The Great Outdoors

Kampar Sitiawan Roundabout - III  (final)

The days begins and we all know we have made a tough decision to ride back to Kampar. We decided to start as early as possible and we will stop for breakfast on the way. After leaving the key on the sewing machine of the care taker, we left, riding southwards towards Teluk Intan. we won't be riding the off - road stretch again!

The riders! 

Looking fresh in the morning. We were hitting 23km/h to 28km/h for the first few hours to take advantage of the cool crisp air. We also decided to do a pit stop and regroup after every 10 kilometers.

The ride was getting hotter and hotter, passing through paddy fields.

A fellow cyclist from Felcra saw us and wave us to stop. He wanted to have a chat with us and also take some photo of us. We obliged and also we made some new friends. Irene also took the opportunity to hitch a ride to the sugar cane stop that we planned.

Our stop! Fresh sugar cane juice. We also chatted with the stall owner whom we had chatted before on our way to Sitiawan the previous day. Our new friend also accompanied Irene while waiting for us to arrive. We rode in shortly.

We then took a longer but with more shade route through the plantations and kampongs. The stall owner gave us the directions. He was right, the route was much more pleasing and relaxing. Fruits were in season again. Seems the kampong here grows a lot of lime trees.

We then reach the bridge spanning the Kinta river. While we were here, Lilian's bike fell over and broke the rear derailleur hanger. A quick fix was needed and the only solution was to shorten the chain and choose a ratio to run on single speed.

For the next 40 kilometers, Lilian has to ride on single speed but thank goodness, there are only a few hills. After repairing we carried on, passing Kampong Gajah without stopping. The sun was getting higher and it is already hitting our backs.

Somewhere along Kampong Timah, I had a gastric bout and we stopped at a small village hiding under some shade while Lilian went into the local village store to get me some milk. The rest was discussing about short cuts which I don't think existed, unless you cut a new route! Hahaahaa. A few kilometers further , we finally had to stop for lunch as hunger is setting in. We can't wait to find a better eatery. Anyway the eatery was good. Gan says the mee rebus was nice and the chicken rice that I had was quite OK.

How far more ???

We arrived at a small village called Tronoh Mines and this is a symbolic signal that our destination is near. Hooray! The small village is so peaceful, can hardly see anyone. Are they having their siesta at this hour?

KookKeong having a photo taken at the sign. He even saw a RM100 note on the grass. who might have left it there? After picking it up, he was riding with his eyes set to the ground, hoping for more, hahahahaa!

Our last pit stop before hitting Kampar again. We are still in a jovial mood, especially after chatting about KK's treasure bounty. Still some distance to go but shouold be OK, we have done so far already.

Finally, we rode into Kampar and we have clocked 214 kilometers in all. The first day we done 100 kilometers and today it was 95 kilometers. The rest were all done in Sitiawan itself. we must pat ourselves for being able to do this and especially to Gan CG who was riding a 16 inches folding bikes and also Pakkong for which this is his maiden major ride out of town. It was mentally tough, especially on the 25 kilometers off-road stretch.

Finally, after taking our bath and rest, ice kacang

AND

what else, Kampar's famous clay pot chicken rice!