Tour of the Waterfronts (10 April 2016)

The group at its peak

The 3 Hakka girls : Eva, Janet and Ailly

The 3 Men Eating Nasi Lemak : Wong, Chiam, Terrence

Hamid and Marianna

Teh, who later got a puncture!

Beautiful kampung ride

Delicious Nasi Lemak and a breathtaking view!

Imagine.....

Getting lost on your very first ride! Topping it all off, you have to address 2 punctures on the very same day!!!! After such bad experiences, you will definitely think twice about setting off on your two wheelers again.

Having such people in mind .... and all newbies, we came together this morning to help everyone enjoy a good ride. Many experienced riders came out to help. While some led, others swept!

We flagged off from Horizon Hills promptly after a group photo was taken. It was a difficult task coordinating more than 30 riders in a straight line. Even Irene was finding it hard to put everyone into a frame!

It was good to see Steven and Doreen supporting the ride all the way from Kulai...

Eugene came forward to introduce himself. He has been chatting with Claudine in a chatgroup for some time but they have yet to meet. Today though, they didn't have time to exchange more than a smile and handshake!

TH was our honorary leader. He led everyone out through the Southgate while pacing the ride between 18-22 kph.

As we approached the butterfly interchange, another group of riders were coming from the opposite side. Looking across, they were very slick, all on roadbikes, riding on a decent speed. We on the other hand, looked like a group of misfits...a terrible mixture of roadbikes, mtb and foldies! Moreover, we were a group of mama bear, papa bear, grandpa bear, grandma bear and baby bear!!!

Chins up!!! Misfits we were but a bigger group than them and they were just as delighted to see us as we were them!

One by one all riders disappeared down the butterfly interchange and came out the other side. Claudine was riding with her eleven year old son, Rygel while VT was somewhere behind sweeping Sue, accompanied by hubby Michael.

Slowly, the more powerful riders were beckoned to overtake her. They whizzed past sending quick greetings!

"Hi, Claudine!"

Alvin, looking sleek in black jersey overtook her. He had been away from riding for more than 6 months, helping out his dad who had to undergo a series of surgeries. With him back to riding, we hope his father is finally on the mend!

"Hi, Claudine!"

That was Joshua who had just scaled Annapurna Base Camp! Joshua too, had put off riding for more than 3 months after suffering a back injury!

"Hi! Hi!"

Joseph on his foldie???? Joseph is a powerful rider on RB. Today, he chose to take his foldie out just as he did once to Gunung Pulai!

Once on the Iskandar Coastal Highway, everyone starts to cruise at their own speed. Some could keep up with TH. But some, slowly lagged behind. Very soon it was obvious that there were a few sub groups riding together within sight of each other.

We turned off to Lebuh Kota Iskandar heading for Marlborough College. Hock Nim was seen picking up a dropped water bottle. For foldies, best to use Topeak's bottle cage that comes with a rubbery strap. This bottle cage can even be extended to fit a 1.5l Coke bottle!

At the turn off to the College, a lone figure stood. YL was waiting to give directions to oncoming riders.

Just outside the College, a white Honda Civic was parked by the side. Irene, driving our support vehicle was taking the opportunity to take photos of all approaching riders.

We then turned into the kampung road that leads to Kg Sg Melayu. This is a 7 km ride under the canopy of oil palm trees that decked the road. As this route has a low traffic volume, it was a perfect time to catch up with old buddies. Some though, were panting too hard to even hold a decent conversation!

While, the rest breezed through this route, Sue was having a hard time on her rusty mtb. VT quietly swept her while hubby Michael was blasting "Mission Impossible" from his speakers, a decibel high enough to penetrate the peace of the estate!

Soon, Rygel fell to the back when he took an unofficial waterstop. VT took over the role of riding with him which allows Claudine to troop forward. She rode with Sue and Michael for a while before reaching out to Teh who was riding alone.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group had arrived at the Kampung with Irene and YL standing guard to give directions at the last 2 turnings.

TH and Malcolm were beaming in their yellow GCC graduate jerseys....

Wong Kyuan and Tong arrived in their Tern D16, which was identical to Claudine's and Marianna's. While Tong came with his wife and son, Marianna came with hubby, Hamid!

It was so pleasant to see Siew Guay! After being robbed off her Cannondale roadbike, she had come back with a fiercer bike. This time, she rides a Specialized Amira!

While waiting for the last few riders, Rygel came with information that Teh had had a rear puncture and VT was helping him out ! It was decided we will push off so that they do not have to ride in at all, thus saving everyone some time!

We all rode out through the same way. Maggie and Ailly both on roadbikes were keeping up well. They flew past Claudine.

This time, Chee Kiang came to announce his presence....

As everyone zoomed out, we saw VT and Teh riding in the opposite direction. Inner tube replaced, they made a U-turn to join the rest on their way out.

Everyone regrouped again just outside the kampung. Claudine made friends with Chiam who had just sent her a friend request on FB. Nope....she does not accept stranger's request but definitely will after this ride! She also got to know Terrence who was riding with Chiam!

When everyone finally arrived, we rode to Kota Iskandar while The Tongs, Siew Guay and a few others made a U-turn at the roundabout to return home. In the meantime, TH led everyone to a beautiful garden with water fountains inside the administrative center.

We took a short break for some shutterbugs to try out their skills. Then, we rolled to Puteri Harbour via the back way, excited that our promised Nasi Lemak break is approaching.

Sadly, another small group of riders, led by Saikit were leaving us. They too, had some affairs to attend to!

At Puteri Harbour, Claudine was rolling through the drain's metal covers when she lost balance! She took a leap, a few stomps and ended up standing with one hand still holding on the the bike's handlebar! Lucas gave her an incredulous look and had to agree that it was a graceful fall!

Everyone trickled in slowly and waited in anticipation! The promised Nasi Lemak was taking too long to arrive! It turned out that Irene had to rush off to buy disposable spoons NOT provided by the seller.

Now, true to his words, Kiwi helped Irene to collect RM2 from everyone who had placed orders. The premature end to his ride at the kampung due to faulty brakes made him the perfect assistant to Irene!

The RM2 Nasi Lemak was delicious in a traditional way. Even though grease proof paper was used to wrap the rice, the supplier did not miss out a small piece of banana leaf to line the paper that adds fragrance. There was half an egg, crispy anchovies, peanuts and tasty Sambal.

Everyone's creative side, soon took over. While some took advantage of Old Town's tables and chairs by ordering drinks, some others used those of Brussels Cafe which is not opened for business yet! The shy ones ate by the marina overlooking the yachts.

When we were finally done eating, we resumed our ride to Sunway Iskandar. Eva though had to call off her ride. The Nasi Lemak that Wen Han ate must have created an inferno in his stomach. Dad had to be called to rescue mother and son!

This time, TH led us to the end of the road, roll up a steep knoll which overlooks the 2nd link bridge! Janet who is first time on cleats struggled with her gear shifts, lost balance and fell.....thankfully on the bush and not the loose gravels!

While we lost a few riders earlier, we now gained a new one! David, a Caucasian had followed The Misfits up the knoll. After a few introductions, we found out that David lives very near to Claudine! We hope to see him more often in our rides!!!

It was getting late and the ride had dragged on for too long. With less than 6 km more to home, TH gave a briefing to everyone on the simplest route home. He tried leading the riders back but some though we're not listening and went via the Gleneagles Medini way. Poor TH, struggled with decision making! Finally, he gave instructions to Maggie and some others on the proper route and went off to chase the lambs!

Sweeping from behind, VT and Claudine faced the same dilemma! Teh had gone straight towards Gleneagles too!!! Feeling the need to look after the lambs, they led Marianna, Hamid, Sue and Michael the same way too!

Sue gave up at Medini Mall. Looks like, it was really Mission Impossible for her on the rusty bike! So, Michael sped off in a hurry to return with the rescue car. As for Teh, Marianna and Hamid, they laboured slowly but surely all the way back to base together with The Choongs.

The ride ended well. For the newbies, clocking 45km in a day is a great feat. Hopefully, the next leisure ride will receive the same good response and support from everyone!