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| The team at Pontian |
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| Rolling out on Iskandar Coastal Highway |
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A bowl of cendol to cool down the body  |
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| Cold drinks at Auntie's Fruit Stall in Pekan Nanas |
The idea of capturing 88.8 km on Strava or any activity trackers was first introduced to Claudine in 2017. Back then, Philip had initiated this drive which received good response from his buddies. It was a fun idea to usher in the Chinese New Year and tops all virtual challenges as it is really not easy to capture this desired number. One has to be consciously alert to stop the meter at the right moment!
Hoping to recapture these auspicious numbers to usher in the Year of the Dog, we embarked on our first Lou Hei Ride today. Armed with the best excuse...to escort Uncle KC on his pilgrimage to Melaka, we moved our schedules to cash in on these lucky numbers!
Meeting at Restoran Jia Qin at Taman Perling, we rode out on a bright and cloudless morning. As it was a working day, cars were screaming past us, all the way to Gelang Patah. Traffic only quietened down a wee bit along the old trunk road to Pekan Nanas.
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| Uncle KC's score of the day! |
As Uncle KC had come all the way from Singapore, he clocked his auspicious numbers way before us. Determined to cash in on the lucky digits, he slowed to a crawl as we were approaching Uncle Lim’s durian farm. Giving us the go ahead, he soon caught up with us again at Pekan Nanas’ Shell station, beaming from ear to ear!
Continuing on to Pontian, the next 20 km ride was dull and flat with no interesting sights. Thankfully, Uncle KC was always ready to break the monotony, taking our photos and striking small chats with us.
At Pontian, Uncle KC brought us to an eatery that was supposed to serve specialty fish balls but NOT! Either mistaken or the stall has since moved, we found the noodles to be better than expected!
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| Brotherhood of the clan...this cendol shop claims close relations to the one from Taiping! |
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| Ban Chan Kueh from the stall nextdoor |
Once done with our meals, we broke all imaginable traffic rules to get to the famous cendol in Pontian. Unfazed by oncoming cars, Uncle KC led us on one way streets; going against traffic, all because he thought the way via the fish market was more interesting! Surprisingly, motorists in Pontian are very tolerant and forgiving.
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| Too excited for cendol, Claudine fell meters away from the stall. Her wheel went into the metal gratings! |
Our thirsts quenched, we bid Uncle KC a safe journey ahead before heading back ourselves. Midway home, we stopped for a drink at Pekan Nanas’ fruit shop on a pretext to send our well wishes to sweet Auntie as well.
It was already mid day when we hit the saddles again. Adamant to get out of the sun as much as possible, Susanna voted to return via the scenic kampung route despite Claudine’s counsel.
The scenic route is, BUT a longer and more treacherous one. The hills are steep!!!
Arriving at the kampung, we tackled the first slope easily...
Rolling down the second slope, everyone took advantage of the momentum to propel themselves us up the third slope. Yet, it was not enough to reach the top! This was a long climb which winded everyone!!!
Turning her back to check on the others, Claudine spotted Susanna climbing with Colin behind her. Almost at the peak, VT overtook her before both rolled out of the kampung together.
Expecting to see the rest following closely behind, the duo were surprised there were no signs of them. Too tired to climb back up in search of them, they hand signaled a pakcik in a kancil who assured them their friends were on the way.....slooooooooowly!
As the wait prolonged, they hand signaled a makcik on a motorbike instead. She told them one of their friends were playing with the handphone!!!
Finally, they came; descending the hill slowly. Reunited, we rode on to Amin’s where Susanna decided to take a rest. As it was a working day for Colin, we sent him packing off first before settling down with our orders.
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| Huat Ahhhhh!!! |
The last leg was easy especially after a cold drink at Amin’s. Arriving at Pan Kobo’s Horizon Hills, Claudine’s Strava finally clocked the desired 88.8km.
Looks like only Uncle KC and herself managed to capture this auspicious number today as Colin had forgotten the purpose of the ride altogether, arriving home at 103 km! As for Susanna, her Strava had gone haywired after Pekan Nanas. She flew as the crow flies all the way to Pontian!!!
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