After day 7’s butt breaking ride from Batu Niah to Bintulu, day 8 was planned to be an easy ride to prepare myself for Kuching, about 620km away. Though we have 6 days to reach Kuching, I was told it was going to be a very tough ride. Simon Sandi, who is ahead of me, was doing his best to keep me updated daily, either at night or first thing in the morning. I can’t thank him enough. On paper, I am on track to be in Kuching by next weekend if there were no major dramas with my bike or my health. So far it has been good.
I woke up as usual at 5.30am on day 8. I stayed in a cheap hotel and planned to get some laundry done and get stuff sorted. The first thing I did was to take out the stove and get the coffee going, then finish up some writing.
The planned ride was going to be short, between 60 to 70km. I was concerned with the heat as, I was still getting used to it. I am now better with getting everything together and out of the hotel after a one year of break. Like a celebrity, the friendly hotel staff requested for a photo, I was happy to oblige.
I left the hotel at 7.30am. First stop, to the water top-up vending machine not far from the hotel - 10 cents a litre. A good deal I must say. Next, Sunday breakfast, toast and half boiled egg by the waterfront (it is a river with locals commuting across to the other side of the river). Over breakfast, I received information from Simon Sandi on my day’s route.
Simon’s message: “Nothing for water or food on your route today”.
My reply: “Thank you”.
Day 8 brekkie
I packed extra food and Heather ran to a corner shop to get bananas and “Limau madu” (Honey Chinese oranges). Just before leaving Bintulu town, I stopped to confirm our route out of town, just to be sure, as the Bintulu roads were a little confusing. I found a nice local man directing us to use the old road back where we came from and then onwards. We would then connect the “highway” that will bring us towards Sibu, our day’s checkpoint. I hated the highway as it reminded me of everything that was moving fast, hot and the endless hilly roads. Up until now, Heather and I were still searching for that blardy perfect coastal road. But then again, going to the beach was not the culture here in Sarawak, except for fishing and I don’t see why people here would do anything to attract tourist or even backpackers to visit the beach, not to mention cycling tourist. In Thailand, you can ride anywhere along the coast and stop whenever you wanted and felt like you were on a holiday. Here in Borneo, so far in Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak, there wasn’t any of it. I think it is sad. Maybe I am wrong but from the information I got from my own local contact, I was even asked not to bother going to the beach as we would be disappointed as only oil palm plantation will welcome us. Yes, blardy oil palm plantations. I don’t know what their obsession with that is. Oh, I remember now, money!
Heather goin to get bananas for the day
Right about 8km out of Bintulu, I saw the junction and I signalled my intention to turn right. From where I stopped for the traffic to turn to our favour, I saw our first Sunday morning slope. I came alongside Heather and told her to move ahead and established a rest point, usually 20 km from where we started. We made the turn, Heather slowed down before stopping and from my side view mirror, I could see she was setting up her sound system. I went and hit the slope, it was a long climb, so cranked slowly. Heather caught up and overtook me. Phew, a Sunday morning climb.
“Here we go again. Day 8 and the slopes looked like they were not going away...”
Heather flew in front coming down on our first slope with me right behind her to stay as close as possible. The four months of training and tours she did before Ride Around Borneo did her good. I could not imagine anyone who come to ride in Borneo without training or at least cycling regularly with load. It was that tough. Well, I was warned by none other than Mr Simon Sandi. The endless slopes were enough to slow you down, and the heat could fry your brains.
Could the island of Borneo be a destination for cycling tourist? After 8 days of riding, I must say unlikely that Borneo will take off as one of the world’s great bike touring destinations. Why? From my casual observations and being on the road myself, there are several factors that contributed to making the island a turn off for bicycle tourists, at least from my point of view. Few roads have shoulders other than the road in and near the cities, roads were crowded with trucks though the truck drivers were well mannered and always giving us way, but some of would drive very fast. On some stretch, roads were in various states of disrepair, with long sections reverting to dirt or potholed, especially very near the entrance of the plantations. I rode into those potholes on day 7! And of course the tropical heat, humidity, and sun could be merciless. It starts getting hot around 8 am and would last up to 4 or 5 pm. But to test your mental and endurance, come ride in Borneo. These are from what I have experienced so far. This might change of course. I never know.
At the 26km mark, I saw Heather on the right side of the road, 20 meters inside at some local home with a ready drink stall. I was glad to see that she was there or else I would have just flown down the slope and back up fighting the next slope. The water break gave me some reprieve from the blardy heat. We ordered 2 ‘milo-peng’ (iced milo). Heather was having fun taking photos of the stall owner riding her bike around.
After 30 minutes of our standard rest time (longer might mean we will need to warm up again to take on the terrain ahead), we suited up and as usual, Heather moved up front. We established our next rest point and off we went. Time now was 10.30 am. 1km out, I did a quick stop, wet my towel and hang it around my neck. I looked up and Heather was on top of the slope in front. A little bit far up for me to chase her. I took my time behind doing 18km/hr. Most of the time, the computer was showing 14km/hr whenever I was climbing. In comparison on my first 2 days, I was doing well actually. I just needed to be more patient before I got my fitness back and hopefully peak before Kalimantan.
I stopped after a fast ride down a long steady slope at the 40km mark. Heather was still ahead and the next thing I did was to drop her a message, “km 40 taking shade and break”. Our short messaging system. On adventure rides like this, communication was vital. Every bit of information helps. I just took a quick 5 minutes break to wet my towel some more, top-up my water from the reserve and quickly got out on the road again. What a recovery ride. Well, that was what I signed up for.
I have a love hate relationship with the sun. I love it as that will prevent me from getting wet and I hate it because times like this, I just felt it was too much. Too cool myself down, I usually would look for a small running water or stream along the road...I saw what looked like a small steady river on my left, very near to a longhouse and a young couple walking towards it. I could not say no to this sort of thing, like jumping in the river to cool myself down. I found the entry point to the longhouse and the path the young couple took. I stopped and dismount from my bike and leaned it against a timber power supply post. I released my handlebar bag to bring it along with me to the river. I couldn’t find the young couple but the river look just too good for me to walk away. I place by bag on a fallen log, took off my shoes and top. Just before I jumped in, I remembered a friend from Kuching, Reky Boss telling me to be careful about jumping in a river in Sarawak as there are crocodiles! I changed my mind immediately, put everything back on and walked back to my bike feeling dejected, and like I was going to die of heat exhaustion. I took out my reserve water, drank as much as I could and set to chase Heather upfront.
Heather sent a message informing me that she was chilling at the 57 km mark and I was only at the 50km marker when I received the message. 7 km sound very easy on paper, I know. It took me closed to about 30 minutes to cover that 7km, which that included a toilet break at a Petronas petrol station just outside Tatau town.
We met at the pre-arranged point and had lunch. A quick simple lunch before Heather went off to look for a computer shop to fix the laptop, and I went to look for a cheap place to stay. I needed the refreshment before the next 560 km stretch towards Kuching. I didn’t sleep well that night.
Day 9: Monday, 29 Apr 2013 - Tatau to Selangau
I woke up angry and confused. Who was the guy who kept knocking on the door very early in the morning? Heather only got back to the room at 1.45am and immediately after her return, the knock came fast and furious. Instinctively I thought of protecting the both of us, got out of bed and pull out my knife and my head torch. Only in emergencies like this that my training in the army will kick in and mentally I was ready to take on the guy if he breaks into our room.
What was Heather doing up till that hour? Drinking with some local dude and in return the guy asking for something? I don’t know the answer. I asked Heather who was the guy and the answer I got was, “I don’t know, I didn’t open the door. It didn’t really matter...”
I got everything packed and I knew I was going to start the day real bad. The pouring rain didn’t help either. It went on when we got down preparing our bikes. I waited until about 9.30am when the rain started slowing down, and the thought of taking advantage of the cool weather was just too much to resist.
Waiting for the rain to stop to leave Tatau
Monday and we have 87 km to get to Selangau. I think by now you would have figured out how to estimate the distance and timing if you were reading Ride Around Borneo’s report regularly. It’s not straight forward kind of riding from point A to Point B. There would be photo stops, water breaks, stopping to chat with the locals and also unforeseen circumstances. I set off at 9.45am, I estimated to reach Selangau by 4.30pm. The bike felt good as I had adjusted the height of my seat post after a week of slight twinges in my left calf. I saw the wrong marking when I put the bike together at Borneo Beach House in Kota Kinabalu. I was back to enjoying the ride and what more with the rain today, it was a cooling day after 7 days of riding in the ‘Borneo furnace’.
I quickly reach the 20 km mark and stop for a short break. Sent Heather a quick message, ”Just reached 1st rest point slightly over 20km outside Tatau…super cool weather”. Time check, 11am and by 11.30, I was at the 30 km marker and dropped Heather another quick message. Just when I thought everything was going as perfectly as I had wanted, I hit a bad section of the road, gravel strewn road and a kilometre later, a mental guy threw rocks at me. When Simon Sandi was here a day before, I was told the same mental guy was waving at him instead. I knew why. Instinctively, I whipped out my phone and sent Heather another message, “Bad bad road at 31km. Crazy guy on the left throwing rocks. Careful.” And I got and instant reply from H, “Resting at 28, found your hat”.
I’ve been thinking where I left my hat as I will need it if the sun came up later on. I was worried as I was bad at handling the heat. The hat has been doing the sheltering the past 8 days. I was glad Heather found it.
After the bad road, there was a long climb and today I didn’t mind it at all and reaching the top, I was met by one lorry driver and his attendant offering me bananas and a stick of cigarette. I quit smoking sometime back but once in a while, I don’t mind. I thanked the 2 nice gentlemen, pushed my bike up a small hill away from the traffic and drop Heather another message informing her where I was. Though I started late because of the rain, I was doing a fast ride today with such a beautiful weather. I stopped along the way to sms chat with Simon Sandi, took some photos and I met an interesting Iban couple that I had to stop and chat with them or I would regret it. Before leaving, I requested for a photo and I got what I wanted. Today was the most beautiful day in Borneo so far for me. I wished everyday was like this until the end of Ride Around Borneo.
Bad stretch of road from Tatau to Selangau
Heather and I caught up with me at the 57km mark for lunch and we stop here for an hour. I took off at 2pm as we had about 30 odd more km to go. A slow ride to Selangau as the sun was out, not scorching but I also wanted to enjoy the ride. After cranking for about 30 minutes, I saw the sign, “Selangau 20km”. It was 3pm and I knew I could be in Selangau before 4.30pm. Well, that was before I received text message from Heather telling me a “whacko” masturbated at 66 km mark. Since I was just ahead, I took the initiative to inform a motorist riding her way toward to help me check the situation back at 66 and I stayed put to wait for Heather’s next message. She was ok and I move on slowly towards Selangau Rest Stop, where I waited for Heather to ride into Selangau together.
Having a rest and waitng for Heather
We got ourselves some snacks and hot drinks and not to waste time, I went on to check the room. It was a short night for me and of course like every other night, I quietly prayed for our safety on the road and good weather.
I’ve learnt from previous rides, that distances was good as guidance only, terrain and weather would slow me down tremendously. Also after 9 days of riding, I forgotten my basic core of cycling adventure, to take my time, stop for photos and interact as much with the locals as possible. It hit me on day 10 to do just that. Why am I rushing and to where? The destination was going to be there tomorrow, and day after tomorrow, but the people that I passed might not. I told myself to take it easy.
Day 10: Tuesday, 30 Apr 2013 – Selangau to Sibu
Day 10, I was not ready to go anywhere in the rush and suggested for Heather to move forward as she was also a strong fast rider. I drop back and slot my camera into my pocket to make it easily accessible. I start doing only 15km/hr and scanned for my subject. I kept on alert looking far and out until about the 9km mark outside Selangau when I heard a “pop” from the front. I knew what was that sound as I had experienced that once. Broken spoke. I can handle it but first, I needed a decent shade. Not to slow Heather down, I got about cranking slowly to find a nice cool shade, but I got better, a local Iban home. I didn’t get started immediately as I had to answer questions thrown at me by the Iban family. Where am I from? Where I started from? How many days from KK to Selangau, and suddenly I was running behind time. I could fix a broken spoke, no sweat but I hated doing it. But when push came to shove, what choice did I have? I fixed it quickly, reloaded my bags, thanked the family and off I went. It was a drag after stopping for an hour.
Leaving Selangau
Bike repair time
As for my photography subject, was nowhere to be found. I reach the 20km mark very quickly and by now the heat had gotten to me. I wasn’t tired and read Heather message that she was not stopping so I push on. Reaching the 39km mark, I rode into a small Stapang area to look for Heather as I received her message that she was resting there. I moved out as quickly after I couldn’t locate her. I continued on in the heat so as not to fall far from her.
Riding in the Borneo furnace
Heather sent me another message about a temple and a restaurant on the 28km mark outside Sibu. When I was just outside the temple I took the left turn and rested there for a good one hour with a free flow of 100 plus from one Royal Malaysian Ranger. By now it was scorching, so I was glad to have made the decision to chill and have some shut eye. I moved out around 2pm and I knew I could be in Sibu by 4pm or earlier if I pushed on. It was so hot and so tough to get into Sibu, even though it was just 28km. On the last 10km mark before Sibu I saw a Shell station and quickly moved in, and had another 100 plus. Here I saw another message from Heather, she was slightly ahead and was having problems with her bike. She would be heading into the city centre to look for a bike shop. I got lucky while standing around at Shell, a local dude start asking me question about my bicycle and more and then offered a short cut to the city centre. It was literally a short cut! Within 10 minutes, I was just across Pintu Gerbang Sibu and KFC Restaurant was calling out my name.
I send Heather a short message telling her my location and had my lunch at KFC. Chicken never tasted this good before. I was so tired by now from the heat, the city noise pollution didn’t help either. 30 minutes later, Heather appeared and we continued quickly to look for a cheap place. RM50.00! River View Hotel was superb. So far the best budget hotel I’ve stayed in Sarawak. Time passed so quickly and we met our Sibu contact to discuss Kalimantan. Not much about the route, just Kalimantan in general.
Earning free lunch
Before bed that night, I vetted through the route towards Kuching and updated the schedule and right after that I fell asleep. I was that tired.
Adventure cycling, cycling touring or any cycling that involved distances without support is a chore. Not many have seen the behind the scenes work. In the morning, wake up, pack, make sure everything was in order, and more or less packed and secured before loading it up on the bike. The stuff that you needed regularly has got to be accessible. When you are done with on the day’s ride, laundry needed to be done or you will be riding with salt in your arse. In a perfect world, you laundry would dry the following day, but not in the cycling world. So on top of all the day’s planning and the ride itself, you had to pack, unpack, do laundry and for Ride Around Borneo, people needed to talk to you, people want you to reply to their emails, their sms as soon as possible. Now, put yourself in my shoes, cycling day in and day out, packing and unpacking, emails to reply, new emails to send, sms to reply and new sms to send. You’ll be amazed that I was still on the road attempting to ride around Borneo.
