This group hadn’t cycled together in a long time. I was excited to join them on a ride to Kundang.
Photograph courtesy of KBS
A few kilometres into the ride my left foot started wobbling. It felt like either the Speedplay cleat was loose on my shoe or a float adjustment screw had unwound.
At 6 km my left crank arm, attached to my shoe by the pedal, came off the axle. I spent a minute trying to reattach the crank arm, to no avail. Not having the tool I needed, a 10mm hex key, didn’t help.
Later I realised that having the right-sized hex key would not have helped. The self-extracting bolt on my SRAM crankset had snapped.
Photograph courtesy of singletrackworld.com
I had a single-leg workout to get back to the car park. Left crank arm in hand. With the additional need to apply an inward force to stop the chainring from moving outward and disengaging from the chain.
Photograph courtesy of ML
Fortunately, the 6 km back to the start was mostly downhill. ML was with me and provided a very helpful push on the inclines. I did have to walk up the hill at the 9 km point.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
It was lucky we were only 6 km from the start when the crank arm came off.
Over to my LBS to get a replacement self-extracting crank bolt.
Everyone who wanted breakfast was at Kedai Kopi Jalan Pasar, across the road from the hotel, at 6:45 am.
Photograph courtesy of Google Maps
Not only is the location convenient, but the wan tan noodles are good too.
Photograph courtesy of ML
We loaded our bags into the Ativa, took a “Ready to Roll” photograph, and headed out to ride in reverse the roads we came in on yesterday.
Photograph courtesy of THL
The sky was relatively clear as we rode out of Teluk Intan. I don’t think I was the only one hoping more clouds would roll in.
Photograph courtesy of VV
There was more cloud cover an hour later but it was still sunny enough for us to need a stop in the shade at the fruit stalls and Kuala Bikam.
Photograph courtesy of VV
The humidity was 95%. I was sweating profusely. I was not the only one. Everyone was happy to stop at the first roadside restaurant we saw after riding through Sungkai. Kedai Makan Sri Bakti was out of roti canai. An unexpected breakfast crowd heading to an event at a nearby school ate them all. Nasi lemak and fried eggs were still available.
Photograph courtesy of GK
We were at the Slim River Petronas station at 10:50 am. We spent twenty minutes sitting at the small table in air-conditioned comfort, sipping our drinks. We were 23 km from the Tanjung Malim KTM station. We had plenty of time before the 12:40 pm train.
We were lucky with the weather on both days. The sky was overcast most of the time. When the sun broke through the clouds, the temperature never exceeded 32º C. The humidity and the increasingly rolling terrain still pushed my heart rate from 88 bpm when we left Slim River to 148 bpm six kilometres later. The others were feeling it too. We were happy for another break in a Tea Live at Behrang Residen.
Photograph courtesy of GK
I needed that large Signature Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea.
Photograph courtesy of tealive.com.my
We arrived at the KTM station at 12:32 pm. The 12:40 pm train was delayed so we had time to cool down and relax.
Photograph courtesy of VV
When the train did pull into the station I realised that we were at the wrong end of the platform to board car 6, the rearmost carriage on the train. A security officer and the train’s conductor told me off for riding my bike to the other end of the platform. The upside was that the conductor assured us that trains would wait for us to board before the carriage doors were closed. That is good to know.
The last five rides have been with the R@SKLs, most recently in January 2022. It was time for another udang galah dinner (giant river prawn) ride.
We chose the weekend of 5th and 6th September. I later learned that this was KL Standard Chartered Marathon weekend. The 10 km route circled where I live. My greatest challenge was crossing Jalan Sultan Ismail through a sea of runners.
Photograph courtesy of Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon
The decision to have a water station at the Medan Tuanku monorail station made it impossible for me to cross the road there. I rode along the pavement and on the parallel Jalan Medan Tuanku 1 until there was nothing else to do but jog along with the runners, edging myself and my bike through the crowd and across Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
This message greeted me at the entrance to Putra KTM station. Point taken.
Photograph courtesy of GK
All present.
Photograph courtesy of THL
Train number 2023 arrived on time and we were on our way. The two cyclists behind us boarded at Rawang. They would get off at Kuala Kubu Bharu station to ride up Fraser’s Hill.
Photograph courtesy of WWK
We were at Tanjung Malim station 73 minutes after leaving Putra station.
Photograph courtesy of THL
We were on our way after some food and drink at Restoran Hijas. About 85 km lay between us and Teluk Intan.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
After 12 km we rode up to a group of RELA (Malaysia Volunteers Corps) personnel directing traffic. We were not sure about what was going on at first. Then we saw the finisher’s gantry ahead. Complete with cameramen, videographers, and people waving flags and cheering. All expecting that we were the lead group of bike racers. I am sure they were all disappointed. TH and I made the best of it by crossing the line with arms aloft!
G looked online and found out what the event was.
Image courtesy of Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah
At most one kilometre later TH had a puncture. The only flat tire over the two days.
Photograph courtesy of VV
Three of us helped with the inner tube replacement while the rest of us admired this traditional kampung house.
Photograph courtesy of VV
It was cloudy and cool, but very humid. We needed regular stops to take on fluid. Which meant frequent restroom stops as well. The Petron station in Slim River is distinguished by the painted wall on the building behind the station. We can count on V to notice these things.
Photograph courtesy of VV
We also stopped at the larger Petron station in Trolak to buy more drinks.
Photograph courtesy of VV
56 km into the ride is Kuala Bikam. Noted for a group of stalls selling fruit from the orchards surrounding the village. Pomelos, papayas, mangoes, bananas, watermelons, pineapples, jambu air (rose apples), guavas, mangosteens, durians, dragonfruit, soursop. The list goes on.
Photograph courtesy of ML
The sun broke through the clouds and the temperature jumped by 2º C. Ice creams at the 99 Speedmart in Taman Okid provided a welcome relief. The cloud cover rolled in again too.
Photograph courtesy of VV
We made one more restroom stop before we got to the Yew Boutique Hotel. Seconds before it started raining.
Photograph courtesy of VV
We hung out in the hotel lounge drinking our complimentary drinks while waiting for my Biker Chick to arrive with our bags. We had our bags ten minutes later. Everyone stayed while J walked in the rain to buy that famous Teluk Intan chee cheong fun. He came back with the last two pieces available. We supplemented that with orders from the hotel café. They have expanded their menu since the last time I stayed there. Just a snack though.
Then it was showers, naps and massages before meeting at 6:30 pm for dinner. It was still raining, so six of us squeezed into the Ativa for the short drive to Restoran d’Tepian Sungai. The two others met us at the restaurant.
Our food had been pre-ordered. Two udang galah dishes, sweet and sour fish, fried squid, omelette and mixed fried vegetables.
We made short work of the dishes before us. When the dust settled, there was nothing but rice left.
Photograph courtesy of VV
The rain was still falling after we finished eating. We grabbed umbrellas from the car, took this photograph on the bank of the Perak River, and walked through the night market to Teluk Intan’s landmark building.
Photograph courtesy of VV
The night market was filled with food vendors. V bought us all crispy apam balik (peanut-filled pancakes).
Photograph courtesy of Apam Balik Crispy Sepang
The Menara Chondong (Leaning Tower) was built in 1885 to store water and to display the time. The soft ground on which it was built as well as the weight of the water in the water tank caused it to lean towards the southwest.
Photograph courtesy of ML
We strolled back to the hotel, chatted for a while in the lounge, and then hit our beds. We planned a 6:45 am meet up for breakfast.
Old Roots, New Routes 