Gravel Galore - NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED (3 June 2018)

World Bicycle Day

Breakfast at Restaurant Xing Ho

Metal truss bridge

New highway to Forest City

At Forest City

Enroute to Kg Simpang Arang

Vincent with his brand new bike

Forest City Golf Resort was in sight but there's no path leading to it!

Jimmy tested out the waters and suggested a detour!

Walking on soft sand

Sinking!!!

Definitely a few hundred grams heavier!

Giants!

Closing in on the resort

Deer by the resort

Train tracks

“Eeeeeeeekkkkkk!!!” squealed Claudine as soon as her left foot sank into the soft sand. Ankle deep, she tried to reverse but got her other foot in as well. Bursting with laughter, she thought she was the only one in trouble as she had tried to pave her way, refusing to follow the others.

Almost in synchrony, Jimmy was in trouble as well. Unlike a woman, all he said was, “I need help” as his leg went into the sand.....knee deep!!!

Earlier, we had rattled our way through a 5 km stretch of gravels and pot holes which also saw Vincent’s water bottle jumping out of its cage in an escape attempt! The vibrations on the road were so intense for Claudine, she suffered a short bout of itchiness caused by Vibratory urticaria. Topping her discomfort was the bowl of noodles with generous helpings of bird eye chilies from Restaurant Xing Ho!!!

Thankfully, our ordeal ended at the “quicksands” and Forest City Golf Resort was just right ahead. Coming up to the posh resort, the gardeners at work were kind enough to give us a good hose down!

Feeling lighter after shedding off the few hundred grams of sand and mud, we found ourselves riding out on brand new roads. Surrounded by mangrove swamps, we crossed the 2 metal truss bridges that traversed the river tributaries of Pulai before connecting with the grand highway to Forest City.

The ride into Forest City was interesting as the highway was decorated with mock figurines and playhouses. Sometimes, we caught familiar landmarks of Kampung Pendas. Once, Bernie almost turned into the North-South Highway!

Getting into the Complex was a breeze this time unlike our previous encounters. Just a short salute and before we knew it, we had arrived at the reception area.

As usual, we were not greeted by the sound play of kompang unlike the bus loads of investors that thronged in after us. No offense taken as we merely wanted the free drinks by the showroom and the possible use of toilet. Above all, we had not brought our cheque books with us!

While we were ecstatic with our freebies, the guards were not too happy our bikes had remained at the reception area. It was not our fault they had waved us into the reception area instead of the carpark which was a clear miscommunication on their side. Anyways, we were not to stay longer than a cup of tea which soon had us bidding our farewells.

Realizing we must have missed a turn in our earlier plotted route, our return trip had to be improvised by using the drain stairs on the flyover to Jalan Tanjung Kupang. Thereon, we made our way past Forest City’s site office and Warong Poyot.

Connecting with Jalan Kampung Ladang Darat, we met Joseph, a Forest City employee. A cyclist himself, he was heading back to Forest City where he now resides.

School was in session as we weaved our way through the staff’s residences of Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar. Thereafter, we made our way through a small hamlet, cut through a small segment of palm oil estate before arriving at Sunway Iskandar.

Then, it was home run!

Not quite what it seems as Vincent came to an abrupt stop once in Horizon Hills. It was his maiden ride on his new bike and the last slope was too daunting for a newbie. Pushing his bike up, he finally went back on the saddle when we hit flat ground. Garnering the respect from all, he finally touched base at Pan Kobo, clocking 58 km!


Photo courtesy :
KC