Chamang series 02 - Part 2

Team Samo at the Chamang Falls

A Zen moment: Jessica meditating at the falls...

Power-packed lunch: Farmer Wong hosted our lunch at Yik Kee restaurant in Karak, Pahang

It took us less-than an hour to reach the Chamang falls from Bentong town.
Most of us did very well, especially Jessica who told her daughter that she was all out to complete the ride.
To my amazement, she tackled the hill ride out of Chamang falls very well.
David, on the other hand, has been training almost daily. He was one of the fittest rider among the lot.
Michelle and I fared pretty okay.
With our loads in the panniers, we were just glad to have made it all the way in the 900-metre climb and rode non-stop towards Bentong.
After completing the ride, we went to a coffeeshop at the edge of town for some really good coffee and toast bread.
David treated the gang to the tea break while Farmer Wong hosted a super-duper power-packed lunch in Karak town.
On the whole, we've had a good ride and the next project would be a ride from Karak to Raub.

RIDE SUMMARY

Distance: 10km
Total distance: 20km
Average speed: 16km
Top speed: 45km
Number of punctures: 0
Number of stops: 1

Bentong - Karak Ride part 1

At the East Coast highway

The undulating terrain at Kg Sg Dua near Karak

Finally, after weeks of planning, we made it to Karak, Pahang.
Our plan was to ride from Karak town, which is located about 1hr 30mins away from Subang Jaya and head to Bentong, which about 20km in distance.
Seems like an easy ride, but Karak is actually a valley surrounded by mountains and if you are unfit, there's plenty of good workout here.
Riding in this part of Pahang also gave me the opportunity to try out the Endomondo training software which is optimised for smartphones.
With my LG Optimus 2X in my pouch, I lugged this baby for three hours, recording every detail of the ride including location tracking, altitude, distance and ride statistics.
That aside, we've had a good start from Karak.
The weather was good, timing was perfect.
We rode out of town at 08:15am after catching up with Ah Pan and farmer Wong - our contact person there.
The first 15 minutes was easy. But as we moved further away from Karak, the terrain began to yield its ugly face.
This time round, I rode my Dahon Speed P8 loaded with two Ortlieb frontroller panniers. 
These are small compared with the larger backrollers, but it'll do.
Both packs are loaded at half its capacity.
Even so, the sheer weight added to the rear of the bike can be felt when I was cycling on high gear.


To be continued....

Road to Mount Ophir part 3

The road to Muar

Refreshment break in Sungai Mati

Entering Muar

At Tanjung Emas

Muar's famous Chai Kee Kopi 434 shop

We did it!

Half the fun in a long-haul ride is getting to the destination.
The rest is getting back to the starting point.
So far, we've covered some 36.5km one-way to Tangkak.
We had our lunch, rested well and continued to cycle to Sungai Mati where we took a short break for refreshment.
This was also the time for me to refill my Camelbak podium insulated bottle.
Earlier, I've added the Camelbak Elixir isotonic tablet to the bottle. The lemon-lime flavour is overpowering and even after diluting it, the taste is still there.
We cycled to Parit Ponorogo and took the opportunity to photograph a stall selling mussels. 
The guy who runs it was very obliging as I snapped some photographs. 
While we rested at a bus stop, some 8km away from Muar, I saw a lone tourer and his bike and waved at him.
That dude smiled and I can hear him laughing. 
I think he was headed towards Malacca.
Michelle and continued to cycle to Muar and headed towards her auntie's house.
There, we caught up with the Lau clan who were down for Cheng Beng.
We spent about an hour or more at the house and made our way to Tanjung Emas.
Nothing much to see at this place except for some monkeys and the recreational area.
From the cape, we rode to Chai Kee coffee shop in town and celebrated our ride with a cold glass of iced coffee.
Our ride ended at the home of our host. 
In total, we clocked about 73.2km, which is short of a century.


TRIP HIGHLIGHTS


Distance covered: 73.2km
Average speed: 16km/h
Fastest speed: 36km/h
Times stopped: 4
Flat tires: 0
Level of difficulty: medium. Some sections of the ride are hilly
Level of fitness for this ride: 2 (moderate)

Ipoh ride

Mrs Samo riding along the Kinta river

At the Garden Villa during the launch of Ipoh's lost heritage exhibition

I've successfully completed the Ipoh ride on Nov 27 after a careful reconnaissance trip made earlier in the week.
There were some additional riders who joined us in Ipoh and two of them, local boys, had taken lead around Bandar Bijeh Timah.
One suggested that we go against traffic which I objected as the ride leader.
We started from the Ipoh Central train station towards the old town and had breakfast after linking up with three other riders.
From there, the folding bike adventurers proceeded towards Ipoh's new town and a visit to the lost heritage exhibition launch at Garden Villa, some 15-minutes away from the train station.
We concluded the ride after lunch and took the 2pm ETS train back to KL.

Ipoh solo recce ride part 2

The ride at downtown Ipoh

A very solid lunch - chicken rice and taugeh at Lou Wong

The mandatory Samoshot with the Speed P8

So, there I was, alone in Ipoh with a couple of hours to burn.
What do I do?
From Bandar Timah, I rode across to the other side of the Kinta river and found myself caught in the mid-morning traffic.
Being an experienced street rider, I was on the defensive and used my trusty GPS to navigate across the city.
From Little India and part of the older Chinese heritage trail, I ended up at Ipoh Central Markert.
This is a big area with loads of cool architecture and if you are a photography enthusiasts, you'll probably end up bursting your CF card.
I took the Speed P8 to the Perak tourists information centre located near the Ipoh padang and ontained some information about the city and events happening there.
Later, I chilled out at the Old Town coffee outlet and took a break before proceeding to Jalan Yang Kalsum in my bid to locate Sunny Foong, my colleague from the Ipoh Star office.
After cruising around for an hour or so, I made my way to Jalan Hussein and found the state bureau.
Foong was on his day off, so, I didn't get a chance to meet him.
From here, I rode back to Jalan Yau Tet Shin where the famous Lou Wong restaurant is located and had my lunch: Chicken rice with Ipoh taugeh.
This was the highlight of my day as the bill came to RM5.
You can never find such a deal anywhere else!
I checked my wristwatch and it was already 12:45pm. This means its time to head back to the train station to catch the 2pm ride back to KL Sentral.
My Dahon Speed P8 held up very well and as I packed the bike back onto its stow bag, I felt a sense of achievement for doing the recce ride.
The least I can say is I won't get fucked for not knowing the route and making contingency plan.
This time, I came prepared and hoped that the weekend ride would be a smooth event.

Ipoh solo recce ride part 1

The ETS arriving in Ipoh after a two-hour journey from KL

Me, at the Ipoh Central train station

My sar hor fun breakfast

Monday was my off day and it was the only time I had to conduct a reconnaissance ride around Ipoh city before leading a folding bike ride around there on Saturday.
Proir to this, I met Zakaria, a fellow Dahon folding bike rider who told me about the Ipoh heritage trail.
I chanced upon a set of maps at Changi Airport's budget terminal last week and used this as a guide.
With little expectation, I took an ETS train ride to Ipoh that costs about RM60 for a return trip. 
Parking at the KL Sentral costs a bomb and at RM30 a day, the only fall back is safety and proximity to the train station.
Since I don't want to lead a blind ride of Ipoh with the reprecussions of getting mass-fucked by a group of riders, the best course of action is to conduct a recce of the entire route.
With Google map as one of my primary resources and my trusty bike-mounted Garmin Oregon 300 mapping GPS, I took it upon myself to check out several places of interest in this city.
The first thing that greeted my arrival in Ipoh was rain.
It poured all the way and the road was already soggy and busy with its Monday morning traffic.
From the train station, I made my way to the city centre via Jalan Seenivasagam towards Jalan Laksamana where some of the old Chinese buildings are located.
There, I found a nice and cosy corner coffee shop where I had my breakfast.
Sar Hor Fun with shrimps and chicken slices and a glass of iced Kopi-O came to RM6.40.
From Bandar Timah, I made my way to other sections of the city..

continued..