28.04.2016 Solo Mini Tour: Seremban - Sungai Pelek - Seremban

If Plan A is a no-go, proceed with Plan B. Else, proceed with Plan C.

Lemonade with extra pressing sort of thing.

the view of Sungai Sepang on board the ferry. On the right is Selangor, Negeri Sembilan on the left

I took an annual leave on a Thursday and was ready to spend that day for a Masterclass wheelbuilding session. As Murphy's Law kicked in, at midnight I was informed that it has to be postponed (yes, not cancelled. Yeay!).

I was already in no mood to go to work, so I consoled myself to resort to Plan B i.e. a 42km mini tour from Sungai Pelek to Seremban via Lukut and Siliau. To get to Sungai Pelek, I'll be taking the bus from Terminal 1 in Seremban (cycling to T1 from home).

original route:

https://goo.gl/maps/GmQevSa98Y52

I took my sweet time prepping the bike after the rest of the family went out for school. For the first time I tested the bike bag that I had bought last year after the Labis to Seremban short tour. All okay, I set out to Terminal 1 at 9.00 am from home.

I reached T1 and went straight to the ticket counter to ask for the bus schedule to Sungai Pelek. I was told that there is none. 

*blank*

Duhh... how uncharacteristic of me to not check for sure beforehand for such an important detail.

breakfast stop at Jalan Labu

Well, there's an impromptu Plan C, which is a bit crazy and unthinkable. Some sort of a gamble, but still doable. I think. While slowly pedaling out towards Jalan Labu, I thought 'hey, I've never been on Jalan Labu. This would be an adventure'. An adventure indeed. And I'm glad I did.

The very reason for the original mini tour is to get on board the infamous short ferry cruise crossing Sungai Sepang, the border of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. That's the essence of it. And it is a very, very short ride. Not much of a drama, actually. So now the route has been extended extensively, I'm getting into the 'it's the journey that matters' state of mind.

The original route would have me pedaling about 42km, and with the additional adventure of about 60km (per Strava), the total is substantially extended to about 100km. Perhaps the longest I've ever pedaled in a day!

Not much preparation was made except on the bike that morning. A simple pack-up-and-go ride. Not even a proper breakfast (remind me not to do that again next time).

At 10:00-ish, I was on Jalan Labu and stopped for breakfast as soon as I spotted an eatery. After a plate of fried rice and iced tea (my current favourite drink), I continued on and headed towards Nilai on the spanking new road of Ainsdale after getting underneath the PLUS highway. It was already hot, but not to the point of getting exhausted and dehydrated. It was an okay kind of hot.

biggest pumpkin seen the whole day

Aunty Aini's near Nilai

Jalan Labu (route 362) towards SMAPL is a nice route. Perhaps due to a weekday morning, there were not many vehicles but still there were quite a number of lorries every now and then. At a T-junction, I veered right towards Nilai (N38) and carried on until I came at another T-junction where I turned left towards Sepang on route N28. Not far from Kedai Basikal Lasak Nilai, I stopped at a fruit stall for replenishing lost minerals. A cup of cold (diluted) coconut water did some work, and I moved on.

not in Thailand

I reached Salak and turned left at a T-junction towards Sepang on route B48. By that time there were many vehicles on the road as it was already nearing lunch time. I reached Sepang town at about noon and stopped for another cup of coconut water. I gave a call to Pak Ngah of DETC Bike Kitchen at Sg Pelek, asking if I could come around and say hi. Unbeknownst to me, I thought that Sg Pelek is not far from Sepang. It is actually about 12km. Seems a short distance by car. Hehe.

nearing Sungai Pelek town

Just a little after 1:00 pm, I was already there and greeted by Pak Ngah's warm smile as always, and a few of his bikes on the ground of his backyard. Immediately he offered me a seat at the Bike Kitchen and he went inside his house. A couple of minutes later he had a jugful of cold sirap selasih on a tray for us. This was followed by two bowls of cold sagu dessert. Delicious is an understatement.

with Pak Ngah at DETC Bike Kitchen

I have always admired Pak Ngah's generosity, be it in his sharing stories or knowledge or even the simple serving of cold drinks. Thank you, Pak Ngah. I pray that Allah would bestow upon you and family good health and wealth, and many more bikes (and fishing too).

:D

one for the road - photo by Pak Ngah Ishak

At about half past two, I made a move and went out back towards Sg Pelek town for my lunch and solat. The small town and its nice masjid was quiet at that time. The weather was hot, but not too hot that I couldn't bear to go out. A little headache, yes, but not daunting.

lunch stop at Sungai Pelek town

After solat, and with the verbal instructions from Pak Ngah on how to get to the jetty, I pedaled slowly under the hot sun. There is not a single marking on the jetty. If you knew, you knew. Judging from the situation, I guess the ferry has never stopped getting back and forth with passengers since the morning. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, and I was in the ferry with two others on their motorcycles. Over at the other side there were a couple more waiting for their turn. Also there were a husband and wife with their mountain bikes, just came back from their ride in Port Dickson.

unmarked lane to the jetty

jetty on the Selangor side

ready to disembark at Negeri Sembilan

Troll on the ferry

Mel and Penny

In our short exchange, Mel told me that they moved to Sungai Pelek from their place in KL some time ago. I get acquainted with his wife Penny as well. It was a brief encounter while they embarked the ferry with their bikes; and as soon as I was about to get ready to disembark, the ferry had already made a turn to the other side.
So I stayed for another cruise to get to Negeri Sembilan and enjoyed the view of Sungai Sepang with healthy mangrove trees on either sides. Not a bad thing to have a double dose of the essence of the trip. With no extra charge.
:D

FYI

Now with the second leg of the whole thing in front of me, I started pedaling in Kampung India out to route N4 towards Chuah and moved further on to Tanah Merah. I took a right turn to route 5 to get to Lukut. Quite a  boring route and the day was getting hotter. Mel told me that Siliau is a good route, so I was really looking forward to that.

at Chuah

To be frank, I was getting a bit tired by then. What with the little headache and muscle cramp setting up, it is too easy to give up. However, I stayed dehydrated and made sure I have enough water. I stopped at a petrol station to replenish water, and get some salty chewables to aid the muscle cramp. That was in the form of Mor Far Kor. It worked, seriously. Gradually the niggling soreness died away. While the distance to Siliau got shorter, my motivation grew bigger.

At the T-junction of routes 5 and 53, I went to the left and headed to Siliau passing by Lukut town. As I get nearer to the Seremban - PD highway, the surrounding became familiar. Not boring, rather exciting. I turned into the Springhill housing estate for a change of view and hoping for lesser rolling hills. Well, there were a few but not that bad.

at Lukut towards Siliau and Seremban

Not far after exiting Bandar Springhill, I carried on riding along route 53. A quick stop just before the underpass of the Seremban - PD highway to check on my phone. It was running out of juice, so I decided to end the tracking on Strava and switched it off completely.

Very soon, I came around Siliau. And yes, the route is nice. There are many trees lining up the road. As it was already the end of the work day, the road got busier. Lorries were plenty. Buses too. I kept on pedaling steady while glancing once in a while on my side mirror assessing the traffic.

I reached Mambau, which is very familiar. My wife's late aunt's house is in Taman Kelab Tuanku. It is not far to the roundabout towards Seremban. By this time I was already feeling hungry but didn't stop for anything. The next stop would be the final point of this whole thing - home.

I passed by Hospital Tuanku Jaafar in Rahang and pedaled towards KGV. From there I went to Jalan Keliling and to Kolej MARA Seremban and got to Jalan Dato Muda Linggi (aka route 51 aka the road to Ampangan) via Jalan Penghulu Cantik. One of my favourite stretch of inner road in Seremban.

Not long after that I reached Ampangan and up the hill at Taman Bukti before concluding the 100+ km journey at 7:00 pm.

All in all, I enjoyed the ride. Simple as that. I learned a thing or two. I was on roads I haven't been on before. I finally did some things that I have wanted to do for a long time. A bonus too, for pedaling more than 100km in a day - my first. It was great.

But no, I won't do it again.
There are many more routes to be ridden on.
Kan?

Captured routes on Strava:

1. home - Terminal 1 - Sg Pelek

https://www.strava.com/activities/558874472

59.8km

2. Sg Pelek - jetty - up to Siliau (hp ran out of juice)

https://www.strava.com/activities/558968037

32.3km

Photos are in here.

Gear Calculator: Compare your next possible drivetrain

I've found a gem!

Okay, here it is.
Go to http://www.ritzelrechner.de/ and have fun.

I have been collecting data and putting them onto an excel spreadsheet and hoping that one fine day I could publish it here for your convenience. It shall be a comprehensive tool in aiding us finding the best possible drivetrain by way of comparing the gear ratio spread which would suit our riding style.

While reading this post over at Bike Rumor, I found the link above posted by bikeshop.nl in their simple comment.

*it goes without saying that it pays to read everything and explore the links to get useful information.

That 2014 post by Tyler Benedict in Bike Rumor actually came from a forum discussion at MTBR, which originally posted by Daryl Smith; a gearing table for selecting chainring for XX1 drivetrain way back in 2013.

The handy Gear Calculator is copyrighted by Dirk Feeken.

What I like most about it is the Compare two Setups bit. In the image above, I compared my current 3x9 versus 1x10 with OneUp (40T). Click here to play around with the setup.

3x9: 22/32/44T with 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34T
1x10: 34T with 11-13-16-19-21-24-28-32-36-40T

You can visually assess the gear steps and also other parameters such as the speed at a given gear ratio and cadence (90 in the above example), tire development for a single crank turn for the gear ratio and wheel/tire size, and many more display options.

What blew me away is how updated the calculator is. In its Sprockets drop down list, SRAM's new 12 speed Eagle is there as well. Listed cassettes are from 9 speed up to 12 speed. If you wanted to see how a custom sprocket setup would fare, no sweat; just drag away the unwanted cassette sprockets from the graphical display and move it out of the line-up. Pretty versatile.

Internal gears are also listed. Have a look at the 'Gearing' list. Rohloff, Pinion, Shimano Alfine, Sturmey Archer and Brompton are a few among them. There's also Singlespeed as well.

For me, this convenience is blessedly an answered prayer.
Thank you Dirk.

27.12.2015: Impromptu Touring to Hutan Lipur Ulu Bendul with Yad

This is the second impromptu touring with Yad this year. The first was in April (read it here).

Yad was supposed to come by my house to fetch some bicycle items. I threw to hime a proposition as well: how about a ride up Bukit Putus via the old road and then soak in the river at Ulu Bendul?

Seems like a plan and he agreed. As he was without his bicycle in Senawang, I offered my souped up XTC for his usage. We went out a bit later than the planned 8.00 am as I had to change the XTC clipless pedals to platforms and get my bike ready as well.

riding into the sun

the road was ours

It was Yad's first ride up Bukit Putus, and my third so far. I love the route as it is not busy with traffic nowadays, has a mild gradient up and the route is lined with greenery which also providing the shade; cool and breezy along the way. The only thing that poses a problem to cyclists is the known presence of a group of dogs nearby Starfresh Agro Park. Never go up there alone. 2 is good, 3 is even better.

It is unimaginable that such a busy road during my childhood is now a deserted recreational route. It was since the new wider multi carriage highway being commissioned that the choice of route has shifted. The old road (Route 361) would actually eventually take you to a higher elevation compared to the new highway (Jalan Kuala Pilah, Route 51). At which, is the usual starting point for hiking up Gunung Angsi.

at the gantry - standard feature of
Hutan Lipur across Negeri Sembilan

Past the highest point, we went down 2 km towards Kuala Pilah and went to Taman Rekreasi Ulu Bendul. We went straight to the gantry and on tarmac we cycled up to the campsite. There was a barrier on a bridge over the river, but we went on the side with our bikes and cycled further a bit offroad.

Yad in Taman Rekreasi Ulu Bendul

We spotted a nice area with somewhat deep section of the river and some space for our bikes. It is a bit secluded so we didn't have to worry much about security. The water was cold as expected, with plenty of shade from the big trees around. It was quiet and no other people around. I think we spent some thirty minutes soaking in the water and chatted catching up with things.

down to the water

It was about 10.30 am when we got out of the water and dried ourselves out. I brought along in my PakRak a change of clothes together with the mobile changing room - the ever versatile kain pelikat. My bum has to be dry as the Troll is with leather saddle; can't get it wet.

We took an alternative route offroad out of Ulu Bendul to the main road, which bypasses the picnic area. We road a short distance uphill before stopping at the roadside to replenish my water bottle with natural water from the mountain. After continuing about 1 km uphill to the highest point on the old road, we started our descend back to Seremban. Reached home at about 11.30 am.

From Strava, the total distance from the house to Ulu Bendul was about 15 km with some 300 m elevation climb. Average speed was 25.5 km/h with max speed of 63.4 km/h (!). Well, must be something wrong with the GPS. Definitely.

Troll in the nature

dual track out to the main road

climbing up towards the old road

free water

enjoying gravity

It was nice actually to be able to do such nature rides once in a while. And it is a big bonus that such things are accessible. Simple luxury that money can't buy.

For the next one, Jeram Toi via Bukit Tangga is quite interesting. InsyaAllah.

Enjoy your rides!

09.08.2015: Putrajaya Inter Park Ride #29

the crowd at Taman Perdana Putra

One of the places that I would like to cycle before this is Putrajaya. Touted as a cyclists friendly township, I had high expectation about the place. Moreover, there are many parks around the area which I would like to explore with my family (later on). I joined a bash with KLMBH last year in Putrajaya, but that ride is different from PIPR. PIPR is specifically bringing the riders around the parks available in Putrajaya, introducing them what's available in the vicinity. Also, Pak Adib Noh had always posted many, many beautiful photos on his fb wall on the subject of the parks in Putrajaya.

And so I participated in PIPR for the first time on their 29th edition. RM25 fee before the closing date gets you an event t-shirt and a medal (if you finish the ride), a meal with drinks, a chance to win prizes in a lucky draw and a lucky dip.

have handpump to lend, make new friends
from Seremban: Akmal, Hafiz and Firdaus

I drove from Seremban at 7:00 and reached the place of event a bit less than an hour later, ample time to get my goodie bag and get my bike ready before the event starts. I didn't expect the crowd to be big, so I was surprised that the turnout for the event is very encouraging. As this is an event designed for all walks of life, it is nice to see the mixture of participants and their bikes alike. Personally, this is a leisurely ride and a 'fun ride' event. This, was reiterated by the organiser in their pre-ride briefing. The point being, this is not a race. My kind of ride, of course.

:)

the crowd raring to go

The ride eventually started at a few minutes before 9:00 am. Positioned at about two-third of the whole crowd from the starting line, I had to wait about a minute before rolling the tires. The event started at Taman Perdana Putra (Presint 1, the big oval roundabout at the heart of Putrajaya). Going down towards Lebuh Perdana Barat, we worked out about a quarter of the roundabout. The traffic is regulated, closed and therefore restricted momentarily only to cyclists. This in part is good as there are small children in the pack as well; the traffic safety thus is something less to be concerned about.

a view of Putrajaya landmarks from Lebuh Perdana Barat

the ride is for all ages, big and small

at Presint 11

at Taman Saujana Hijau, Presint 11

The destination is Taman Saujana Hijau at Presint 11 some 8 km away, through Jalan P11a and encircling a little bit around the bottom of the park via Jalan P11. Once we reached there, we took some time to recuperate and recharge, and took photos of course. Bottled water and bananas were handed out at the checkpoint set up at the park. Taman Saujana Hijau is a nice park atop a hill, with beautiful landscape and nice walk/jogging path cordoned with wooden fence. Being there is like being in a European garden.

the view at Taman Saujana Hijau, Presint 11

the ride marshal still in Hari Raya spirit, dressed in traditional Baju Melayu

the various parks at the area

I had small chats with a few fellow cyclists while resting over there. One was from Sentul. He told me that he cycled all the way from Sentul with his son and a few others earlier that morning to get to Putrajaya. Another is a touring cyclist (with his Surly Cross Check), who introduced himself as Abang Din.

segregated bike path marred by bumps resulted from tree roots

After 10 minutes or so, we moved on rolling down towards Persiaran Putra, going along a good distance of Jalan P11and a Jalan P11b, and headed to Persiaran Persekutuan. We went along the segregated bike path along Persiaran Putra. I like and applaud the implementation of the segregated bike path. Added to it are trees lining up the path creating a natural canopy for a cool ride. However, unfortunately the trees' roots crawled under the bike path towards the road, creating multiple mini bumps all along the way. This must be the reason why cyclists shy away from using the path. There was an accident in front of me whereby a young cyclist fell and scraped his skin.

a view of the Wetlands from Persiaran Utara, with the bridge on Persiaran Persekutuan

We regrouped on the bridge at Persiaran Utara and took photos, particularly of the swans and the bridge of Persiaran Persekutuan (Taman Wetland, Presint 13). Not long after that, we continued our ride and shifted to Persiaran Persekutuan at the interchange and headed back towards the starting place at Presint 1.

I lost count of the number of hills that we went up and down. For me, on that particular day I was fit enough not to suffer any cramps, and alhamdulillah was able to climb each one of them without much difficulty. Hence, I enjoyed tremendously the whole ride. I also loved the housing township that we rode along. Nice houses, clean area and neat roads with many places are with trees providing shades.

Overall, I like the idea of the ride. It does many things in one go. It promotes healthy recreation, it tests one's fitness, it introduces the parks around Putrajaya and also familiarises the area around it. Splendid.

queueing for post-ride meal and checking the lucky dip

the finisher medal

I finished my ride, arriving at the end/start gantry at about 10:15 am and covered some 18 km in distance. I received my medal, got in the queue for the meal provided and while doing so, checked my number whether it is entitled to a prize in the lucky dip. Well, I got none, and moved on to find a spot to have my meal.

I had something else to do later in the afternoon, so I didn't wait around for long and forfeited the lucky draw. So I went down to where I parked my car and went back straight to Seremban.

Good experience, and I loved it.

25.07.2015: Bukit Putus

It was raining last night hence a scheduled charity ride with Perpatih was duly cancelled. I had an impromptu morning ride out to Bukit Putus. Partly because the weather is nice and partly because it has been quite some time since my last ride. Perhaps the other reason is I want to keep the exercise streak that I had over the week.

choose your route here

A couple of months ago I took the family for an outing at Ulu Bendul and deliberately drove up there through the old road. It is quite deserted and the lush greeneries either side of the route make the place cool and shady. Naturally I had the thought of cycling along the route.

I have cycled up to Bukit Putus before, with the gang from Perpatih during a night ride. However, it was on the new expressway, with a few hills along in between.

Otais from Senawang: Pres Jamari and Zack

En route from home, I stopped at a Petronas station to get me a bottle of isotonic drink. Bro Zack was sitting out there waiting for Pres Jamari, also heading to Bukit Putus on road bikes. I spilled out my intention to Zack and he advised me about the dogs at Bukit Putus old road. It is quite dangerous to go solo. I decided to enjoy the old road in reverse, and pedaled solo to the new expressway.

Just when I was near the junction to the old road, they caught up on me and signalled to turn right into the old road. Yeay! So we went up via the old road together.

taking a fiver for hydration

Unlike the expressway, the old road is with a mild gradient steadily going up; no flat sections. I had no problems with my heart rate nor legs, alhamdulillah. The fruit of labour from my recent runnings (and burpees, of course!).

the view from the new expressway, on the way back towards Senawang/Seremban

I enjoyed tremendously this morning's ride. One thing I noticed, though, I was quite cautious during the descends and couldn't enjoy them fully. Thanks otai-otai Jamari and Zack for the company.

We parted our ways when we reached Panchor, at the bus stop. They climbed the steep hill towards Lavender Heights while I cycled towards home but continued to Seremban Jaya to my parents' house.

the flat rear

After (a late) breakfast, I went home and concluded the morning's ride. As I reached home and took a photo of the cyclometer, my rear tire gave a loud bang and suddenly the rear gone flat. I don't know what happened, but alhamdulillah, it happened at home. Nope, I didn't replace the tube yet. Hehe.

total distance about 40km

Photos are in here.
Ride map and data of the Bukit Putus leg are here.