Sunday 30 September 2018

Sedenak to Layang-Layang (10 September 2018) : New Exploration


Emerging out of the first estate...
First estate
Only hills to tackle
Easy terrain
Good tree covers
Easy peasy
The worst has yet to come!
With our new friend
The farm
Fresh harvest
Fresh harvest
...the route became tougher!
Our bikes became significantly heavier with thick mud stuck on wheels and turnip stash!
Mossy ground


Prior to our “new exploration” we have always relied on the paved estate road to get from Sedenak to Layang-Layang. This “new route” was discovered by chance while plotting the course for the recent B&B ride. Back then, TH had read the plotaroute meticulously and highlighted the coincidental error!



Itching to explore this new frontier, we met at Hua Guo Shan temple a little later than usual as there was no necessity to hide from the sun. We had expected good tree covers, considering the whole area is surrounded by palm oil estates.



Hence our surprise, when we emerged out from dense palm fronds to an open area, a quarter way into our journey! Surrounding us were newly replanted palm trees with a vegetable farm not far away.



As we continued our journey after a brief photo stop, there was the unmistakeable calls of “Syabas” and cheers of encouragement from the workers. Waving back and returning their calls, we had not expected what stood ahead! So far, it had been an easy ride, but only for the rolling hills....



Entering another palm oil estate, the tracks worsened with strewn pebbles and sharp rocks. In some areas, the rain had corroded the tracks so much, natural drainage appeared!

All of us gasped, when we came out to another clearing. Right before us were pools of muddy water that hogs the whole pathway!! There was no choice but to roll over the orangey-brown water.



Treading after Bernie, Claudine followed his chartered course, feeling a slight wobble as her slick tyres spun without grip on the muddy bottom. Before that, VT had tested the edge of the pathway and called out warnings!!! Suzie who came in last, swept water up her bright pink shoes, much to her dismay.



Drawing our attention away from Susie’s pink shoes, were rows of bush trees with tiny white flowers. Similar to jasmine, we discovered they were calamansi flowers upon a closer look.



Right across the dirt tracks were lower bushes with even tinier white flowers. This we soon learnt were chili plants.

It seems, while we were busy ogling over the flowering trees, a farmer was quietly watching over us!!! Caught unaware, Claudine made a loud declaration on her intent to steal, falling short of theft over the underdeveloped calamansi.



Perhaps, on a preventive measure or triggered by Henry’s enquiry, he started introducing himself and his organic farm to us. Demonstrating how safe his vegetables were, he plucked a ladies finger and ate it straight without washing!

It seems our friendly farmer from Kulai had inherited the farm from his father. Educated in KL, he had returned to take over the plot, preferring a more holistic lifestyle.






Zenned out by our farmer, we soon bid him farewell only to find a path strewn with uprooted turnips. Initially a few, we found more and more thrown out in place of lemon grass instead! Following the trail, we came upon baskets of freshly harvested lemon grass, self-explaining the economic viability of the crop versus the unfavorable turnips!

As Bernie had forewarned, picking things that is not yours was a bad idea. Charmed by the mystic turnips, we soon lost our way! We were going in circles looking for a path that never seemed to exist!

Finding ourselves amongst old palm trees that has grown tall over the years, not much sunlight penetrated through , making the ground wet and mossy! We were slipping and skidding many times!! Mr Lim was first to hit the ground!!!

Arriving at the non existing junction the first round, Claudine was using her phone as a compass, turning it around and around to get the right direction. The tracks were leading to the left while the map had an imaginary route to the right. VT and Henry were so sure to follow the tracks while Bernie had gone ahead on his own.

Following behind, the rest of us tried riding but gave up after a mere 100 m. Without skills and the correct tyre thread, we were skidding all the time. Only Henry was able to ride ahead to join Bernie.


Centipede

Unconvinced, Claudine was sure this was not the route to Layang-Layang. Her instincts told her the path was just too wild! A popular route will not be overgrown with moss and ferns. It would have been treaded over often enough with occasional tyre tracks!

True enough, her GPS location had gone off course! Calling for Bernie and Henry to return, they appeared after a long wait, on top of a slope, right above them! The rest had to push their way through the trees as this was the shortest way to get to them.


MTB...mari tolak basikal

Once again, Bernie dispensed his joke on MTB....mari tolak basikal!!! Once again, we went in a circle, returning to the same concrete pipe culvert used for collecting rain water. Once again, we tried to reassure ourselves...there were at least 3 kilos of turnips amongst us and raw water for survival. Should we hunger for meat, there’s a wild rooster somewhere within as we had heard its crowing much earlier!


We were moving in circles!

As Claudine went on to consult google maps, Bernie and Henry had started another round of recce. Watching Bernie roll down the tracks, she called out to him that the invisible path turns right at the point where he stood. He tried as told, going across shrubs and disappearing amongst grass that grew taller than a 6 feet tall man! After a few seconds, he called out through the thick veil that he had found the connecting trail. Hurrah!!!

It was a crazy experience beating our way through the vegetations. Claudine felt herself slapped, caned and even molested by the long grass. Her only consolation came when she saw the train passing through as it was proof that we had nailed the route, knowing that it follows the railway tracks.

The rest of the way was more manageable. The dirt tracks continued all the way to J25 with the usual soil erosions and occasional sharp rocks.
Along the way, we passed a telecommunications tower that was humming so loudly, Claudine thought another train was approaching! A few estate workers, trimming palm fronds affirmed we were on the right path.

When we reached the boom gates leading out to J25, we broke into smiles....but not for long. Rolling at high speed, the caked mud started falling off our bikes, hitting the road and bouncing back at us. We were like sitting duck with no chance of escape!
RM 2 bike wash

After Guang Fatt wantan mee, we headed back to our cars but not before making a pit stop at Bao Bao car wash to get our bikes cleaned. Bernie though, headed back on his own as his bike was too precious to go under high pressure sprays. Besides, he had to return to Layang-Layang for Suzie who had called it quits. He could be the wiser one, as bumping into him midway, his bike was cleaned in the rain that caught on with us; and ours, non the cleaner!!!

Photo Credits :
Suzie


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Turnip 101 :

Enjoying the fruits of our labour at Guang Fatt wantan mee shop
Claudine's stash
Old school's
Mang Kwang Char

Saturday 29 September 2018

Route 90/90 - 90 (8 September 2018) : When Christopher was sent to the Hospital !!!

Cheered by The Minions
Breakfast chatter
The complete team
The doctor is on duty!
Who's the boss?
Selfie or satay?
Henry needs to work on his smile
Part of the Looney Tunes cast!
Wet, wet. wet!
Wildly crazy folks
Why cover the face?
The quest for Hakka Thunder Tea Rice brought the thunderstorm onto us!
Hakka Abacus Seeds made with yam
Soon kueh with assorted fillings
The contacts


....there it goes again!

....the bowling ball rolling down the air duct!!

“One pink elephant. Two pink elephants. Three pink elephants.....”

As an easy technique she learnt from watching “Bob the Builder”, Claudine began counting from the flash of light to the crashing sound. Thus, based on the approximate that sound travels at one mile per second, each elephant represents one mile distance before the storm hits and .... By Gosh! The storm is really coming!!!

Reassuring everyone that it may not pour in Pekan Nanas, we all agreed to meet for breakfast before deciding on our next course of action. After all, it was worth the gamble as most of us had taken the effort to load our bikes into the car the night before. Moreover, a little breakfast get together was definitely worth the drive!

Closing in on meet up time, Paul and Susanna, being the firsts to arrive, reported heavy thunderstorm in Pekan Nanas. But by then, most of us had had our first hand experience on the full onslaught of the storm. Visibility was so bad we could hardly see 10 meters ahead!

Sitting down for breakfast, there were 2 teams. Those that heeded the chatroom’s call to dine by the food court near the main road and those that were stranded at the corner coffee shop right opposite the meet up point. Only when the rain teetered to a drizzle, did we managed to regroup for more chatter and coffee at the latter venue.

It doesn’t take any meteorologist to figure the rain will never let up for the day. Given the choice to quit, everyone were not letting up!




 


We left Pekan Nanas after a long wait for Howard. This gave some of us time to go around the shops, scrounging for large plastic bags to use as rain covers!



When Howard finally did arrive, we fully understood his delay. He was playing pretend, dressed as a doctor! Only 7 weeks short of Halloween and he’s already all eager to party!




 

Rolling out towards Kelapa Sawit, we were met by looks of amusement from the locals. Not quite the circus parade but with our colourful rain gears, we almost made it to Looney Tunes!

The ride along the foothills of Gunung Pulai has always been Claudine’s favourite. There was the usual game of “spot the fruit trees”. Roadkills became a joke when a dead snake, long enough to be made a belt was spotted by the road side. In fact, VT thought he saw a coiled up phyton by the edge of a palm oil estate!!!

We were drinking in the rustic ambience of village life which saw domestic pets scurrying along lawns that were beautifully decorated with flowering plants. Of course, we could literally drink in the rain that pelted on us incessantly as well!



On a rainy day, Gunung Pulai was shrouded in clouds and mists. However, there were no Godzillas to kill when our police force, armed with guns, took to the streets. They were merely undergoing some training, offering cheers of encouragements when we passed them by.



Out of the little hamlet, we went on to Kampung Melayu Raya. Right behind the village, lay palm oil estates, serviced by irrigation canals that are controlled by small lock gates.

We were cruising along this route when a sudden noise alerted Claudine. Thinking it was a lorry coming out of the bushes, everyone squealed when it started to pour heavily again!

As it was impossible to find shelter in the middle of nowhere, we treaded on only to squeal for a second time. Right before us was a monitor lizard, the size of a crocodile!!! Frightened by our noise, it dashed across the road and was lost in the thick greeneries.



Soon, we were cruising under the North South Highway viaduct. Being the start of a long weekend, the toll charges was unjustifiable considering the congestion!


Junction to Route 1

Joining Federal Route 1, we were only required to travel a mere 1 km before leaving this old trunk road that was once the main artery connecting the northern states with the south. However, like bowling pins we were falling one after another! Tarred many times over the years without expanding the road shoulders, the road had heightened significantly! We were forced to roll along the white line like little gymnasts on a tight rope while allowing as much space as possible for the passing cars.

The first to slip off the road and lose her balance was Eva. Following behind in the support vehicle, Mr Pang must have panicked over the safety of his wife. He floored the horn button continuously to alert other motorists.

Watching Christopher slip and lose his balance was blood curdling. We were all in a paceline, only a few feet from each other. On a wet road, the brakes may fail! Hesitating, Claudine took a calculated risk. Tapping on her brakes, she turned to check traffic before swerving out of Mr Lim’s way, avoiding a pile up!!!

Short of 20 m from the turn off, the fall was the most unfortunate thing to happen, made worse when Christopher declared extreme pain to his knee. He could not move his leg and had to hobble to the car, supported by Mr Lim and Mr Pang. Thankfully, there was a clinic close by and upon doctor’s advice, Susanna ended her ride, arranging for Christopher’s checkup at the hospital instead.

Post mortem wise, Christopher was seen picking himself and bike up as soon as he fell. He then squatted and grimaced before standing up as ordered. However, when asked to move his leg he kept shaking his head which was what worried us.







As the rest of us resumed the ride to the nearby Hakka Thunder Tea Rice shop, everyone were in a somber mood, mulling over the unfortunate event. However, our moods soon lifted, charmed by The Minions and murals along the old street!



Sinking our teeth into the food, all negative thoughts were quickly erased. Never before has comfort food been so comforting! Even a confident Mr Pang left his duty as support crew, promising to meet us at the end point, later! Could he have sneaked into the Chinese temple to seek God’s blessings, we will never know!

Returning to Pekan Nanas, we navigated on unchartered course via the backroads of Kelapa Sawit. Without a proper navigator, we were banking on instincts, memory and the help of the locals. In the latter case, a very friendly Pak Cik on a motorcycle pointed us to the right direction but not before complaining in a joking manner that we were hoarding the road!!! Quite a few times, we had to flip out Google Maps to check our bearings but as soon as the river was sighted, we were more than home free!!!


Route 90/90 – 90 ended on a high note! Christopher was sent to Regency Hospital for a checkup. Thankfully, X-ray showed no fracture and he was sent home limping but playful!
  
Ellie was the happiest !

90% flats, 90% car free and 90% rained out!!!


Photo courtesy :
Susanna