Interstate 5 (4-8 June 2019) : Day 2 - Segamat to Bahau (In loving memory of Herbert Hor)

Waiting for Herbert at N119

Waiting for Herbert at N119

Hotel Golden Lake

Adrian with his new Jones touring bike on carbon drive and rohloff hub

Dinner at Restoran Haewaytian

Dinner at Restoran Haewaytian

This morning, we were separated into several breakfast groups. One’s breakfast kakis depends on pre-arrangements made or who one bumped into at the lobby. Indirectly, the early birds became the unofficial scouts.

As Bert and Uncle Meng had sat down at the opposite coffee shop waiting for their wantan mee that was still in the midst of set ups, Claudine and VT decided to try their luck with the second group. They found a shop serving chicken rice and noodles at the shop lots behind.

It was crazy to watch Adrian eat. Not only did he ordered half a roast chicken, his plate also came with a side of roast pork with no carbs! Every human being should be worried if found stranded at sea with this “carnivore”!!!

Rolling out, our group size shrunk considerably. Many of the Melaka folks were heading back on their own while Lau was left to wait for his VIP pick up!

Passing the Muar river, the waterways flanked by the railway tracks were partly shrouded in mist. Our intended stop, 16 km down the road was not to be. The petrol station was closed due to the Raya holidays!

Gemas came soon enough and with it, our second breakfast! We met Jason, a local MTB rider at the coffee shop. He was eager to share his contacts in case we return for one of their trail events.

The sun was finally up and shinning when we finished breakfast. This should have given some clarity to the riders but the opposite ensued! Riding out after an extended water refill which saw everyone going to several shops in search of cold water, we left in scattered packs! Again, the tour had turned into a race with the strong riders racing ahead. Besides, local Bahau girl, Annie was on a mission to reach home early.

As there are 2 routes to Bahau and these were heavily debated amongst the organizers, Herbert must have misunderstood, for he raced ahead at the defining junction. In fact, the right turn to Route N119 caught many of us by surprise as it was only 2km off Gemas town!

After many failed attempts to call him on his handphone, Kim Chai decided to give chase. However, as they were too far ahead to turn back, it was decided for them to continue on to Bahau on their own.

Moving on, the rest of the group enjoyed a quiet, scenic route, playing on the dragon’s back. At the end of the 10 km ride, we rejoined Route 10 hoping to bump into Herbert and Kim Chai but this was not to be until Kampung Pasir Besar.

At Rompin, we stopped for lunch but Kelvin, Happy Birthday and Pang decided to ride ahead as the earlier regrouping stop at Kampung Pasir Besar was an extended one and we had not rode more than 7 km!

Those that followed Annie and Ivan on the final 20 km to Bahau were on a win win situation. Not only did they enjoy drafting behind Annie but they were also rewarded with local eats; fried kuey tiau with added cockels, the size of gold, 50 cents coins! They came medium well, still bloody and succulent!!!

Meanwhile, Annie's sister dropped by with rice dumplings (bak chang) for everyone to share. Incidentally, in 2 days time, Hokkien Chinese will celebrate Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the Fifth day of the Fifth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. This festival, also known as Duan Wu Festival, falls near the summer solstice. It is celebrated annually for more than 2000 years to commemorate Qu Yuan a chinese poet from the Chu Dynasty. Legend has it, Qu Yuan had committed suicide after he failed to convince the corrupt Chu Kingdom officials to change. The ordinary folks had loved him so much, they had rushed out in their boats, beating at the waters to prevent the evil spirits from getting to him. They also threw clumps of rice into the river to deter the fishes from feeding at his corpse.

View from the rooftop of Aurora Hotel

Returning to Aurora Hotel, Kim Chai was waiting at the lobby. A big group check in naturally causes confusion. Despite the designated rooms, KC Tay had walked into Claudine’s room!!! Literally BUT not in her presence!!! No lawsuits!!! Just a room swap, where everyone agrees to remain where they were without further packing and unpacking!!!

At night, we had another grand dinner. This time, sumptuous meal was served at Restoran Haewaytian, where table cloths were spread across every table and the Chinese character, Double Happiness dons the walls…a traditional ornament design, commonly used as a decoration symbol of marriage.