Sabak Bernam - Part 4

Completing the journey...

Our alarm clocks were set for 06:00am.
From the previous night, it was roughly about five hour's snooze.
Over the months of inactivity, overeating and boozing, I've put on a lot of weight.
This is apparent when my legs hurt like hell after six hours of cycling on the trail..
When we woke up, the first thing that came into mind, was to pack up and fill up our water bottles so that we can hydrate along the way.
Lucky for us, we don't need to purchase bottled water as the guest house offers drinking water at no cost.
The plan was to meet at the entrance at 07:00am and head out for breakfast at a coffeeshop near the guest house.
We did just that and also packed our lunch for the journey.

The early morning breakfast...

Raman helping out Walter with the flat tire

Our packs were left behind at the guest house so that we could pick them up and leave.
Just as we were about to do that, Walter had a flat tire.
To make things worse, he punctured a new spare tube with a screwdriver he had used to pry open the tire.
So, that said, the ride back to Sabak Bernam experienced a slight delay.
After the tire was fixed, we were well on our way.
Traditionally-speaking, the journey back is always faster in many sense.
With the early morning advantage, we made our way to Kg Banja and towards the Mah Estate to connect with Sabak Bernam.

Oh, the heat! Walter and Patric riding on the trail

No pain, no glory!

Greeting us ahead, was the long and dreadful gravel road.
This is roughly about 15 - 20km in distance.
Our bikes were equipped to whack through the rough and rugged terrain.
The front and rear suspension did took away the hard knocks and bumps.
By the time we cleared the first log bridge, we were doing really good time. And on the average, our moving speed was 15km/h.
This meant that most of us were cycling like bats out of hell! 

Taking a break along the trail..

Crossing a sandbag dam over a peat water canal

Our target destination was a small village at the end of the vast oil palm estate.
On Sundays, the plantation is literally deserted.
Not a single soul on sight.
We covered as much ground as we could and found the last stretch that came in sight: a boom gate at the end of the miniature locomotive rail.
Beyond this was a paved road and the last few kilometres to Sabak Bernam.
After clearing the estate and village, we found a small stall by the roadside and feasted on a bottle of chilled air nira (palm nectar).
I never had these before and it tasted rather interesting.
The nira is said to have cooling qualities for the body.

Moving closer to Sabak Bernam

Riding along Federal Road 5 - Teluk Intan - Klang

Palm nectar

A welcoming sight...

We rode closer to Sabak Bernam and reached the carpark in front of Hotel Sri Bernam at 12:30pm.
Compared to the day earlier, we did good time.
Michelle wasted no time in packing the bikes and I went on to the hotel to get a room for day use.
We cleaned up nicely and went to Sabak Bernam town for lunch.
Wey, Ming, Roger and Jacky joined us while the rest headed back to the Klang Valley.
After a good lunch, Michelle and I headed home.

Packing the bikes for transport..

Summary

We had a great time and the company was excellent! 
Siang, as usual, did a good job with the route planning.
With the ride, we've joined the dots between Rawang and Teluk Intan.

Sabak Bernam - Part 3

Some time to unwind..

We set our time for late tea with a ride into town.
It didn't occur to me that it was a short stroll as our guest house is just minutes away from the town square.
The first course of action was to search for a bicycle shop to fix Raman's busted rear wheel.
We found one and had his problem looked at.
While the guy was at it, some of the cyclist were getting restless.
I guess when you have a bunch of hungry people, leaving them in that state would end up in a revolt.
Just as I was to order a drink from the Malay restaurant next to the bike shop, Raman came up to us and said he was good to go.

Ecstasy: Raman enjoying a plate of mee rebus

The gang

I was tasked with leading the group to the town's makan place.
Teluk Intan is a town that I knew pretty well, so, our destination was Mastan Ghani Mee Rebus.
This is a well-known eatery in town and their Mee Rebus and Air Batu Campur are a treat especially when you come all the way from the Klang Valley.
We ate the noodles and chilled out at the shop before heading out to the town's leaning tower for a group shot.

One for the album: the gang in Teluk Intan

Side attractions

While we were taking some photos, I had my camera on the ground with its self-timer.
Out of nowhere, a cyclist came up and grabbed my Canon Powershot G1x and started snapping away.
I knew he meant well and it turned out that the lone cyclist was our newfound friend Jacky Yow from Cameron Highlands.
He cycled all the way from Tanah Rata to Teluk Intan and also stated interest to join our ride back to Sabak Bernam the following day.

Siang and Jacky

After we were done with the photo-taking, Siang had suggested a ride to the old Tapah Road railway line.
The tracks were long gone, but remnants of the old railway bridge which was built in the Colonial days are still there.
We rode about 3km towards this area and decided that it was best to head back to the guest house to rest.

Riding across the old railway bridge

Back at the guest house, I caught up with Raman and learned more about this newfound friend of mine.
He told me that he was aware of our previous expeditions and that Siang is a dedicated organizer and ride leader.
I concurred with what he has to say about how meticulous Siang can be when it comes to safety and planning a long journey.
Our conversation stretched from the first offroad ride from Sungkai - Teluk Intan two years ago to the "Civil War" that took place in Ko Lanta, Thailand.
To me, sacrificing one or two guys for the good of others was a necessity at the time.
What we have now, are a group of mature people who make great company on the trail.
I am just glad that the primadonnas and Rock stars were out of the picture especially in trips that tests our patience and perseverance.
While chatting with Raman, I made my way down to the lower floor and found Roger while I filled up my water bottle.
He told me that the gang was going out for supper and asked if I wanted to join in.
I was okay with that and informed Michelle about it.

Supper-time!

Before we arrived in Teluk Intan, Radzi did made mention about a grilled Udang Galah stall by the riverside.
We found this place and feasted like Kings before moving on to another stall, and another.

 

Siang and Walter Wuertz from Germany

The grilled Udang Galah

We later proceeded to the town square to take more photos at the leaning tower.
After rounding up some groceries from the 24-hour convenience store, we rode back to the guest house.

Michelle at the leaning tower

Late night chatter

There's a long day ahead, we lounged outside our rooms and continued with some conversation.
This time, Chris Wong came back from his obligatory duties with his friends and indulged in a conversation with the rest of the gang.
We chat until 01:00am and decided to call it a day..

Showtime!

A cautionary tale...
I made mention of a dude who barked orders while we were packing our bikes in Klang.
He made it very loud and clear that most of the guys who ignored his orders were 'unethical'.
I got him where I wanted when he posted my story on Facebook.
Now, this story has the highest hit in the series I posted.
Why? People wanted to know what happened.

The Facebook post

 The Empire Strikes Back
Well, obviously, Mr Union Jack was hurt by what I said.
There has to be some truth in this, otherwise he won't go all out to put up the link in every Facebook cycling peer groups.
Personally, I don't give a crap about the posts. 
Mr Union Jack's sympathisers were fast on making comments, then editing it. They were not there to see everything.
Some war monger may even prod the guy to take legal action by suing me for bajillions of ringgit.
Nowadays, when you make a point or remark on people, they tend to threat you with a lawsuit.
In this case, I let the others be the judge.

Doing me a great favour
By blowing this issue out of proportion, Mr Union Jack is actually helping me to filter out other selfish and stuck-up cyclists. I need to thank him and buy him a pint of Guinness for being so up front and inform his fellow cyclists to 'think twice' before joining any of my rides.