Day 17 Oct 31 K Selangor - Sabak Bernam

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.
Post to del.icio.us

Day 4 Batu Pahat

By doth ith blocked...

The cold I picked up in Kukup persists. It goes away when I'm exerting myself, but if I should stop for awhile and it returns. Doesn't help that Batu Pahat is cool - literally. I tried to have an early night last night. Fortunately the Rest House has a very decent restaurant (I'm sure it wasn't just my hunger giving me that impression for I ate nowhere else during my two-night stay) and I had a hot dinner which was most agreeable.

I seem to remember that many rest houses were located on hills. I may be wrong but if so, the Batu Pahat one is no exception. The high elevation gave a very good vantage point of the hills in the distance and some gardens and a lake below.

Feeling extremely stuffed up I didn't venture out at all the first morning. I had a closer look at the 'Febs' cold medication I'd brought along, wondering why it wasn't working. The date at one end of the pack gave the game away. I'd grabbed it from my fridge and it was seriously out of date. I am too embarrassed to reveal how seriously...

The late morning brought rain which suited me fine as I took the opportunity to update the blog. This is turning out to be a task of some dimension indeed. It is eminently pleasurable as being on the saddle for hours at a time, and just being on my own has given me a more contemplative air. I'm enjoying writing and I hope you are enjoying the fruits of my creative labour.

One thing I wasn't enjoying at all was having just one functioning nostril at a time. The thin blanket didn't help at all. So when the rain cleared, I wandered off into town and was instantly glad I did.

I took the back way out of the Rest House and went down a hill behind the JKR building. I came out facing a couple of large padangs - fields. One was a hockey or football field with some spectator stands on one side. The other had a clock tower on one end and another, more decorative, grandstand on the other. Around this padang were dotted trees, shelters, lots of Malaysian flags and a lot of wooden swings. A wide sidewalk lined one side and I walked down this to a plaza which had a huge sculpture in the middle. Oh look at the pictures...

The part of Batu Pahat I was within walking distance of is for the most part quite pretty. Sure, modernity has reared its ugly, tasteless head, but nestled among the new are remnants of a bygone time. Although some of the old buildings are much tattier now than years ago, they still offered a pleasing contrast to glass and concrete.

Down a side street I found a Chinese medicine shop. They had the Vicks I needed, but not the cold medicine - the owner gave me a different brand instead, which he claimed did not cause drowsiness. I had no wish to fight the heat or the hills in a somnolent state.

Pleased that the end of the cold was apparently nigh, I returned to the Rest House for some tea and to pop a few capsules.

They didn't work. My nose was still stuffed after some hours. The afternoon rain forced me to stay in and do a bit more writing or reading. Also a lot of lying down on one side till the upper nostril cleared, then turning over to unblock the previously open but now stuffed one. Ad infinitum...

After dinner, thoroughly fed up, I wandered quickly into town again to the Guardian Pharmacy I'd spotted on my way back earlier. Armed with a box of Clarinase I was sure would do the trick, I rushed back, popped a pill and said goodbye to the nasal drip.

The Batu Pahat Rest House is owned by the government of course, and is run by Mr Teo, assisted by 2 general staff and one or two in the kitchen. Although the location is charming, rest houses were never about luxury and this one is no exception. The fittings are old (even broken), the bed was sagging in the middle and the blanket thin.

Having said that, the garden and patio are pretty, the people very attentive and friendly (even if Mr Teo seemed to enjoy his TV), the food was very nice indeed, and the location simply superb. Also, it was practically empty so quiet was assured - well until the night. More on that in awhile.

The laid back attitude was also very welcome - when I announced my intention to have an early start (they open the place at 7am and close up the lobby and kitchen at 11+pm), Mr Teo said to simply leave my room unlocked and the key inside. Now, my room is accessible by anyone wandering into the unfenced grounds so this seemed quite casual. Anyone wants a 14" TV, an old aircon with no controlling knobs or a sagging mattress?

My last night promised much better - the Clarinase helped, I dug out my sarong to help where the blanket was not particularly effective, and I tried to get to sleep.

Now I've thrown away the box so I cannot tell, but perhaps someone here can advise me if the 24-hour version of Clarinase has Caffeine in it? I could not sleep! I played Solitaire on my iPod for awhile, read for a bit, then lay back in the darkness for even longer getting worried I would be pushing myself too hard the next day.

When the couple in the next room began their bedroom aerobics, complete with sound effects audible through the thinnish walls, I knew it was a lost cause.

I eventually slept in short snatches through the night and got up just before 5 am for a leisurely start to the day.

So, what of Batu Pahat - at least the bits I saw? Well, it's certainly not a small town and these tend to be less personal. My own physical condition and the rain meant I explored little but liked what I did see. Would I come back? Yes, definitely. And to the Rest House.

But not for the reason you think - I left my Balinese Sarong on the bed when I left and Mr Teo promised to keep it for me. I bought it on my honeymoon and I'll be damned if I'm letting it go!
Post to del.icio.us

Thoughts while pedalling: Why am I doing this?

If you don't cycle, you might wonder what goes through my mind when I'm on the bike. Now I don't know what the 'standard' is, or indeed if there is any particular norm. I do know that by nature, I subscribe to what I call the Dirk Gently method of thought.

Dirk was the principal character in a couple of Douglas Adams detective stories. He believed in the interconnectedness of all things and would often simply go where chance and fate would lead him believing that he may not get where he wanted to go, but he would wind up where he needed to be.

My thinking is kinda like that too I guess. Case in point: one morning I mentioned to Mei that I knew I had something on the next evening but could not remember what it was. I finally recalled the event and sms'd her. She thought I'd checked my diary but the truth was that I was at the coffeeshop opposite my office having a cup of coffee when a guy with a goatee walked past. He registered on the edge of my consciousness and I had this thought that he looked like a designer. From there I started thinking about design work in general, then thought about my recent interview on Asia Business Report when I gave an opinion on Sony's brand image, and then I started on what other stories I could dig up that might be newsworthy, then thought of the (then) upcoming global brand forum, and finally remembered my friend Nantha who was in Singapore from KL for that and it was indeed Nantha whom I was to meet the next evening.

Rather convoluted I know but that's my thought pattern. And I usually get where I need to be as well.

One of the stray thoughts I had while cycling to Batu Pahat was about an interesting recent short conversation I'd had with one of the guys I work with, Andrew Wilson. In preparing some material for our work, we discussed the concept of 'Influence'. What exactly is influence?

My first considered response was that it is the ability to effect a particular decision and action in someone else. As we delved deeper into this, it became clear that influence is a little wider and more complex than this. You can influence thought without action. You can influence action without thought.

You can influence through contact. And you can too, with no direct contact.

And then there are the forms of influence - the whole spectrum from direct coercion through to inspiration. Andrew will doubtless have more to say on his Whole Manager blog soon.

As I cycled however, I realised that the idea of influence indeed underpins the whole notion of this ride. It is in fact, a very good study of the whole concept of influence.

As things stand, I have a number of goals (listed here in no particular order):
i. Get from South to North
ii. Meet people and interact with them
iii. Discover things, especially values we think we've forgotten
iv. Get back safe and sound
v. Write about people - especially positive things
vi. Have a good time
vii. Get fit
viii. Don't get broke - literally or figuratively
ix. Meet old friends
x. Take pictures and videos and collate material for a book a film whatever
the list goes on a little more.

What isn't on that list is any direct desire to change people. That is not to say I have no such wish. The truth is that I would be lying if I said this is a strictly personal journey.

The very act of planning this has made some of you think about the whole idea. You would have thought about what you'd read, considered my motives, weighed up my chance of completing the journey, and even thought about why I bother. By doing this, you have unavoidably examined your own natural instincts, your bias and your prejudices. You have challenged your own perceptions.

I have influenced your thoughts. I have influenced you.

Now, I may not have made any palpable difference in the manner in which you approach your life. Influence need not, as I have begun to understand, necessarily create the influencer's desired result. In this case, it doesn't matter.

I have a relative who is so cynical he could freeze an egg in boiling water. Whatever that means. He is cold about the prospects this country faces. I think his attitude is wrong and I go back to the notion of 'If you change the way you look at things, the things around you change.'

Cynicism is a particularly devious condition. It weakens not just the people who encounter it, but also the person who bears the crutch of cynicism. I choose not to be cynical.

This morning, on the way from Batu Pahat to Muar, I stopped at Pekan Seri Menanti in Johor and had breakfast in a little Malay coffee shop. What struck me was how there were Chinese and Malay patrons, sitting down with each other, enjoying a good chat over their teas or coffees. I sat down with two gentleman who, as things turned out were DAP and UMNO men. Chinese and Malay. And they sat there, discussing things, laughing and joking with each other and with me, sharing their concerns for the country. And in this little shop, everyone greeted everyone else. They all shook hands. Malay, Chinese, whatever: it didn't matter. Heck almost everyone shook hands with me!

I stayed for one hour, risking a warm arrival in Muar for the sheer pleasure of seeing my Celebrate Malaysia! ideals displayed right before me. Cynicism? Bah! Who needs it?

The ideals I professed to be searching for are indeed out there. I like to think that my ride is influencing some people - maybe you. This morning, I sat and was instead influenced by a couple of older gentleman.

And for these two reasons, I am doing this ride.

Post to del.icio.us

Day 3 Pontian - Batu Pahat

Distance: 75.72 km
Max Speed: 37.8 km/h
Forget the average - I took hours!

What a day! If Day 2 taught me not to ride in the midday sun, Day 3 taught me to rethink my definition of 'early start'.

I had breakfast at a little after 6 at a 24-hour Indian shop a few streets away. I ordered a Roti Telur Bawang which the guy had to specially make. I sat down and had my teh but could not eat much of the roti. I suspected it was a simple case of my stomach waking a little later than the rest of me. This has been the case for most of my life but this time I anticipated the owner would ask me why I hadn't finished the food he'd had to prepare just for me. I had a pat answer and when I got up to pay, true enough he saw 2/3 of the roti left untouched and asked why. I thought he would laugh when I said 'My stomach is still sleeping I think'. But he didn't. He gave me my change and didn't even look me in the eye. What the heck, I'm not likely to eat there again anyway!

Now let me reveal something very personal. I do have mild Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Sparing you the details, I will admit that I may, during the course of the day, have to avail myself of the conveniences more than most people. If I'm at work this isn't a problem of course, but on a bike it can be. So this morning, I decided to make sure I'd got that well taken care of before I set out.

When I finally got the bike downstairs and packed up, and said my goodbyes to the Makcik, it was just getting on 8am. I headed out of Pontian and for the first 15 kms it was good riding. Cool air, decent average speed - I was feeling good! After that, things started heating up a bit and at about 10:30 I began to feel a bit warm again. Careful not to push too hard, I still felt compelled to get as far as I could in what I began to realise would be a two-stage ride in to Batu Pahat. It became clear, what with my frequent stops (first at 15 kms, thereafter every 10 km or so) to take in water and rest up a bit, that I would not make the 75 kms in 4 hours.

Once again I was astonished at how many people waved or smiled or called out. One kid ran across the road from his bunch of friends on the other side, shouting something at me. He stuck his arm out and I thought he wanted to yank me off the bike or something so swerved around him to his great disappointment. It was then that I realised he just wanted to high-five me. Oops...

There was a dearth of Air Tebu stalls. In fact, there was a dearth of any stalls open at all. The Hari Raya holidays are still in full swing apparently. So I stopped often at bus stops, sheltering from the increasingly hot sun.

Close to lunch time and I'd only got as far as Rengit (yup - no hotel) where I decided to stop at a coffee shop just before the turnoff to Punggur Beach. Gan wasn't far off and he turned up less than an hour later having driven down from KL to pass me the Maxis broadband wireless modem which now means I have some connection to the net. Hurray!

There was an old Pakcik at the shop with his daughter and I chatted briefly with him. Remarkably, he worked for 40 years in Singapore, not far from where my office is. As if that wasn't enough, he also lived in the Bedok area, just a few minutes from where Mei and I live now!

We left the bike locked up at the shop, packed my bags in the car and drove back to Rengit to have lunch. Two orders of Nasi Ayam and a couple of drinks for RM12. Not bad at all. I decided to wait until past 4 to head off, thereby avoiding most of the glare and heat of that sweltering afternoon. See? I do learn. Usually...

After Gan left to head back to KL, I stayed around a bit at the coffee shop, reading. At 4 pm, I said my goodbyes to the coffeeshop owner who had been kind and patient. I bought a couple of bread rolls just so he'd have a bit more business out of us and got back on the bike to head towards Batu Pahat, about 32 km away.

During lunch we'd remarked how this part of Johor is quite flat. Well, after travelling quite a distance, and not within 10 kms of Batu Pahat, I discovered it isn't flat. At all. Looking at the map now, I realise there is a 427m hill on the east and a 250m hill on the west of the road in. I think I went up both.

I came to the first climb, realised I wasn't going to make it up, despite going all the way down the gears and travelling at less than 8 km/h. A short litany of expletives and I decided enough was enough I was going to get off the bike and push. Mustering all the dignity I could I did just that. The stream of traffic going by did remarkably offer the occasional toot of encouragement. When I got to the top, I stopped for a couple of minutes to catch my breath then got back on the bike and zoomed down the hill, round a corner only to see another climb ahead of me.

I tried. I really did, but I just couldn't make it up. I'm shuddering, just thinking of the hills in Perak as I type this! The irony of it is that on the left of the road was a Chinese cemetery... Well, I got up by pushing the bike then stopped by the roadside again to have a drink and splash my, by now, extremely hot body with squirts from the fast-emptying water bottle.

The third hill almost wiped me out but I sat down at the top, on a kerb, and rested for a good 15 minutes. Traffic going the opposite way was struggling too - they were changing down to a low gear to make the grade. Around the bend ahead of me I could just make out traffic swinging up another hill so I steeled myself for that by sitting quietly on that kerb, panting and cursing. As if the lack of hotels in the 3 towns I passed wasn't bad enough, the fact I had to do a 75 km ride on only my third day was quite sapping. Then factor in the heat of the day, and you begin to get some idea of my increasingly fragile mental state. And now, the hills....

I finally got back on the bike, and zoomed down the steep slope. The hill on the other side wasn't as bad as I'd thought and I managed to get all the way up and zoomed down a beautiful stretch after that. There was a long gentle climb after that so I decided to rest again outside a large supermarket. At this point I began to think it would be wise to mark on a map specially for cyclists 'Here be hills'. No make that 'Here be big bloody mountains'.

Sitting there in this empty carpark, I cooled down considerably and started feeling a little refreshed. I even felt a sense of some achievement for having weathered whatever circumstance had thrown at me. Then I heard thunder... a few drops of rain splattered me... I fought down an urge to look up to the heavens and say 'Look, do you mind?'.

The drizzle didn't get worse however so I eventually got back on and cycled up the long road. That was the last of the dramas though as just after that crest was one long slope down after another. It was amazing - my speeds were hitting 35 km/h or more at this stage and that's how I came into the outskirts of Batu Pahat. When I saw the first rows of shophouses I couldn't restrain myself and let out a whoop of delight. Cruising in to town at over 25 km/h I saw a sign indicating the Rest House up ahead and on a whim thought 'why not?' and swung in.

Now, rest houses were common in the old days of trunk road driving and I had thought they'd died out long ago. Well, I'm glad they didn't. The Batu Pahat Rest House was at the end of a short lane bordered by bushes and trees. As suddenly as I'd turned off the main road, the traffic noise ceased and it seemed a gentle breeze carried me up the slight slope to the driveway.

A chap at reception said there were rooms and I could even park my bike in mine. So I did.

Post to del.icio.us