Sin Poh Farm Ride: Part 2

Looping back to Karak

After a good fishing time at the farm, we rode off towards the Pahang-Selangor raw water pipeline.
This is a relatively shorter route to town from Sin Poh.
We had to ride on a dirt track towards a suspension bridge and connect to a housing estate in town.
This is roughly about 8km offroad and the distance was shorter than we've expected.

Riding along the Pahang-Selangor raw water pipeline

One of the large water pipes along the route

The raw water transfer area

Crossing a suspension bridge

Mud everywhere!

We rode along the dirt track and found it to be amazing.
Michelle said that if we had invited other cyclists -- especially newcomers, we would have gotten a mouthful.
"They'd probably give you a fucking for leading them into a path with plenty of mud!," she said.
It didn't help when we took the wrong turning and rode around in a circle.
That's how people got lost in the trail.
With a little bit of patience, we found our way back to Karak town and linked up with Ah Pan and Farmer Wong.

Dirt everywhere!

Parking the bikes at Yik Kee restaurant

Prawn noodles: Farmer Wong's favourite dish

Cleaning up the bike before loading it into the car

We had lunch at Yik Kee restaurant, one of Karak's favourite makan places.
There, Farmer Wong treated us to his favourite dish: Prawn noodles.
The portions were large and I must say that Yik Kee is consistent in terms of quality.
We had large Giant River Prawns (macrobrachium rosenbergii) for lunch and it was a deeply satisfying treat.
The Sin Poh Farm route is quite a fun ride from Karak town and seeing as it is, we do have plans to do more exploration in the area..

Sin Poh Farm Ride: Part 1

A holiday plan...

I've made arrangements to meet my buddy Ah Pan and Farmer Wong in Sin Poh Farm, Karak.
The plan was to drive to Karak town and ride to Sin Poh Farm.
And on Christmas Day, the traffic was breezy.
We took about an hour to get to Karak and set up our bikes for the ride.
I did put up an event for other cyclists to join in, but I guess that on Christmas day, no one would want to get their bikes dirty, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
In town, we met Ah Pan and had breakfast and as usual, we chilled out at one of the coffee shops to have some dim sum and their fried noodles.
From town, we rode out to Sin Poh, which is about 10km away.

Michelle trying out her new smartphone

Riding along the Karak-Kuantan road

Crossing the new bridge leading the farm..

Riding along an abandoned field

Almost reaching the farm

We didn't have much difficulty getting to the farm.
The roads were pretty clear and after riding about 7km, we reached the Bentong Community College.
This is the junction leading to Sin Poh and after clearing the unpaved road, we made a left-turn and this was where the fun began.
The Dahon Jetstreams took it with much ease and a full-suspension folding bike really took the bumps and thuds on the uneven terrain.
Even with an 8-speed ride, Michelle had no problems maneuvering her bike.
We arrived at the farm and Ah Pan was already waiting...

Catching up with some fishing.. 

Our plan was to ride to some of Ah Pan's fish ponds and fish there.
It's been a while since Michelle had fished and this was a great opportunity to catch up with our past-time.
We tried to lure the tilapias there with some bread and managed to hook up a few.
I was told that there are chichlids in the pond weighing in at 2kgs.
But these are a bit tricky to land as they feed only late in the evening.
Nevertheless, Michelle and I tried our luck at fishing at one of the ponds.
I had my trusty Daiwa Caldia KIX 2000 spinning reel paired with a Storm 6' 0" pack rod.
These are easy to transport in a backpack.
Michelle, on the other hand, had my Shakespeare telescopic rod and a 10-ball bearing ultralight reel.
These are really fun to haul and use and when your life depends on it, you can get food through fishing.

Taking a break at the farmhouse

Michelle, trying out her luck

A nice tilapia landed

Removing the hook for release

My Daiwa Caldia KIX 2000 spinning reel

Hooking up a tilapia

We continued to fish at the pond and decided to call it a day after 11:30am.
The plan was to ride out to Karak town and have lunch there before driving back to Kuala Lumpur.
Even on Christmas day, we had a lot to do.
At the farm, we caught up with Farmer Wong and Ah Pan.
A lot has changed at Sin Poh since I first visited the farm more than nine years ago.

Return to Sin Poh Farm...

Catching up with an old friend...

I received a call from Ah Pan, an old friend of mine.
He has been living in a farm for the past eight years and its really doing him some good.
Prior to that, he stayed in a shophouse near Taman Dato Harun in Bandar Sunway.
After the motorcycle repair shop he ran and wound up, this guy had moved out to Karak and worked for Farmer Wong, a mutual friend of ours.

Ah Pan and his pooch Bob

 Honoring my word.. 

I gave my buddy a call and set a journey to visit him at Sin Poh farm in Karak, Pahang.
This is one of the few vegetable farms in the country to be awarded the Good Agricultural Practise certification by the Department of Agriculture.
I view this as a huge success for its owner Farmer Wong who worked for three years to achieve his goal.
Now, there aren't many sincere and honest men out there, Wong and Ah Pan are the exception.
And being accepted as their friend was truly an honour.
Back in the real world, I deal with scumbags, ass-kissing corporate people who are 100% fake.
This makes my stomach turn.
Meeting with a bunch of friends who appreciate your company and respects you for what you are, that is truly a feeling money can't buy.
I caught up with Ah Pan over some tea in Karak town
He told me that he is interested in a plot of land near Farmer Wong's place.
And in a world that is uncertain, there is hope for an old-timer like Ah Pan.
I told him that I will help in any way I can to market his Farm stay to the world...

The Fish farmer.. 

Feeding his commodity..

In the past year, Ah Pan has been busy rearing freshwater food fish.
His main commodity are the Tilapia (tilapia mossambica) and the grass carp.
This pellet-fed fishes can fetch as much as RM12 per kg and there has been some interested parties in the harvest.
If he keeps it up, the haul will be ready by the end of this year.
We are looking at some good money for the Farmer to roll.
Living in the farm, Ah Pan had been diligently feeding the fishes and the results can be seen..

Some good old fashioned fishing..

The Climbing Perch

The Sin Poh experience would not be complete without a fishing trip at the pond.
I've done some good fishing here and with Farmer Wong's awesome ponds, choices are aplenty.
They were aiming for Tilapias and the haul would be divided among the farm workers as their meals.
Nothing is wasted here.
While Ah Pan, a fishing guide himself and champion angler - did most of the work, landing a good catch, I struggled a bit.
My tackle was not suitable for the pond. The line was simply too thick. But I persevered and landed a small Tiliapia.
Then, my luck changed.
Slowly, but surely, I began landing some ikan Puyu or the Climbing Perch.
This primitive air-breathing fish is nothing but amazing.
I used to catch them at a decommissioned waste treatment pond near lake Titiwangsa in my late teens.
Now, what's interesting was the fact that I kept on landing this little fellas with fish pellets as bait.
Slowly as time dissolves into the late hours of the evening, I had at least 10 climbing perches.

Our humble haul..

Catch of the day: A snakehead landed with my telescopic rod

A last-minute surprise..

I hooked up a piece of fish pellet on the hook and casted it into the water.
While waiting for a bite, the guys were doing really well, filling up a basket with fish.
Then, I notice my line going out.
"Ah, another puyu!," I thought out loud.
The line became taut and when I set the hook, I felt a heavy tug.
This was not a perch. 
My cheap-assed Shakespeare telescopic rod began to bend as I let the drag on my ultralight reel do the job of keeping the fish on the end of the hook.
Now, this rod and reel combo doesn't seem ideal for such a situation, but it surely held up to the brute force of the fish that was on the other end of the line.
Farmer Wong said it was a snakehead.
Slowly, I let the small Shakespeare Dimension 10-ballbearing reel do its job, and reeled in a table-sized Snakehead. 
I estimate this fine table fish at 1.2kgs and it was my defining moment.
Despite a slow start, I managed to land a predator with my travel rod and reel set.
This inspired me to look at "Cyclofishing" in my future outings.
After packing up the gear, we brought the haul back to the farmhouse where it would be divided among the farm workers.
I parted ways with Farmer Wong and Ah Pan and assured them that I would be back for more visits.
Later, I took the rest of the climbing perch to my in-law's place where they were released into a pond.

Karak > Lanchang Ride - Part 4

A critical decision
The final push to Sin Poh farm in Karak is about 17km.
Rather than backtracking, the fastest way to get there is by riding along the KL - Kuantan road.
This course is paved with danger.
Passing trucks and trailers posed a real problem.
To the uninitiated, its a ride through hell.
One of the guys were actually grumbling about the danger of riding this route. 
But that the way it is. 
I've cycled on many Federal roads and there's nothing lacking in the dangers that lurks ahead.
From Lanchang, we rode past a few villages.
I can see on my EDGE800 that there are three bridges to cross along the way.

Riding out of Lanchang

The endurance factor
With the Sun directly above our heads, timing became a crucial thing in completing the ride.
If we had taken the same way we rode in, I don't think we would be able to get back to Sim Poh Farm before dark.
So, like it or not, the KL - Kuantan road is the only choice we had.
This course is paved with an undulating terrain.
The gradient is between 3 - 5% and on certain sections, there were enough hills to actually roll.
By allowing inertia to do the job, energy is conserved.
After crossing the second bridge, we managed to cycle some 15km on the road.
Right ahead, there was a BHP petrol station where we took a rest.
Ah Pan was very concerned about his teenage friend and I can clearly see that his downhill bike had really slowed him down..

Taking a break at the BHP petrol station

Riding the offroad section behind the Bentong Community College

The landmark to lookout for is the Bentong Community college.
We have cycled for more than 67km and the new bridge linking Karak to Sungai Semantan was a welcoming sight.
The team was elated when we rode towards the farm area.
From this section, there is a 2km offroad course to complete..

Riding towards Sin Poh Farm

Patric, taking snapshots of the farm area...

All in a day's work
We reached the farm at 3:45pm.
The entire day was spent on the road.
The first thing we did, was to clean up the bikes.
Farmer Wong has a water jet compressor and this made it a breeze to clean the bikes before we packed them back into the car.
We spent some time at the farm and were given a tour of the growing plots.
Wong is accepting an award later this month for his effort from the state Department of Agriculture.
As for me, paying a visit to my farmer friend is a norm.
To the rest, it was an eye-opening experience.
With some good riding prospects in Karak, we will check out some new tracks in the future..

Team Jetstream 

A farmer's hospitality: enjoying the day's harvest

Summary
Much of what that lies ahead was mainly unknown.
I for one, am glad to have tried out the kampung roads in Sertik that leads to Felda Lakum and Bukit Damar.
The Elephant sanctuary itself, was an experience to behold. 
I don't think there are many folding bike cyclists who have tried this route, let alone, climb and roll down the steep gradient to get from Karak to Kuala Gandah.
On the whole, the ride was incident-free.
The timing alone, was perfect.
Angela Tan had suggested a longer lunch break to compensate for the heat during mid-day. 
Other than that, no else complained as the ride was meant for more experienced cyclists.
There's no way for a beginner to ride on such a tough course, but in the months to come, I will design an easier route for newbies to ride the Sin Poh farm.

Stats

Distance:	70.58 km
Time:	8:37:30
Avg Speed:	8.2 km/h
Elevation Gain:	897 m
Calories:	2,840 C
Avg Temperature:	29.7 °C

Time:	8:37:30
Moving Time:	4:39:09
Elapsed Time:	8:37:30

Avg Speed:	8.2 km/h
Avg Moving Speed:	15.2 km/h
Max Speed:	57.3 km/h

Karak > Lanchang Ride - Part 3

Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary
We took a short break at the Lanchang - Kg Bolok junction.
A decision was reached to ride to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary -- which is the highlight of this trip.
We have to cycle through a 10km course where the gradient averages from 3 - 20%. 
Now, the top-speed recorded here was 57.3km/h downhill.
I've been to the Wildlife Department's training centre in Lanchang on assignment when I was a feature writer in the NST.
This place is hilly and the only place I can compare it with is the Na Mueang waterfalls and elephant sanctuary in Ko Samui, Thailand.
For hill-climbing on a folding bike, this landmark is a benchmark.
Anyways, we made it km7 on the route and took a break at a grocery shop.
I took the liberty to round up some isotonic beverage and distributed it to the cyclists.
From here, there's another 3km to go.

Climbing towards Kuala Gandah

At the entrance of the Elephant sanctuary

 

Viewing the baby jumbo at its enclosure

Langsat, a four-year-old infant pachyderm at the centre

 It took us about 45-minutes to ride to the Elephant sanctuary's visitor's centre.
There, I registered the cyclists and we donate RM30 to the conservation and maintenance of the facility. A small token, and we hope it'll make a small difference.
The show actually starts at 1pm, but we were way too early to catch the programme.
A staff told us that a bunch of school kids were being briefed about the sanctuary's activities.
But, we were late. We only managed to catch the tail-end of the show.
The only saving grace here is an enclosure where two baby elephants were being fed with cow grass.
One of them were 'Langsat', a four-year-old baby. It was so cute, I went on capturing the little jumbo on my camera.
Later, we went to a cafeteria at the centre for a drink and decided that its best to move on to have lunch in Lanchang.

One of the ninja cats at the Elephant sanctuary

Leaving the scene

 The plan is to ride out towards Lanchang town and get some lunch there.
I suggested that we ride the last 17km on the old KL - Kuantan road to save some time so that we can freshen up and rest at Sin Poh Farm.
That's another 10km out and climbing all the way...

Veterans
I must say that I was truly amazed by the prowess of Master Siang and his wife Angela.
They climbed with ease on a hill where the recorded gradient is 20%.
Most of us had struggled up the hill and since Michelle and I are riding in Penang this weekend, we don't want to run the risk or hurting ourselves.
And before we knew it, we reached Lanchang, a small town with only two rows of shoplots.
I found a nice makan stall here and suggested to the team that this is where we eat.
The bill came up to RM76 for the entire group and I must say that the fresh lime juice is the best I've had in a long time!

Mrs Samo and her lunch

Gulai Tempoyak, telur itik!

Preparing to ride back to Sin Poh Farm

We had a well-deserved break in Lanchang and just before we took off, the stall owner asked for a picture to be taken.
This cosy little place serves a decent fare and I cannot dispute the pricing.
From Lanchang, we have another 17km to clear.

Karak > Lanchang Ride - Part 2

Sertik > Felda Lakum
Felda Sertik which is situated some 9km from Sin Poh Farm is a nice place to ride.
The road was quiet with the occasional traffic from vehicles plying this route from Lanchang to Karak.
We re-group at the entrance to this Felda scheme and took some photos.
As we slowly rode towards the kampung, Ah Pan and the kid had sped off.
There was a BHP Petrol station here where one of the team members had made a toilet call.
We waited for a short while before moving along.
Sertik, as it seems, is a small self-sustained township linked by route C138 to the outside world..

At the BHP Petrol station in Sertik

Serene: the quiet kampung road

  Life on the slow lane
We had the opportunity to witness the slower pace in life as we rode past Kg Sertik.
Traffic was low here as we soaked in the beautiful rural scene with rubber plantations around us.
As we slowly moved to rejoin the Federal Road towards Felda Lakum, the terrain began to show its shapely contour.
This was no easy ride and definitely not for beginners.
From my Garmin EDGE800 GPS, I can see the constant 3 -5% gradient along the way.
Some parts of the route is long and steep while a short stretch was a downhill roll.
We made our way to a rest stop af Felda Lakum and had nasi lemak for breakfast.
At this point of the ride, we had progressed some 3 hours on the road and had ridden some 23km.
The nasi lemak was something we had looked forward to and lucky for me, the stall I picked turned out to be really good.
While we were parking our bikes, a shopkeeper had scolded Patric for taking pictures of her petrol kiosk. I don't know why the woman had gone ballistic, but her neighbour, a lady who served us the nasi lemak was really nice.
Breakfast came up to RM32 for the entire group with drinks. 

At the junction to Felda Lakum

My Jetstream EX

Working on the climb

A shot showing the road contour

Continuing with the climb
After a good fill, we worked our way to Bukit Damar.
The contour of the road here can be clearly seen from a distance.
We worked on our cadence and slowly climbed the hills with gradients of 5% 

Ah Pan scooping his breakfast

This nasi lemak is pretty decent

Bukit Damar was in the horizon as we slowly rode into the Felda scheme.
It was a straight-forward ride as we cleared this satellite township and made our way out towards another slope.
So far, we have endured a lot of hills and the junction towards Kg Bolok, where the Kuala Gandah Elephant sanctuary is located.

The team, at the Kg Bolok - Lanchang junction

 A decision
I discussed with the team on the prospect of doing another 10km of climbing and descent towards the Kuala Gandah Elephant sanctuary.
Most had agreed as we proceeded to crank and crunch our gear on this hilly nature and wildlife sanctuary.