Tag Archives: Sepang

To Melaka for the night

Posted on November 27, 2018 by alchemyrider

Some activities require a lot of planning. Others happen almost spontaneously. This trip to Melaka was one of the latter. The idea was mooted on the 13^th. There were few takers initially. On the 20^th there were four of us interested.

Things sped up from there. Within a couple of days, hotel rooms were booked and the ride start location and time were agreed. At 6.15am on Sunday 25^th, six of us were starting the 180km / 112 mi ride to Melaka.

Our route took us along the Maju Expressway (MEX) toward Cyberjaya. It started drizzling as we rode toward MEX. When we got onto MEX via Jalan Kampung Pandan the expressway was wet but the drizzle had stopped.

The roads got progressively wetter as we rode through Cyberjaya and on to Dengkil. Our touring saddle bags came in very useful as fenders to keep the spray from our rear wheels off our butts and backs.

We had planned to stop at the same roadside roti canai stall where we always have breakfast on rides through Dengkil. To our surprise, the stall isn’t there anymore. So we stopped at the closest mamak shop for teh tarik and roti telur.

It was still overcast when we got to Sepang. 70km / 44mi into our ride. The Shell station at Sepang is a convenient place to stop for a rest room and to raid the convenience store refrigerator.

15 minutes earlier we had ridden through Pekan Salak, where on a previous trip Liang and I had been gouged by the owner of the bike shop there. If I recall correctly we were charged RM30 / USD7.15 per inner tube. We had to buy some there because we had both already had flat tires and had used all our spare tubes.

This time none of us had a flat during the entire trip.

The weather changed between Sepang and Lukut. In less than 20km / 12mi it went from overcast and cool to sunny and hot. And very humid too, thanks to the wet roads.

When we got to the Port Dickson Waterfront it was well past 30º C / 86º F. We were looking forward to an ice cold cendol but the stall was closed. Which seemed odd for 11.15am. So we moved on to the McDonald’s. That was open but they had no fountain drinks nor ice. They had no water supply at all.

So we rode to the nearest 7-Eleven, where we were told that the entire town had been without water since Friday due to the forced shutdown of the Sungai Linggi water treatment plant. No wonder the cendol stall was closed. Residents were dependent on tankers to deliver water for cooking and bathing. The chillers at the 7-Eleven were well stocked and the air-conditioning was running full blast. It was 35º C / 95º F outside. We cooled down in the 7-Eleven for fifteen minutes.

80km / 50mi to go. We covered just over 26km / 16mi before we had to stop again to seek respite from the heat. We had reached the junction with Jalan Pasir Panjang – Kuala Linggi, where we would leave Federal Route 5 and ride along the coast. There is a stall at the junction selling fresh coconut water.

I needed that drink. We all needed a drink. We all needed thirty minutes in the shade.

5km / 3mi up the road is the Linggi river which in that neck of the woods forms the border between the states of Negri Sembilan and Melaka. That sign over Brian’s head reads Selamat Datang ke Melaka (Welcome to Melaka).

It was about 1.30pm when we crossed the bridge. We were hungry. Our planned lunch stop was at Kuala Seafood in Kuala Sungai Baru. 9km / 6mi away. Despite the heat, we got there in twenty minutes. It was past the usual lunch hour, but there was still enough food left on the buffet for us to fill our faces.

It was about 40km / 25mi from Kuala Seafood to our hotel in Melaka. We weren’t going to cover that distance all in one go. We made another 7-Eleven stop after 7km / 4mi to refill our bottles. We were going through fluid at a very rapid rate.

Our next stop was at Klebang Original Coconut Shake. This is a “must-stop” venue for hot and thirsty cyclists.

I had two of these fresh coconut water and vanilla ice cream concoctions. And got a brain freeze in the process of sucking down the first one. Which wasn’t as bad as it sounds, given the heat of the afternoon.

Revived by the coconut shakes we pedalled the last few kilometres to the Euro Rich Hotel. Once we had stowed our bikes in the storeroom near the front desk, it was time for a shower and a rest. Six and a half hours in the sun had taken it out of us. And turned parts of our bodies a few shades darker.

We met at 7.00pm for dinner. Earlier we had thought of riding to somewhere to eat, but we nixed that idea. This had been Jake’s and Martin’s longest ever ride. They had had enough of riding for one day.

Instead we wandered to Pahlawan Walk.

I got a mango juice from the stall on the right on the way to dinner, and another one on the way back to the hotel. I was probably hungry and dehydrated in equal measure.

It was an early night for all of us. Thank goodness the hotel is in a quiet part of town. Undisturbed sleep until 6.30am.

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Posted in Cycling in Malaysia and tagged Dengkil, Euro Rich Hotel, Klebang Original Coconut Shake, Kuala Seafood, Maju Expressway, Melaka, Sepang. Bookmark the permalink.

Eating Our Way to Melaka

Posted on August 21, 2017 by alchemyrider

Graphic courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Mark and I decided that it was high time to break out the Apidura saddle bags and go on an overnight bicycle trip. We chose Melaka as our destination, because it is a reasonable distance from Kuala Lumpur, the roads are generally good, and the eating along the way and in Melaka is excellent.

After some canvassing, we had a group of six. Alan and Chee Seng could not stay overnight, so their plan was to ride to Melaka, and then get to Tampin KTM station for the train back to KL. Johan S., Ridzuwan, Mark and I would spend Thursday night in Melaka.

We were all excited about the trip. Bikes and saddle bags were set up the day before, and some of us struggled to get to sleep the night before.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

We started from where I live. We were on the MEX Highway by about 6.15am. The adrenaline levels are a bit high when riding on MEX. It is a highway after all. Though at that early hour, there isn’t much traffic leaving KL, so the riding is not too fraught.

We made a quick pit stop at the Seri Kembangan R&R.

Photograph courtesy of Alan Tan

As expected, given the wet weather of the preceding days, we got rained on as we left the R&R. Fortunately the rain wasn’t heavy, and it didn’t last long. We did have wet roads until we reached Dengkil. A benefit of the Apidura saddle bag is that it extends back far enough to block the spray coming off the rear wheel. It is like riding with a rear mud guard.

Dengkil was where our first planned food stop. There is a roadside stall on the corner of Jalan Aman and Jalan Mutiara 1J. We stop there for breakfast whenever our rides take us through Dengkil.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

We had a visitor looking for handouts during breakfast.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

From the Dengkil bypass we rode along the busy Putrajaya–Cyberjaya Expressway and the Nilai – KLIA Highway before turning right onto the quieter Jalan Besar Salak at Salak Tinggi.

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Our next stop was at the Shell station in Sepang. 70km / 43.5mi done. 110km / 68mi to go. It was supposed to be a short stop for drinks and the loo, but soon after this picture was taken . . .

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

this picture was taken.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

My front tire had gone soft while we were at the Shell station. This was the culprit.

Photograph courtesy of Alan Tan

An advantage of Two-Way Fit™ rims is that the tire bead stays locked to the rim after a puncture. A flat tire doesn’t roll off the rim. A very useful quality when you get a flat while speeding down a winding descent.

The associated disadvantage of 2-Way Fit™ rims is that it is difficult to get the tire off the rim, and even more difficult to seat the tire properly when reinflating the tube. Thank goodness for the air pump at the petrol station, which generated enough air pressure to quickly seat the tire.

Happy smiles as we finally got going again.

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

We rode out of the Shell station onto Federal Route 5, which runs along the west side of Peninsular Malaysia, from Skudai in the south to Ipoh in the north.

Our intermediate destination was Cendol Azmi in Port Dickson. Which serves some of the best cendol I have ever had. Mark and I have been there a number of times. We talked up Cendol Azmi over the 25km / 15.5mi to Port Dickson.

So imagine our collective disappointment when we go to Cendol Azmi and found it closed. What a letdown!

We settled on Sukand’s Food Station, across the road from Cendol Azmi.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Chee Seng

To Sukand’s credit, their cendol was pretty good. As was the three-layer air bandung.

Photograph courtesy of Alan Tan

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

We debated having lunch in Port Dickson, but decided to hold out until we got to Kuala Sungai Baru, across the state border in Melaka. Mark and I had eaten at Kuala Seafood during previous cycling trips to Melaka. That restaurant was a highlight every time.

We stopped to buy Cokes at Pasir Panjang, about halfway between Port Dickson and Kuala Sungai Baru. We then picked up the pace over the 20km to Kuala Seafood. 2pm had come and gone, and we were hungry.

So imagine our extreme disappointment when we got to Kuala Seafood and found it closed. What a bummer!!

There weren’t many options for food. The few restaurants in the vicinity had sold out of their lunch offerings. We settled for some mediocre fried rice, just to fill out stomachs more than anything else.

We had 40km / 25mi to go to Melaka. Alan had been talking about getting coconut shakes once we got there. Melaka is known for good coconut shakes. Alan said that Klebang Original Coconut Shake was the place. Having been disappointed twice already, we made Alan call Klebang Original Coconut Shake to make sure that it was open.

It was.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

And the coconut shakes were good. Good enough for us to drink a second round of shakes.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

This place is worth visiting again.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

By the time we left Klebang Original Coconut Shake, my patched inner tube was failing. I gave it a good pump up, and Johan S., Mark, Ridzuwan and I headed to our hotel.

Alan and Chee Seng were heading back to KL that evening. They first rode to Jonker Walk and Dutch Square for obligatory tourist photographs.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Chee Seng

And a refreshing recovery beverage.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Chee Seng

The rest of us checked in to the Hallmark Crown Hotel. I had booked the hotel sight unseen. Welcome to the Internet Age! The price was right – about USD25 per night for a double occupancy room, including buffet breakfast.

We weren’t expecting much, but were pleasantly surprised when we got to our rooms. Which were clean and comfortable, and had air-conditioning and a mini-fridge which worked. Plus there was lots of hot water on the shower, and the free wifi signal was strong.

Showered and changed, we walked to the next food destination on our list. The Makko Nyonya Restaurant. Another repeat visit venue for Mark and I. Fortunately for the two of us, Makko was open!

Fried eggplant with chilli, beancurd skin rolls, cincalok omelette, chicken rendang, curry prawns with pineapple, and chendol.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

The 180km / 112mi bike ride was worth it for this meal alone.

While we were stuffing our faces at dinner, Alan and Chee Seng had made it to Tampin, and were on the KTM Komuter train back to KL. Comfortably so.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Chee Seng

Not to be outdone in the food stakes, Alan and Chee Seng had supper in KL.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Chee Seng

On Friday morning the four of us attacked the hotel buffet breakfast. An observer would have thought that we hadn’t eaten at all the night before!

Then it was out turn for tourist photographs.

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

We had, briefly, considered cycling back to KL. Riding to Tampin and taking the train seemed like a more reasonable thing to do.

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

40km / 25mi of pedalling got us to the Pulau Sebang (Tampin) KTM station.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

We loaded our bikes and ourselves into the last carriage of the train.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

Two and a bit hours later, we were at the Bank Negara KTM station in KL. It is a short ride from there to where I live.

It was lunch time, so we made a side trip first, to Santa Chapati House on Jalan Sarikei. A fitting end to our two-day adventure. It was, after all, an eating trip with some cycling thrown in for variety.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

Thank you Alan, Chee Seng, Johan S., Ridzuwan and Mark for your enjoyable company. We had a lot of laughs and good riding. To be repeated for sure.

Footnote

The graphic at the top of this post is a mashup of our coconut shakes and the logo for a anti-littering campaign which was launched by the Melaka state government in 2014. A take on the “Don’t Mess With Texas” campaign started there in 1986.

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Posted in Cycling in Malaysia and tagged Apidura, Cendol Azmi, Dengkil, Hallmark Crown Hotel, Klebang Original Coconut Shake, KTM Komuter, Kuala Seafood, Melaka, Port Dickson, Restoran Makko, Santa Chapati House, Sepang, Tampin. Bookmark the permalink.

Roadies and Fixies Cendol Tour: Melaka to Kajang

Posted on December 18, 2016 by alchemyrider

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

Our plans for an early start were scuttled by rain. We lingered over breakfast while waiting for the rain to stop.

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

We rolled out of the Fenix Inn at 9.00am. Not to immediately head north toward Port Dickson and Kajang, but to ride to the ruins of the A Famosa fortress, and to the Stadthuys. Two of the most photographed colonial buildings, the first Portuguese and the second Dutch, in Melaka.

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

Photographs snapped, we crossed the Melaka River and started our 150km / 93mi ride back to Kajang.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

We retraced our route from the day before. We also followed our schedule of stopping every 30km / 19mi or so.

The first stop came at a coconut water stand 27km / 17mi outside Melaka. Mark and I had become separated from Alvin and Liang by that point. We stopped again at the junction of Route 5 and the M142 to make sure that they didn’t miss that turn.

Riding together again, we got to Kuala Sungai Baru at 11.40am. The Kuala Seafood restaurant already had its lunch offerings on display. Everything tasted as good as it looked.

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

We lingered over lunch and drinks for an hour. It had been hot the day before, and it was already hot again. I were all dehydrated, and our bodies needed all the fluid we could take in.

The weather can change very quickly, and it did so after lunch. We had to take cover at a bus stop near Batu Ibol as a sudden cloudburst rolled by.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

The rain eased after ten minutes, so we headed back out onto the very wet road. We rode through drizzle and on wet roads all the way to Port Dickson.

We stopped at Azmi Cendol in the town centre to dry off a bit.

And for some of this.

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

And some of this.

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

We were just over halfway home. The sun came out again as we sat at Azmi Cendol. Time to reapply the SPF70. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. No punctures!

It was hot and steamy. We stopped for a much needed rest and something to drink just before the 100km / 62mi mark. Coincidentally at the 99 Speedmart in Tanah Merah where we bought Cokes and such the day before.

There are 140 meters / 460 feet of climbing in the 12km / 7.5mi between Tanah Merah and Sepang. Which was especially hard work for Alvin and Liang on their fixies. They fully deserved the stop at the Shell petrol station in Sepang.

The climbing doesn’t stop after Sepang. There is another 465 meters / 1,525 feet of elevation in the 45km / 28mi to Kajang. By the time we got to Pekan Salak we all needed to refill our bottles.

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

We needed to catch our breath one final time with 20km / 12.5mi to go. Then it was a leisurely ride past some high tech bodies: the Atomic Energy Licensing Board, the Malaysia Genome Institute, and the Malaysian Nuclear Agency.

The National University of Malaysia in Bangi is the last landmark before the right turn toward Bandar Teknologi Kajang. From there we had just 5.5km / 3.5mi to the police station where we had parked. Oh, and a final 100 meters / 328 feet of climbing, just for laughs!

It had taken us ten and a half hours to get from Melaka to Kajang. Six and a half of which were spent on our bikes. We had done the return trip in about twenty five minutes less than the outward leg the day before. Kudos to Alvin and Liang for pedalling for every second of those thirteen hours and fifteen minutes, as we covered a tad over 320 km / 199 mi over two days. Very impressive!

We closed our credit card tour with dinner at Restoran Yip Sheng, down the road from the police station. Fried rice, lemon chicken and braised beancurd.

Photograph courtesy of Alvin Lee

A tasty end to a very enjoyable two-day tour in the company of very good friends.

BCG Tour Klang – Port Dickson – Klang Day 2

Posted on September 3, 2016 by alchemyrider

The photographs are in! Thank you Johan Sopiee.

The plan for Day 2 was to roll out at about 7.00am. A few of us crept out of the hotel before dawn for breakfast at McDonald’s. Trying not to wake up the person at the front desk.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Hotel

Then it was time to put on cycling shoes (which had dried overnight after the ride through the rain), sun tan lotion, inspect our bikes, and wake up the desk clerk so we could check out.

Fikri, Izzat and I were ready to roll at the appointed hour. We discovered then that the rest of the group had opted to eat breakfast after putting on their cycling kit and checking out of the hotel.

So the three of us hit the road while the rest went to McDonald’s.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Early Breakfast

Before long we were making the left turn onto Route N4 toward Chuah. I don’t think the others were that far behind.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Fikri Kampung Chuah

By the way, despite what you see in these photographs, the national tree of Malaysia is NOT the oil palm.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Kampung Chuah Oil Palm

The climb of the day came as we approached the left turn to get back onto Route 5.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Kampung Chuah Climb

At 35km / 22mi the route curled through the small town of Sepang, before heading back toward the coast. That was the closest we would get to the KL International Airport.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Hot Day

It was 8.45am when I rode through Sepang. I was supposed to be at Morib at 10.00am, to meet up with some Flipside friends, who were riding to Morib from USJ. Morib is 45km / 27mi from Sepang. I was going to be late.

I made a short stop at the PETRONAS station in Sungai Pelek. The same one where Fikri and I stopped on the way to Port Dickson. As I remounted my bike, Izzat rode by. I chased after him and we rode together back out toward the coast.

About 8km / 5mi outside Sungai Pelek we came upon the U-turn point for the participants in the Klang Première Century Ride. That ride started and ended at the Klang Première Hotel in Bandar Botanic, a kilometer or so from where we would finish our ride.

We shared the road back to Bandar Botanic with the Klang Première riders,including some who had decided that they had ridden enough for the day.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Klang Premiere

I got to Morib at about 10.30am. Alvin, Liang and Mark were still there. I slurped down an iced Milo and an ais kacang, and enjoyed the sea breeze as we sat in the shade.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

Just as we were leaving Morib beach, Fikri rode up behind us. He had been delayed by a problem with his seat post. He might have wished he hadn’t caught up with us. Liang proceeded to set a pace between 35kph /22mph and 40kph / 25mph for the next 20km / 12mi to Telok Panglima Garang.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Flipside 02

It was midday. And hot. And the pace had been high. So a stop at Cendol Santan Sawit Mak Lang was called for. Nothing like ice cold cendol to induce a touch of brain freeze.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Cendol Brain Freeze Mark

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

Brain freeze or not, we stopped again 7km / 4mi later at a PETRONAS station for yet more cold fluid.

It is 5km from that PETRONAS station to the interchange between Jalan Klang Banting, as Route 5 is named at that point, and the KESAS Highway. Fikri and I waved goodbye to the Flipsiders as they turned right at the interchange toward USJ. The two of us crossed the KESAS flyover and rolled the final kilometer to the Hotel 99 in Bandar Botanik.

Izzat was already there. He has a great capacity for riding long distances without stopping.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Finish 03

Happily, everyone else made it to the Hotel 99 safely.

It was another excellent cycling event. Foogie produced an excellent video summary of the two days.

Many thanks to Danial, Johan, Foogie, and the other participants for making this a fun weekend.

BCG Klang - PD - Day 2 Finish 13

So when is the next BCG Tour?

Rapha Festive 500

Posted on December 29, 2014 by alchemyrider

I have not covered many kilometers in 2014. Thanks in no small part to my extended time off the bicycle. Both self-inflicted and health-inflicted.

My total mileage on 12th October 2014 was the lowest it has ever been on that date in the five years I have been cycling. That was the day of my first ride in almost four months. I rode as much as I could, and then had another month of no rides from 23rd November. Rain and weekend travel are to blame.

Graph courtesy of VeloViewer

So the Rapha Festive 500 came at the perfect time to motivate me to add to my total kilometers ridden in 2014. The challenge is to ride 500 kms between the 24^th and 31^st of December.

Rapha has partnered with Strava to keep track of riders’ mileage. No small undertaking, seeing as 46,360 cyclists are currently in the challenge.

Strava is doing a great job of displaying every participant’s current mileage, and rank overall, by country, by age and by weight. Strava is also providing additional motivation by presenting riders with ‘achievements’ as they meet interim targets.

I got the final one today.

I have ridden every day since Christmas Eve. I am putting my vacation time to good use.

Heatmap courtesy of Strava

514kms over six days. Mostly over the usual routes: Genting Sempah (2), KESAS (3) and (6), and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (4).

There were a couple of forays into new territory, starting with the first Festive 500 ride on Christmas Eve (1). Keat, Mark, Marco, Fahmi and I started with a ride to a favourite nasi lemak stop in Kampung Cempedak. But instead of following breakfast with a ride through Kampung Melayu Seri Kundang, we followed a back road toward Rawang. Here we are, happy to be at the summit of the climb along Jalan Ciku.

Photograph courtesy of Marco

The ride that took me over the 500kms target was an entirely new one. I drove my biker chick to the airport, then parked and pulled my bike out of the car. It was raining quite hard, but that didn’t stop me from riding alongside runway 2, and the new runway 3 serving KLIA 2, watching aircraft come and go in a cloud of spray.

I didn’t want to continue onto the highway serving the airports, so I doubled back along runway 3 and went to Sepang. I had fun, but would have enjoyed it more if it hadn’t been raining the entire time.

Weather permitting, I might get to 600kms by New Year’s Eve. A relatively large total by my current standards, but paltry in comparison with 1,644kms already ridden by the person leading the Festive 500. He has cycled almost 14,500kms in 2014. He must be very fit. And not have a full-time job.

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Posted in Cycling in Malaysia and tagged Genting Sempah, Guthrie Corridor Expressway, KESAS, KLIA, LCCT, Rain, Rapha Festive 500, Rawang, Sepang. Bookmark the permalink.

Old Roots, New Routes

Tag Archives: Sepang

To Melaka for the night

Eating Our Way to Melaka

Footnote

Roadies and Fixies Cendol Tour: Melaka to Kajang

BCG Tour Klang – Port Dickson – Klang Day 2

Rapha Festive 500

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