Oldies are goodies

Sat 30 Apr - 2 May

To Sedili Besar, Johore, Malaysia, 312 km. Old friends (old among my bike pals anyway) on old bicycles on old familiar roads, cycling to a new place (for me anyway) is the way to fond memories.

Day 1: Far from the maddening crowd
It's been four months since I last toured with non-roadies. Today's ride has mountain bikers, touring bike riders and one solitary roadie, all from Bike Aid. It feels good to be the lead rider for a change, compared to cycling with the roadies. We're on a pincer movement towards Sedili Besar, which I've never been to. Eight of us head across the causeway. Another eight go by sea to Tanjong Pengelih then ride north.

Sedili Besar is close, yet so far from the maddening crowd. Away from city lights, the stars seem brighter and nearer. At the Sedili Kechil ferry point, a little girl cradles a little kitten in her hands. In a coffeeshop hangs a photo of the King (royalty, not Elvis). All over the little village, people sit and chat. This is the life.

Also special are the bikers and their bikes; among my group are three retro steel steeds: a Heron, a Bridgestone XO3 and my Iron Horse (of course). As if to protest my treasonous thoughts about changing my bike, two inner tubes blow, including one of my spares. It's a protest with some heart, as the blowout happens after I reach the Le Club hotel.

Day 2: Sleep, then speed

The seafarers head for home in early morning, while I sleep over 10 hours to catch up on a few weeks' sleep deficit, then have a long, languid breakfast. Three of us cycle to Tanjong Lemang while the other five bask at Jason's Bay. RA pretends his Heron is a single-speed and cranks up a mean pace. I too, ride at my own pace and admire DH with his canvas shoes and semi-slick tyres, powering away. They get by with no lunch, while I stuff my face - again.

Day 3: On the road with roadies
I cycle at my own pace, comforted by the thought there are others on the road. As I stand and wait, some familiar faces streak by - roadies. I cycle with the stragglers part of the way, then rejoin the others.

Tech note I've been thinking about kicking roadie butt by getting a road bike, but this ride reinforces my decision to stick to a mountain bike. It's more versatile. And I outpace some roadies anyway even when fully loaded, as two roadies ride at sub-roadie speed in the scorching heat to Tanjong Pengelih for the boat ride home.

This ride is done with a reset bike computer. It seems to have "hung" just like some !@#$ desktop computer and I wipe out the hard-earned 20,000 km on it as I reset it to 0.