A friendly Kuala Gua ah hia shoots this photo for all of us
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| From Kuala Gula |
13 Crankies started the journey at 7am from Simpang Ampat, in front of Oz Cycle shop. They were Alberto, Barrack, John, Rocco, Senyum, KY, tua chiak, Wooi & wife (let’s call her flower), Lim, Alex, Moy & Long. There were several firsts in this trip. Alex has just got his bike from Oz the night before and this would be his first long distant trip with us. It was the rare occasion where we had a lady rider with us. For the very first time, we had a support car, in the form of Alberto’s car. We later find this support car to be important and useful. The weather was nice at such early hours and we leisurely cruised at around 30 km/h. We followed the number 1 federal road, passing Sungai Bakap and Nibong Tebal. Not far from Nibong Tebal, we took a right turn into the road that would lead us all the way to Kuala Gula. The road was really nice to ride on- there were very few vehicles, very straight and flat with nearly no potholes to avoid. The only thing that we did need some maneuvers was to avoid some water trapped on the road following a downpour few hours before. Coupled with the cooling morning breeze, the crankies sped ahead, leaving behind Wooi who was on a ‘pato’ ride with Flower and Alex. After passing Tanjung Piandang, a fishing village famous for its Big Head Prawn, some fast crankies max up their speed again at 35km/h. They even speed up the majestic bridge that span the river Kurau at Kuala Kurau. We made a brief stop after the bridge, at the edge of an oil palm plantation, which made a perfect place to answer the call of nature. As soon as Wooi and Flower caught up, we continued our journey. With roughly only 10km to reach Kuala Gula, the fast crankies speed above 35 km/h again.
Crankies’ first support car, driven by Halim, a cranky on fasting.
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| From Kuala Gula |
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| From Kuala Gula |
Saplings of mangrove tree. Albert said he wanna plant one at home. We can chart this as his birthday gift in future
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| From Kuala Gula |
Wooi and Flower can’t stop ‘pato’. Here they are ‘mei mu chuan qing ’ – passing message using eyes sight
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| From Kuala Gula |
We reached Kuala Gula at 9am. The locals were just starting to lay out black sheet on the roadside for making dried prawns. We followed a dirt road that ran along a mangrove swamp. We didn’t manage to see any chicks, but we saw some locals catching fishes. We took some photos, and with the help from friendly local ah hia, decided that we would try to had some famous local food. The search for food was a short one, but it leaded us through the single track road town (well, single track for car). Wooden fisherman style house lined both sides of the road, with some of them providing a roof across the road, kind of special which I had never seen in other fishing village. We didn’t manage to sample the famous local food (crab mee hoon) but the place where we ate did offer some nice food (char kuey teow, kuey teow teng and fried eggs). The place doesn’t had sign board and was at the junction that leads towards the small but beautifully decorated roundabout at the village.
Ah hia giving us direction
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| From Kuala Gula |
And we cruise along the single road village with roof spanning the road, in search of food
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| From Kuala Gula |
A scene of houses that built over water in Kuala Gula. Gunung Hijau of Taiping can be seen far away
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| From Kuala Gula |
A beautifully ornated roadabout with small roadside market
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| From Kuala Gula |
Local catch
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| From Kuala Gula |
This local store serves some good Kuey Teow
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| From Kuala Gula |
yummy
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| From Kuala Gula |
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| From Kuala Gula |
Rocco: Kuey teow is good source of energy for me to lead the pack later
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| From Kuala Gula |
The sun started to shine and we quickly amass to start our journey back. We started at 25 km/h cruising speed but that didn’t last long. Soon we were on 31 km/h, leading mostly by Wooi, who has saved up lots energy during his dating ride with Flower (who decided to continue her journey on support car). Our support vehicles started to showcase its important role, picking up some riders down with cramp along the way. Somewhere after Kuala Kurau, we met Alex, whom we thought had abandoned the journey earlier. He was picked up by our support car as well. As we raced through another small township, we were amazed + relieved that our support car personnels had bought us 100-Plus and waited for us by the roadside, just like how a checkpoint in a Jamboree would be. Recharged by the isotonic drinks, we continued to speed away at 31 km/h. However, the distant started to show its effect on more of us. At 90 km , Senyum started to lag due to leg cramp, only manage to catch along at 27 km/h for the rest of the journey. At Nibong Tebal, barrack was also down with cramp and changed with some riders on the support car. John was waiting for Senyum and helped Barrack, and missed his chance to speed along with the rest of the pack, who started to speed again for the last leg of the journey. Despite these minor incidents, we eventually reached Oz cycle shop safe and sound at around 12.30pm, covering 108 km for the entire trip, with Rocco being the first to reach the finish point. The gang was indebted with the support vehicle team for their great help and was looking forward for the forthcoming long distance trip : 150 km Kulim-Tanjung Dawai
Alberto crossing the majestic bridge connects Kuala Kurau with Bagan Seberang and Kuala Kurau at the other side of the river
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| From Kuala Gula |
Yeah, we are gonna resume our journey after Tua Chiak’s tyre puncture at Tanjung Piandang
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| From Kuala Gula |
Our pit stop with free flow 100 Plus at final CP. Toast for our support crews
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| From Kuala Gula |
Total recorded distance, 104.54km
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| From Kuala Gula |
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