Pangkor - Part 1

Another mark on the map..

I've been thinking a lot about cycling in Pangkor island.
This is basically an inhabited island off the coast of Perak where the nearest port of embarkation is Lumut.
That said, riding there has been on my mind for a long time.
And like the Taiping trip, it won't happen if I never made an effort.

A chance of a lifetime

So, there I was, spending the days off after working my ass to the ground during the general election.
The stress load was high, with both ends of the candle burning.
And I need to get back to cycling as my level of fitness had deteriorated.
Michelle, my wife, had suggested a simple ride in Kapar near Klang, Selangor.
That, of course, did not materialise.
With the time off coming to an end, I decided to head North.
One of the options was to ride from Taiping to Kuala Sepetang.
I did this before and it was a simple affair.
My cycling kaki Patric Yee had invited me to stay at his property in the Marina Island near Lumut.
He said that we can bunk-in there and shoot straight to Pangkor.
I thought that this would be great as Lumut is about four hours drive from Subang Jaya.

The plan

We were to set out on Friday evening, head straight to Lumut via the Klang - Teluk Intan coastal road. This saves us a bit of time.
Patric and his son would meet us in Lumut.
We packed the bikes and gear early and fed the dogs before hitting the road.
By spending a night in Lumut, we would be able to make the most out of our time on Pangkor.

Locking up after we fed the dogs

Traffic was light as we made our way towards Kuala Selangor via the LATAR highway.
We drove past Sekinchan, Sg Besar, Sabak Bernam and had dinner at Hutan Melintang.
I remembered that there were a few good eating places in this town.
We found a shop along the way and had claypot catfish and curried crabs. 
The fare was pretty decent.

Curried crabs

Food for thought

Enduring the journey...

After a good fill, we drove towards Teluk Intan.
Right after Hutan Melintang, the road became narrower and darker.
I was very cautious as we headed towards the bridge linking Teluk Intan to Sitiawan.
Many years ago, this was my stomping ground.
I fished a lot in Sg Dedap.
It took us about four hours to reach Lumut town.
Patric had sent me a GPS coordinate to reach his shophouse via what'sapp.
After keying-in the numbers, I was able to find the location.
We set up the sleeping area and caught up with some conversation.
At the same time, the man revealed his shaft-driven folding bike from Beixo, a Dutch company.
The bike is selling for RM3.5K and only one working sample is available in the Klang Valley.

Marking our territory

A decent place to bunk-in for the night

Patric (R) sharing his thoughts on the Beixo with Michelle (L)

We went out to the mamak stall for a round of tea where I took advantage of the time and outing to get some drinking water.
Later at the shophouse, I set up the bikes and made sure that its able to perform for the round-island ride in Pangkor..