Journey to Land's End - Part 4

This is it!
The alarm rang at 05:00am. 
We got up, and the first thing that came to mind, was the last 38km push.
Michelle and I had done at least 135km from Muar to Pontian and there's little left to our imagination.
The only thing left to do, is the road down Land's End.
Breakfast was included in the hotel's room charge, so, we wasted no time in filling up.
After the meal, we headed straight for the road to Kukup, some 20km away from Pontian Kechil.
Traffic was light and the sky was rather gloomy.

The smooth ride.. 

Bananas, Bikes, Rock & Roll
We packed some light food for this ride and riding without the panniers actually helped.
The night before, we re-packed our stuff and left some of the non-essential stuff at the hotel room.
Earlier, I asked the front desk guy about a late check-out and was told that an extra charge of RM12.60 an hour will be imposed.
Michelle was rather pissed off with that, so, we let it be.
I didn't sleep well the night before and had been carrying a flu bug since we left for Muar from Subang Jaya.
Sleeping underneath the air-cond duct didn't help either.
Before the ride, I downed some medication and it held up as I swept the ride.
The road to Tanjung Piai is actually hazardous to small vehicles. Especially bicycles.
Even the locals here are afraid to use the road.
This was one of Michelle's primary fear - getting whacked by a trailer.
The heavy vehicles don't really care. They zoomed past with barely inches missing our bikes.
With the lighter load, we've made good progress.
It took us about one and a-half hours to reach Kukup.
This town has changed tremendously since my last visit in 1997. 
I did make a follow-up visit with Michelle in early 2002, the development here has been amazing!
Spare the seafood restaurants, there's really nothing much to see in this town.

The slow road to Kukup

Land's End in sight..
The terrain in Kukup is pretty much flat.
Our destination is Serkat, which is about 5km away from this town.
We rode backwards and headed to a right turn towards Tg Piai.
Our destination was the state park in this area and plenty of surprises lurks ahead.
After cycling for nearly 45-minutes, we reached Serkat.
There are a couple of homestay facilities here that are catered to tourists.
We had no plans to stay in Tg Piai and its purely a hit-and-run visit.
And as usual, we took a shot at the signboard in town before heading down to the Southernmost tip of Asia.

The Samos in Serkat

Tg Piai at last!

What a rip-off!
We cycled towards a fisherman's village at the end of the cape.
Found a resort on stilts and asked a lady about the 'globe' monument that made this place famous.
She told me that its one kilometre down the road and its situated at the state park.
After snapping a couple of shots, we made our way towards the directions given.
On a Thursday, this place is dead.
I can see a few local tourists, possibly lost and don't have a clue where they were.
Since the roads here are pretty well-maintained, we cycled towards the Tg Piai state park.
An entrance fee of RM3 is charged for adult visitors.
We cycled towards a signboard that says: "Dataran Tg Piai" but was stumped to see a dead-end.
There is a huge sculpture at the park entrance with a map of Southeast Asia.
We snapped some pictures there and called it a day.
A man came out of the visitor's centre and asked how many cyclists were in my group.
I told him that there only two of us and we were well on our way.
He wanted to collect RM3, but I told him that we weren't even in the park at all.
All I saw, was a crappy place that was falling apart.
We rode off towards pekan Permas where we had an early lunch before riding back to Pontian.

The monument..

And now, 'plan B'...
We had set our target to reach Pontian by 12noon.
A couple of stops meant that the timing had went off by half an hour.
By the time we reached the hotel in Pontian, we were well into mid-day.
So, I discussed with Michelle and told her that rather than wasting another day on the road to Batu Pahat, risking a night ride climbing Bukit Kelichap, we toss everything into a chartered car and head straight back to Muar.
Initially, I planned to get dropped at Parit Jawa and continue to ride for at least 20km towards Sungai Abong. 
But with the flu bug creeping in, I decided to scrap it.
We loaded our bikes and gear onto the chartered car at 02:00pm and shot straight for Muar which is roughly about two hours drive from Pontian.
Our ride was terminated in this town and we are happy to report that we made it all the way from Muar.
A return trip of 382km meant spending more time on the road and an increase in expenses. 
We decided to spend more time in Muar having some good food before heading back to KL.
One of the beauty of conducting a self-supported trip is that we don't have to decide for others and manage them.
Its our call and we made a damn good judgement on this.


Summary
The ride would have been more fun if we had broken it into shorter distances (60 - 70km intervals).
But, seeing as it is, there are no proper accommodation in towns like Senggarang and Benut.
So, if we are to head back down this road, we would have to pack our tarp, sleeping pad and bags.
Heavy vehicle traffic: Maniac express bus drivers, renegade trailers and mad passenger cars made it a challenge to get from point to point.
And if you are thinking of cycling a folding bike to Tg Piai, be prepared to average at speeds of  15km/h. You can't go any faster than that without straining yourself.
As a pre-departure precaution: be sure that your bike is in top condition where moving parts are concerned.

Journey to Land's End - Part 3

A late lunch..
Senggarang was a big upset.
Basically, its a cowboy town with rows of wooden shops and I guess nothing has changed in this neck of the woods for some time...
We pushed as far as we could and reached the town on Rengit about 15km away from Senggarang.
Here, a bunch of bananas cost RM1 a piece. Now, that's cheaper than dirt!
Later, we found a chicken rice store and had our late lunch there.
I can see the sigh of relief on Michelle's face as she down's the food.
Two plates of rice costs RM9.50 with drinks.
We also ate satay and had a small chat with one of the boys who asked us about the folding bikes.
He told me that there is a shortcut from Parit Botak to Batu Pahat, bypassing the Bukit Kelichap area.
During the conversation, the guy also said that the coastal route is also a popular place for long-distance cyclists.
As a matter of fact, we came across a solo touring rider outside Batu Pahat.
With a decent lunch, some good advice, we moved on towards Benut in the horizon...

Bananas in pyjamas: a fruit stall in Rengit

A decent fare: The chicken rice 

Used up the entire day..
We left Rengit at about 4:00pm and there's still a long way to go before hitting Pontian town.
The plan is to ride as far as we could - suffer the first day of the tour and have an easy ride to Tg Piai, which is another 38km away.
So far, things had worked out fine.
There were no punctures, mechanical problems along the way. 
We were glad to have cycled more than 100km without any major issues.
My concern was Michelle. 
She hasn't been cycling over the last couple of months and I can see that she was lagging behind.
Its no joke when you have to lug your panniers and all the extra weight.
Her Dahon Speed TR was built for this purpose.
Its an all-rounder bike and we specifically got it for our long-distance rides.
Michelle and I had done two Century rides together and she's pretty comfortable with the bike..
We entered Pontian district by 5:30pm and had to cycle through at least three more counties before entering Pontian Kechil..

Entering Land's End territory.. 

A test of teamwork, will power and relationship...
The woman I married has an iron will.
But the stress on the road, fatigue and saddle sore had slowly taken its toll.
I can see from my rear view mirror that she was lagging behind.
By the time we crossed Benut, I was trying to look for a place to bunk-in.
Sadly, there are not hotels along this route.
The only way is the hard way.
Make it or break it, we had to cycle to Pontian.
This is another 35km from Benut.
As the day slowly fades in the horizon, we cycled through a small town called Sanglang and made a stop outside Ayer Baloi. 
With the failing light, the rear lights and head lights were deployed. 
Our vests were set on flashing mode.
We rode in the dark and in this final push, I can see the face of agony, especially on my wife.
The 135km journey was as tough as it gets, morale was low as we rode in near pitch-dark conditions.
At this point, the twin Sigma Powerleds were doing its job, illuminating the path.
Its even brighter that the motorcycle headlights that rode past us.


Pontian at last! 
We kept on pushing as far as we could.
And on the horizon, I can see the bright lights of an Esso petrol station, indicating that we are very near civilization.
I radioed Michelle to pull over and got ourselves a bottle of isotonic drink and refilled our near empty bottles.
After nearly an hour cycling in darkness, I can see her face glowing.
Having worked in this region, I think she knew that Pontian is just down the road.
I had a chat with the petrol station worker who told me that there were ample accommodation in  Pontian Kechil town.
For a soft bed and a hot shower, I didn't mind cycling for another 5km.
Slowly, but surely, we progressed towards the Pontian Business Centre and rode into an entirely new area.
My last visit to this town was in 1997 and much has changed.
Michelle went up to the check-in counter at Hotel Pontian and managed to secure a room.
I hauled the bikes into the room and felt relieved after completing the long ride from Muar.
We later had a late dinner across our hotel and were glad that everything went well.

The bikes, stowed in our room..

Journey to Land's End - Part 2

The path less-travelled..
We were well into our third hour of cycling and progress was slow.
Averaging at 16km/h, my projection was reaching Pontian town by nightfall. 
We rode past small towns like Semerah and Simpang Lima before hitting Batu Pahat in the afternoon.
The road down South was quite boring. 
Nothing much to see except for oil palm estates along the way.
We rode past these and managed to reach a small village outside Batu Pahat.
The sun was scorching hot as it slowly sapped our energy..

Cockpit view from the bike along the route..

Leaving Muar district...

Coping with the heat..
I must say that after doing the Century ride to Bagan Lalang, I handled the heat pretty well.
When you cycle under the sun, the heat coming up from the tarmac and surface reflection can burn you.
Like most long-distance cyclists, I took precaution.
Before the ride, I downed two Endurolite capsules. No cramps all the way!
The clothing that we wore, Race Ready long sleeved runner's jerseys actually kept our body cool.
While on the road, we kept our distance at 10 -15km intervals before taking a break.


Gear factor
We've had very good experience with the Dahon Speed series bikes.
I love the Speed P8 that is virtually no-frills and can be rigged to carry panniers on its front and back.
For this ride, we used our trusty Ortlieb frontrollers.
We packed essentials like clothing, personal grooming kits, clothing, recovery kit for the bikes, a netbook and other electronics to stay in touch with the world.
I also revived my Icom V-85 VHF transciever which is capable of delivering 7watt of radio power.
These proved to be useful for staying in touch with Michelle..


Batu Pahat in plain sight..
It turned out that Batu Pahat was a huge town.
We took about 20 minutes to round the area and managed to find a stall that sells bananas.
The night before, we gave up our search for this natural source of energy.
Later in the ride, we were literally running on bananas before reaching our destination...

Crossing the Batu Pahat bridge..

Dessert break..

My plan was to bypass Batu Pahat.
Too much time is wasted in this town since the distance is only 58km.
We pushed for at least 135km towards Pontian.
From Batu Pahat, we slowly made our way towards Senggarang.
Half-way negotiating the traffic, my chain got jammed on the last cogwheel.
This was down-time and it took me about 10-minutes to fix the problem.
The ride out of Batu Pahat town was a gradual climb towards Bukit Kelichap.
This is at least 12km of hills before a village called Koris.
We climbed under the heat, slowly but gradually made our way towards a short roll.
At Koris, we took a break.

Fuel for power and energy: Banana!

Senggarang sucks!
The Southern coastline of Johor is pretty boring.
Nothing much but oil palm after oil palm estates.
We reached Senggarang during mid-day and sought refuge at a petrol station.
There, we had a round of isotonic drinks and as Michelle rested, I spoke to a local.
I was told that there are more choices when it comes to good food in Rengit, another 10 to 15km away..
So, from there, we pushed on as the odometer began to clock-in a higher mileage..

Journey to Land's End - Part 1

Realizing a plan..
We were pretty bummed.
This is one Chinese New Year where we were pretty much left on our own.
I had something mapped out for a tour of the far South and the plan is to ride to Tanjung Piai, the Southernmost tip of Asia.
Initially, I thought of cycling from our home towards Tg Piai. 
But this would take at least two weeks to complete on our little folding bikes.
Michelle came up with a revised and improvised schedule.
Its also very simple. 
We drive to Muar, spend a night there and ride the next day.

Cruising through the streets of Muar in the morning...

At Muar, we bunked-in at Michelle's Uncle's place. 
There, we were able to take a rest before setting out at 6:30am the next day.
Our routine began with setting up the bikes and loading our panniers.
We rode towards Parit Jawa before day break.
With the load, I have forgotten how slow it can get moving along.
We hauled at least 30kgs of gear and equipment in the self-supported ride.
The goal was to reach Batu Pahat and have lunch there.
Our first stop was Parit Jawa, some 16km away from Muar town...

Hitting the road at warp-speed.. 

Parit Jawa, home of Assam Pedas fish...

Riding under the sun..
The meteorologist had predicted a dry and hot day.
It was true.
We rode under the sun and kept hydrated along the way with our water and constantly refilled our bottles.
From Parit Jawa, the ride towards Batu Pahat would take at least three hours.
We were prepared to take as many breaks as possible to avoid health hazards such as sun and heat stroke.
Once down, its very hard to recover.
But so far, the journey has been really smooth..

Leaving Parit Jawa..