Genting Sempah - Bentong Ride 230711 Part 2

With Ah Pan at the hot springs

The Jetstream EX, she clocked 71km on her maiden flight

At a waterfall along the route

Taking shelter from the rain beneath a viaduct

After spending a few hours with Farmer Wong and Ah Pan, it was time to hit the road.
Ong and I made our way towards our first pit-stop, the Bentong Hot Springs.
We rode about 16km from Bentong town and along the way, we met the convoy of bicyclists who were on their way back from their ride.
What looked flat in Bentong was an optical illusion.
The road ahead was a long and winding undulating terrain and our climb towards Genting Sempah is ahead of us.
It took us about 45-minutes to get to the hot springs where we rested.
The water was not even lukewarm and its rather strange that the Pahang tourism office would pass this as an attraction.
There, we chat about cycling and got to know each other better.
From the hot springs, we made our way to Bukit Tinggi.
This is a climb from 115metres to 660metres. Although the gradient was not steep, its gradual and we were crunching our gears.
The SRAM Dual-drive II yielded 27-speeds on the Jetstream EX. 
No issues with getting the best combination out of the low gear and some training I did in Hulu Langat really helped in the climb.
Half-way towards Bukit Tinggi, I made a judgement call. 
We took shelter underneath a viaduct along the East Coast highway as it started to pour heavily.
About 40-minutes later, we started cycling in the light evening shower towards Bukit Tinggi which is about 6km away.
I checked the GPS and we were very near the BP petrol station.
There, we took a refreshment break and proceeded towards Bukit Tinggi village and had some coffee at a restaurant.
For a first-timer, Ong did very well with the climb.
I suggested that we push our bikes on the steep hills towards the Genting Sempah junction, about 900meters away.
When we got there, police patrol car pulled over.
We made small talk with a cop and his partner who was on routine crime prevention patrol.
From the Bukit Tinggi junction, its a 5km crunch towards our finish line in Genting Sempah.
I told Ong that there is really no need to kill ourselves as the final push is a gradual climb.
We finished the ride in about 40minutes from the Bukit Tinggi junction.
For Ong, its an achievement and as for me, I've finally added this route onto my records.


RIDE SUMMARY


Total distance - 71km
Average speed - 17.2km
Top speed - 49km
Total time - 9hrs:6min:48sec
Total time riding - 4hrs:39min:09sec
Max cadence - 179rpm
Average cadence - 56rpm
Elevation gain - 592meters
Elevation loss - 601meters

Genting Sempah - Bentong Ride 230711 Part 1

A passenger car overtaking a lorry on a double-line along the route

The long and winding roll

The route recorded by my Garmin EDGE800

My day started as early as 4:30am. 
Woke up, took my shower, dried up and applied some Hammer seat saver cream on the groin area before I put on my Zoic black market cycling shorts and my Lime Green race ready long sleeve Tee-shirt before I hit the road.
The day I have been waiting for had arrived. 
It was my 2011 Dahon Jetstream EX's maiden flight.
I've arranged to meet D.C. Ong at the Genting Sempah rest and relax area which is roughly about 45-minutes drive from my home in USJ, Subang Jaya.
I got there early and waited for Ong and McDonald's to open.
We had breakfast there and got around setting up our bikes.
Ong was riding a 27-speed Rallyart F-1 folding bike which he got from Taiwan during a family trip there three months ago.
He's a new rider and this was his fist long-distance training ride.
I punched the 'start' button on my Garmin EDGE800 gps and we were on our way.
The first leg of the ride was a smooth 25-km roll towards the Bentong Hot Springs, which is located about 26km away.
Our first stop was the Bukit Tinggi junction which is roughly about 5km away.
There, we took some pictures and proceeded to the Janda Baik junction.
All was good as we rolled the distance.
I told Ong that the journey back would be really fun.
At least 25km of steady climb.
We met Ah Pan, my buddy from Karak, Pahang at the Bentong Hot Springs.
This is a pretty rundown place that is not even on the map.
My farmer friend was all alone with his trusty Dahon Dash P18, which is by far, the fastest foldie in Bentong.
From the Hot Springs we rode to town and along the way, we met a bunch of cyclists who were escorted by the traffic cops. 
When cyclists cross paths, we greet each other.
After two hours of cycling, we clocked 37km to reach Bentong from Genting Sempah and there, we caught up with Farmer Wong, my contact and took a lunch break..