Malacca - Port Dickson ride July 11, 2011 Part 2

Cruising through Masjid Tanah 

Escaping the morning heat at Klebang

Mo better hills: The road to Sungai Udang

I have plenty of respect for the rotiman on his black bicycle laden with bread and other goodies.
His range may be shorter than what I had experienced, nevertheless, humping such a load is no joke.
And my Ortlieb frontrollers and rackpacks are lighter by the day.
Its laden with recovery tools, my personal stuff, a small netbook and other essentials that puts this trip at level 3 of 'well-prepared' on this short tour.
I never liked to travel without my gear as there's a million things that can go wrong.
Anyways, we were making our way towards Sungai Udang. 
Some 9km of hills awaits us before we reached the town and move towards the Sungai Udang Forest Park.
From there, Masjid Tanah is roughly about 5km.
We rode the day before and an endurance ride that spans about 145km both ways, one better be prepared.
I've munched on a Hammer bar and swallowed two Endurolyte pills. These worked all the time in preventing cramps and lactic acid build-up.
So, there I was, my bike in its lowest gear and I worked up 65rpms to charge up a slope, then another and another and another before we reached a Shell petrol station where we rested.
Even Michelle's Dahon Speed TR, equipped with  a 3 x 8 SRAM Dual-drive transmission had proven to be tough.
What more when you ride an 8-speed bike? 
With a 52-tooth chain ring, its a monster. And when it comes to crunching the low-gear, it'll climb as long as you don't cease.
The largest cog wheel has 32 teeth, so, combine 52 and 32, this baby packs a punch.
Was it hard humping two front roller panniers and a rackpack fully laden? Yes.
I overtook Michelle on a few occassions. She never seemed to give up and I admire her fighting spirit.
The climb towards Sungai Udang's Forest park was a series of undulating slopes towards Masjid Tanah. 
From there, the nightmare seemed endless.
Our experience with slopes helped in attaining the proper rhythm in maintaining a constant cadence.
The readout on my Garmin's GSC10 and EDGE800 really helped me in taking the terrain.
Our ride to Masjid Tanah bypasses Tanjung Bidara and Pengakalan Balak.
After four and a half hours of cycling, we reached Masjid Tanah.
There, we rested at a coffee shop, had a drink and made our way to a local bicycle shop.
I met a very friendly guy there who told me about his buddy who owns a folding bike.
This guy made mention on how Malacca guys love to modify their bikes, which I couldn't agree more.
From Masjid Tanah, there are a few more hills to tackle before reaching Kuala Sungai Baru and towards Kuala Linggin and to Pasir Panjang in the Negeri Sembilan side...