Journey to Port Klang - Part 1

An obligation..
A month ago, I committed myself to coordinating a ride between the Photo Malaysia Forums people and the Lima Bintang Cycling group's Leisure riders.
The event was a ride from Jalan PJS9 in Bandar Sunway to Port Klang - Pulau Ketam.
Response was good over at the photographic forum, but as the time nears, the numbers began to dwindle.
So, having seen that, I kept the participants informed about the programme and constantly reminded them to prepare themselves for the journey and not to be late on the day the chartered vessel departs from the jetty...


An early day
I serviced my Dahon Speed P9 a couple of days earlier to ensure that it was in shape for the ride.
Since I was also preparing to train up for a bikecamping trip, I cycled to Bandar Sunway on a full load.
When I reached the rendezvous point, I was greeted by Jimmy Chow, a regular cycling kaki whom I met back in the PIPR events two years earlier.
By 7am, the cyclists began to trickle in and the numbers swelled to 30 people an hour later..

The twin Sigmas working its magic

Jimmy (right) with event organizer Yeong (left, standing)

As the group started to form, I was amazed by the sheer number of people who turned up.
Along with me was Roger and Chew from the Malaysian Foldies Forum.
I made a last-minute announcement about providing escort from Bandar Sunway to Port Klang and these guys: the A-team, answered the call.
New to the gang was Wilson, who just purchased a Raleigh Ugo folding bike three weeks ago.
The only person from Photo Malaysia other than Wilson who turned up was Mr Oon, an elderly gentleman who rode in with his Surly Long Haul Trucker. Other than that, no one had showed up.
While the crowd was waiting for a briefing, an old Malay guy came walking by and started to show his displeasure.
The cyclists had ignored this taxi driver and went on with their business.
We left Bandar Sunway half an hour late and the route was something I did not agree with - KESAS Highway to the South port.

The ride begins

Break near the Bandar Botanic exit

The team
We had Johnny Ng from My Bicycle shop riding with us.
By far, he is one of the most experienced long distance rider in the lot.
Roger was a novice, while Chew, who is new on a foldie, is quite an experienced mountain biker. Wilson, the youngest of the lot was cycling in the middle-distance trip for the first time.
Our journey took us from Bandar Sunway to the KESAS Highway motorcycle lane.
When we got there, another group from GW Cycles in Kota Kemuning had waved at us. 
Then, it began to pour.
As we continue with the journey, another group were resting near the Hicom layby.
There I met an old kaki: Fernando who rode his 2009 Speed P8.
He was with a group of cyclists and as we were nearing the Kota Kemuning toll area, we parted ways.
By the time we reached the rally point at the Bandar Botanic exit, the group was already split up with our team as the tail-enders.
There were some confusion as we were told that another group had turned off to Bandar Botanic.
We stayed behind to alert the sweeper to inform him about this and carried on to Port Klang...

At a flyover near the South port..

Clear and present danger
The last section of the ride was a hairy situation.
We rode into merging traffic and as we were making our way to the Teluk Gong area, speeding trucks with their trailers really stirred up a scare.
I knew that for a fact, there were many road accidents in the area involving motorcyclist and told my team mates to be extra vigilant.
After crossing the 'Death Zone', we finally made it to the edge of Port Klang and clocked-in nearly two hours on the road..

Rolling into the South Port

The waiting cyclists..