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!

Kampar Sitiawan Roundabout !

The journey has just begun after our breakfast in Kampar's 36 stalls as the locals called it. This is just after the off-roadish route that Alexander leaded us through. Everyone was still in a jovial mood. We will be taking a left for a famous " Pan Mee " that Alexander mentioned.

We finally reached the "pan mee" place and it was just an hour before noon and the place was not open for business yet! So, we took a breather from the sun and rested here. Clement even took off his socks for drying after passing through the watery route on the outskirts of Kampar.

Pan Mee is served. Not bad actually, the texture of the noodle was good. A funny addition to the locals here is, you can have cockles added to the "pan mee". YES! cockles or " See hum ".

After the meal, we had to ride in the hot afternoon sun. It's going to be a long....long....long ride. The sun was scorching. Next destination, Kampong Gajah.

Look at the blue skies and everything nice! Drawback, it's going to burn our backs! Riders was disciplined and was riding in a single file.

Almost reaching Kampong Gajah. Waiting for the group to regroup. Yes! we regroup after every half an hour.

It was a long hot ride! Resting on the banks of an irrigation canal. We have passed Kg. Gajah and crossed the Kinta River a few kilometers back. Now taking a rest here before we move on.

A kaleidoscope of our ride on the off-road section. This was the toughest part of our ride, a whole 25 kilometers of riding on gravel roads. We were lucky as there was no technical faults or punctures. Took us more than 3 hours to complete the 25 kilometers. It was not supposed to be this far but nowadays, selfish plantation owners barricades their plantations and we were cut off from the actual route.

Finally reached the villa at almost 9.00pm. This picture was taken the next morning. Was not in the mood to take pictures when we reached Sitiawan. We were riding from morning till nightfall and todays total mileage was 100 kilometers. OK, it was actually 99.97 kilometers, hahahaa! I had a puncture just after coming out to tarmac roads.

Gan bought cold beers from the mini mart was was very conveniently located just opposite the villa. That was the best beer I had for a long time.

We took our bath, rested and then walked out to a food court which was walking distance away. Had more beers and some food before we rested for the night.

For the next part.