Mountain of Mee Goreng

Day 7: Saturday, 27 April 2013 - Niah National Park (Batu Niah) to Bintulu – approximately 120km


Editor: Sorry guys, no map for day 7 ride. Home scanner/printer not working



Heather:

Last night I took a risk and left the fly off my tent so I could see the moon and be cooler through the night. Luckily there wasn’t a single drop of water. As for enjoying the moon- I was out like a light- but it was still up when my alarm went off at 5:30am. I love the early morning hours.

Once I saw an inspirational card that said (roughly): if you doubt the power of the individual you’ve never been in a tent with a mosquito. Last night Ra got a lesson in the power of the little guy. When Rahim is around I don’t need mosquito repellent because they all prefer his blood.

All the energy expenditure and skipping lunch had caught up with me. It was not easy to get going, but I knew the day would be long and hot no matter how early we started. Rahim arranged with the cafe to have breakfast ready for us at 6:30am, their usual opening time. Mohammad Bin, the manager, brought us a huge mountain of mee goreng (fried noodles). The young man helping in the cafe gave us directions for the short cut through the back of the park to the town where we could fill up our water.

Mee goring mountain for brekkie

Nothing like a cuppa in the morning to bring out RA's smile

The path was fun. It was a small cement walkway with a few wooden bridges, over grown with jungle. There were a few houses with families getting ready for the day.

Heather at the entry to the shortcut route to Niah town

We took care of our business in town and headed back on the same road we’d taken the afternoon before. Today the same slopes felt more difficult. There was a very light rain as we neared Haw Food Center or ‘the coconut place’ as we named it. Only 14km and I was asking for another coffee. Not knowing what lay ahead we packed some boiled eggs and roti kosong, with an extra 1.5 liter water bottle each.

My eyes were still puffy and I only started to wake up around the 40km into the day. Traffic was light so I enjoyed the sounds of birds and crickets while the light rain continued. Simon has been saving our lives by sending info about the route. We knew there would be food at 60km, so that was our first check point. We reached there by our target time and I was so happy-especially since I thought we were half way. There were light snack so we had our packed food and supplemented it with cold drinks and kueh lapis (a gooey cake, made of ??? It doesn’t matter, it’s yummy).  Since I’d visited the swiflets the day before, I tried Bird’s Nest Drink in a can. It tasted like sugar water, but maybe I was just too thirsty to enjoy the subtlety.

Heather buying kueh lapis

Editor:  i believe its made out of rice flour and its steamed.... that's why its gooey

From here the ride became difficult for me. The ‘coastal road’ we were on was actually 30km from the coast surrounded by palm oil plantations; palm oil on both sides of the road all day. We just had to slog it out. Anyone else considering touring here would do well to research an alternative route. The heat and monotony brought forward the mental aspect of long distance cycling. I played the ‘my favourite things game’ to keep my spirits up. And I also brought to mind all the supporters to help carry me through. Many of you I haven’t met, I’ve only seen your photos on facebook. Your support made a challenging day easier. We stopped again just 15km down the road. I thought the total for the day was 120, but the signs revealed it would be an additional 30km. We just passed the half way mark and I was physically empty.

We discussed the plan- resting every 20km for 10minutes then moving along.  From that point I made it 18km and saw shaded benches outside the entrance to a palm oil plantation. There I laid down and was asleep until I heard Ra’s clip-in shoes clicking. At that point I opened my eyes to say ‘wake me if you go’. He did, but I still didn’t budge. Eventually I did move and caught up with him 10km down the road where he had stripped to cool down and was sitting in the shade.

As I pulled in a scooter passed and Ra asked where the nearest restaurant was. He said 5km in the direction we were headed. I offered to go ahead and order the food so it would be ready when Ra arrived. I kept my hopes low because a scooter driver might estimate 5km when the actual distance is 10. This time he over estimated, and I saw the oasis built outside a construction site. I was told there were no bathrooms, so when Ra pulled in I said I would go across the highway behind a tree.  Apparently this is rude in Muslim culture, and there actually was a restroom inside the work zone. Up the hill I could tell I was in a man’s world. The security guard checked the restrooms to be sure they were clear and told me to lock the door. I appreciated the extra safety measures. On the way out I got a few compliments and whistles. Knowing my bedraggled state, these guys made me laugh out loud.

We shared some instant noodles and an omelette. I scarfed it down in the least lady like manner you could imagine. We decided to rest for an hour to let the heat pass then finish the 40km to Bintulu. In the mean time Ra asked around about budget accommodation and we chose to meet by the waterfront food stalls. Are you picking up on the theme here? Eat, ride, eat, sleep.

Because we’d waited out the heat, we were riding along with everyone coming home from work. There was a lot of friendly honking, waving, and smiles from the passing cars and vans making the last 40km pass quickly. Arriving in the cool evening we stopped for a snack and caught the sun set before scouting hotels, ending up at Siong Hing Inn for 55RM. The receptionist was excited and welcoming. While checking in he told me it was the first time he’d seen a USA passport. I think white people are rare around here. At the restaurant I felt like I was a celebrity. As soon as the food came my mind was singular. It was delicious and satisfying. Now it’s time to rest up for another day.

This is new territory for me. I’ve always rest every five days before. Tomorrow will be the 8th day in a row, but it will be short.

Ra:

152 butt busting km. To be fair, Heather and I met numerous well mannered drivers. Those big truckers slowed down to a crawl to make sure they don’t scare us off and taking their time to overtake us. Every single day,  the distance didn’t matter, the heat is just the same or like today, it got worst. What do I need to do other than sunscreen, arm sleeves and shade?

For the first time, we took our tent out. A nice experience sleeping under those stars other than those blardy mozzies sneaking in to my tent. I didn’t realise it until the next morning. Anyway, that is just small stuff. We had to deal with the rest of Ride Around Borneo for the next 50 to 60 days or so.

We got up as planned and on the dot and one week into our adventure, we are getting in the groove now.  Cleaned up, broke camp, packed, ate our breakfast and had coffee. Smooth. We were ready by 7am and thank you to the kind cafe staff who provided us cookies and free water on our way out using the short- cut he shown us. We shaved off about 8km on our way out of Niah National Park. Not much but take that Simon Sandi!

The shaded shortcut path

I was having so much fun this morning on our way out to the main junction towards Bintulu. Heather came by next to me and asked, “Would it be ok for us to do another coffee?”.  I quietly laughed as anything to do with rest and coffee, I am sold.

“No problem, let us do it”. We reached the main junction that we called “coconut cafe” at 7.55am and while Heather when in to the cafe, I approached one truck drivers to ask about our route.

“Bang, if I am heading to Bintulu from here, how far?”
He paused, inhale his ciggie, looked down on me and my bike and say, “If I drive, about 2 hour”.
“How fast you drive?” I asked.
“60-70km an hour.”

Editor's note: Bang is the local Malay slang for "bro"

I thanked him, and mentally work out the distance and rode towards Heather and the “coconut cafe”. Heather had already ordered when I entered the cafe. Efficient, I tell you this girl. I told Heather the estimated distance I worked out, was about 120km, based on the information gotten from the truck driver, and to cross check, we sent Simon Sandi a text message for information ahead and also to RAB Base Camp Manager.

We got the rest of the information like water and food stop, road conditions from Simon Sandi. Smooth. Well, the distance won’t slow me down but the heat will. We gathered from Simon that our first water stop was 60 blardy km away from where we were seated. Factor in the slopes, the heat and traffic, that would be double effort. We aimed to be at our first water stop by 11.00 am. No rushed as Simon Sandi, the dude who is attempting Borneo Tip-to-tip was there at 2pm the previous day. That was like hell to be there at 2pm, we later found out.

We moved off from “coconut cafe” at 8.30 am and we stuck together, being Sunday the road wasn’t heavy with traffic as it was a Saturday. Heather and I chatted whenever there were no vehicles behind us. We just cranked it easy at about 20km/hr. First 20km went by and we were still cranking. 30 km mark gone by and we were still at it. At 40km, I asked Heather to overtake me as her average speed was slightly faster than mine.  I saw Heather somewhere in the shade at the 50km mark, and I knew now I had the chance to get in the shade for a little while, and top up my water bottle. 50 meter before reaching her, I rode into a huge pothole! My front left pannier flew off and my rim was off-tune! Small issue, will get it fix in Bintulu. We continued and Heather when ahead, but I knew the next stop would be at Nyalau, 60km water point.  By now I am feeling the heat and my focus slackened. I wanted to share with our supporters and friends how we usually take shade from the heat and nothing better than to take a picture of it. Since Heather was way ahead, I wanted to do it on my own. I stopped alongside where it was safe, left the bike standing by a concrete post, ran up to a oil palm tree and post. 12 seconds later I realised I didn’t set up the camera!  I walked back to my bike with the thought to set the camera but when I got to my bike, I was too exhausted to do anything else.

At 10.50am, we crossed Sungei Nyalau and was so excited to see the stalls I lost focus and rode into another sets of potholes! We were at this water point for about 45 minutes. Got ourselves enough water, malay kueh and just stretching.  Our next checkpoint will be 10km out from here.  It was already scorching by now but we had no choice but to push on. About 40 minutes later, we were at 70km and the last water checkpoint and we load up two more big bottles of mineral water as we have 80km to go into Bintulu. The time now,12.30 scorching pm. Simon Sandi who was ahead of us by a day have been sending me messages on this route and one message read like this, “38km to Bintulu. We are pushing on, just to get out of this sawit (oil palm) hell”. Coming from Simon, I am scared to know.

Jambu Air (Rose Apple) that's sold at the store

We established our ride SOP again before we moved off from our last stop. Rest next 20km or where there is shade near 20km. We have 80km to go to get to Bintulu.

Heather went ahead of me and I started cranking. How do you motivate yourself to ride in this sort of heat day in day out? If I ever find an answer, I will write it down in our report, but for now swearing works for me.

On the 17km mark from where we last stopped, I saw what looked like the shape of a bicycle in the shade but with that, an odd young local boy with it. As I got closer, I saw the bike was just like Heather’s but on it sat a local boy. “Where is Heather?” Came to my mind. As I got closer, I saw Heather lying down on the bench with the boy playing with his phone. I went in quickly, let Heather know I was there (team practice of basic communication which we will talk about more later on), took a quick 5 minutes break and moved on. It was still scorching but there wasn’t much option. To stay in the shade or move slowly. 10km out, I was knocked out by the heat and needed to get under the shade quickly. I spotted the exact same ‘pondok’ where Heather was last seen and took it. I took all my clothes off and took a towel bath to cool down. Just to be sure. 20 minutes later, Heather show up and and a local on a bike happened to just come out of the plantation. A quick question, where can we find food and was pointed to the right direction. “Di sana, 5 km aje” (translation: “there, only 5km away”). He was spot on but it was actually nearer, only 3km but I’m not complaining.

We arrived at the construction road side stall at 3pm,had two instant noodles with omelette on the side. Since it was still scorching and Bintulu is now 40km away, we made the team decision to leave at 4pm. We would ride another hour in the blardy sun and another hour to cool down into Bintulu. While waiting for the time to move, Heather got the laptop out while I brewed coffee and sourced for information ahead of us. “Banyak bukit, ada hotel murah...”. Loosely translated, lots of hills in  front and we can find cheap hotel in Bintulu.

At 4pm, Heather still on the laptop. I quickly pack my stove and told her I will see her up on the hill immediately after the stall. It was a long climb up and when I checked my side view mirror, Heather was in my sights, I gave her a “thumbs up” and I was in shocked to see how quickly she overcame that hill. From here on, we sort of raced towards Bintulu. Beautiful rolling hills with less effort and I was totally enjoying it while Heather was fast behind me. 14km later, I got caught in a long climb and Heather slowly overtook me. Still, we rode as fast as we could into Bintulu. We didn’t get out of our saddle until we reached the town centre, 40km later.

Heather working on laptop at construction site canteen

I was too tired. What I needed first at Bintulu was to eat and drink. We called it an early night and I was asleep by ten at night.

Looking forward to be doing our recovery ride into Tatau on Sunday, our 8th day!