Cycling in Asia

Well this was the first AUDAX rice of 2010 and the first ever for Audrey and Kim.  This was a 200km ride into Malaysia which I thought would be fairly easy given that I had just done the 600km ride a few months ago.  Well…..I thought anyway.  It was great to have Winston, Vicki,  Bransby, Kelly, Ed, David Pan, Lundy, Matt and the whole host of regulars out for this ride.

We started the day as per usual with Dave Lundberg meeting me at my place at 5am for the spin over to Longhouse where the actual ride begins.  Dave had packed all the pockets of his jersey full of his passport, food, spare bike parts, and other items however he realized that he had forgotten his camera by the time he arrived at my place.  Knowing how important photos are to Dave, we quickly sped 5km over to his place to get his camera so he could capture some pictures of the ride. This ride was going to be a good one and you need pictures for Facebook and other similar places.

Lundy and I made it to Longhouse in time and filled out our AUDAX cards.  There were a lot of familiar faces in the gang of riders and it was destined to be a good ride.   We started pedaling at 6:15am and within minutes Jean-Francois had a broken wheel.  JFT headed home with a band of riders to change his wheel and to catch up at a later time.  The group pressed on and headed to the checkpoint at Woodlands.  They later caught up to us and in some cases passed us later in the day.

After crossing into Woodlands we all regrouped at the Shell station as per usual.  Given that the group size was so big, it was inevitable that we would split into smaller groups based on speed and other factors.  The highway section is the first part of this ride which is not popular at all.  Think about speeding down a major highway that is littered with holes and other fun items and hammering at a pace of 35-40km/hour.  Add drivers who all think they are professional car racers and trucks that are massive and under repaired and you quickly raise your heart rate due to fear!  If you fall, you most likely will die.  Anyhow we all survived the stretch of highway for around 30km before we did the crazy U turn.  This U turn is across the major crazy highway and tough to navigate.  Anyhow I successfully lead around 35 riders across the highway to do the U turn only to realize that it was not part of the route that day! OOOPS.  Note to Self:  read instructions and map as each AUDAX ride can vary.  After we crossed back the dangerous highway we got back on the real route and headed up to Highway 94.  This route took us by the scenic village of Kulai on the way to the more hilly Kulai section of this ride.  Today was special…we would do the hills twice.  No problem…this is only 200km….right?

We regrouped at the Kulai hilly section where Andrew was kindly waiting and guiding straggling riders in the right direction.  This section had just been repaved so it was great for riding.  It was also a section of road where we were not fighting with big trucks and cars for space so it was a breather from the rest of the ride.

This ride was supposed to be easy however the persistent winds and blasting hot temperatures really kicked up the difficulty. This was by far the hottest day I have ever ridden in Malaysia.

Want a popsicle?

The funniest thing happened when I was waiting at the top of the hill for Kim to finish.  I had my HD video camera so I liked to get some shots of people climbing the big hills.  While filming, this guy popped out of the jungle on his motorbike and said ‘Ice Cream’?   It was blasting hot at that time and I was thinking ‘wow, where the hell did this guy come from’.  I was also thinking ‘yes, we want some ice cream’.  Rene grabbed 3 Ringgit from his wallet and bought three awesome ice cream bars for Kim, Rene and myself.  It was the best ice cream I have had.   I have never seen an ice cream guy in Malaysia let alone in the middle of the jungle!  By this time the heat was really starting to impact people and as you can see from the video below that Kim took little time in accepting and eating that ice cream

Support is massively important on these types of rides.  No matter who you are, there are always times where you can blow up and need some moral and other support (read popsicles).  Without mentioning any names (see video), some riders needed some support to make it through the grueling 200km (well actually 210km) ride.  Thanks Rene and Gareth this troubled rider made it through!

Overall it was a great way to launch the AUDAX 2010 year. While there were many groups and routes followed, everybody made it back safely and soundly.  Even those who hated the ride given the heat and wind finally felt great as we all regrouped at Longhouse around 5:30pm.  This was yet another epic ride!  Thanks.  Congrats AUDREY and KIM on crushing this ride.