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Published: November 9th 2007
Nearly There...
10 Months, 13,500 miles, 22 countries later... we stand, burnt, bleached, bony, and dare I say - brave! We stuck together despite what the world could throw at us. Now: THE FINALE...Day 298, 25th March
Melaka - Muar - Batu Pahat
We awoke at around seven, or was it eight, and went for a slap up breakfast dowstairs. This was the day that we would travel again together as one group, after 6 weeks apart. We packed our panniers, loaded our bikes, and - there was an amazing amount of arsing about before we set off just after eleven on our final leg…
We had people from the hostel taking photos and waving us off as we left, it felt somewhat strange to me, I was just a guy on a bike, people at home don’t do this! Our route took us past the old part of town and onto route number 5 which ran south-east out of the city. It wasn’t long before Rory got a punture and we had to stop for drinks. Our bikes have become decrepid in these last months. They have been battered to fuck! My bike is held together with 16 different sized hose-clamps, 2 six-inch nails, a piece of iron bar found on the road, the saddle has been welded several times, strips of rubber are glued on the outside of the
We ride again...
...as a team. The four of us that set out from England all that time ago. Still no word of Stephane... bald tyres, and bits of plastic container line the tyres between the actual tyre and inner-tube! Rory arsed around repairing his tyre and I noticle than Scott was becoming irritable being in a group again after so much freedom and independence cycling alone - I felt it a little too. One could say that up until Thailand we’d been on a kind of probationary period together. But now we were responsible and worldly-wise enough to be on our own. We could look after ourselves - and our stories had proved that when dangers threaten, we kick shit and defend ourselves! And now, being in a group again was putting certain restrictions on us again, like being under the control of your parents again…
It was a strange feeling having to think of others and to check every now and then that everyone was cycling together in the group. Roma did well too, well, she’s cycled a lot before and is quite an outdoor sort of person anyway. Route 5 was busy in parts and kept close to the coast, although we only saw the sea once today. We left Melaka state near Muar, and entered Johor State where there
C'mon Tobes...
...that's cheating Dude! was a huge rickshaw at the boundary sign which we all climbed over for photos.
By 5.30pm, we had made it to Batu Pahat where we checked into the cheap (R12 per person) and tidy Sentosa Hostel. A sign! We are heading for the southern most part of the Asian continent - Sentosa in Singapore! After dinner we discussed our final days cycling together as a group and decided we’d do the 70-odd miles to Johor Baharu tomorrow and stay at the listed ‘Footloose Hostel’. Then the following morning we could be certain of the time that we would be crossing the causeway in Singapore for the ‘welcoming party’ which I was becoming somewhat wary of - what had Rory and Toby been arranging? I washed my stinking clothes before going to bed pretty early…
Total Miles: 13515.03 Todays Miles: 63.71 Average speed: 13.4 Time on bike: 4:46
Day 299, 26th March
Batu Pahat - Yong Peng - Johor Bahru
After having a strange dream about breaking into a lighthouse and being caught in the keeper’s bed…actually being awoken by Scott and getting all confused, thinking that he was the keeper and flailing my
Traditional Houses
Melaka State was home to the traditional-style house we'd not seen up to now. arms at him…!?! Anyway, I slept very well, showered, and by nine we were ready to leave.
We had decided to head for the motorway together on Rory’s advice, “I’ve cycled to KL on the motorway and it’s safe”, he said. This was the last big day together and we took the wrong turn onto the bloody motorway which put an extra 10 miles on the trip! Once on the motorway we noticed signs that warned “NO BIKES”, but we ignored it and pressed on right past a road-toll checkpoint. It was really easy cycling actually. Pleasant and not at all stressful. There was smooth gradients, very little traffic, and a good clean and wide shoulder to cycle on. Either side of the motorway were palm plantations and small hills. It was hot, very hot, and we took a break at every possible chance to get water and cool off. As we were standing next to a huge lamp-post at a service area, I noticed something strange. Actually, it was something that I couldn’t see which was strange - this 100-foot tall lam-post, had no shadow! Weird? Then I looked up and saw why. For the first time I
Road Widening
Maybe next time we come there will be a shoulder to cycle on? noticed the sun was directly above us in the sky! That was why it was so bloody hot! “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” (and one crazy American)…
Rory had two more punctures today and Scott had one of his derailieur wheels break up which had to be replaced. Worth noting here is that the cheap derailieur Scott had bought from a Tesco supermarket in Slovakia for peanuts was still holding up after over 10,000 miles!
As we neared Johor the sky became more cloudier and quite dramatic. I think this may be something to do with the ocean currents on each side of the Malay peninsula meeting at the confluence of Singapore? Singapore still seemed a dream away until we saw our first motorway sign for our final destination…it read like a dream - SINGAPURA 54km. We stopped and took a group photo. We carried on and Toby began to feel rough, hanging back and complaining of bad guts. With about 10 miles to Johor we left him behind, gave him directions to the hostel, and told him to take it slowly to the hostel. Roma was horrified that we could do this to a friend and it was
Arriving in JB
Near our hostel in Johor Baharu where we spent the last night in Malaysia. difficult to convince her we’d done it loads of times before with each other - it was part of the ‘toughening-up’ process. And we were all okay about this and accepted it…
The great ‘North to South Expressway’ ended about 5 miles short of the city centre at junction 257. From then on it was a busy 3-lane highway through the town on wet roads, it had been raining heavy and there were massive warm puddles along the roadside - we didn’t mind being splashed and soaked. Once over the railway line, we were in the confusing city centre trying to follow the signs for SINGAPURA, and ended up on a busy one-way street. Eventually, we were on the right road going past the railway station. The road split a few hundred yards further on. Directly on the left was the IMIGRESEN - the Malaysian immigration before the causeway into Singapore. We took the turning right…
…just around the corner we saw the sight we’d been waiting almost a year to see… the Straits of Johor, and beyond…..SINGAPORE.
We could see the busy causeway and the huge Woodlands Immigration checkpoint on the other side. We could see trees and other buildings. I was feeling great! A real feeling of “YES, I’ve made it”! I relished the view, I bathed in the feeling, pride ebbed and flowed in my body - my skinny little legs had brought me all the way here from England. Only my skinny little legs. I looked down at my scarred shins, my bony knees, and felt proud of them! I hated sport at school, I had hated my hopeless legs when I played football, I could never score a goal with those stupid legs. But now - a new admiration came, a…
“ANDY”! The guys snapped me out of my trance and we headed off to find the hostel. The Footloose Homestay was located about a mile away in a quiet suburb. Mr Chow was expecting us and welcomed us to his house with a nice cup of tea. We had done 90 miles today and were all tired and some. After freshing up a bit we went for a meal at a nearby café for Nasi Goreng and iced-lemon tea. On the way back to the hostel we met a tired and lost Toby on the forecourt of an ESSO petrol station as we were buying some junk food (crisps), he then followed us back to the hostel. We all felt a twinge of guilt for leaving him, until he told us then in great detail about his arse-explosions on the motorway every mile or so! Hmmm!
Later on at the hostel, we had a call from John, a guy who Rory has been dealing with in Singapore over the internet regarding Media-Whoredness. Apparently, we’ll be met at 10.30 tomorrow morning just before the causeway by John, with a TV crew! It seems all very exciting and I’m asking myself if I really want this. Would I rather have stayed with Stephane and kept things low key? I’m actually a bit nervous about what Rory has actually been arranging with Tobes?
I was tired and went off to my bedroom to be alone. I munched on my crisps and read a Viz Magazine I’d found. As I lay there my mind began to drift and I began to think about the last 10 months on the road… It’s been a great trip. I could have never imagined how fantastic it would have been at the start. There have been so many crazy stories written down in this journal (and others I dare not put down on paper), real-life trials and tribulations. But, we made it - all in one piece. I remember the night before we set out in England that we talked about the real possibility that one of us would be seriously injured, or even killed, on this trip - and that we would honour that death, whoever it would be. It was real morbid, I know. But we had to prepare for the worst. Fortunately, nothing serious happened, and tonight, we are all in one piece under one roof. Thank God.
Tomorrow, therefore, is the final home-run. Our 300th day on the road. Four of us will cross the causeway into Singapore - except Stephane, we just hope he’s safe and well wherever he is……
Total Miles: 13606.45 Todays Miles: 91.41 Average speed: 14.4 Time on bike: 6:19
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jaxw17
jackie waring
I am gob smacked
Now it's coming to an end I don't know what to say. i can only imagine having achieved what you have . In fact if any one had told me before reading these blogs that people had cycled to Singapore from the uk i woul have said that they were mad. John you have to start another blog following this even if it is about your every day life. I love the way you write. Jackie (Jax)