Riding in the Rain...

Monday, September 19, 2005

Burnt and Frozen


Scottie, Beam me up!
Originally uploaded by Xepheiro.
Well, i'm back from my ride at Malaysia. So only Lek, ZeBin and me went for it. Eejin couldn't get a bike. The route was decided on the bumboat to Perenggang. The actual route was to go to sedili via Kota Tinggi and back. But things don't seem to go our way. The weather was freaking hot! The sun was burning every bit of skin that wasn't covered. I have a perfect cyclist tan on my body now =P Excited, we were. I kept attacking the hills, only to discover more hills laid in front. We cycled the hell out of the hills, burnt under the sun. The scenery was just oil palm plantations, followed by more oil palm plantations! Crazy traffic too! Overtake at speeds of 150km/h! Not just cars, but heavy loaded trucks too!!! Oh my god... But i have to admit, Malaysian drivers are skilled in high speed driving =P Just don't bang anyone down, they do just fine.

By 1pm the sun had killed much of our energy and spirit. We had to stop evey 30mins of riding to hide from the sorching inferno above our heads. I was kinda lost in my mind, i couldn't believe how treaherous this way would be. I did pushed myself beyond certain limits. I had to stop at one long hill to relax my thigh muscles. I can't really understand why i get cramps that easily, while those two could cycle like there's no tomorrow and still wouldn't cramp? I took sodium supplement before and during the ride. Though we all didn't stretch, why me? I gotta find out more soon. The rest of the journey is just breaks and more oil palm plantations and more hills.

Finally we reached Kota Tinggi! About 90km i think.(lazy to check my GPS) Took photo as usual. Ate KFC! hehe... Checked into a hotel call Nasha hotel. A small cosy room to fit 3 guys for a night at a cheap rate! At around 8pm, i got dragged out of bed by Lek to do some walkabout the town. Just like any typical Malaysia town. Had nasi goreng and slept around 10 plus.

I got dragged out of bed again around 615am. It's raining! ah!!! We stayed till around 8am in the room. Breakfast was bread and kaya at a coffeshop. Nice and good. Feeling recharged, we headed south towards home, against the freezing winds and rain. Road was slippery, and i skidded a lot. Getting sprayed by water from our own wheels is just dirty... ah... About 30 mins into the ride i was totally wet. I was freezing cold! But i would rather cycling in the cold than face the blazing sun! I'm more trained to cycle in the cold due to my fondness of riding at night.

We reached a bee farm! I bought a bottle of honey that had pretty much nutrition as any other honey have. TRaffic in Johor Bahru was hideous! Cars zooming past, you jams here and there. Havoc! I was pretty much hyped up to reached home, i was glad we maintained a speed of 25km/h average there to rush through the traffic. We had braised chicken rice for lunch! One of the new styles they have there! Soon i was time to go home...

Clearing the checkpoint using the motorcycle lane was a pretty smoky experience. We have to squeeze through narrow passages to get clearance! ah! Then we are back in Singapore! Poor Lek had to cycle back to Bedok =P

This whole trip's experience did taught me to go test my current abilities against the weather and traffic. Friendly people there that would give a helping hand any time. An good experience!

P.S: I slimmed down to my ideal weight again! hehe....