Ipoh Foldies' Open Day - Part 4

Time out with the course trainers...

After freshening up and a little rest, we rode into town for a quick meal. 
In the town area, I led Johnny and Des to a chicken rice shop and split up in search of Halal food for Mohd Radzi.
The first thing that came in mind was Mee Kari Daud Mat Jasak.
This makan place is located in the middle of town just a row after the chicken rice area.
It wasn't hard to locate and in the evening, there was a slight drizzle.
We arrived first and found a table to have our meal, but a family and their young kids sat there without even bothering to ask if the seats were taken.
Seeing the look of hopelessness and desperation on the man's face, we offered our table to him and took a smaller table next to it... 
After the meal, we rode off to the KBS complex to catch up with the Ipoh Foldies for their night barbecue session.
It was there where I had a real fruitful discussion with Zairil, one of the senior guys who is into long-distance exploration rides.
I told Zairil that The Malaysian Foldie's main criteria now, is to provide support to small groups that are starting up.
We are more keen in providing skills training and sharing of experience rather than organizing social rides.
There are plenty of peer groups of such in the Klang Valley now, so, our focus is more on establishing contacts around the country and promote responsible bike habits and ownership.
After spending some time socialising with the Ipoh folks, I can see that the guys were tired and with that, it was our cue to say good-bye to our hosts as we parted ways...

Zairil (left) an experienced cyclist from Ipoh and his new found friend from KL working on the grill

Azam: Our outstanding host

Saddle up, lock and load!

Back at the hotel, I had a little crisis on hand.
My Ortlieb Flight 27 bag's front panel had delaminated. A large tear can be seen across the panel just below the waterproof zippers.
I tried to mend it with a temporary solution by taping it with some bandage adhesive. That didn't work.
What's majorly disappointing was the fact that if failed during a crucial time. I made a note by bringing along some duct tape and bond adhesives in future trips. But seeing the poor quality of the RM650 bag, I might as well retire it for good. I've had the same problem with my Ortlieb hip pack in Indonesia in which I fixed it with an adhesive bond. The pack is now permanently retired.
My biggest worry about the Flight 27 was having it fall apart on me when I ride. Spewing all my personal belongings on the road won't be a pleasant experience.

This pack is robust, but at the same time: fragile. I was major disappointed..

My bikepacking rig: Ortlieb Flight 27, Bell Muni helmet and Tern Eclipse X20

A quick-spin around Ipoh..

We rolled out from the hotel towards the Medan Selera Stadium nearby where we had breakfast.
Johnny wanted to shop for egg-tarts at Simee village. I told him that I don't know the way and that going all out to find egg-tarts is a waste of time.
As a trade-off, I led him into town to get some salt-baked chicken. This is a specialty dish in Ipoh.
At the medan selera, we had a good fill and rolled out towards the town area.
There, we had fruit rojak and ice-cream soda at Loke Wooi Kee coffee shop. 
Later, the guys bought their supply of baked chicken as we proceeded towards the mural area near old town..

At the town murals

The ride-along

At concubine's lane

Coffee break

All aboard!

It's a wrap...

All the baked chicken packed, we were ready to roll.
This time, a whirlwind tour of the Ipoh Old Town.
Uncle John Cheong, a cycling buddy of mine who resides in Ipoh said the Old Town area is merely a tourist trap.
I led the guys around Old Town and found a place for coffee.
We chilled out there for a while till it was time to head to the train station.
By 11:30am the crowd was building up in the departure area.
It took me less than 10-minutes to pack-up the bike and other gear and by the time we assembled at the gate, the KL Foldies arrived and some of the guys were seen hurrying with packing their bicycles.
The least I can say is this: though new to cycling, the guys took great effort to wear head protection and pack their bicycles. This is commendable and very thoughtful to the welfare of other passengers.
When it was time to leave, a member of the Ipoh Foldies came by to send us off. He had even shot a video of us entering the platform.
On the coach, I plugged into my ipod and listened to some music to kill time.
By the time I knew it, we were entering Rawang. 
Johnny and Mohd Radzi got off at Kepong Sentral while Des and I continued our journey to KL Sentral.
We were joined by two other members of the KL Foldie group and parted ways after setting up the bikes.
By the time I loaded the bikes onto the car, it was already mid-day and I looked forward to getting some rest at home.
On the whole, the Ipoh Foldie Open Day experience was awesome. We made friends and shared experiences and hope to keep up with such events in the future.