We checked out of the hotel at 7.30am. We rode out in a drizzle to look for breakfast. You can always count on a mamak restaurant to be open at any hour of the night or day.
After breakfast, we rode to the usual photograph spots. First the Porta de Santiago, a small gatehouse which is the only part of A Famosa, a former Portuguese fortress, still standing today. A Famosa is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Southeast Asia and the Far East.
Then we went to Christ Church Melaka. Construction of Christ Church Malacca started in 1741 and it was completed in 1753. When the British took over Malacca they added a weathercock and bell to Christ Church and transformed it from a Protestant church into an Anglican one.
We had decided over dinner the night before to amend our plan for the day. Originally we were going to ride to the KTM station in Rembau, where we would catch a Komuter train to KL Sentral station. The Rembau station is 58km / 36mi from Melaka.
We decided instead to ride to the KTM station in Tampin, which is 40km / 25mi from Melaka. We would be very glad that we chose to ride to the closer station.
We rode through the narrow streets of historic Melaka to the AMJ highway. The highway took us north to Alor Gajah.
We left the AMJ highway at Alor Gajah for the 14km / 9mi remainder of the distance to Tampin.
The cool and overcast conditions had quickly given way to hot and muggy conditions. It was 30º C / 86º F at 10.00am. We were relieved to have opted to ride to Tampin rather than Rembau.
We had time for a cold drink after buying our tickets. The train left on time at 10.55am. And in only a few minutes we were cold. The air-conditioning on the KTM Komuter trains is quite chilly.
We warmed up once our damp jerseys had dried out. By the second half of the journey, we could feel the heat of the sun coming through the train windows.
The train takes about two hours to get to KL Sentral station. On the way we messaged Jeff Liew of The Bike Artisans, asking him to book duck rice lunches at the restaurant next door to his bike shop. We would be riding in that direction to get back to my place from KL Sentral station.
It was an easier task to get out of KL Sentral station that it had been to get into Tampin station, where the lift had broken down.
We rode the escalator up to the main hall of KL Sentral station and then wheeled our bikes fifty metres to the exit. In less than a minute we were on Jalan Tun Sambanthan headed towards the Bike Artisans and lunch.
In less than 4.5km / 3mi we were at Jeff’s doorstep. Which was a good thing because it was another hot day.
Kelin joined us for lunch.
As did TH.
We made short work of the chicken and duck rice. Thank you Jeff for buying us lunch, and Kelin and TH for joining us.
All that remained was to ride the hot 3km / 2mi to my place.
We had moaned at times about the heat over the two days. But we did agree that it had been a fun couple of days, and that we looked forward to more such rides.
And there are already some R@SKLs asking to join the next overnight ride.
Old Roots, New Routes 