 |
| Rainforest everywhere |
I left Penang the previous day, later than I intended, but
happy to do a morning school visit and a bit of sight seeing around
Georgetown. However, I didn’t get
as far as I intended, but found a simple hotel in a small town at the start of
the East-West road across the north of Malaysia. I knew I had mountains to cross the following day in order
to reach the East side of the country, but since I haven’t done a lot of
climbing recently, I forgot what positive elevation feels like. Really, I haven’t done any serious
climbing since northern Vietnam and Laos and I think my legs are out of shape
when it comes to mountainous terrain. Two days prior I climbed 13 kilometers up
to 900 meters from sea level to the highest point in Langkawi. It was short and
steep, but doable.
I didn’t do my research on the climb that awaited me to go
East. Naively, I knew there were mountains,
and thought, how bad can they be,….I’m no longer in northern Vietnam!?!?! Google
Maps showed 177 kilometers from where I was staying to the next “big” town with
a hotel. People had told me there
was a nice resort somewhere in between, but definitely not one that fit in my
budget price range. My plan was to
stop and camp on the side of the road, either by finding a gas station or rest
stop to put up my tent, or asking a family. It wasn’t my intention to ride all the way through, I
thought that was impossible although the idea lingered in my head the entire
day.
I set out early in the morning. The sun rises here in Malaysia at about 7:30 and sets twelve
hours later. In reality, that
makes for about 10 hours of riding time, if I needed them all, but with about
five and a half or six, I usually call it a day. I should have known after the first 15 kilometers, I was in
for a difficult climb. The road
went up constantly, at a steady 7 or 8% from the first kilometer. My average calculations of about 20
kilometers in an hour was not going to be accurate with this terrain, so I went
down to about 15 kilometers an hour to gauge my progress. I stopped to have breakfast at the
first town I found and happened to witness some sort of Islamic parade going
through town. It lifted my spirits
after the first section of climbing and off I went again. The climbing subsided and turned into
rolling terrain, which I gladly welcomed.
The second town was another 40 kilometers down the road. Again, a pit stop with plenty of
options for food. It made me
wonder just how few services I would actually find on the road, there seemed to
be plenty?
 |
| Random, a local parade going through town entertained me for breakfast |
 |
| Too bad they didn't march by my side the whole day |
I got back on my bike and continued to pedal, entering a
national park. The road went up,
so did the temperatures, and my legs just kept going. I was in the middle of an immense rainforest. It sounded like I was in one of those
stores that plays the CD with all the bird calls and jungle sounds to relax
their customers. There was every
shade of green around me you could imagine, from short grass and shrubs to
banana trees and mangroves, up to really tall trees shooting high above in the
canopy. I should have stopped more
often to take pictures, but sometimes it is harder to get started afterwards
when you have an uphill awaiting! Pedaling and pedaling, I reached the resort
that was in the middle of a huge lake in the park. At this point it was a little after 1pm and I was about 75
kilometers into my route. Was I
really going to stop this early and pay the steep prices at this resort (later
I found out this resort was rather cheap, wish I knew that earlier)? Of course not, that wouldn’t be very Melissalike to stop so early in the day, so I kept pedaling,
accepting the fact that I would probably end up camping. The idea of making it to Jeli, the town
on the other side of the national park was in the back of my mind, but I still
thought it was out of the question as my destination for the night.
 |
| Awas is caution, with an exclamation, well,....even more! |
I should have stopped at the resort at least for some food,
because 5 kilometers down the road my stomach started growling and there was no
food around. By now, I was
starting to over heat although I had plenty of water to drink. It was about 38 Celsius, and I was
going up with constant slopes anywhere from 8 to 13%. I was taken completely off guard by these mountains. I had underestimated the climb and
thought nothing could be as tough as what I had been up in the Ha Giang region
of Vietnam. I tried to use that as
motivation to encourage myself, but it didn’t make the terrain any easier. I even got plenty of honks from cars
and truck drivers, but their support made no difference, the mountains were
getting the best of me!
 |
| It would have made my day to actually see an elephant crossing |
As the day went on, I could start understanding the road
signs in Malay. My worst enemy
became the sign that informed me a passing lane was coming soon. For a cyclist this means, caution,
major climb ahead! “Awas” and
caution signs were everywhere for the sharp turns, narrow shoulders, and steep
grades. There were also crossing
signs to warn for elephants and anteaters. I didn’t see an elephant, but I did spot a few unique road
kill, one an anteater and the other a crocodile. Both were enough to make me question the wild camping
option, not to mention the amount of monkeys I could see playing in the trees
on the side of the road.
Luckily I saw a water hose on the side of a road at a truck
pull off. There were two trucks
washing down their vehicles. I used the water to wash down myself jumping right
under the hose as if it were a cold-water shower. Delightful! I
asked the drivers the distance to the next restaurant and was finally filled
with optimism when they told me it was only 5 kilometers up the road. I made it to that restaurant and
couldn’t stop drinking. It
reminded me of my days touring with Ed, when we had about 3 drinks apiece on
the table. I downed a can of
juice, a liter of water, an iced tea, and a new fascinating sweet syrup and
milk drink. I got some sticky
banana rice for energy did some quick planning. Looking back on it, I probably didn’t have enough oxygen
flowing to my brain to make a rational choice. It was 3:30pm, I had cycled 100 kilometers and the owner of
the restaurant told me the road went up for another 20 km and then down for
40km,….and there was another 15km to account for in there somewhere. If I could do the 20 km in 2 hours, I
would have a little over an hour of downhill, which meant I would arrive in
Jeli as the sun set.
 |
| discovering new beverages along the way |
I try to blame it on the oxygen, but I don’t really know
what possessed me to make the decision to keep riding. I suppose I wanted a bit
of down time to myself, and if I camped at a restaurant or behind the house of
a local, I would be in constant company and have to socialize. I wasn’t in the mood. Wild camping was out of the question as
there was no place next to the road unless I penetrated the thick rainforest
filled with all sorts of jungle creatures. No way!
Cycling to Jeli it was, another 70 kilometers to go! The road continued to go up and up for
almost 20 km. Every time I saw a
passing lane sign I got frustrated, yet every time I came across a little hut
where a family lived, I discarded the idea to camp. I’m stubborn, I know!
I was soon going down, but unfortunately it wasn’t a true downhill as I
imagined. After every 5 kilometers
down, it went back up hill until finally I reached a much-needed long
continuous downhill of about 30 kilometers. However, the hours of daylight were coming to an end. It was about 6:30pm but the dense
vegetation of the rainforest made it feel later. Now I was determined to make it to Jeli! I kept an eye out for a hotel as I came
out of the rainforest and passed through small villages, but there didn’t seem
to be any. I pulled over to put on
all my lights and continued cycling.
I began counting down the kilometers to Jeli and it
continued to get darker and darker.
Luckily drivers here are used to small vehicles with little light, as
motor scooters are frequent on the shoulder of the road at all hours of the
day. I continued to get a
few honks, although at this time of day I think they were warning me rather
than encouraging me. I made it to
the turn off for Jeli and had about 4 kilometers to go. I never really came across an actual
town. I could see a few signs for
hotels, but they were still 8 or 10 kilometers ahead, further than the town
itself. I couldn’t make sense of
where my “saviour” town actually was.
I passed a fire station and almost pulled over on the verge of tears to
ask them if I could camp behind their station, but didn’t. I did pull over to ask a man for a
hotel, but when he tried to initiate small talk, I got impatient and rode off,
something I would NEVER do had I not just had the longest day on my bike!
 |
| Clouds rolled in as it started to get dark |
Here I had made it to Jeli, it was 8pm, and I couldn’t
actually find the center of town or a hotel. With tears in my eyes, I pulled over at a grocery store to
ask the clerk for a hotel. She
pointed around the corner. I
went around the corner and saw nothing.
I went back to her and asked again. This time a customer must have realized how desperate I was
and walked me over to the guesthouse.
It was right next door, but it was closed. There happened to be another 200 meters away, and he guided
me there. This one was open. It was a bit sketchy with tinted
windows and advertised as a 24 hour hotel, but for tonight, it would have to
do.
I had pushed myself to my limits and I couldn’t walk another
10 meters. I was done….completely
destroyed! I wheeled my bike in my
room and thought that if I didn’t go get food before I showered, I wouldn’t
make it out again. My punishment
was the fact that no restaurants were open in this odd “ghost” town. At the mini-market I found crackers and
tuna fish, and called that dinner.
Oddly I wasn’t hungry,….my appetite wouldn’t come back until tomorrow
morning when I woke up and visited the local market. The ride had made me nauseous. I had done too much, something I will hardly ever admit: 177
kilometers, 2,500 meters of climbing, and just shy of 11 hours on my bike. I’m not proud about this ride, that is
why I have to make this vow public!
Three weeks ago I did set out intentionally to see just how
far I could ride in one day on fairly flat terrain. I needed a challenge and I wanted to change things up for a
day. I was inspired and motivated
to do a loong ride crossing into Thailand from Battambang, Cambodia. There were plenty of towns along the
way in case I needed to stop early.
This was a fun challenge.
Yesterday was different, it was more out of need than desire and never
again to be repeated, especially with mountainous terrain! 100 to 110 kilometers is ideal with
fairly flat terrain. 140 if I
really have to,….but NEVER, will I ever ride 177 kilometers in one day with 35
kg of weight strapped to my bike on a road with limited services and lots of
climbing, it just isn’t fun! So
there, I said it out loud, you have to hold me to this! You are responsible.....
Oh, so there is just one day coming up in March when I’ll
have to modify this vow. I’ll be in Australia and doing a Gran Fondo race with
some Thomson Bike Tour clients. However, this doesn’t really count because I
will ditch the weight but still have the racks on my touring bike,…..what a
sight that will be!
No comments:
Post a Comment