Tour of East Coast - Part 2

Stage 1: Kota Bharu - Kuala Besut

Our plane took off from the Subang Skypark at 01:20pm. 
It was a full flight with holiday makers enroute to Kelantan's state capital. We can see some young folks, clad only with tank tops and bikinis underneath them in the flight.
Michelle and I sat at the rear section of the aircraft and it took more than an hour to land at the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in Kota Bharu.
At this point in time, my hope was for the bikes to arrive intact.

An aerial view of Kota Bharu

The Firefly ATR 72-500 aircraft with our boxed bikes near it's cargo bay

Setting up the bikes

The box traveled from Taiwan to KL and eventually met it's end in Kelantan..

Setting up and rolling out..

I was surprised to find our boxes to be first luggage to roll out from the conveyor belt at the luggage recovery area.
So, having seen that everything had checked out allright, I moved the boxes onto a trolley, piled up all the gear (we packed at set of panniers with all the sharp stuff onto a duffel bag) and pushed it out.
It was mid-day and I was pretty hungry and to my shock, a bottle of 500ml mineral water costs RM4.80 at the airport.
I didn't bother with that and went on to set up the bikes. 
Michelle's Road Warrior was first on the list and as predicted, it took about 45-minutes to install the fenders and wheels on both bikes before we could roll out.
I took the used boxes and discarded them at a dump which is about 800-meters away from the terminal.
From the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, it was a 10km ride to town.
Our destination was the Bintang Indah hotel at Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra. 

Kota Bharu bound..

Dinner at Haji Noor seafood restaurant 

Steamed squid with lime sauce - a "must try"

Day Zero, a rather uneventful day..

We rode into town and took a while to locate the hotel. It turned out that hotel Bintang Indah was a refurbished motel owned by a Chinese family.
The rate goes at RM90 a nite and it was fully-booked.
I complemented the owner that his rooms were cleaned, but spoke too soon as Michelle noticed a large cockroach on the bed's wooden panel. 
Later in the day, we walked out to a seafood restaurant near a five-star hotel and had dinner there. The dishes at Haji Noor seafood restaurant are pretty decent except for the pathetic looking and tasting omelette.
After buying some drinking water from a local supermarket, we walked back to the motel and called it a night.

Destination: Kuala Besut

Our alarm clocks was set for 05:00am. 
This gave us ample time to pack up, scan the room if we left anything behind and roll out to enjoy the cool morning before daybreak.
We supposed to roll out at 06:00am, but was delayed a bit.
Nevertheless, we were out of Kota Bharu before the Sun was up.

Getting the bikes ready for the journey to Kuala Besut

The breakfast crowd

Meat on the grill

We rode about five kilometers out of Kota Bharu and found a roadside stall selling breakfast. There was a steady line of people queuing up for their food, so, this better be good!
After parking the bikes, I lined up with the rest of the folks there and ordered two packs of rice and drinks. The bill came up to RM9.20 and it tasted really good. I was surprised to see grilled lamb on the menu and people here in Kelantan take their breakfast rather seriously.
With the carbo-loading done, I checked my Garmin EDGE800 GPS. A route was plotted for Bachok and later, to Kuala Besut in Terengganu.

A Thai Buddhist temple near Bachok

A large clam from a roadside stall near Cheran Ruku

Fresh seafood! 

Kandis fishing village

Entering Terengganu

With the Sun still far in the horizon, we rode out towards Bachok.
Once we were near the district, I saw a large statue of Buddha. It was Vesak day and this was rather meaningful for us.
As I was taking snapshots, Michelle pointed out a peloton of road cyclists zooming past. By the time we could put of a fix on them, they were long gone.
At Bachok, we made a pit-stop and were greeted by a few cyclists.
"Gi mana bang?," (where are you headed brother?) one of them asked.
I told them we were headed to Kuala Besut in Terengganu.
From Bachok, we rode past Kandis, which reminded me about a Batak village in Sumatera, Indonesia that has the same name.
The next town after Kandis was Tok Bali in the Pasir Putih district. By this time of the day, it got hotter and hotter.
We pulled over at a stall near Tok Bali and helped ourselves to some coconut water. This traditional beverage is good for cooling down the body.

Surprise! Surprise!

From Tok Bali, we made our way down to Cherang Ruku, a village before crossing the state border.
Right down the road, I spotted the border sign and told Michelle to pull over so that we could do our customary "we were here" photo shoot.
And while we were at it, a stranger with a camera walked up to us.
After pulling focus on the guy, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a fellow cyclist from Kuala Lumpur. 
I met Alvin Shen a couple of times, but never really rode with him. He was with a group of cyclists headed towards Jerteh on a bikepacking adventure.
Later, the whole group came up and took a photo with us. They continued their journey while we pushed on towards Kuala Besut.

Our lunch at Kuala Besut

Taking a breather

Coconut trees in Kg Air Tawar

Dessert

The famous Zul ikan bakar in Kuala Besut

A decent seafood dinner

We checked-in at a hotel near Kg Air Tawar across the Kuala Besut bridge.
The rates are okay, our room was spacious and clean. But the entire compound of the hotel looked pretty run down. I was told by a staff there that the owner couldn't really be bothered on renting out rooms and that the facility was more than enough to cater for their own staff. It's owned by a plastic factory. 
After leaving the panniers in our room, we rode back to Kuala Besut for lunch. The entire town was packed with tourists and we managed to find a Chinese coffeeshop not too far away. 
There, it was chaotic. We sat down next to a group of young people who had just taken a holiday in Pulau Perhentian. 
I struck a conversation with one of the guys and he said there is a "cyclist friend" in their midst.
One of them said: "You are Samosaurus right?".
I was dumbfounded. Never expect to meet people whom I barely know. But it was a blessing to realize that people do follow my work.
After a good fill, we rode back to the hotel, did our laundry. 
Later in the day, we walked along the beach in Air Tawar and had more coconut water.
Dinner was in the next agenda and we rode towards an ikan bakar stall across the road.
The food outlet was not lit and I realized that there were people seating in the dark.
It opens from 08:00pm - 02:00am and once the lights came on, there was a feeding-frenzy.
The place in question was Zul ikan bakar.
We ordered some crabs, squids and a table-sized garoupa.
After waiting for nearly an hour, our food was served. And the bill came up to RM85. Pretty steep for a Malay stall, but it was a good experience. 
When we were done with dinner, it was time to head back to the hotel to catch some "Zzzzs".

Tour of East Coast - Part 1

A trip long overdue.. 

Route map for stage 1 of the ride.. 

I have plans to ride along the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Never got around doing it until recently.
Now that we have the bikes, well, be it a 20" (our trusted Dahon Speed P8 & TR) or the newer Tern Eclipse S18, the desire to ride in Kelantan and Terengganu grew much stronger than before.
We have the experience, the ability to plan the logistics and accommodation and with some recent developments in my career, I though it was best to take some time off to ride it out. On the road, everything seems clearer. No thoughts about work, all the shitty politics, crappy increment and lousy bosses. It's just between me, the bike and getting to the destination.

Putting a plan together.. 

Michelle my wife had picked a date and taken leave for the tour.
I too made similar arrangements to match the days needed to cover at least two East Coast states: Kelantan and Terengganu.
She proceeded by booking airline tickets from a budget carrier to Kota Bharu. Since our new bikes are built like a tank, she purchased extra baggage weight and declared them as "sports equipment".
The last time we flew to Thailand, it cost us dearly for paying overweight baggage. With the airfare sorted out, the next thing in mind, was to source for accommodation.
I researched about motels along the route and managed to book three places to stay. The rest of the places along our five stages remained "open".
Next, I drew the routing for the tour. 
Since I have been to most of the villages and small towns in the East Coast, it's just a matter of catching up with times.

Preparation

I had my Tern Eclipse S18 retrofitted with a new set of front derailleur. The original piece from Microshift was a crappy component.
This time round, the bike was upgraded with a SRAM Rival front derailleur and a pair of AVID quick-dial brake-levers.

Getting the bike retrofitted and serviced.. 

The new front derailleur

The quality of the SRAM Rival front derailleur is just miles apart from the original piece that came from the factory.
All this bike needs: is a couple of tweaks here and there to make it even more awesome. Since we had some boxes at home, transporting the bike was not an issue, packing it became a totally different story.. 

The Road Warrior: not a bike for everyone.. 

Tern's Eclipse S18

While I was waiting for Michelle's bike to be serviced and retrofitted with a SRAM Rival derailleur taken from my Eclipse X20, an old-timer tried to lift her bike.
"Fuah! I am a weight-watcher. This bike is definitely not for me..."
He went on preaching about weight and performance. 
I told him that if he could ride the Tern Road Warrior (name given for the Eclipse S18) for 50km with a full load, I will pay him RM10 for every kilometer. Sounds like a fair deal, but he backed off. 
Even when I was in Taiwan at the Taipei Cycle show back in 2014, I was told by the Tern guys that the Eclipse S18 is built for people who knew what they wanted. It was as simple as that.
And with a pricetag shooting up to RM8k for the bike, I doubt that it would sell very well here in Malaysia. People can't see the fine details on the bike.
I also made a commitment to use the Road Warrior as our main touring bikes. We retired our Dahons to enjoy riding a larger bike.
By saying "large" it's also by no means: heavy! So, during the Tour of the East Coast, the Road Warrior was put to its paces. For me, it was a great opportunity to test the bike to it's fullest.

Packing

To get the bikes into it's boxes (we had two large boxed for 24" bikes), I had to remove the front and rear wheel including the front fenders.
The first thing I did, was pack Michelle's bike. I took off the wheels, but the frame remained unfolded.
Exposed components such as the rear-derailleur was padded with foam and newspaper. It' also advisable to cover the chainring and other sensitive components.
Since this bike came complete with racks, it was a challenge to fit the frame and it's wheels into the box without putting too much stress on the frame and wheels. Since the Road Warrior is a big bike, there's just enough room to squeeze in everything.
I just made sure that the vital components are protected because baggage handlers can be very rough with bikes that are packed in oversized boxes.

The wheels are separated from the frame

Snug-fit into the box

The bike's seatpost was removed and placed onto the box with the pedals, front mudflaps and it's fastening wires. 
It wasn't hard to pack the bike because the box was large enough to swallow the entire bike. 
And with this taken care of, my next cause of action was to pack my panniers. 
For this light touring trip, I had my clothes on one pannier and the essential road gear on another.
I carried a trunk bag and used it to house my Canon EOS M camera including two Sony Action cameras.

Leaving the comfort of our homes.. 

Prior to our departure to the Subang Skypark, I have made transport arrangements with a cab company.
They assigned a driver on a Toyota Inova to pick us up from home to the airport. It came with a flat-rate of RM80 for the trip.
We had En Zul as our dedicated driver and this guy was really helpful.
The packed bikes fit like a glove in the vehicle and after saying goodbye to the dogs, we were well on our way.

Michelle giving Sir Naughty a pat.. 

Our gurl getting a pat on the head.. 

The bikes in the executive cab bound for Subang Skypark

We arrived at the airport with enough time to check-in our cargo.
After all the formalities are done, we took a walk to the nearest Starbucks cafe.
There, we sat down and helped ourselves to a mug of freshly brewed coffee..

Rolling the cargo

Checking-in the bikes

At the check-in counter, one of the staff asked: "Basikal?"
We told him what the contents were and a friendly supervisor said not many passengers would check-in their bicycles with the exception of some European cyclists who uses Firefly as one of their main mode of transport.
We chilled out at the lounge and when our flight was called, it was a slow crawl to the departure gate..

Lata Kekabu - Part 6

Push! Push! Push!

Kuala Kangsar was a no-go.
The day was getting hotter and my only chance of getting a ride to Ipoh was in Sungai Siput Utara.
I made arrangements with Mr Sugu for a pick-up at the Petron station and agreed with his rates.
The Sun was up and I enjoyed some moments of a good riding weather when the cloud cover was thick.
It rained when I reached the outskirts of Sungai Siput town and when the Sun finally came out to scorch the Earth, the heat began to be unbearable.
To reach town, there is a series of undulating terrain with gradients ranging from 3 - 5% and with a heavy load, progress was rather slow..
It was too hot. I decided to take a break near an oil palm estate, some 5km away from town. A little bit of shade and a chance to rehydrate was good enough to keep me going.

After a six-hour ride, Sungai Siput is in sight

Cooling off with a popsicle at the Petron station

And as planned, I arrived in Sungai Siput around 01:00pm. I rang up Mr Sugu to inform him about my arrival and also called my host in Ipoh: Uncle John that I should reach the railway station by 02:00pm.
The ride got delayed and by the time I packed the bike onto the chartered car, it was already mid-day.
Yogeswaran, Mr Sugu's son is a chatty guy. I indulged in a conversation with the young man and changed the rendezvous point to Tambun.
In less than 30-minutes, we arrived and I can see Uncle John waiting.
The first order of the day, was to get to the railway station. This is so that I could change my departure time to KL to an earlier slot. Originally, I planned to stay in Ipoh till mid-afternoon, but cancelled my plans due to some logistic issues.

Uncle John, the Sage.. 

Uncle John's garden in Taman Channing, Ipoh

I met Uncle John some years back in Penang. It was the Campaign For a Lane ride four years ago and ever since, I've organized some rides in Ipoh with the 70-year-old cyclist. It was an honour meeting up with him and a privilege to stay at his home. 
I also got to know Uncle John better as we have plenty of time to catch up. He told me that he will be taking a trip to Medan in Sumatera, Indonesia sometime this year and wanted to explore the city.
Apart from that, Uncle John also parted with some wise words on how to cope with work -- especially in such trying times.
I felt grateful to be his guest.
Uncle John treated me to some good makan around his hometown. He's been living in Ipoh since he retired from the Tobacco industry many years ago. Some of his children are as old as me and are doing very well on their own.
To me, it's a really big thing when a man invites you to his domain as a guest. Uncle John resides in Taman Channing with Susan, his wife and is taking things pretty easy. He spends a lot of time researching for new routes for his adventures. 

The great food in Ipoh

Beef tendon balls for breakfast

Uncle John, in the background, selecting the ingredients

In Ipoh, I had a good rest and am relieved to get an early passage home.
There's still much to do in KL before I head back to work the next day. And time flies. My alarm rang and the first thing I did, was to pack up my stuff. Clean up and made myself a cup of coffee. 
The train departs at 08:30am and is scheduled to arrive in KL Sentral at about 11:00am. Uncle John was already up and about as I picked up my gear and loaded it onto his car.
We drove to town and had breakfast. At the same time, indulged in a conversation. At the railway station, we parted ways. I wished him all the best on his Medan trip and hoped to hear more about his adventures.

Ready for boarding

The ideal seat with lots of room for the bike and gear

A long way from home..

On the train, I slipped on my ipod and listened to some music to kill time. While I was at it, I found the right soundtrack to insert onto my 5-minute video on the Lata Kekabu Ride. It was "Silent Lucidity" by Queensryche. A really wonderful slow rock ballad. You can see it on the video below:

After two hours, Kuala Lumpur was in sight.
I have two choices: get home early by loading my bike and gear onto a cab, or ride home.
For the first choice, I had to blow at least RM60. So, having given it some heavy thought, I decided to set up my bike and ride home.
It was also a chance for me to give the much raved about KL City Hall's bike lane a try.

At the Mid Valley Bike Lane

A cockpit view of the lane

Home at last with my boy.. 

Total mileage clocked

The journey was smooth until I reached Angkasapuri. 
There was some roadworks and the bike lane was closed. Motorcyclists are forced to get onto the Federal Highway and enter the bike lane after the Kg Kerinchi interchange. For a bicycle, it's a suicide ride. The probability of becoming a roadkill is 80%. If you have no road confidence, chances are: you might get stuck trying to switch lanes from the Kerinchi Link ramp to the Kerinchi interchange. Your move must be decisive and with the fast and heavy traffic, you have a 80 - 20 chance of survival. 
It's great that the KL City Hall can provide a bike lane at Mid Valley, but for cyclists heading to Petaling Jaya, the link was broken. 
I continued to ride towards Subang Jaya and made my way to USJ 26 in 1 hour 30 minutes. On my Garmin EDGE800 GPS, I have clocked-in some 200km. 
As far as the cycling is concerned, I have had a great time. The company was excellent and I hope to join them in future outings..