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Published: January 26th 2006
Ready to ride and roll.....
Ready to ride and roll.....The GAA Allstars Hurling game in the Singapore Polo Grounds....surreal to say the least. But great fun, booze and free food! Followed by an Irish bar....you just can't get away from them!
Departed Singapore Monday for the short hop across the causeway border into Malaysia. Decided to take it easy on the first leg of my mammoth journey and stay in Johor Bahru, located just the other side of the causeway. It was my first ride on my mountain bike with both slicks and fully laden panniers so it took a bit of getting used to. So only 28km's were clocked on the first day's ride.
Tuesday, I was headed for the not so beautiful coastal town of Bata Pahat. What I thought would be a 100km max six hour trip turned into a 142km undulating ten hour drama. Everything that could possibly go wrong did. I got sunburnt (forgot my calves!), a puncture and torrential monsoon rain to round off the day. It can only get better from here, right?
Another lie in meant that I had a late start on Wednesday morning. Today's destination was the historical town of Melaka. A combination of tiredness from the
Breakfast - How many could you handle?
Breakfast - How many could you handle? previous day's hugh ride and a mixture of heat exhaustion and sunstroke meant that the 115km ride was a struggle. That was until I discovered the instant energy qualities of a simple glass (or rather large bottle) of coke. "Mental note to always have a bottle to hand when riding long distances in the future."
I've finally taken a break from the saddle! After three days it was badly needed. I've relaxed and rewound and feel ready to face the shorter distance of 100km's tomorrow. Lessons learnt so far: pre-book accommodation so that you don't have to struggle to get to a destination before five! And decide in advance the location of a restaurant you can eat at on your arrival.
Next stop Seremban and then on to the mighty Kuala Lumpur (KL)....
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John Walsh
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Happy Chinese New Year
I swear I didn't use google! January 29, 2006 is the first day of the Chinese new year. There are three ways to name a Chinese year: By an animal (like a mscot). This year is known as the Year of the Dog. There are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are re-cycled every 12 years. More. By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch). The new year is the year of bingxu. In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years. 2006 is the 7th year in the current 60-year cycle. It is Year 4703 by the Chinese calendar.