Banting Char Koay Teow Ride - Part 1

Just get on my bike and ride... 
I posted an announcement about a ride from USJ2 to Banting, Selangor.
A few guys took up the challenge and one of them was CK Toh, a former sales guy at Strida Bikes Malaysia.
I was shocked to learn that he had quit the job.
To me, he was one of the best dudes around representing a new brand of folding bike.
With him, was his friend Chia CK and two guys whom I met face-to-face: Roger and Chew.
All of them were members of the Malaysian Foldie Forums.


Maiden ride
Roger, who acquired a Tern Joe D24 folding bike said such was an opportunity for him to test himself as well as some touring gear.
He made a set of panniers and some really cool DIY stuff on the Tern.
Chew, on the other hand, was a man of few words.
The guy had a Dahon Boardwalk D7 and from his Picasa web albums, this guy is no stranger to long-haul rides.
I knew for a fact that Toh and Chia were doing the long distance ride for the first time.


The planned route
I wanted to avoid using the Klang - Banting road.
So, we rode from USJ2 to Kota Kemuning via the KESAS Highway motorcycle lane.
We took this slowly and paced ourselves.
Along the way, we met some dudes on mountain bikes.
With them, was a white guy on his bike.
The mounties, as it seems were hostile. They couldn't even be bothered to mingle, so I let them be.
From Kota Kemuning, the plan was to ride towards Jalan Kebun and turn out at Jenjarom...

Chew and Roger on the trail

Charting a new route...
Somewhere along the way, I must have made the wrong turn.
I checked my GPS and plotted a route which led us to a laterite road leading to the edge of Jalan Kebun.
One of the guys, Chia who ride a souped-up Ori bike seemed worried.
On a Dahon Jetstream EX, nothing can stop me.
Chia pushed his ride throughout the dirt track while Chew and Roger rode their Dahons.
I told Chew much about the Schwalbe Big Apple and how it performs. This is apparent on Roger's Tern Joe D24 that uses the latest BA tires.
When we hit the tarred road, Chia took off on his Ori.
So much so, we missed the turning towards Jenjarom and was forced to use the Klang - Banting road which was laden with traffic.

At the outskirts of Jenjarom, just a little bit more towards Banting

Half-way there
The distance for this ride is roughly about 84km two-way.
Roger told me that many beginners were scared with the distance.
To him, its an achievement to get to the starting line.
I must say that the guys are tough and tight.
They kept to the line all the way and I am proud to say that at least all of them are potential touring kakis on a folding bike.
The gang showed plenty of promising traits.
I told them that a good team bonding is needed for long-distance rides and patience is a virtue on such traits.
Toh surprised me a lot when he rode his Polygon Urbano bike with ease.
I think if he outfits his ride, he will go places...

At the Char Koay Teow shop in Banting

Making new friends
Going on a distance ride like this gave me an opportunity to make new friends.
So far, I've only seen their screen names on the forums.
It was great to be able to put a name to the face.
Roger, who was ecstatic about completing the first stage of the ride treated us to char koay teow.
We engaged in some chit-chat at the shop before proceeding with the ride back to USJ2.