PCC Interstate - Day 3 - Bukit Merah to Damai Laut

Fast and Furious

Yes. I meant that. Today was supposed to be a leisurely distance (compared to previous two days), with very friendly flat stretch back to Taiping, followed with a kampung road and the Pantai Remis stretch. Peloton rolled out late at 8.00 a.m., yet still we felt our deepest sleep were disrupted when we remembered our bikes need to be savioured from the bike storage room - you know la some people will simply shoved aside people's bike to get to theirs. Though mine is an old alu steed, a beauty is still skin deep.

What happened after this was gritting experience and heart pounding that lasted with days of aching quads and calves.

No breakfast from the hotel for us, so we were on our own. As planned, Alwin and me decided to join KOTRT. We knew of lads from the group from our mountainbiking years frequenting Penang every year. Shaharin Wan (pack leader), Azmi, Shamoon, Malik to name a few. The rest, macam biasa, slowly will get to know them. The group decided to leave slightly late, as usual not to add to the congestion.

The Orange Bus Drivers (KOTRT)

Alwin and me didn't had breakfast, the first stop at roti canai right after exiting the resort was a blessing. While enjoying Troy on Astro Beyond, Shaharin started feeling restless when more cyclists passed by.

OK the fast and furious thingy started right away! Crazy bunch. Shaharin already shouting from the rear "Remember your ass infront of you! No curi tulang OK!". The single file peloton speed up to 35kph and we took turn leading the peloton every 2 minutes before open up for the next ass behind. It was the Penang KOTRT Express Bus service heading to Damai Laut.

It was hard work, but fun at the same time. When we stopped at a traffic light, Shaharin will shout again "Remember your pace line! No curi tulang!". The thought of sneaking back to curi tulang kena cancel. I was squeezing the handlebar and gritting teeth only to survive the 2 minutes. The only chance to squeeze for hydration was when I was in the middle. At times we reached 40kph! Terbaek...

We took the right turn to Kuala Sepetang and as we were about to catch up with the momentum again, the rear wheel of my front's ass blew up. It came with a huge BANG! Nyaris gugur bulu kaki or what was left of it from the high speed chase. Lucky for us, when we are riding with experience cyclists, chaos and panick was avoided. The guy slowed down without any sudden stop to the road side, which would only create domino effect if he did. I swerve to the right, avoiding him and slowed down yards away. Kalau cyclist tarak experience sure dah emergency brake, pastu campuq risau rim rosak & tak pikiaq pasal the rest at the back. Kacauuuu...

Cam whoring during punctured ass...err I mean tyre

It was a blessing in disguise. Most of us were struck lucky for the inevitable occurence, and took the opportunity for a leak :) and lots of breath. A good 5 minutes repair, and we were good to go, still with our pace line. However, the kampung road condition was pretty much...bad. Macam Paris - Roubaix la. Potholes, sharp tiny road humps and kids! We were shouting all over the place signalling the back riders for the hazards. Tak cukup tangan nak tunjuk dah kalau kiri kanan lubang. We heard later in the day, a few cyclists hit the road humps and somersaulted. Argh! Scary man...

Finally, after almost 5km in the kampung, we reached the main road again. Not quite gorgeous also, which reminds me of Batu Arang with it's corners, inclines and uneven pavement. But the peloton soared again. 38kph and the I can't reach my nails to bite it! Support crews by the roadside howled and roared as we passed by. Dah rasa macam pro-team tu! Terbaek!

At one time, Team MKH poked into the peloton and drove us nuts.  Some of us, with curry still in the blood, can't simply take it as a free ride for outsiders. Itu semangat sudah membara daaa...macha! The Orange Express Bus hit the throttle and we were wheezing and cutting through smaller groups at 42kph! Adoiii aiii... But, once we are in a big peloton like this i.e. 40 cyclists, the speed felt leisurely. I don't have to do much work, but just focus on the rooms within the peloton and no single tiny mistake.

This furious cycling lasted for almost 45 minutes which at times I felt like hours, trying to catch up when more cyclists lost their legs to the speed. I can't barely sit at my original position but flew to the back and moments later had to let them go. Argh!

Lucky me the MKH guys and girls stopped at a stall for a break and found out further ahead KOTRT stopped at a Petronas. Legs were shivering as I dismounted and complaining in disbelief to the KOTRT guys that they were doing great but crazy stuff.  Almost everyone shook their head of the feat that were done moments before. It was definitely painful but fun. I had the honor to experience it with this bunch of lunatics!

The stop was brief, and we continued again expressing the rage of the Orange Express. With that speed, we should be able to reach Swiss Garden Damai Laut in an hour. But, the heat adds torment to the burning leg muscles. Again, the 38kph speed was so adversely in harmony to our achings. Hampir nak kena kancing gigi beb! Why can't they slow down?! 35 would be just nice, but the peloton was just plain ignorance of the casualties that took place. I didn't barely turn my head to check what was left behind me, but when I let loose of the peloton, I noticed nobody was there! Lol. I guess there were easily 5 to 6 cyclists gone with the wind.

It was a lonely ride into the last 3km stretch to Swiss Garden. But the last 1km was beyond my expectation. It was a killer! Heat and rolling hills just don't match to aching body. Why must golf resort built at so secluded area with hills to climb la?!

Out if these three, of course la aku yang paling koyak....aiyak

Most of us reached Swiss Garden with a lot of HOT issues. Yes, I mean hot! And perhaps a bit of "koyak". Well, the koyak part was something we asked for. Hehe. Anyway, it was my first time at Swiss Garden. Nice place. Very solitude. Great ocean view and nice cozy rooms. We rewarded ourselves with a 20 bucks Taiping Char Kuew Teow at the hotel restaurant for lunch. Want us to cycle back outside?! No way. Checking in was a bit hassle for the whole lot, so we lazed around the lobby view deck and let the sea breeze blew us to sleep.

Simply a place to be lazy

Intertstate 2011 ended with a gala dinner at the ballroom. It was grand enough, but without any special dress code. We were tanned enough to be in a pair tux. Lol. More miggling around with new friends, watch football at the big screen and I dozed off somewhere before midnight with so many great experience to babble about. Interstate 2012? I might give it another shot.

Keluh kesah Mak Esah

Ride distance: 110km

Ride time: 3hrs 34min

Avg spd: 30.8kph

Mx spd: