Roasting in Kukup! (17 April 2016)

All 21 riders finally got together

Our Kulai supporters

A union of all teams

A world where team does not matter but good sportmanship takes precedence

Team W Cycle and JEC playing host to "Team Singapore"

The Ad Hoc's beaming in their graduation robes!

Can't get enough of James Bond

The pink swag!

Sedili and Kukup, back to back!!! POWERRRRR!!

Even the camera loves Thomas!

Godma playing host

When we get together, we EAT!

When we get together, we DRINK!

Resting in Pekan Nanas

The loving couple and their friend

Donkey cornered by the Stallions

"10 buns on first come, first serve basis. Breakfast to be served at 6.45 am!!!" That was Claudine's text to the group when Andy poked her on her bake out yesterday.

True to her words, she brought warm buns to compete with Pan Kobo Cafe this morning! Jolin, Voon, Leo and Agnes were already parked when she arrives. But not everyone were greedy enough to eat. Perhaps, watching too much of what happened to Snow White made them cautious on sinking their teeth into food offered by "strangers".

While everyone else's were gearing up for the 7.15am push off, Team JEC left with a half baked promise to meet at Pekan Nanas on the return route. They were meeting Team W Cycle for their fully loaded ride to Tg Piai.

Andy arrived too late for the buns! Even though Zoe shared hers' with him, he was still reluctant to lead us today....JOKE! He had to wait for another few friends who were late. Due to that, Yew Loong was automatically pushed up the corporate ladder!

We rolled out after a group photo was taken. Yew Loong led us out through the Southgate and onto the butterfly interchange. We cruised along Iskandar Coastal Highway before turning off on the Pontian exit.

Climbing the slope on this "clover", Claudine overtook the boys. Sue followed gleefully. Jolin gave chase! So did everyone else!!! With that, Yew Loong immediately loss leadership of the group!

We cruised along Lebuh Kota Iskandar, took the 12 o'clock on the Eco Botanics roundabout and started climbing the flyover. One by one, everyone scaled it at their own speed but flew downhill at top speed!

Claudine though, stopped by the side of the road for the back riders. When Zoe and VT finally came through, they chased the group. Janet, Yew Loong, Wei Lun, Thomas and CK were waiting at the traffic lights. Sue and Jolin stopped for the others a little ahead.

When everyone reached the cross junction with Jalan Ulu Choh, no front runners were in sight. We quickly assumed they had turned right, using the route mostly travelled by cars. We, took our preferred scenic kampung route instead.

On the way to the kampung route, 2 riders in GCC graduate jersey called out to us! It was Olivier and Chee Kiang!! Olivier who was with the front runners had waited after the right turn to give directions. Seeing that everyone of us had gone ahead at the junction, he gave chase. Meanwhile, Chee Kiang who was late, rode by himself and chanced upon Olivier!!

Picking them up, we rode all the way to Pekan Nanas shell station and were relieved to see "Team Kulai" waiting!

But wait a minute!!!!

David, our new friend from Texas is missing!!!!

After a quick enquiry, we were informed that David was using the restroom at the petrol station. Whewwww!!!!

We left for Kukup after bidding Olivier goodbye. He was returning to base. As Sunday is the new Monday, he had to be ready to play school bus.

This time, we made a slower ride, passing by the Pekan Nanas town before taking the left turn for Kukup....

Ready, steady, go!!!!!

Everyone started to ride as fast as they could on this famed 10km Strava segment. Before she could even start, Sue overtook Claudine. Threatened, Claudine sped up the rotation of her crankset.

Then suddenly, Tom came from behind her. He whizzed past leading Kevin, Thomas and Steven. Thomas called out, "Come, peloton! Peloton!"

Claudine quickly latched on! Drafting behind the group, she easily overtook Sue. Sue though was not used to drafting and was soon left behind!

The group rode for a couple of kilometers before Thomas starts to show fatigue. He waved Steven ahead. Steven tried to close the gap but gave up after awhile.

Drafting behind Steven, Claudine thought she could pull Steven ahead to join the paceline. It didn't turn out as planned! She was too small to break the wind for Steven and with that, he too was left on his own.

Somewhere along this route, we picked up CK and Michael. CK took turns with Tom to pull the group to the finish line.....NOT!!! We stopped near a blue roofed multi purpose hall just meters away from the T-junction. That junction marks the end of the Strava segment! Because of that, none of us got very good results to show!

All 21 riders heading for Kukup slowly arrived including Andy and his friends from Milipede Bike Team. We graced another group photo before taking the last leg through the oil palm estate for Kukup.

Everytime a new gal for our Bollywood heart throb

Arriving at the mamak shop in Kukup, our handsome Bollywood star was still waiting in his "No Hard Feelings" T-shirt!

Sherry and her Milipede friends were standing in wait too!

They have lost one Milipede on mtb. Turns out the curling mechanism and hard outer body of a milipede could not keep this one from harm's way. Wei Lun, also on mtb was asked to turn back for him as he was the only one with a suitable inner tube.

After a long breakfast, we got ready to leave only to see Wei Lun and "Milipede" arriving. Knowing that we have some slow riders with us, we headed out first with the promise to regroup again in Pekan Nanas.

Initially, VT led everyone out. He was followed closely by Zoe. However, somewhere still within Kukup, a group of riders from Pekan Nanas were also heading out. Zoe got detached from VT, while he rode ahead, assuming everyone were tailing behind.

Soon enough, everyone started to pump the pedals. While Claudine rode with Zoe for a distance, Yew Loong and Michael overtook them. Then Tom, followed closely by Kevin! Claudine cautioned all riders on the Indian temple turn off as they zoomed past.

Then, not trusting, she gave chase. True enough, they missed the Indian temple turn off!!!

"SCREAM!!!!"

Heads turned! More screaming! Message got across.....they turned back!

This time, VT and Claudine stood guard on either side of the road. They were not taking any chances! When Steven finally made the turn, they left their positions and went in the oil palm route together.

Claudine started speeding.....

She overtook Steven, then Zoe, then Sue!

Somewhere out there, she saw 2 figures by the side of the road. It was YL and Janet. Janet was fiddling with her phone while YL was fiddling with his water bottle. She stopped to check that they were alright.

Punctures? No.

Mud on YL's pants???? He had a fall!!!!

Poor guy had a crash when wife slowed down to answer a call!!! Calls from the matriarch of the family is put on the highest hierarchy of all calls! You just got to pick up the phone!!!

Waiting for YL to get his act together, Andy and the Millipede Bike Team came along! While Andy and some others stopped, Ah Meng whizzed past, followed by Sherry in a very aerodynamic position. We gave chase!

After awhile, Claudine found herself riding alone. There was no sight of Ah Meng and Sherry. Neither did she want to fall back.

Thankfully, she did not ride alone for long. Kevin overtook her and she grabbed the opportunity to latch on. They rode together for a good distance before Tom came along. He pulled the two on the opposite side of the road explaining that we were taking cover from the wind. The bushes by the side of the road helped to break the wind!

When they got to the junction leading to the main road, everyone had gone! Nobody were waiting to give directions! Turning right, they saw Ah Meng and Sherry sneaking sugar cane juice from a roadside stall.

Leaving the 2 at the sugar cane stall, they began their "10km" route....

They came across David taking a breather by the side of the road.....

They came upon Sue....Tom slowed the ride to give some pointers to her. When Tom realized Sue was left behind from the paceline, he fell back to give her support, directing Claudine and Kevin to ride ahead.

Meanwhile, Chee Kiang and CK were almost reaching the end of the segment when Claudine and Kevin finally reached them. Claudine guided everyone to the Pekan Nanas fruit stall only to see BK by himself!

BK had gone to Tg Piai with Team W Cycle. On their return, Mark had took the route passing by Pontian. BK had given chase, lost him and then decided to stop for a drink.

At the Pekan Nanas fruit stall, all riders eventually streamed in. Team JEC and Team W Cycle took a longer time to arrive. It was a huge get together!!!

All good things must come to an end. At the end of the day, we still had to head back home. We rode out leaving Team Milipede to do their bike shopping at Pekan Nanas and Steven to wait for his rescue after a few bad cramps.

Michael and CK had left slightly earlier. Michael had a long ride back to Seelong while CK had some affairs to attend to.

We rode back the same way we came. Andy though had to do a sprint after Uncle Lim's durian stall. He had to chase after Tom and Kevin , as again they almost missed the turning to the scenic kampung route.

There were strays too! David overshot the turning and thankfully, heard the booming call from Andy. This afternoon though, there were some roadworks on the route and it wasn't as pretty as when we came by earlier.

Reaching Amin, VT, Wei Lun and Zoe decided for a quick drink while the rest of us prefered to labour the last leg home. We scaled the last hills coming across Calvin, Agnes and Voon. Meanwhile, Khan in his bright pink jersey and Leo were a vision from afar.

Together we rode to the traffic lights which took the longest time to change to green. This indirectly allows everyone to regroup here.

When the light turned green, we made the final climb over the flyover. While Sue, raced up the slope, Claudine slowly laboured up. She overtook Sue and even Calvin! Tom and Jolin were within sights of the girls. But when they came down, Sue finally overtook Claudine on the Iskandar Coastal Highway. Claudine though, did not want to put up a fight anymore!

Cruising along, we overtook Wai....

We came back to Southgate.....

Lau was waiting under a tree for Wai and Calvin. Saluting, we left him in wait while we climbed the last slope to the car park. Sue was ahead, followed by Kevin and Claudine. The three made it back together but Claudine did not attend the victory party. The heat was too hot and getting home was tops on her list!

Zoe made it all the way to Kukup this time without her Double Expresso! In fact, she rode the extra mile, riding from home and back. She deserves our utmost respect!