Summary Of Kota Tinggi Ride on 17th Oct 09 (Saturday)

Total Distance: 120km (Woodlands 888-KT Waterfall-Woodlands 888)
Average Speed: 30km/h (20km/hr home run)

Riders:
1. George (Ride Captain)
2. Noor (Sweeper)
3. CK
4. Keith
5. Mann
6. Fadhil
7. Lawrence
8. Suhaimi
9. Cheemeng
10. Faizal
11. Amir
12. Uncle Yang
13. Nasir
14. Khai
15. Abg Ali
16. Wak Shariff
17. Wak Tarzan
18. Kenny

6am - Meet-up at Woodlands 888. We welcomed 2 new riders to our group, Kenny & Amir.

6.30am - Ride kick-off. Cleared S'pore & M'sian immigration checkpoints & headed
straight to a kopi shop opposite Plangi Plaza for breakfast.

7am - Reached breakfast destination. While having breakfast, some of us were telling our past KT rides experience to the new riders. These made the new riders very eager & excited to proceed with the impending journey.

8am - Ride to KT proceed. Ride Captain George, suggested to have a non-stop ride to KT town which is about 40km away from JB & all of us agreed to it. This was an unusual arrangement because usually we will have a pit stop at a petrol kiosk in Ulu Tiram, midway to KT. Traffic was fine & the weather too. As usual, ride went smoothly with some ups & down terrain along the JB stretch.

During the ride on the hills of Ulu Tiram, an unfortunate event happened to one of our riders. Faizal skidded onto the middle of the road after rubbing wheels with Wak Tarzan. Luckily no serious bodily injuries to Faizal, only abraisons on arms & legs. He was able to continue the ride to KT without any problems despite his minor injuries.

For some of the 1st timers in the group ride to KT, it was quite an experience climbing the intimidating hills of Ulu Tiram.

9.30am - The last group of riders (CK, Mann, Kenny & Noor) reached Kota Tinggi town. We proceed to a makan stall for some rest & refreshments.

10.15am - Proceed our ride to KT waterfall about 13km away from KT town. We had a relax ride to the destination, enjoying the sceneries on both sides of the roads.

10.45am - Reached KT waterfall & the group settle down under a shelter near to the waterfall. After about 45min of TCSS session & a group photo taken, we decided to hit back to KT town for lunch.

12pm - The group had lunch at KT town before hitting the home run. During this time, Abg Ali was feeling very unwell. This was not his usual self but he decided to continue the ride on home run.

1.30pm - After a lengthy lunch hour, we proceed our journey home. We rode under a sweltering heat & fatique got the better of us. These made the home run very torturing & some of the riders got leg cramps while climbing up the rolling hills of Ulu Tiram. With the assistance from fellow riders, these setbacks was easily overcome, even though these slowed down the group tremendously.

3.30pm - The last group of riders (Abg Ali, Keith, Noor & Mann) reached pitstop at petrol kiosk in Ulu Tiram after about 2hrs of 20km ride under the sweltering heat. By then due to his poor condition plus the unbearable weather, Abg Ali decided to proceed his journey to JB by cab.

3.45pm - We proceed the home run to JB minus Abg Ali. It was another 20km of torturing ride. Along the JB stretch, Amir got a huge nail pierced through one of his tires. The damage was unrepairable & he proceed his journey to JB in a cab too.

5pm - The last group of riders (Faizal, Kenny, Khai, Noor & Mann) reached Plangi Plaza. Uncle Yang, Cheemeng, George, Amir & Fadhil were waiting for us in one of the makan shop. However some of the riders who reached the destination earlier decided to proceed the final leg of the home run to Singapore before the last group arrived. We were totally drained out & a chilling Coke never tasted so good.

5.45pm - The 10 of us continue with the final leg of the home run, after a well deserved rest at Plangi Plaza.

6.15pm - Cleared Singapore checkpoint & bid farewell to each other. Even with a damaged tire, Amir managed to reached Singapore safely too. Home Sweet Home...!!!

Overall the trip was a memorable one, especially for the 1st timers despite the unbearable heat. Hope the next group ride to Malaysia, the weather will be kind to us.

Lastly on behalf of the participating riders, special thanks to George who organised this great trip & Noor who did a good job as the sweeper... & also to everyone who helped in one way or another during the journey.

EVERY RIDE TELLS A STORY...!!!

allow me to share my experience.

woke up early and checked my bike.

tire pressure? 140 psi, checked
chain? lubed
water bottle? filled
brake, shifters and dees? checked

that's it, i am ready to roll. great to see familiar and new faces at 888 - all decked out. ck livestrong, tarzan black cervelo, amir and faizal volkswagen and more. rolled from 888 towards immigration and traffic was very minimal especially motorbike lanes. cleared singapore custom and crossed the causeway. some of the gratings in the middle of the lane are running parallel to the road, so got to be careful. guess the road designers have never ridden a bike before.

stopped at pelangi coffee shop and ordered teh si and 2 telur bawang prata. that was a mistake actually, why? read on.

after a short breakfast, we rolled towards kota tinggi. wak shariff, lawrence, faizal and i immediately spinned away like theres no tomorrow. hitting speed of about 40 - 45 km/h. at the base of first flyover, faizal disappeared? found out later he had crashed whilst trying to avoid an obstacle. bruised knees and elbow.

3 of us continued and not long after, i got a stitch. immediately i slowed down to about 30 and trying to do control breathing and quick massage. stitch wouldnt go away. rolling hills made it worse. push push push i told myself. 10 km and the pain went away which was great but by this time, i was riding alone.

sun, rolling hills, dust and carbon monoxide made the ride 'fun'. finally i saw the sign - kota tinggi turn left. YEAH! few more kilometres to go and true enough, i saw wak shariff and lawrence waited patiently at traffic light junction. i came in third with an average speed of 34 km/h.

the rest of the guys rolled in soon after and we headed for the nearest coffee shop for a quick bite. rustic and very 70's feeling. only in johor can you experience such thing.

off to kota tinggi resort. didnt see the water fall itself - instead we saw the entrance and small 'river' the size of a longkang. had some watermelon, juiciest and sweetest. thank god i didnt see how the vendor cut and prepared the watermelon. a little bit of sight seeing, saw dogs cats and teh tarik river. then a slow ride to the same coffee shop for lunch. more 100 plus and maggi soup. delicious. everything tastes good when you are hungry and thirsty.

finally we rolled towards petrol kiosk at ulu tiram. only 20 km but what a 20 km ride.

sun was scorching. heat coming off from the tarmac was melting your rubber. sweating from every pores. you are pedalling hard but theheadwind pushed you back - uphill at only 17 km/h? as soon as you reached the top of the hill, guess what, more hills ahead. and this went on forever.

legs felt like noodle. weary. dry mouth. finally, saw an oasis. the petrol kiosk! yeah again. parked my bike and immediately headed for the cooler. grabbed 100 plus and downing it almost immediately. wak shariff, lawrence and nasir were already there and their faces were faces in 'agony'. everyone suffered - well maybe wak shariff was still breathing easy. respect!

came in fourth. average speed ? not worth mentioning.

rest of the guys rolled in except ali who decided to continue towards pelangi.

next stop, pelangi. i told myself the faster i pedal, the faster i will reach pelangi and the more i get to rest. so there i was pedaling away. spinning when going uphill, pushing when downhill, maintaining when on the flats. surprising the ride got better and better. i was finding my rhythm. heat combined with dust were unbearable but i just focused on my cycling and the road ahead. push push push.

finally i saw something familiar from a distance - pink coloured building. PELANGI! suddenly a taxi honked at me. a quick glance and i saw ali in a cab. his colnago bike stuffed in the boot. what happened? guess the heat plus lack of sleep must have gotten to him. we reached pelangi almost about the same time.

went to 7/11 to buy more 100 plus to quench the thirst. what a feeling as i gulped down the icy cold 100 plus.

lawrence, wak shariff and keith rolled in followed closely by nasir.

decided not wait any longer and headed for home sweet home. woodlands singapore here i come. as soon as i reached home, enjoyed a cold shower!

will i ride to KT again? DEFINITELY!

it's a shame couldnt join u guys this time .....glad u had fun. looking forward to joining the group for such trips in future !

I think i wan to apply for permanent sweeper post..