Always a first time

2-3 Feb, Telok Sengat, Johor, Malaysia, 183 km. It's a race against time. To be there at 7am, to be a little late so I don't have to wait like before. I lose the race again, they are late: someone had a tyre puncture but no tyre levers.

Traffic past the causeway is light at 0730. I've cycled thousands of km in Malaysia, but never have I been to Kong Kong and Telok Sengat until today. I like the quiet roads and picturesque villages; the kind of place where Mas Selamat would hide out. We even get to do some offroad!

Our hotel room at Telok Sengat is so big, I can cycle into it and in it. We wash up, wash clothes and dry it in the sun on a clothesline. They dry before sunset. We sit and shoot the breeze, and see the sun go down.

We compare our sunset photos. I realise I was so focused on the ball of fire, I failed to see the rest of the sky beautifully lit up. That's what happens when you don't see the big picture. The picture isn't complete without perspective.

Nightstop: Rumah Tumpangan Pang Ah Ngang

We're up before dawn. The town, which is so small, is still asleep. We cycle out of town for breakfast. There are some slopes on the way to Sungei Rengit. I surge up and down them. Bike leader tells me that since cycling on a mountain bike isn't enough a handicap, they'll chip in and buy me a trailer so I can haul all their stuff.

I catch up on sleep on the ferry. When we make landfall, it is pouring. The rain, combined with my speed, stings. Especially when it hits my lips. Public transport drivers bully me on the roads. Water streams down the roadside. The wind is so strong, the spray doesn't shoot vertically up from my tyres but curves to the side.

This is the maiden overseas trip for my downhill rims.