Bikecamping - Pertak, Part 4

Early day..
Roger and I decided that after breaking camp, we ride toward the first metal suspension bridge, take some snapshots and move on.
I woke up 06:30am, tried to locate my bar of soap.
It was missing from my shelter.
Not only that, the food pack was also gone!
I took my Surefire Aviator A2 flashlight and shined through a path normally used by the orang asli and their dogs.
Found the pack about 10 meters away.
The food was gone.
Dogs raided our campsite and made away with what they can salvage.
Two packs of instant noodles, gone. 
I managed to salvage a teabag and beef in a foil pack. That was everything the dogs had spared.

A successful outing: the bikepackers

A river-crossing

Slow-shutter shot of the river

Sleep-depravation, scavengers, insect bites and discomfort: its all a part of camping.
I re-lived my younger days - camping in the jungle.
The only difference this time: is the bicycle that came along.
After taking some snapshots, we broke camp.
Took me about 15-minutes to dismantle the fly sheet and pack everything back to the pannier.
We shed a few kilogrammes, but the bags are still heavy.
After clearing up the place, we rode towards the first suspension bridge.
Roger went on crossing to the other side of the river while I spent some time snapping some slow-shutter shots with my Canon Powershot G1X and my trusty Slik Mini-Pro table top tripod.
Everything worked out fine as we rode out towards Kg Orang Asli Pertak.
The bikes held on pretty well across the offroad section and as we climbed towards the village, Roger had a chain-slip.
That was easily fixed as we made our way towards the Dam where we staged our trip.
I need to answer my early-morning toilet call, so, this is the perfect place to do it.
We took a break in the area and spoke to a couple of elderly Malay men who were resting there.
The rest of the journey was a downhill roll towards Kuala Kubu Baru.
We met two mountain bike cyclists along the way and enjoyed the smooth journey towards town where we had breakfast..

Rolling out

The scenic Dam

At Kuala Kubu Baru

We made a decision to have a late breakfast in town before heading to the train station.
The plan was to visit a noodle shop in town.
There, we had a nice wantan noodle meal at RM4.50 a plate.
Roger and I chatted a bit before heading out to a local bicycle shop. 
After the visit, we rode out to the train station.
With barely minutes to spare, an ETS train bound for KL Sentral zipped past.
Roger had to pack up, so, we gave it a miss.
I bought two Komuter tickets bound for KL.
We had to disembark at Rawang and hopped onboard a Seremban-bound train.
Again, hauling was an issue as we had to walk up a flight of stairs on the bridge linking the terminals.
On a weekend, I wasn't favourable when it comes to the Komuter service.
Its usually packed and crammed like Sardines.
My first choice was an ETS service and the alternative was a KTM intercity train ride.
You can book your seats without worrying about people kicking your bike.
Since this was Roger's first bikepacking trip on a train, well, it was worth the experience...

Makan time!

Waiting for the Komuter

All aboard!

A slow ride to KL Sentral
The train bound for Rawang arrived at 12:10pm.
We boarded with our bikes and gear and got off in Rawang and switched trains.
There was a new coach which was bound for KL Sentral.
By noon, it as already filling up with the weekend crowd.
Later in Sungai Buloh, a bunch of Talibanistas (trouble-makers) boarded to attend the Bersih 3.0 gathering in Dataran Merdeka.
These anti-Government guys are really vocal about their dislike, mostly hard-liners from out of town who came to the city for the purpose of protesting. Well, life is better spent on anything other than that.
We arrived in KL Sentral at 02:00pm and had a round of coffee at Starbucks.
During the break, we reviewed the trip and decided that more is in the offing.
Roger and I later boarded the LRT towards Petaling Jaya.


The journey home and a tire blow-out..
I got off at the University station.
Rigged up the Speed P8, and rode off.
When I was reaching the Avon building after clearing Jalan 223 in Petaling Jaya, I heard the dreaded noise of air hissing.
I slowed down the bike, and realised that I had a blow-out.
First order of the day, was to remove the skewers, take out the tire and see if I could repair the inner tube.
After trying to inflate the tube, it was a no-go.
I just had it replaced and experienced my first blow-out of the year.
The tire was fine as I found no foreign objects embedded in it.
While I was working under the scorching afternoon sun, motorcycles whizzed by. 
No one will stop and help. 
Then on the horizon, I saw a guy on a road bike.
He slowed down and came to a halt near me.
"Hello kawan, okay ka? You pergi it Bersih 3.0 ka?," he asked.
I told him I was on my way home after a tour. 
The roadie offered some comfort by asking whether I needed help. But I think he knew that I was equipped for the worse.
I did an inner tube change, inflated the tire with a C02 cannister.
The tire was half-inflated, so, it was wobbly. 
I later found a spot underneath a flyover near Guinness-Anchor and proceeded to pump air into the tire with my trusty Topeak Mini-Morph. That saved the day as I slowly pedaled towards Subang Jaya.
From SS13, I crossed towards Persiaran Kewajipan.
While I was making my way towards USJ 1, I heard my name being called.
It was SK Yeong of  Lima Bintang cycling group. 
I waved at him and made my way towards Summit.
My ticket home was secured.
So far, the inner tube changed held up. Slowly, but surely, I cycled towards USJ 26. 
The plan was a refreshment break at the Petronas station near USJ 23.
After re-hydrating, I rode towards home, my kidz were happy to see me as I opened the gate..


Future trips
Bikepacking worked for me.
But, I need to work on finding a suitable campsite with no issues on cleanliness. I knew this would be a challenging task, but its worth doing so.
In short, the bikepacking and camping trip was a success. I really enjoyed it and took home some really good memories from the trip...

Bikecamping - Pertak, Part 2

Keep rolling, rolling, rolling..
After a good fill, we toured Kuala Kubu Baru town.
Then, we made a turn towards the road to Fraser's Hill.
The journey was a straight 10km climb towards the Selangor Dam information centre.
With 20kgs of gear on the Ortlieb backroller, cranking the bike uphill was a real challenge.
I had 8-speeds on my 20" folding bike. This, in my humble opinion, is enough to take on moderate gradient and long climbs.
Anything steeper, the bike wouldn't go further.
We took the first 9km really well and decided to take a break at a shaded area, just  a few kilometers before the Dam's visitors centre.

Riding around KKB town

Climbing the KKB - Fraser's Hill route

Break time

Ye old'e faithful

Poor fitness-level
I  must admit that a month of inactivity had taken a toll on my fitness-level.
The climb was gradual, but with load, its a slower drag compared to riding empty.
We slowly rode towards the Selangor Dam visitor's centre and there was a section which was pretty steep.
Since it was a long climb, I ran out of steam at one of the section and decided that the best course of action was to get down and push the bike for the last 500 meters.
Roger was waiting at a shade, just before the turn to the Dam's visitor's centre.
There is a vending machine there, so, we stopped to rest and quenched our thirst with some 100Plus istonic drink.
This was a pure bliss especially under the scorching sun and blistering heat.
From the Dam, we can see a section leading towards the Pertak orang asli village junction.


Pushing forward
After a good rest, we rode towards Pertak.
It was a smooth journey as we made our way towards the aboriginal settlement.
Roger said the campsite is about 1.2km away.
We scouted the first waterpool and decided that it was too dirty to camp.
Later, we moved to a more suitable location and decided to set up our shelters there and call it a day.. 

Bikecamping - Pertak, Part 1

Something different...
Cyclist Roger Teoh suggested a bike and camping trip to Kuala Kubu Baru.
The destination: Kampung Orang Asli Pertak.
I've hiked along this place a couple of times and its also one of my favourite macro photography locations.
We corresponded via the Malaysian Foldie Forums and decided to set a date for the trip.
Since this kind of ride is entirely new, only two of us had confirmed the trip.
The plan was to take a train to the Kuala Kubu Baru station and cycle to Kg Orang Asli Pertak, some 12km away from where we alight.


Sounds like a plan
I had time to prepare.
The first thing that came to mind was getting a set of collapsible tarp shelter poles.
Corezone outfitters in Petaling Jaya had them on retail and I snapped at the opportunity of scoring to Mountain Safety Research poles.
I had the rest of the gear and got myself a Thermarest Scout Lite sleeping mat. This is small enough to be packed in my Ortlieb backroller pannier.
The thermarest sleeping mat I use: is a 17-year-old long mat which is still in use until today.
For an overnight trip, I need to pack my sleeping gear, cooking utensils and food.


Choices, choices, choices...
There is a price to pay when it comes to hauling the goods. Too heavy means you will be bogged down and when it comes to a steep gradient, you can't push an 8-speed bike on the crank. It just ceases.
For food, I packed two meat items in foil packs, two packs of instant noodles, coffee and tea including one pack of pre-cooked rice from Japan (Top Value from Jusco at RM14.95 for a pack of three 200gm rice). These would be enough to sustain for a night and with spare food for emergency.
When it comes to garment, my choices were a dry-fit short sleeve tee I bought sometime back which is made for Head sporting goods. I also carried a RaceReady long sleeve thermo shirt in case it gets too cold. So, to sum it up, two tees and a long sleeve including an REI Sahara shorts for clothing.
My tarp shelter set up is simple: Fly sheet and ground sheet including some aluminium tent pegs I cannibalized from my Big Agnes Seedhouse 2.0 tent.
I had a roll of Dacron lines for anchoring the poles and flysheet.


Schedule
Since Roger had no experience in Bikepacking, I planned it in such a way, the trip would be staged from KL Sentral train station.
From there, we take a Komuter/ETS/intercity train to Kuala Kubu Baru.
The ticket for an intercity train ride to KKB costs RM11.20 and it would take about an hour or more to get there.
We carry our bikes in a carry-on bag. 
My choice ride is my trusty 2009 Dahon Speed P8. Roger will be cycling his Tern Joe 24.
We cycle from the train station to KKB town, have an early lunch and ride to the campsite..

Arrival at Kuala Kubu Baru

The bikepackers

Hauling

Setting up

The journey
There were delays in the train trip.
We paid for the tickets, so, we waited.
When boarding call was made, we loaded the bikes to the coach. I picked a seat which is furthest to the front where we can store the bikes and panniers.
All in all, I lugged about 30kgs of gear for this trip, so, I need to keep an eye on the bike and camping gear.
We left KL Sentral at 10am, arrived in KKB near noon.
When we got there, the equipment needed to be man-hauled across a bridge. 
This proved to be tough for Roger as he had a larger and heavier bike.
Setting up was fast. It took us 15-minutes to get gear up and running.
I had my Speed P8 tuned and serviced a day before. So, things were in good running order and since this is a self-supported ride, everything from spares and recovery kit was covered.
We began to ride to town which is 2km away. 
Roger found a good makan place where we had our lunch...

A decent fare

The makan place