Monthly Archives: September 2023

I last rode to the Paya Indah Wetlands in June 2021. That time, it was in the company of about a dozen others.
You can read about that ride here:
Today, I had three others for company. We started from Rimbayu, after a few nervous minutes waiting for a shower to blow over. The rain cooled the air. We had a pleasant ride to the Wetlands.

We got to the entrance at 8:00am, when the park opens.

Our first stop was at the Belibis restaurant for drinks and curry puffs.

It is clear that the park has seen better days. While clean (the toilets were spotless), the facilities are run-down. The restaurant kitchen is closed and replaced by a stall at the edge of the seating area. All the chalets are closed. Some advertised activities, such as kayak and paddleboat rental, are no longer offered.
The restaurant staff told us that Gamuda Land, the developer of the adjacent Gamuda Cove, has taken over the park. Hopefully, better days lie ahead.

After finishing our drinks and curry puffs, we explored a small section of the 450 hectare park grounds.

Our first stop was at the Crocodile Lake. This specimen is certainly not the largest crocodile there.

After oohing and aahing at the crocodiles, we went off-road.

There is a jetty at the western end of the route we rode.

The views over the water are spectacular.

On to the Menara Tinjau, or Lookout Tower.

The tower was closed the last time I visited. It is still closed. A thick layer of dry leaves covered the road leading up to the tower.
We went up there anyway. To be greeted by quite a frightening sight. Dozens of dolls looking like Chucky from the horror film series “Child’s Play” were hanging from branches over the road.

Voodoo? Black magic? Whatever the reason for those dolls, I wrote to the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks, and to Gamuda Cove, to tell them about the dolls.

I received replies from both within a day. The dolls are props for an ongoing film shoot at the location. Those dolls will be removed once the filming is finished.

So much for our theories!

The Nile hippos are a highlight of any visit to the Paya Indah Wetlands. The hippos are a gift from the Government of Botswana.

We considered waiting thirty minutes to watch the hippo feeding, but it was getting hot. It was time to ride back to Rimbayu.

Our route intersects a section of the West Coast Expressway under construction. This 233 km toll road will connect Banting in Selangor with Taiping in Perak.

A flyover taking Jalan Bukit Perah over the WCE is built but not open to traffic yet. This Google Maps photograph shows the flyover under construction.

Naturally, we couldn’t resist riding up and over it.

It will be a while before this section of the WCE is open.

We might have been the first to cycle on that flyover. That was a highlight.

The lowlight was the ever-present gusting wind on the way back to Rimbayu.

We definitely felt those 28 kph gusts. Talk about a block headwind! What a relief to see the bridge over the South Klang Valley Expressway. Only a kilometre to go to the end of the ride. And an ice-cold drink.

It will be nice to go back to the Paya Indah Wetlands again. Perhaps in less than two years time 😆.

Nine R@SKLs rode to Port Dickson in June 2020. You can read about that trip here.

Talk about another ride to Port Dickson started in June this year. By 7th July, we confirmed accommodation at the same place we had stayed in 2020: The Regency Tanjung Tuan Beach Resort.

There was some trepidation about this trip amongst a few of us. Our cycling habits have changed. We don’t ride as often or as far as we used to. So a few ‘training rides’ were organised. Some were more successful than others.

One ride in July was rained out. We had breakfast instead.

Our final warm up ride the weekend before Merdeka (Independence) Day was interrupted by a lady who needed help with a flat tire. Whether we did, in fact, assist is debatable.

We celebrated our Good Samaritan deed with breakfast anyway.

TH snuck in a last-minute solo ride a few days before Merdeka Day.

In 2020, we cycled from where I live to Port Dickson. That was possible because we rode on the Maju Expressway to Cyberjaya. That expressway is now closed to cyclists.

This time, we took the KTM Komuter train to Pulau Sebang station, and rode from there to Port Dickson.

It was cool and overcast at dawn on Merdeka Day. The roads in Kuala Lumpur were wet from an overnight storm, but the rain had stopped. The KL Tower was lit in the colours of the Jalur Gemilang (Malaysian flag).

Woo was in the middle of the ride from his home to Bank Negara station.

Martin was waiting for Leonard at the Publika traffic lights. They would meet us at Bank Negara station.

Eight others were either on their way or already at my home.

On the way to the station at 7:30am.

Woo was already at the station when we got there. Leonard and Martin arrived a few minutes later.

I got told off for riding my bicycle into the ticket hall!

Waiting on Platform 2 for the 8:02am departure to Pulau Sebang.

What is in the bag?

Zaryl, Dan and Marvin boarded the train at Sentul station. Two stations before Bank Negara station.

All together in Car 6.

It takes two hours forty five minutes for the train to get from Bank Negara station to Pulau Sebang station. That explains this pose.

SSSSSHHHHH!

Thanks to Geetha, we all had Malaysian flags on our bikes when we got off the train at Pulau Sebang station in Tampin.

Everyone was hungry. This gentleman at Restoran Nasi Kandar Impian made our roti canai, naan and tosai. Do you think we could be related?

I plotted a scenic route rather than a direct route from Tampin to Port Dickson. To give us a longer ride and to keep us off trunk roads.

5km from Tampin, at the Freeport A’Famosa Outlet, is this unusual sight. A Boeing 747 has been converted into a retail concept store and café by Coach, the American luxury fashion house.

The back roads were lovely to ride on.

We arrived at the beach after two hours of cycling. We needed a rest and to refill bidons. It is just over 40km / 25mi from Tampin to Pantai Tanjung Bidara. Almost all of that distance is over rolling terrain. We had 385 metres / 1,260 feet of climbing in our legs.

The first place we stopped at didn’t have any bottled or canned drinks. D Pantai Penyu is a kilometre down the road from that dry place. I think we wiped out their stock of bottled water.

The next 12 kilometres / 7.5 miles were along the beach. The views were nice. Unfortunately, the sun was upon us. It was 33ºC / 91.5ºF. The high humidity meant that the “Feels Like” temperature was considerably higher.

We did stop again less than a kilometre from D Pantai Penyu. Most of us downed brain freezingly cold coconut shakes at D’Ribut Pengkalan Balak.

Then it was back out into the 2:30pm heat.

We split into two groups upon leaving Tampin because the six who opted for lunch at Old Town White Coffee were still eating when the rest were ready to roll. Having come together just before the beach, we were soon in three groups. I was in the middle one and secretly relieved to hear that Marvin in the group behind us had a flat tire.

We four rested in the shade while waiting for Marvin’s group to catch up to us. After 50 minutes, we heard from Marvin that he couldn’t fix his flat, that he had been sipping a coffee in a café for the past 30 minutes, and that the others were on the road.

In 150 metres from our spot in the shade, we were on Federal Route 138. This trunk road links Sungai Udang and Linggi. I had plotted some diversions to get us off Federal Route 138 and later off Federal Route 5 as we got closer to Port Dickson. It was hot, and we were tired, so we decided to skip the diversions and stay on the Federal Routes.

30 minutes and 14km later, we pulled into the 5 Petrol station in Pasir Panjang. We needed cold drinks.

The fast group were in a restaurant ahead of us. They had 14km left to ride. We thought a group was still behind us, so we waited at the petrol station for 15 minutes. With no sign of any other R@SKLs, we pushed on.

It turned out that we were the last group on the road. The others must have ridden past on the trunk road while we were waiting in the shade by the beach. Everyone arrived safely. Most with some degree of sunburn 🌞🌞🌞.

Zulfa had arrived earlier with our bags. The guys in the same apartment as her and I had it good. The A/C was on, and cold drinks were in the fridge when we arrived.

There was time for a nap before dinner at Yun Long Seafood Restaurant.

We left it to food connoisseur TH to order. Every dish was delicious.

I can’t speak for the others, but I was asleep by 9:30pm.

My alarm was set for 7:00am.

Others were up, too. Plenty of time for a cigarette or a coffee before meeting in the car park at 8:00am.

Bags loaded in the car for Zulfa to transport back to KL and ready to roll.

It didn’t take us long to find a place for breakfast. Medan Selera Sri Bayu had a good selection: nasi lemak, roti canai, lempeng, roti jala, a few curries to go with the carbohydrates, curry puffs and Malay kuih.

We rode to Sungai Gadut station. That was half the distance of the ride to Port Dickson. I think many appreciated the shorter and more relaxed ride after the exertions of the previous afternoon.

We didn’t do any back roads riding. What we did cycle on were well-surfaced. Outside the built-up areas of Port Dickson, Ayer Kuning and Rantau, there was very little traffic. The rolling terrain gave us 360 metres / 1,180 feet of elevation over the 42.5 kilometres to Sungai Gadut station. Thank goodness for the slower pace.

We got to Sungai Gadut station at 10:35am. We had lots of time before our train departed at 11:53am.

We definitely had enough time for an impromptu yoga session led by the queen of flexibility, Zaryl.

Bin Soo carried a 360º video camera with her. She put together a wonderful video clip of our rides to and from Port Dickson.

View the video here.

The train rolled out of Sungai Gadut station on time. I must say that the Komuter trains are very punctual. I must also say that this train was quite cold.

I was glad for the warm air coming into the train every time it stopped at a station.

It was drizzling while we rolled through the two or three stations before our stop. The rain stopped as we rode from Bank Negara station to Kwong Cheung Loong Kopitiam Bar on Jalan Doraisamy. The others either got off the train before or after Bank Negara station, or didn’t have time for lunch before having to be at home.

They missed a yummy lunch. They also didn’t get a piece of Maresa’s home-made banana bread.

It was pouring by the time this group got to the car park at my home to pick up their bags. I hope no one got too wet leaving the building.

It would have taken more than rain to spoil anyone’s enjoyment of our two days together. It was broiling hot on the way to Port Dickson. I wasn’t the only one with cramp. We shared enough laughs amongst good friends to compensate for those and any other inconveniences.

Thank you, everyone, for making this trip so much fun.