Taiping Or Bust!
KOTRTpit view by Chief ROADIE Ride – “Taiping Or Bust!”
Date : 18-May-08
Time : 7.45am
Route : Kulim – Serdang – Selama – <pit stop> – Kubu Gajah – Batu Kurau – Kemunting – Taiping – <lunch> – Kemunting – Batu Kurau – Kg Yaman – Kubu Gajah – Selama – <pit stop> – Serdang – Kulim
Distance : 185.38km
Average Speed : 29.5km/h
Total Saddle Time : 6hr 16 mins
KOTRT Bearers : Adrian, Azmi, ChenPION, Malik, Moon, KOMPang & Rin
KOTRT Support Driver : Beh “Change of plans!” ChenPION informed me over the phone. Due to the long weekend and lack of accommodation logistics in Lumut saw a change of our Sunday ride destination to…Taiping! Yikes, Taiping is no better than Lumut! Talk about getting off the frying pan only to drop into the boiling water! Either way, Lumut or Taiping, I made sure we have “insurance” for the ride! Beh has agreed to be our support driver. Now, having a support driver/vehicle on a long ride somehow gives everyone peace of mind allowing us to stay focused on the ride itself! Ok, with Beh secured, my next move was to CONvince the rest of the crew to go along for the ride! I must admit it came as a surprise when Moon voluntarily offered to join the ride without any coaching or persuasion. With Moon in tow, getting Pang was a push over! By Fri evening, we have The Magnificent Seven from KOTRT; Adrian, self, ChenPION, Malik, Moon, Pang and Rin going for the ride with Beh as our life support! Derek had to pass as he had prior plans in Banding. ST opted to stay back in Penang to lead the mountie ride for our KOTRT newbies. Sunday morning, I convoyed with Rin over to the mainland. We passed KOMPang when we were on the bridge. Our morning drive was pleasant and civil up till the traffic light turn off towards Lunas from the highway! Someone had the cheek to nudge his Escape in front of my pick-up and forced his way in when the traffic lights changed! Hmm…someone lamented to me, Penangnites are the friendliest and nicest people in M’isa but NEVER put them behind a queue or a steering wheel! That’s when the Ugly Penangnite takes over! Anyway, I was not going to allow this cheeky fellow get away with it. When the traffic lights turned green, I just put the pedal to the metal and…the Escape was history! As they say, it’s the Indian and not the arrow! Heh-heh-heh…you know who you are! After we parked our cars, I noticed someone warming up on a roller! Wow! The only time I ever saw such a device in use was before the start of a race but never before on a weekend ride! I was updated by the guys this is the young mustang who recently joined the Sun ride. He also has a very supportive dad who follows the peloton by car. The father greeted and chatted with us. As usual, Kulim Lee’s bark broke the tranquil morning at the Jabatan Perhutanan car park! We gathered around while he briefed us of the days’ route. Our crew was in jovial mood probably confident with the knowledge that should anything go wrong, we have Beh to support us and provide “evacuation” if it came to that! We rolled out of the car park and the pace was pretty civil which was to my liking but not for long though! We hardly covered 15 kilometers when the pace picked up! Oh no, here we go! I have hardly warmed up when the young mustang galloped away and gave the front pack a run for their testosterones worth. Soon, we were doing 40 over km/h! At that speed, our peloton broke into two groups with the tail enders in hot pursuit not wanting the gap to grow any further! The way the front guys were going I wondered if they realized we still had a long way to go! Thankfully, Kulim Lee lashed out his whip and reeled the wild bunch in! We were one peloton again. Phew! We were blessed with overcast sky above our heads as the peloton steadily advanced towards Taiping. The KOTRT crew were looking forward to the Halal Hainan dishes in Yut San restaurant and sipping Teh Candu later at the local mamak restaurant. Alas! We were disappointed on both counts! Both shops were closed and we had to settle for Nasi Padang at the local food court. The group agreed on a half hour lunch break and to regroup in front of Public Bank for our return trip. Lunch was a quick affair and our half hour was up. We regrouped with the rest and we were on the move again. We passed by Lakeview and soon after; we were greeted by a gentle climb. Still full from lunch, we lazily trudged up the hill. It wasn’t long though before the food settled down and the pace picked up again! The peloton soon thinned out when we hit a series of gentle climbs. The second half of the ride was taking its toll on those who “pushed” themselves with the fast and furious pack earlier on the way to Taiping. The sky may be overcast with the occasional breeze but it was still humid! It felt like we were riding for a very long time before Beh (on a Klein bike) indicated to me we were about 5 kilometers to the Petronas station in Selama, our final rest stop. When we got there, we literally swarmed the place! There were riders everywhere! Some seek refuge inside the air-conditioned area while some just slumped on the side walks! What a welcome break it was! I guess the station owner never had such brisk business in his grocery section! Only 40 km more to go! Huh? Only? Anyway, like it or not, we’ve come this far, we have to complete the ride. It was excellent team work as everyone, well almost everyone (more of this later!) took turns to pull the peloton. However, those who were too tired had to drop out and went at their own pace. Surprisingly, towards the last 20 km or so, the guys would somehow find their second wind and give it all they’ve got! Perhaps this is part and parcel of cyclists’ competitive nature? It was as if there were a bevy of curvaceous hot babes waiting back at the car park to garland and smother the winners! It was close to 4.00pm when we got back to the car park! With all our crew safely back, we rested at the coffee stall while waiting for the Noodle Soup stall across to open for business. Rin persuaded the helper to call in his boss to open the stall earlier for us! Boy, were we famished! After a good helping of keuy teow and bee hun soup we were ready to go home! It has been ages since I last rode for such a long distance. I’m just glad we completed the ride without any incident and we were still in good spirits right to the end. We had lots of laugh thanks to Kulim Lee and the zany antics of the crew ie. Pang provided lots of ENTERtainment and Moon, well he MOONed Adrian! For a better description, look up our pic gallery! Before I wrap my ride-up; - The ride was hard on the riders but we are in much better shape compared to the others! Why? At every stop we made, our lifeline Beh was ready waiting with chilled drinks, plenty of mineral water and his cheerful smile to raise our spirits! Say what you may like but having a good support driver makes a whole world of a difference to the condition and mind set of our crew! So, A BIG THANK YOU to Beh, you have our gratitude! - To Kulim Lee and the folks at MKH, THANK YOU for organizing this ride. As usual, Kulim Lee aka Optimus Prime as we so fondly call him does more than his fair share of work pulling the peloton, looking out for the safety and well being of everyone. For the uninitiated if you “misbehave” whilst in the peloton, be prepared for some cycling shock as he will not hesitate to “whip” you good! Call him loud, call him whatever you like but this gentle giant has my deep respect and admiration. - I have to add that Harun redeemed himself today as he really put in great effort to pull the limping pack home! - To Moon...ta-daah! Drum roll please! Not only did he complete the ride; all 185.38 km of it, he did it sans his trademark stomping or grimacing! SYABAS Moon! Heh-heh-heh…as an additional bonus, he even came in ahead of many others! Is this the new and improved Moon? - Of course there were the usual chiak thau riders (well, you know who you are!) who just unsportingly cowered behind the peloton, conserving their energy while the hard working folks pull the peloton and towards the end, our chaik thau friend(s) will smugly breakaway leaving behind the poor folks who did all the work! I’m glad majority of the riders aren’t like that! - Okay, before the angry mob release the screeching stukas and do a blitzkrieg on me I do understand and accept this is a pretty competitive sport. Of course some would say to each their own, it’s natural selection, the strong would prevail, the weak would drop and all that! However, let’s be sporting, put in our fair bit to work in the peloton and help the weaker riders so that in the end it’s the fellowship that pulls people to join the ride! Now, isn’t this THE kind of spirit we want to foster and inculcate in the sport?
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