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..

USJ26 - Tg Sepat Ride Part 4

Getting a massage by a master in Jenjarom

Pain management
My left leg was badly damaged from a motorcycle accident 10 years ago.
I had a class-3 compound fracture and underwent four major and one minor surgery to overcome the injury.
Since then, I've hiked fairly and scaled Mount Kinabalu last year.
When I took up cycling, my overused left leg may have developed tendonitis or at least that's what I think it is.
From Tg Sepat to Morib, I noticed that the pain on my left leg, especially on the side of my knee near the platella, was intense.
I kept feeling sharp pain each time I stretched my left leg and this was pounding all the way.
At Morib, Michelle had to go to the ladies' room.
While she was relieving herself, I spotted a place where we could rest.
I found a stall and ordered some young coconuts.
An old timer, who was nearby, watched as we rested.
He joined our table and engaged in small talk.
Pak Yackob, who is probably in his 70s, asked about our bikes. 
As we downed our coconut juice, I got up and walked over to the stall owner to pay and get two bottles of water to refill our emptied ones.
That's where I felt the pain and couldn't bend my left leg.
"Are you okay? Shall we scrap the ride?," asked Michelle.
"No, we'll decide in Banting," I said.

No pain, no gain
The 10km ride to Banting was paved with pain.
I never felt so banged-up and each time I pedal my bike, the pain just kept coming.
At this point, we have done 100.5km with another 50km to go.
As we slowly cruise past the junction to Banting, the pain was unbearable.
We stopped at a bus stand.
The first thing that came to mind, was my Deep Heat rub ointment.
I dabbed some on the injured part of my left leg and started rubbing.
It was instant pain-relief.
Just as we thought that we were getting nearer, there's the Banting bridge.
We climbed this in the earlier part of the day and its one more session before we roll down towards the Jugra stadium.
Slowly, I started crunching my gears, riding ahead of Michelle and made it all the way to the top of the flyover. 
I felt much better and pushed for another 15km towards Jenjarom town.
The Deep Heat treatment was temporary.
By the time we got to Jenjarom, it was back.
I made a hand sign to detour towards this town.
We have never been to Jenjarom, so, it was a perfect opportunity to explore the place.
This place is identical to Tg Sepat's town layout and I was surprised to find so many food outlets there.
There was a coffee shop not too far from a junction near the main road.
Michelle had pointed it and we decided to pull over.
While downing a can of 100PLUS sports drink, I pulled out my tube of Deep Heat rub.
An elderly man asked what it was for, I politely told him that I had strained my leg.
"Here, let me help," he gestured in Hokkien.
The man place my damaged leg on his lap and started to give me a rub, while he was at it, he told me that my muscles were strained.
I never thought that I could experience such hospitality in Jenjarom and offered to buy him a drink which he politely declined.
After the rub down, which was another temporary relief, we continued with our journey....


The final push
The reading on my Garmin EDGE800 GPS gave 125km.
It was getting late in the evening as we slowly made our way towards Teluk Panglima Garang.
Even with the pain, I knew we were getting our objectives achieved.

On the KESAS motorcycle lane

Traffic was heavy on both sides of the road and Teluk Panglima Garang was within reach.
We cycled past this town and headed towards Sijangkang.
The weather was getting hot, but fortunately for us, it was cooler in the day.
Slowly, but surely, we rode past Sijangkang.
There was a bicycle shop on the opposite side of the road, and one of the guys there waved at us.
As the light was failing, we turned on our rear lights and the LED safety vest.
Now, here's the best part: The entry into KESAS motorcycle lane was a right turn. 
Before that, we had to climb a flyover with our heavily laden bikes.
This was a tricky manouver as we slowly squeezed our way to the right-hand side of the lane.
On the KESAS, we have been on the road for nearly 13 hours.
It was getting dark as we rode on the motorcycle lane near Bandar Botanic.
To get to Shah Alam's Section 23, we have to ride past at least three exits on the KESAS

Light at the end of the tunnel: Cycling on the KESAS highway

We only have an hour to go and with the agonising pain, every meter gained on the road is a step towards our goal.
Slowly, we cycled our Dahon Speeds towards the Puchong exit.
Then, came the tricky part of veering left towards the Proton factory.
I led Michelle who was afraid of the heavy traffic towards the safe side of the road.
By the time we rode past the car factory, it was already pitch dark and it was also drizzling.
Our LED vests, my Cateye twin lights and Reflex rear light made a difference.
From Section 23, we were about 4km away from Putra Heights.
At 147km in total distance, either your bike breaks down or you fall apart.
My wife muttered: "Aiya! No more crazy things after this ah!"
I knew that my doctor's appointment was up. It's gonna be a trip to the orthopaedic specialist..
After clearing Section 23, the next tricky part, is to ride across the road, against the flow towards the Putra Heights entrance.
Its also a gradual climb towards the junction to USJ 26.

Final lap: heading home...

We did it!

After being on the road for 14 hours, we reached our home. We clocked 153.2km. With this, we broke our previous record of 133.2km ride in a single day. For the record, it was our second century ride and we made it. The feeling was ecstatic.


Post ride recovery
I'll be lying to say that everything was fine.
My left leg felt like raw meat and my butt was aching.
But for all intent and purpose, it was a ride well worth the effort.
I for one, am proud of Michelle for her mental strength and endurance.
As I jokingly mentioned about the 200km tour, she snapped at me and said it was a crazy idea. But who knows? If the left leg gets treated, we are talking about some serious long haul ride!


Ride statistics
Total distance: 153.2km
Number of stops: 10
Number of puncture: 0
Average speed: 16km/h
Top speed: 31km
Moving time: 4hrs 20minutes

USJ26 - Tg Sepat Ride Part 3

Some poor motorcyclist dude caught in the heavy rain

Tg Sepat at last!

Rain, rain, go away
Dark clouds loomed ahead as we pedalled our bikes past Kg Tali Air.
Half-way towards Batu Laut, a stray dog gave chase.
This brown bitch with its tits hanging and swaying violently was fast!
I can hear in the distance someone shouting: "Whoooaayyyy!!!"
But that didn't deter the bitch from giving chase.
I didn't panic and kept my ground speed at 20km/h. 
Even with four legs at top speed despite the wind resistance form the swaying tits, the dog had no chance to catch up.
It was barking and gnarling and as I picked up speed, I smoked the bitch.
Sensing that it was out of range, the dog turned back. Close call.
As we were nearing Batu Laut, I shouted at Michelle and told her that we had to pull over and sought shelter.
Barely seconds after I settled my Dahon Speed P8, it started to pour.
Our timing was impeccable. 
I can see in the distance, a guy on a motorbike trying to put on his rain gear.
When it comes to touring, its not wise to ride in the rain.
While waiting out the storm, I took the opportunity to charge my Garmin EDGE800 GPS with my powermonkey explorer external battery.
By doing so, I managed to restore the GPS to 70% of its power


Arrival at Tg Sepat
It took about 20-minutes for the rain to settle. 
We rode in the drizzle and reached the Tg Sepat junction.
I saw a good photo opportunity and set my camera to take some shots.
Then, came this Perodua Kelisa car. 
In it, a guy waved in a friendly gesture to introduce himself.
He said: "Hello Sam! I am Rivern Yong..."
We returned his courtesy and chatted with him.
Yong said he just concluded the Carey Island ride with another group whom we ditched earlier.
He also told me about the bad experience he had at the Fish Kut Teh stall.
In Tanjung Sepat, we were headed towards the Pau shop. 
The iced coffee there was really good.
After exchanging some conversation, Yong took off. He was headed towards Sungai Pelek.
We continued our Journey towards Tg Sepat town...

Cycling into Tg Sepat

Lunch hour
As the sky cleared, we rode past Tg Sepat town.
On a Saturday, this place is busier than Mid Valley Megamall in KL.
True to Yong's description, the Fish Kut Teh shop was closed.
Our destination was the pau shop and it wasn't difficult to spot it.
Iced coffee was on my priority list as I wasted no time in quenching my thirst.
We had a Mui Choy pau (preserved vegetable), prawn and crab fritters.
When I tried to order a vegetable pau, the Uncle who was manning the pau stall was busy.
Some thai-thais (madams) had taken over. 
One of the ladies had a tattoo on her ankle. I thought she had a bad ringworm infection.

Deep-fried sotong kia with Marmite sauce

From the pau shop, we rode towards the Tg Sepat 'love' bridge.
This place is another tourist attraction and by the time we got there, it was already packed with people, mostly tourists from the Klang Valley.
Michelle and I made our way to a restaurant called 'Ban Joo Hing' and placed an order for three dishes.
We had fried sotong kia (cumit-cumit), deep fried sarr chooi (whiting or ikan bulus) and fan shue yeep (sweet potato leaves).

The makan place

Deep fried Sarr Chooi

The food, especially the fried squid and whiting was not bad. Our bill came to RM41.10 which is rather okay for a small town. 
But the fried vegetables sucked. Worst I've had so far.
I think there are some good makan places in Tg Sepat which we can explore. 
Perhaps an overnight trip would do some justice for our food trail.
After our fill, we rode off, this time, its the return trip to USJ26...

USJ26 - Tg Sepat Ride Part 2

Old and new: Cycling past a commuter in Banting

At Morib

Surf's up: The wave at Morib

Riding into the storm

Resuming the ride
We had our fill in Banting and it was time to hit the road again.
Cycling out of town, we headed towards Morib beach which is about 10km away.
The weather allowed us to cycle non-stop to the Morib junction where we slowly proceeded towards the Klanang beach.
Barely an hour into the ride, we arrived at Morib.
This place was deserted. 
Few people were around as we made our way to a wakaf.
There, we met a Malay guy, probably in his 30s. He said he saw us in Sijangkang.
We chat with him a bit, and went on to take pictures of the surf.
It was amazing as the waves went crashing into the retaining walls.
"It has been like that for a few days," said the guy.
At Morib, we had enough time to check on the bikes.
Our Dahons seemed to be in a good shape.
So far, I've cycled the Schwalbe Big Apple tires for more than three years and its really holding out fine.
The only thing that is slowly wearing out are our brakes.
I guess its time to have it changed.
Tanjung Sepat is about 17km away from Morib. 

USJ26 - Tg Sepat Ride Part 1

Leaving our home in USJ 26

Night ride rig: Nite Ize LED vest, Topeak helmet light

Making an exit near Bandar Botanic

Breakfast in Banting

Plan B
I managed to squeeze a day off on Saturday.
Was supposed to lead a ride in Carey Island, but due to my erratic schedule, I called it off.
And this had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Some guy had grabbed the idea and made this his event, so, I let it be.
Instead, Michelle had suggested a ride to Tanjung Sepat instead, I jumped at it without much hesitation.
Initially, I suggested Bagan Lalang. That would make our return trip about 200km. I pushed  for it, but she said it was a no-go. So, we settled for Tanjung Sepat.
The plan was to leave from our home, head towards the KESAS highway and shoot straight to Morib.


Executing the plan
The alarm rang at 5am sharp. Our bikes were set-up the night before, the packing was done with spares and recovery kit on our Ortlieb front roller panniers.
We had some bananas for early breakfast and I downed two endurolite capsules for the road.
At 06:30am the road was still dark.
Michelled had the Valo light on her Dahon Speed TR which was powered by a Joule dynamo.
This worked perfectly.
For low visibility, we wore a Nite Ize LED vest. This came with a 3M scotchlite strip and our Topeak Helmet light. 
In short, we were well-covered and there is not excuse for motorcycles and cars not to 'see' us.


First leg of the journey
From USJ 26, we rode down part of the LDP, joining Section 27 of Shah Alam.
Then, we made a turn towards the Proton plant which connects to the KESAS highway.
This is the scariest section of the ride. The road was pitch dark. 
Half-way through the ride, Michelle's water bottle fell off.
I picked it up and improvised by securing the bottle with a velcro strip.
The sky was beginning to brighten up as we hit the motorcycle lane at the KESAS.
We stopped at a bridge near the Kg Jawa for a short break and by daybreak, a roadie zipped by. He waved at us.
About 45-minutes into the ride, we reached the Bandar Botanic and Banting exit.
This is a short climb before we roll down towards Sijangkang and Teluk Panglima Garang.
Since the day was gloomy, riding the distance was no issue at all.
We reached Banting by 9:45am and found a Hainanese coffee shop where we had our breakfast.
This was timely as we took a longer break. Next stop: Morib beach...

So, you want to go touring ah!

A good and well-planned ride yields plenty of pleasure on the road

A proven workhorse: the Dahon Speed TR

TAKING your bike on a long-haul is no joke.
You will need to plan your routes, get accommodation and prepare yourself physically for the hardship of cycling on long and steep climbs, unfamiliar territory and language barrier in foreign countries.
Unforseen things like accidents, theft and illness may cut your trip short or bring it to an abrubt end.
 
Here's my take on organizing a short tour:

FINDING THE RIGHT COMPANION
- You meet plenty of people along the way, some are sincere, while others waste too much time talking about things they want to do, but never gotten around doing it.
Commitment is very important. Its also the first step. The next thing is trust. You have to trust your riding buddy to overcome the challenges on the road. Patience is a virtue and to those who have it, its a blessing.
I've come across people who have a gajillion ideas in mind, but are not committed to their cause. They want others to do their bid and get involved as a willing participant. And when shit hits the fan, they are the first ones to kick a big fuss. This is definitely a no-no when you spend a long time on the road. You might end up ripping off the person's throat. For this, I am very fortunate to have a soulmate who is mentally strong enough to put up with the rigors of riding far and hard. So, pick wisely.

PLANNING
- With the advent of technology, its easy to plot a riding route.
Thanks to softwares like Google Map and on-line touring journals that provides crucial information on where to go and what to expect while you are on the road.
Its crucial to plan on how far you want to ride and break the journey in the route.
Most towns in Peninsular Malaysia are at least 50km apart. So, plan your average distance. You can also estimate your time spent on the road by looking at information such as elevation and terrain on the maps.
A carefully-planned trip ensures that you have ample time on the road and to meet contingencies.

TRAINING, TRAINING, TRAINING...
- There is no substitute for strength and endurance. In a self-supported ride, you are all you have and it takes a lot to push yourself on the last mile.
Climbs and long rides enhances your stamina and strength. Part of the endurance factor is mental. If you are fickle-minded and insecure, a tour is out of the question.
Highly recommended: Is a twice-weekly workout on your bike. Load it with panniers and get used to the set-up.
A fully loaded bike is not the same with an empty bike. When you hump the load, you will notice that there is plenty of resistance.
This is why you would have to train for strength and endurance.

EQUIPMENT
- The emphasis here is getting the right gear.
Touring bikes are heavy. Folding tourers are compact, but lacked the finer points of handing found on higher-end road-tuned foldies.
So, in short, if you ride a folding road bike, better think twice.
My preference is a bike which is hefty enough to take the weight and punishment of a full load.
In this light, the Dahon Speed series came highly recommended.
For a short tour, you only need to load it with a set of rear panniers. Anything longer than that - you might want to add a pair of front panniers.
And as far as getting the right panniers are concerned, your gear is as good as how deep is your pocket.
To me, good equipment gets you far and gives you the confidence that its not going to fail you along the way.
Many times, people want to stinge on their equipment. They ended up disappointed with the cheap stuff they paid for.
Items like your personal clothing, toiletry, first aid kit, medication, bicycle recovery kit are the ones that going to be the bulk of the volume.
Some tourers even pack a tent, sleeping bag and mat for their ride.
I found that stuff like food and a stove is uncessary for the route in the Malaysian Peninsular West Coast.
Why? There are ample places for you to makan and sleep, thus - eliminating the need to pack your ration and cooking gear.
But for the prepared cyclist, its always a welcoming idea to carry food bars and liquid gel that provides energy to  fuel your ride as a contingency plan.
On your bike, its also a good idea to plug in a GPS.
This helps in navigation and it would give you an idea on your estimated time of arrival to your next destination.
For cyclists, its best to get a GPS system like the Garmin EDGE800 or 705 that are meant specifically for bicycles.
GPS-enable smartphones are cool, but they suck majorly on energy consumption.
Unless you have a dynamo hub that can power up these devices, its worth a go.
To stay in touch, you might want to carry a smartphone or a netbook. I found these to be very useful when it comes to retrieving emails on the trail. It never failed me so far.
For timekeeping, my Casio Protrek PRG-500 wristwatch had proven to be a valuable asset.
Its triple-sensor capabilities became useful to predict the weather as well as keeping time on the go.
Other stuff like tools, a folding pocket knife, flashlight and my personal survival gear are considered as 'essentials' on the road.
There may be many more items that I would like to include on the haul, but having just a portion of it proved to be a ball buster as the front and back panniers become heavily loaded.
So, pick your gear carefully and don't end up lugging stuff that you don't need!