Distance: 68.18 km
Max speed: 28.7 km/h
Avergae while moving: 18.8 km/h
By the time I was packed and ready to go, it was nearly 7 am. The weather was cool and the going good. I stopped for tea at some small town where I had Teh O and a packet of rice with sambal for RM 1! I had no idea it was possible to eat so cheap...
I was making very good headway and even with another stop at an Indian restaurant, I was still looking forward to reaching Sabak Bernam before noon.
Earlier this morning, I had thought to pump up the rear a little but for some reason decided not to - the fear of mosquitoes perhaps? Whatever, a short distance from Kampung Simpang Lima, I heard a loud whooshing/hissing noise and knew I'd blown the rear.
I was about 30 metres from a bus stop and there was an extra lane where I'd stopped so I unloaded the bike, laid it on its side and started to fix it. Just then, in sub plots reminiscent of Batu Pahat, it began to drizzle. I quickly rushed my bags over to the bus stop, then carried the rear wheel and finally the rest of the bike over too. The bus stop proved to be a much easier place to work as I could prop up the parts as I attended to them.
As the tyre had not been inflated enough, it had been squeezed more than usual by the weight over the rear. As a result, every time it rotated, the squeezing action caused the sidewall to wear out and as I came down this road, the side finally tore slightly and pinched the tube, resulting in a hole in the tube.
The hole, unusually, wasn't big - just a pin prick so I got out the puncture kit and patched it. I didn't have any duct tape with me but put some insulating tape on the inside of the tyre, hoping that I might be able to nurse the bike to the town ahead and find a bike shop. The tyre was gone, no doubt about it, but I was hoping against hope that it would survive a short ride.
The drizzle stopped and at one stage a motorcyclist did too, asking if I needed help. I declined with thanks, thinking I'd got the problem sorted out. The tyre did indeed inflate again, but the moment I put weight on the back, it slowly went flat again.
No choice then... a walk it was. About 500 metres up the road, I spied a car wash and crossed over to ask if he knew of a bike shop anywhere nearby. As it turned out, there was one indeed - just 30 metres up the road, back on the other side, so off I went.
It was a Bengkel Motor (motorcycle workshop) and next to it was a modest car wash place. There was one chap fixing a motorbike tyre and when I asked if he could help, he replied in the affirmative. And so began one of the best afternoons of my life.
Supriani had no new bicycle tyres but offered to take me to town to buy some. Off we went in his beat up old Mazda to Simpang Lima nearby. When that yielded no suitable, reliable tyres, we went further afield, to Sungai Besar. It turns out that Sungai Besar, although not officially so, is much more the centre of administration than Sabak Bernam. It's a biggish town and the three bike shops, although they did not have tyres I felt would last the distance, certainly had a stop gap solution so I bought two local off road tyres for the grand sum of RM 10 each!
Back we went. On the way, we discussed where I'd been and we talked about the poor quality of roads in Selangor a little. The trunk road that ran from Kuala Selangor through Kampung Simpang Lima and on to Sungai Besar was heavily trafficked and as it was a straight, smooth road, vehicles tended to go too fast, leading to some fatalities. He mentioned a couple of recent accidents then went on to tell me about an accident in a workshop nearby when a mechanic was killed by an improperly secured car, then he mentioned one or two other fatal incidents. I began to worry he had some kind of morbid fascination with death and wondered if he would be insulted if I pulled on the seat belt I had, following his example, earlier ignored... Still, the car we were in would probably fall all to pieces at the slightest impact so maybe it would be better not to be secured than to be fastened to some loose bit of rusty bodywork hurtling to kingdom come. Thankfully he wasn't going too fast though I couldn't really tell for sure as his speedometer wasn't working...
Supriani is a shy but warm character. He has a friendly though nervous smile and he turned out to be very helpful indeed. He once had a workshop with 2 partners. He lost money, got out, joined someone else as an employee and learnt more before starting out again a few years ago. This new workshop is his and is just next to his house.
Back at the shop, we sanded down a couple of rough spots I felt on the inside of the rim, just in case, then mounted the new tyres carefully. They should last for a few days at least if I treat them well.
As we were finishing up, a chap walked up and started chatting with me. I thought he was a customer but he turned out to be Hamzah, Supriani's cousin who ran the car wash. He had worked for 5 years in Singapore (another one! I keep meeting people who'd worked in Singapore everywhere!) in the early to mid 80s. An extremely nice, earnest and intelligent guy with some very interesting views I will discuss in a different post.
I spent hours talking to Hamzah, as I let the scorching afternoon sun gradually ease up a little in the mid-afternoon. The two cousins were charming, helpful, friendly and warm. When I needed help, they went out of their way to assist.
I may have been feeling a little down in the last few days, but once clear of the city, here I was again seeing and feeling those values I set out to search for on this ride. I had lost sight of them the closer I got to the big towns, and the deeper I got into the Klang Valley. But out here, away from town, I have found unhesitating help, warmth, friendliness, kindness.
The rest of my ride in to Sabak Bernam was easy.
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Max speed: 28.7 km/h
Avergae while moving: 18.8 km/h
By the time I was packed and ready to go, it was nearly 7 am. The weather was cool and the going good. I stopped for tea at some small town where I had Teh O and a packet of rice with sambal for RM 1! I had no idea it was possible to eat so cheap...
I was making very good headway and even with another stop at an Indian restaurant, I was still looking forward to reaching Sabak Bernam before noon.
Earlier this morning, I had thought to pump up the rear a little but for some reason decided not to - the fear of mosquitoes perhaps? Whatever, a short distance from Kampung Simpang Lima, I heard a loud whooshing/hissing noise and knew I'd blown the rear.
I was about 30 metres from a bus stop and there was an extra lane where I'd stopped so I unloaded the bike, laid it on its side and started to fix it. Just then, in sub plots reminiscent of Batu Pahat, it began to drizzle. I quickly rushed my bags over to the bus stop, then carried the rear wheel and finally the rest of the bike over too. The bus stop proved to be a much easier place to work as I could prop up the parts as I attended to them.
As the tyre had not been inflated enough, it had been squeezed more than usual by the weight over the rear. As a result, every time it rotated, the squeezing action caused the sidewall to wear out and as I came down this road, the side finally tore slightly and pinched the tube, resulting in a hole in the tube.
The hole, unusually, wasn't big - just a pin prick so I got out the puncture kit and patched it. I didn't have any duct tape with me but put some insulating tape on the inside of the tyre, hoping that I might be able to nurse the bike to the town ahead and find a bike shop. The tyre was gone, no doubt about it, but I was hoping against hope that it would survive a short ride.
The drizzle stopped and at one stage a motorcyclist did too, asking if I needed help. I declined with thanks, thinking I'd got the problem sorted out. The tyre did indeed inflate again, but the moment I put weight on the back, it slowly went flat again.
No choice then... a walk it was. About 500 metres up the road, I spied a car wash and crossed over to ask if he knew of a bike shop anywhere nearby. As it turned out, there was one indeed - just 30 metres up the road, back on the other side, so off I went.
It was a Bengkel Motor (motorcycle workshop) and next to it was a modest car wash place. There was one chap fixing a motorbike tyre and when I asked if he could help, he replied in the affirmative. And so began one of the best afternoons of my life.
Supriani had no new bicycle tyres but offered to take me to town to buy some. Off we went in his beat up old Mazda to Simpang Lima nearby. When that yielded no suitable, reliable tyres, we went further afield, to Sungai Besar. It turns out that Sungai Besar, although not officially so, is much more the centre of administration than Sabak Bernam. It's a biggish town and the three bike shops, although they did not have tyres I felt would last the distance, certainly had a stop gap solution so I bought two local off road tyres for the grand sum of RM 10 each!
Back we went. On the way, we discussed where I'd been and we talked about the poor quality of roads in Selangor a little. The trunk road that ran from Kuala Selangor through Kampung Simpang Lima and on to Sungai Besar was heavily trafficked and as it was a straight, smooth road, vehicles tended to go too fast, leading to some fatalities. He mentioned a couple of recent accidents then went on to tell me about an accident in a workshop nearby when a mechanic was killed by an improperly secured car, then he mentioned one or two other fatal incidents. I began to worry he had some kind of morbid fascination with death and wondered if he would be insulted if I pulled on the seat belt I had, following his example, earlier ignored... Still, the car we were in would probably fall all to pieces at the slightest impact so maybe it would be better not to be secured than to be fastened to some loose bit of rusty bodywork hurtling to kingdom come. Thankfully he wasn't going too fast though I couldn't really tell for sure as his speedometer wasn't working...
Supriani is a shy but warm character. He has a friendly though nervous smile and he turned out to be very helpful indeed. He once had a workshop with 2 partners. He lost money, got out, joined someone else as an employee and learnt more before starting out again a few years ago. This new workshop is his and is just next to his house.
Back at the shop, we sanded down a couple of rough spots I felt on the inside of the rim, just in case, then mounted the new tyres carefully. They should last for a few days at least if I treat them well.
As we were finishing up, a chap walked up and started chatting with me. I thought he was a customer but he turned out to be Hamzah, Supriani's cousin who ran the car wash. He had worked for 5 years in Singapore (another one! I keep meeting people who'd worked in Singapore everywhere!) in the early to mid 80s. An extremely nice, earnest and intelligent guy with some very interesting views I will discuss in a different post.
I spent hours talking to Hamzah, as I let the scorching afternoon sun gradually ease up a little in the mid-afternoon. The two cousins were charming, helpful, friendly and warm. When I needed help, they went out of their way to assist.
I may have been feeling a little down in the last few days, but once clear of the city, here I was again seeing and feeling those values I set out to search for on this ride. I had lost sight of them the closer I got to the big towns, and the deeper I got into the Klang Valley. But out here, away from town, I have found unhesitating help, warmth, friendliness, kindness.
The rest of my ride in to Sabak Bernam was easy.
Post to del.icio.us
1 comment:
Teh O and a packet of rice with Sambal at RM 1 !!! C'mon bring back the old times !!!
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