is his friend, mute and deaf too 

The 1 hour short nap apparently was a sufficient. I was energized and pump up for the rest of the journey. We finally reach Taiping by 5:30pm with a bit of rain drizzling. This is my first time to Taiping. Somehow I like Taiping at first sight. Put historical background aside, I have never seen a lake garden so close to a town. The town is just a turn from the garden. The facility is all concentrate in the town within walking distance. I am tempted to cycle around the town but have to cancel it due to rain drizzling. I would not want to risk to be sick in this tour especially when I can feel flu starting. For some unexplainable reason, I like the clock tower across the hotel that I stayed, even though I could not find the historical information about it.

Kamunting Industrial Park

Taiping Jail

Superb View of Taiping Lake Garden

Don't know why, but somehow I just like this clock tower.  It is now used as a tourist information centre.

All of the food above plus drink only cost me RM 12.90. Special thanks to Carmen Tan for recommending it.

Due to time constrain and sleepiness, we skip Taiping Zoo and Maxwell hill. Will definitely explore the places again next time when pass by.

Thoughts....

As we were cycling through the cities and small town, i suddenly realize that we are just temporary occupying a space in that particular picture frame with buildings and peoples behind it at that particular moment. As we left the scene moving towards our destinations, we left nothing behind the picture frame of that particular moment as if we never pass by. We can never take anything away from it. The only thing that we took away with us is memories of that particular moment. Aren't life like that too? So, what are you still waiting for? Cut the bullshit excuse, go after your dream! End of day, you can't bring money or anything to the other world other than your memories.....