The Man Who Rode Around Borneo - 1 Borneo Calling

The idea to cycle in Sabah, Borneo started early in December on my return from Sumatra and in February 2012 three months later, Malcolm Wong, a close friend of mine from Kota Kinabalu invited me to visit Sabah Tourism Board and his Borneo Global Backpackers NATAS exhibition booth at Singapore Expo to pitch about my idea to cycle in Sabah. It was more of planting an idea to one ‘corporate lady’ (a compliment by the way) who happens to work in the tourism industry. Then, I thought only to cycle around Sabah and there wasn’t specific route I would follow and end it by climbing Mount Kinabalu before cycling back into Kota Kinabalu, the capital and city centre of Sabah. The meeting went well; I met Josephine, the deputy director from Sabah Tourism Board. All good and I was told to drop her an email and she will follow-up from there. That was that and I also get to meet the other land tours agents from Sabah and get to know interesting places to cycle too. I am sold to cycle in Sabah, Borneo.

I waited after dropping an email and waited patiently. Two months after I emailed them, a replied came along saying cycling around Sabah do not come under scope of the board ‘supporting event’. I have absolutely no idea what ‘supporting event’ was but it would be a shame instead to put all those plan on the shelf. I bought a map of Borneo and give it a good look. I also bought a lonely planet book of Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia and get on reading it. As if that wasn’t enough, I cooped up at National Library to see if I can find anything helpful. I know about Borneo like any other tourists do, places like the city centre, tourist attractions and what not. But I wanted to know more, be closer to the people, go deep in the interior and see what is there and how people live and the idea got wilder.  I took sometimes off with Elaine somewhere over the causeway to think through it, have better perspective from an “outsider”, study Borneo more and see if that would be feasible thing to do.  On my return, the idea to cycle around Borneo was born and carved in stone. I was still alone on this. I do thought that I am mad to be doing this all alone.  Not that I can’t handle riding solo but at least if I went in and ride with someone else, in the event emergency, there will be another person next to or behind me. Imagine if there should be a tiger and I am all alone, not much of an option right? I am kidding! Still, I am sold and the search for riding buddy is on.

Who do I want to cycle with? How do I find people, how do I ask them to be part of the team cycling around Borneo and what do I tell them? These people I am going to approach need to be in their own way, special. They definitely got to be a long distance cyclist, an adventure cyclist and someone who doesn’t mind the filthiness of being out in the rough. Where do I find them? It wasn’t easy to be looking for someone, a cyclist for that matter who has the same thinking as the next person. After a thorough long search on social media and a mini ad posting on this blog, I found 2 riders or rather 2 riders responded to my “mini-ad”.  All 2 riders have never been out of Singapore cycling and they don’t even know where or what is Borneo about. I thank them and kept looking. Much as I wanted a company or two, I also do not want to be responsible for being accused of incompetency. I am prepared to do this alone if pushed come to shove.

While searching for cycling partner(s) in progress, I went on preparing for Borneo. I need to get back in shape after the lull period of post Sumatra and also getting my equipments upgraded or changed. From my little experience, a month or two should be enough to get back into shape; the hardest is to maintain it. I just need to continue riding regularly while the behind the scene work is being done. I had thought a year should be enough to set everything up including getting back in shape. Well, more or less I achieved to bring my fitness to a decent level. Nothing to crow about, I am just happy I can cover distances, doesn’t matter how slowly. For equipments, I got most of what I wanted but there are areas for improvement. For example I didn’t get the video camera to document Ride Around Borneo (RAB). Not that I didn’t have the fund to get it, I just found it to be bulky, cumbersome. Of course I regretted it later on. This won’t happen again for the next adventure. I learned later on that video camera is one crucial equipments I needed to have for company in those long lonely stretch to talk to myself, yes there is nothing wrong talking to one self.  Other than that, I had pretty much all the stuffs needed to cycle around Borneo. Still, there are stuffs I’d replaced.

Fitness wise, I was in bad shape. Not that I can’t cover 100km day, it just that I will be aching all over the next day if I am doing it continuously over a week. I put up a basic cycling fitness program. Monday, Wednesday and Friday endurance ride starting with 40km for 2 weeks, up the distance to 60km and so on. Tuesday and Thursday will be just recovery ride. (Though I sometimes ended going up Mount Faber – To my foreign friends reading this, it is actually a hill about 140mtr high and a good ground to train cycling up slopes). Weekends I’ll do climbing session on Mount Faber and some other slopes in Singapore and favorite would going to all 5 hills a day and repeat it again on the reverse the same day.

To break the monotonous, I’ll go to places different from the last one. I keep exploring tiny Singapore and I am surprised myself at those places I discovered. There are talks on this cycling fitness thing on social media recently (Long Distance Cycling FB group), should you train before your cycling tour or let the miles during the tour naturally get you into being fit. Miles-by-miles. I don’t know about letting the cycling tour do all the jobs but I’d prefers to be decently fit before embarking on any long distance tour. I am naturally not a very fit cyclist. To be very honest, I am adventurer first and cyclist second. I can’t go fast and I am weak at climbing. Weak as in slow but I have no problem with that. I just wanted to be sure that I have the base fitness and I ride easy later. There are hundreds of long distance adventure cyclists out there and each has their own style of preparation and I am one that likes to be fit before any cycling tour begins. It’s just me.  Sometime you can train all you want, plan all you want, but accident and tragedy may strike anywhere and to anyone. 

Photo: Taken during my First Aid Certification for illustration purposes

It was in June 2012 when my training got interrupted and almost couldn’t continue with my plan to cycle around Borneo. I was involved in an accident while riding my bike at a cross junction on Enggor Street in the city centre. I still remember that day, it was noon and raining lightly. I was on the extreme left lane next to a car with a ‘Provisional’ young driver in it. Lights turned green, I checked right for my blind spot before moving off and the next thing I knew the car next to me cuts into my way without signalling and I jammed my brakes to reduce the force of impact. Bang! I was diving straight to the kerbs (I would like to think the helmet save me from serious injuries). I concussed for a little while and when I came to my senses, the provisional driver of the vehicle was right on top of me saying something like if I wanted “to settle it privately”. Everything went by so fast the next thing I knew two coppers was standing on top looking down at me. By now I was laying down on the walking path pulled by a Good Samaritan. A few minutes later, paramedics were all over me, bracing my neck, cut away my Levi’s jeans and brace my leg. Within 15 minutes I was in the hospital nearby - Singapore General Hospital Accident and Emergency Unit. Writing about it now, I can still remember that young doctor. A sweet young doctor name...never mind, that will be for another chapter. There in the A&E Department waiting to be X-rayed, I thought the dream to cycle around Borneo was gone. Seeing the emergency staff moving everywhere in a rush freaked me out. After all the compulsory checks, I was told I had only a fractured left ankle. I was lucky. I was out of the hospital a day later. I cannot tell you what will be the long term damaged be but I can tell you now I am more determined to live my life the way I want it, my own terms. (I found out later on from the MRI scan, my left knee will need further check / treatment) And while writing this, the case is now in the process to be closed.
 
It took me more or less about 2 months to be back on the bike again. By now it was August and I am leaving for Borneo not in another eight months. I have time to recover fully. I would like to think that my fitness training regime had brought me back to recovery faster. Though my left knee still hurting, I could still pedal leisurely from point A to point B. Then, to me it was good news. Sometime also in August 2012, I got my buddy; Regis Cabaret excited to be part of Ride Around Borneo team.  We got talking on the route, talking about getting sponsors to raise funds and getting Regis a brand new touring bicycle. Regis hadn’t done any adventure cycling but was keen to give it a try. That was good enough. Luisa and Carlos, a husband and wife world touring team and also a season cycling tourer indicated their interest. (Subject to their work commitment in Thailand) and last I got Heather Pritchard showing interest.

Times flew really quickly and January 2013 came and putting work aside, I took my training out of Singapore to Kelantan. I remember booking a one-way night bus first to Kelantan. It wasn't sound as easy. The bus company I booked my ticket with decided to pull a fast one on me asking me to cycle to Johor Bahru instead to catch my bus! I was fuming mad and demanded to speak to the manager and getting a refund. That sorted, I rode to nearby Golden Mile and I was lucky to get a midnight bus to Kuala Lumpur arriving 3am in the morning. I still remember riding in Kuala Lumpur City Centre 3 in the morning until about 6am to meet Ken Kassem at another bus terminal. Again we got played out by a "pirate" bus company. We were made to pay the full first class price but was given a World War 2 bus. I guess this is what I have signed up for. We met Abang Dzul in Kelantan an stayed a night at his ancestral home. Beautiful place!

That short trip helps to take my mind of chasing for sponsorship and just enjoy the ride. We rode from Kelantan to Kuantan with Abang Dzul acting as our local guide. A good decision I must say. We ride, stop whenever we want to and however long we want. There are many funny incidents and I still remember the one where Ken left his bag and the last rest stop. I was slightly ahead to take a picture of Abang Dzul and Ken riding. The moment when Ken reached to where I was standing readying for a shot, he went, "Shit, I left my bag!"
"What is inside the bag, Ken?"
"My wallet, myi-phone and and phone charger!"
We quickly loan a motorbike from the friendly stall owner and Ken rode back 20km to the Petronas gas station where we were at our last rest stop.

While waiting for Ken, another craziest thing happened. Abang Dzul, who I should say has very little in touring organization department decided to pour our all his worldly touring stuffs from the 2 panniers and "re-organized" it. You must know, every morning no matter how early Abang Dzul got up, he will still be the last one to be ready. So I can imagined how determined he is this time to get the packing right while Ken was gone. "Abang Dzul, don't bother. By the time Ken gets back, you'll be still packing". True enough, Ken rode back 20 minutes later with a 'I got my bag!' smile on his face. Nonetheless, we all laughed really hard after that, sat longer at our stop and Ken bought us a round of everything he can find at the stall that loan us the motorbike.

From that training ride, I now know where I was in term of fitness, mental state and equipments and I quickly took to task to get it sorted out. Though the trip was short, it was definitely memorable. The people, the food, oh how I missed that and having Abang Dzul leading and showing us places. There are more which we didn't get to cycle too but I am heading there again when I am coming down from Norway. Definitely going to hook up with Abang Dzul. I strongly recommend taking this route to those coming down from Thailand. Abang Dzul is still actively cycling everywhere and it is good to drop him a message before stopping by Kelantan. (You can find him on my FB page: Rahim Resad)

A month later, I went out with another 3 friends, Azman Bilaji, Yasir  and Katya John to tackle the 'Batam-Galang' Highway in the Riau Islands. Butt cracking ride! Nice rolling slopes, bridges, 6 Bridges connecting the islands and the best part is the 80km in and 80km out cycling route. To me that was one ride I am not looking forward to do it if I ever going to cycle in Batam again.

I am not big in planning everything in details as from past experience, it’ll be changed along the way. So what I’d do was to plot a general route. It was straight forward from Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak. Once we crossed the bridge, we’ll talk what we want to do there. Well, isn’t that adventure are for? Plan for less plan and just go venture forward. There are maps available for all four countries that I am going to be cycling on but Borneo map wasn’t as details in comparison to Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak. Even googling Borneo won’t guarantee you complete information. Also with help and information’s received from friends in Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak, my works got cut out to about 40%. I know Kalimantan, Borneo going to be very hard to nail as there wasn’t complete information readily available.  I’ll leave it at that and thought that can be sorted once I am in Kalimantan (Read: ask the locals for information and direction). Nearing to the start of RAB, I was introduced to bunch of motorcyclists from Tawau, Sabah, the same bunch that rode around Borneo on their motorbikes. Great bunch of people I found out at the later stage of RAB.

On the sponsorship side, it wasn’t that easy for an unknown adventurer(s) to be getting a positive respond. I’ve sent out about 200 (maybe more) emails to medium and large company (cycling and outdoor adventure related) and the usual respond I received was dismal. It was alright for me as I didn’t even expect them to be responding to my email at all. I have also planned to print Ride Around Borneo shirts for sale to raise funds. I eventually did and managed to sell it to friend

Towards the start of Ride Around Borneo, there was only Heather and I left and in order to get to know each other better, we arranged to meet. She’s riding from up North while I’ll be I taking a bus up to Kuala Lumpur. We met over one weekend in early April for team bonding (more to see if we can get along with each other) and also to deliver Ride Around Borneo shirts to friends and supporters in Kuala Lumpur. Though it was short trip, I totally enjoyed meeting friends in Kuala Lumpur.  After all are sets and ready, a week before departure, during the final health check, my doctor broke the news to me. They suspect a problem with my heart! What? I was seven days away to the start date and here I was told about this not so good news, quite shocking if you asked me. I was told to do anything strenuous until another health check.  I came back in again on April 18 the day of my departure and was advice to postpone Ride Around Borneo. What do you think I had do?

The Man Who Rode Around Borneo - Prologue

I only found out how mentally drained and physically knackered I was only after I got home in Singapore three days after the end of Ride Around Borneo (RAB). I was also too affected by the experience cycling around Borneo. To see how people live in remote parts of Borneo, especially in Central Kalimantan and the little helps given to them was probably too much for me to handle. I felt so helpless and wish I could do more while I was there but then again, I was struggling myself. I’ve been to remote places before but I have never seen such poverty like this in my life.  Well, there will always the first time.

After all the unpacking, cleaning, assembling the bike, catching up with “work” (I do work in between cycling) and friends, the next thing I needed a real break. Get off the bike and get my mind off it for a while. It was a little overwhelming to experience Borneo on a bicycle speed in a short period of time.  Even until now, the memories of Kalimantan are still fresh in my mind. The people I met and those who have given me shelter and those took care of me. Thank you very much.

Well my rest obviously took longer than I have expected; it is more resting my mental than physical. RAB to me wasn’t exactly a bike tour (touristy like cycling) like many had expected it to be. It was more like a challenge for me to complete that one circle and prepping myself for my future big cycling adventure. As much as I wanted to see and go places in Borneo, I simply don’t have the luxury of time, especially in Kalimantan. I was like racing against the clock the moment I got in to Kalimantan. Ideally, it would be very nice if I could go slow and take my time. I couldn’t get the 60 days visas I had wanted.  After crossing into Kalimantan via Kampung Aruk, it was all get there, eat, sleep, wake up the next day and go again and it keeps repeating until I got out from Kalimantan. Even that, I overstayed in Kalimantan by a day and valid for the officialdom there to charge me for overstaying. To the Immigration officers in Tarakan, Kalimantan Indonesia, thank you for your kind understanding.

I am now well rested (sort of) and compelled to share my story here. It’s not going to be easy for me to put my experiences cycling around Borneo into words as I am bad at writing. I hope you can understand. But before I go on rambling, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you (you know who you are) for making cycling around Borneo happened. Those of you that have supported this adventure (buying Ride Around Borneo shirts and indirectly contributing to raise fund for charity), you people will be remembered as long as I live and breathe. Yes, every time mounting the bicycle when I was in Borneo, many of you came to mind. Many times the thought of giving up came to mind and when the road gets tougher; many of you linger in my thoughts and urge me on. Without many of you, cycling around Borneo will be just another idea and dreams of mine. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

RAB did not happen overnight obviously. It took me few months after cycling in Sumatra to decide where will be my next cycling adventure going to be and the thought of somewhere nice came to mind. You know, touristy cycling. I was thinking places like Bali (which I rode around with four other friends on rented motorbike), Krabi (which I rode before with bunch of cycling friends – The Slackriders), Phuket, and Langkawi and as far as Australia, as in cycling around Australia. They are all to me attractive places to be cycling on.

I needed a place to harden and taught me the real world of ‘hardship’ before my next big cycling adventure and initially Sabah, Borneo comes to mind. I chose the road less-travelled; Borneo to feel how is it like to be alone on a longer period of time on my bicycle. Also Borneo is known for her harshness and I had thought this would be a good ground to test my physical and mental endurance before I embark on my longer cycling adventure tour. Then I thought to cycle from U.K to Singapore. But now, I am happy to share that I’ll be cycling from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Singapore. It’ll be called ‘Arctic – Asia Solo Cycling Adventure 2014’. A quest to cycle unsupported from Arctic Circle, Norway to Singapore. To celebrate Singapore 50^th Birthday. Through this, I also hope to spread the message to people out there that anyone can pursue their dreams if they set their mind on it - illustrating "nothing is impossible" spirit and to bring Singaporeans together to celebrate this grueling adventure.

Back to Ride Around Borneo. When I first pitched the idea to friends and interested parties (potential sponsors), they (even myself) had thought it was a crazy idea. Not achievable. I was told there wasn’t proper road in Central Kalimantan (mostly true), it is dangerous and stuffs like and I read in a blog post on how bad the roads in Central Kalimantan is if I ever got in there. I know people have cycled in Malaysia side of Borneo, from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching and vice-versa. Two very close friends of mine from Kuching, Simon Sandi rode his recumbent bike from one end of Sabah (Kudat) to the other end of Sarawak (Sematan), a total distance of 1,400km with two other boys from Sabah.  And another, Francis Ho cycled from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to his hometown, Kuching.  Not a great distance but I encourage cycling enthusiasts (especially roadies) to give it a try to see how you handle that mentally. Simon Sandi had called it ‘Tip-to-Tip’ the same time I rode around Borneo. Writing this now in comfort of my home, thinking of riding 1,400km in that kind of Borneo’s scorching heat was unthinkable. I am melting just thinking of it now. I ride in the rain anytime in Borneo that is for sure.

I never rode any place as remote as Kalimantan, especially in central Kalimantan where on some stretches there wasn’t anything resembles a local village or a decent track (not to mention asphalt road).  If there should be a road, you’ll find it in the middle of nowhere and hardly any vehicles traversed on it as the locals there still prefers the old shorter logging trails, this mean through the jungle. And then when I thought I’ve found that perfect asphalt road, I can’t to think it’ll go on and on. Most of the time, it never did as it will just disappeared in the abyss. That is the state of the basic infrastructure in Central Kalimantan. I was told on one stretch that I was on, some 5km long took years to complete. It was still work in progress when I rode there, with only two workers from Java working on it. I swore I rode past one or two ‘Zebra Crossing’ right in the middle of nowhere with no other vehicles or villages insight. No I wasn’t hallucinating. 

Never had I seen genuinely sincere people. Every one of those people I met tried their very best to make me comfortable. Yes I do accept their hospitality with a little bit of hesitation in the beginning because I wasn’t sure if having me in their home would inconvenience them. What more with me being dirty most time not to mention the smell of course and the stuffs I brought along on my bike. Slowly but surely I had realised all that doesn’t matter to most. For them, hosting a stranger on a bicycle is like a gift from God.  To hear the stories and experiences we brought along to share with them from other places is priceless. The trick is to ask and you’ll receive.

Many times in Kalimantan I was on the verge of ditching it all and flew home, it was that hard. I wasn’t used to their heat. Maybe heat is an understatement; let me try again, the scorching heat. By 9am, most days, I felt it was like I am riding under noon sun. Imagine what it’s like at 12pm. I can’t even go out there to cycle. But I need to move on to catch lost time. And when it rained, it pours. I remember leaving Naga Bulik in Central Kalimantan to Pangkalan Bun, one gentleman reminded me to be careful of the storms. I was told about the storm while standing directly under the morning heat just before leaving the roadside food stall, “When it rain later, find a good cover”. I looked at the gentleman with disbelief and inside me I said quietly, “you got to be kidding me”.  True to form, the spirit of Borneo, after 2 hours of pedaling, I can see the clouds forming ahead. I was just through 30km of scorching heat and just ahead of me the storm gathers to welcome me. And I am not even halfway to my next checkpoint, Pangkalan Bun. Here I am behind schedule by 2 days and the weather playing havoc. I saw motorbikes (moped mostly) slowing down ahead of me to one small roadside stall and I followed. It was a simple set up with Keropok (fish crackers), Teh Ais Botol (Indonesia produced bottled Ice Tea) and home cooked dishes. Here taking shelter, I got to know in-depth on Central Kalimantan and the roads ahead of me. The storm come and go, it was one of the heaviest rain I’ve seen, at least to me but the local shrugged it off and told me they have seen worst. Nothing damage from where I was so I guess that wasn’t their worst.

I continue on from there and keep convincing myself everything will be alright. One checkpoint at a time and I’ll make it through. Boy I was wrong.

Some others have gone much longer and farther cycling around the world and in comparison to what I have achieved cycling around the third largest island in the world, Borneo, it is no sweat. Anyway, I love riding my bicycle the same. In the heat (though I’ll be swearing), in the rain (and I’ll be wet and cold), riding up slopes up the mountains, through broken roads and the best part of going through all that will be the chance meeting people along the way and I am not going to lie, the foods.  This writing is a way to share my experiences cycling around Borneo. Though not the best place to cycle tour, but if you’re looking for an adventure, Borneo is the place to be.

Into the heart of Borneo

Day 11: Wednesday, 1 May 2013 – Sibu to Sarikei

Day 11 was when I woke up to another new task. My bicycle needed attention. It just didn’t feel good with the sound coming out from the bottom bracket*. I didn’t remember when or how the sound got there but I had distances to cover with load. Our very first place for the morning was to a local contact cafe with Heather leading. I lost her initially but after about 10 minutes, saw her across the junction, by luck. Heather was looking for the cafe and I was just following with my creaking bicycle. I lost her another time, getting hungry and needing to get my bike fixed, I sent her a text letting her know I had stop to have breakfast while waiting for the bike shop to open. I suggested she carrying on riding ahead first. My morning turned out to be memorable. I met a lovely couple, we chatted and they gave me basic navigational direction to get out of Sibu, the short cut and landmark to look out for. This was on top of what Simon Sandi provided me with and they both gave me similar directions and landmarks.

After fixing my bike, I sent Heather another text message informing her I was done and to let me know if she was on the move. As the signs out of the town would be tricky, I took off after sending Heather the message. I rode consistently, cranking 22km/hr on a decent flat road after the Lanang Bridge all the way until Bitangor, where I sent a message to Heather on the way to the short cut, without any response. I found out later when we met again by accident in Sarikei town that her battery almost flat. Now that we’re together again, I suggested we ride together, but I was told by her she preferred to ride alone. When I asked why, she simply told me she did not wish to see me again. Fair enough. That was the last time I saw her and in my heart of heart, I prayed for her safe journey. So there, Heather was no longer with Team RAB.

The Lanang Bridge

Sheltering from the storm before Bintangor



The next thing for me to do was to relax a little, get a room and reorganised the packing as by now, I had the full load of Team RAB. Repacking was easy, but I tell you cycling with that kind of load was a pain in the neck. To be honest, I am happy to be riding alone. After repacking, I went to sleep and it was a good night sleep.

"the rad" bridge before Sarikei

Day 12: Thursday, 2 May 2013: Serikei to Betong

My dream of a beautiful morning was granted on day 12 as it was raining! I woke up at 5am, brewed coffee, got all my stuff sorted and was ready to go by 6am. When I got everything down, it was still dark, so I moved slowly towards the main road to Kuching. The rain was just perfect. Not too heavy and it was cooling. I raced to the 10km mark where I was told I could find coffee and breakfast. Although I ordered breakfast, I wasn’t in the mood to gobble everything down. My mind was on just hitting on the road. I convinced myself to enjoy the coffee and that probably save my live. 5 minutes later, just 200 meters after the rest stop, a Toyota RAV4 skidded of the road, and went into the ditch. I could have been on that side of the road. You never know. After witnessing that, I stayed longer and finished my coffee. I was a little shaken, so I rode slow and checked my side view mirror regularly. Since there was nothing to see or photos to capture, I picked up my speed on the flat road out towards Kuching until about 25km out, where the famous Bukit Sebangkoi was waiting for me. Well, I am fitter and I know how to handle such a hill, I stopped, took out my stove and brewed a cup of coffee and just enjoyed myself. A truck driver stopped just ahead where I was sitting and drinking my coffee, he asked if I needed a lift. I was that closed to saying, “Yes!”. Instead I just said thank you and smiled. It was nothing really, that Bukit Sebangkoi, but try riding up with my loaded bike! After the two hills, I was practically racing back down, and down and down until I hit the 60km mark at 10.30 at Saratok rest stop. After an hour of water break and phone charging, I moved again slowly, by now the sun was just sitting on my head.  I only managed to pedal 20km before my brain start fry and told me to look for shade.

While scanning further up, I saw an old lady crossing the road towards what looked like an abandon shade with the traditional Sarawakian farmer basket behind her back. I pedalled on thinking that I should take a picture of her. I made the turn to the shade and as I got nearer, the shade had water and ‘sayap ayam pangang’ (bbq chicken wings). The old lady looked really tired and I was not sure how far she was going to walk and to where. I dismounted and leaned my bike, greeted the old lady and the stall owner, an old lady too.  I thought both ladies gave me the “poor guy, cycling in the scorching sun” look.

the Sebangkoi climb



I started a small conversation with them and found out that she went into the wild daily to look for edible vegetables to sell it at the market. I asked the location of the market and was told it is at her long house.  I didn’t ask how far but I did offer her my lunch, this somehow managed to get her to feel relax. I needed the break too as it was too hot for me to go on. I also brought out my bananas and oranges to share with both ladies. (I didn’t know then it was going to be very difficult to find anymore lunch stops). We sat and chatted for almost an hour where I got to share with her my stories and she in return gave me a little bit of education on the Iban and their longhouses. I also learnt something from her, kindness begets kindness. She told me when I was down and needed help, someone will come forward instinctively. No need to worry.

“I would like that to happen now. I need all the help now to reach Kuching”.  I told the old lady in broken Malay.

She gave me a smile which I thought was priceless.

I left the shade at 2pm after the old lady, as she needed to move on and get to her village (the longhouse she lives in is her village) to sell her wild vegetables. I remembered Heather buying those before we entered Niah National Park and got the cafe owner to cook it for us. I did try it and it tasted just like ‘Kangkong sambal belacan’. Very nice. 

I had 104km to Sri Aman and 50km to Betong from where I was. I was aiming to get to Sri Aman for today. But it was late and only Betong was realistic, so I planned my next checkpoint to be  Betong. What I found out during these early stages of Ride Around Borneo was that the distances indicated weren’t consistent. One time I saw the road marker showing 74km to Bintulu and a kilometre later, it jumped back up to 75km to Bintulu. This was not it, there were a few others which I hope JKR Sarawak would do something about it.

I rode away from the shade starting slow again after an hour of rest and with music volume on high on my mp3 player. There wasn’t anything on the left or the right. Just some abandon oil palm and emptiness. I needed to be in the “zone” to get going, to doing 20km/h again if I was to get into Betong before 5pm. There was so much to do, laundry, write-ups, emails to reply and what not.

10km passed me by just slightly after 3pm and I was again frying. 40km to go and suddenly I felt the hunger pang.  I didn’t have lunch, I gave mine away. And I had forgotten to order the chicken wings either! Blardy road was just nothingness. I have 40km more to go and I couldn’t do it without food; I have no food to speak of. I have reserve water on my rear rack and that was it. By now, the going was like forever. I broke the last 40 km into 4 parts just to make it easy for me. The next 10km came and that was it, I stopped the moment I saw a small shady area. “Fark, I couldn’t go on anymore!”. I heard myself saying. I just can’t. I have burnt up everything in me. I took out a bottle of water, gulp down and gulp again then used some to wet my head. Maybe a ten minutes break would help. Ten minutes later, I mounted my bike and that was all I could do, the pedalling didn’t come. After only 5 metres, I dismounted. I am not that weak that I can’t handle such heat or distances. We did 135km a few days ago from Niah to Bintulu and on the same level of terrain and heat. Was it that I didn’t have lunch today? What am I going to do? I have nothing left. Then I remembered a small ziplog bag that I stashed in my front pannier. It was from Gracie, and in it all sort ofs energy gel. I was jubilant and felt like I was rescued by some angel. I took one banana flavoured out and suck it like a starving man.

I didn’t get moving until 10 minutes later and Betong was 30 km westward. I flew down the slope and back up again this went on until the 22km mark where I saw the sign ‘Betong 8 KM Turn Left’. I stop to cross check my map, it showed two entrances to Betong. Obviously the one I saw was the short cut. I felt like I was in heaven taking the old road to Betong. Though it was blardy hilly, and no less shady, I was in Betong in less than 20 minutes and what I saw immediately was so unreal. A blardy helicopter landed in the public sports ground. The area was a buzz of election activities. Government labelled stationwagons were everywhere and I was so dirty, I felt out of place. Just to have a little bit of fun, I approached one of the officers standing around outside what look liked a state government building and asked if I could camp in the ground and use their shower facility. Well, my luck wasn’t that good, I was asked to wait as he went inside and came back with a young chap.

“This gentleman will help you with the hotel direction”.

“Thank you”. I replied. “After you”. I said to the young man and smiled. He was on his motorbike riding so slowly and I followed.

His first stop was a corner Malay coffeeshop and I was introduced to all his friends apparently mountain bikers. I was hungry, dirty and the last thing I want to do was to sit around people. I apologised for my indecent appearance and asked if I could sit at the next table. They understood my request but the question kept coming fast. Where was I from, where was I going, is the bike heavy, how fast could I go? But I need to eat first. I ordered one fried rice and an ice-lemon tea, recommended by one of the guy. It was good with just a small portion of chicken. I was not sure when I said it was very good was due to me hungry or that it was really that good. I ordered one more set after the first. I was tempted for a third, but then suddenly a strong wind blew down my bike and the rain came out of nowhere. I excused myself from the group, made payment and off across the road to the cheap hotel recommended. Disappointment as the hotel was full with election officers (Police, same as many other hotels I stayed in). I was shown to another, this time cheaper but also full. The only one available was at RM55.00. My mind raced for alternatives, I knew the fire station wasn’t far from where I was and I also knew that fire stations love receiving strange people for example, me. Before I could leave, the hotel owner showed up and asked if I am a cyclist with lots of “barang barang” on my bike? (barang barang = stuff. Referring to my bags). I told him yes and that was it, I got one room that was RSVP’ed. RM30.00, on the highest blardy floor. But I appreciated it. I did my laundry, went back down again for another round of meal, my third within two hours.  I wanted to write about day 12 after shower but the eyes and body just couldn’t hold up anymore. I fell asleep at 9pm and didn’t wake up until early the next morning.

Day 13: Friday, 3 May 2013 - Betong to Serian

It was so rough that I have a hard time getting ready for day 13. I woke up at 4am but it was tough to get moving. My whole body was aching. I had about 200km to cover on day 13 to be in Serian. The furthest I had cycled was twice 180km around Singapore, as flat as an airport runway. We are talking about Sarawak, blardy slopes, hills and the heat. Well, I could slow down, take my time, take it easy and spend a night somewhere, but my bicycle needed attention.

It’s all in the mind; it’s all in the mind. Easier said than done. Finally I was out of the bed at 5am, showered, packed everything in and got everything down from the third floor down one by one. It was a tedious job. First was the front two panniers and the duffle bag (tent, inflatable matt and 20 pieces of shirts), than second was my two rear panniers. I was sweating buckets already. Third the bike from the reception on the second floor. (Ground floor to the Malaysian)

It was only 6 am when I got everything loaded on the bike when a Chinese uncle approached me to ask about the bicycle. Where was it from, how much, where was I going and if I wanted coffee. Sure, coffee then. I pushed the bike while we walked across the street to get to a Malay coffeeshop. Betong looks completely like a typical Malaysian small town in Penisular Malaysia. There are equal spread of Chinese and Malay with the minority for Betong , being the Ibans. While waiting for the shop to set up, I rode around the small town and survey for a shorter route out of Betong. There was one shorter way out and there was one other to the river and a boat out to Sri Aman. Is this for real? I would love to boat out of Betong and river cruising in Sarawak sounded adventurous. I stopped somewhere to refer to my map. Yes, the long boat will take me pass Maludam National Park, Kampung Trisho and into Batang River then into Sri Aman. That was what I was seeing on the map. Again, the time factor doesn’t allowed me to do it. I needed to get my bike fixed as soon as possible. If the shop in Betong couldn’t do it, my next  hope was in Kuching, but that was 260km away.

I rode back to the coffee shop happy with the route out of Betong. Hilly but I liked it because of the shade it provided.

I got myself 5 banana fritters and a cup of coffee. Answered all sorts of question from the senior citizens who sat at the same table as me. I sent Simon Sandi a text message and true to his style, I got an immediate response. “Yes, there might be a bike shop in Sri Aman”. That was all I needed. I wouldl race to Sri Aman about 60-70km away, be there by lunch, get the bike fixed while I ate lunch, then race another 60-70km or less to Serian, with a hope of finding a place to stay or camp. My first 20km was fast. I must admit, the load today got blardy heavier. I don’t know why, maybe the aches all over my body. Still, I raced to Sri Aman, 50km away. I didn’t stop at the next rest point either until the 50km mark when the sound, “clack, clack, clack” came from under. I knew I was screwed. I stopped when I saw the only shady place near a road construction site. I saw that the bottom bracket seal was leaking and my heart sank. That was the last thing I wanted to see. There were two possibilities. The first, the bike shop in Sibu didn’t do a good job. Second, the fall from yesterday. I didn’t know which caused it but it was bad. I could still cycle but the sound was just so heart breaking and bothered me.

"the damage"



What choice did I have? Call Simon? Definitely I will but only if it’s an emergency. Like RAB Base Camp Manager put it, “One pedal at a time. Push, ride, doesn’t matter mate as long as you move forward”.

“Blardy hell, keep going I will.” I jumped back on the bike and pedalled on. I’ll stop if the bike breaks down. Not very far from Sri Aman, there was a gradual long slope that almost killed me and the bike. We were lucky to get through that and cruise down with me smiling from cheek to cheek. It was the battle between human and nature. In the end the heat and those slopes got me.  I could only race so far. There was something wrong with the road design in Sarawak. Must they have slopes, one after another for 1,000km? I mean seriously, like the heat wasn’t enough, they must add those slopes to make it harder. I say build a flat coastal road like the one in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was hot and I needed to be as far as I could from my last destination. I had no other choice but to battle on until I have nothing left in me, until the juice in me was all sucked out.

Day 13 ended late and when I got into Serian, the one and only bike shop was already close. I was so hungry, in need of food and dirty. Went over to the night market and got myself a whole chicken, a plate of fried rice, 5 banana fritters, 5 curry puffs and 2 ice lemon teas. Yes, it was over budget but I needed to eat. 

Everyday reaching the destination was an achievement for Ride Around Borneo but day 13 felt like the destination was getting further, harder and hotter. This was Ride Around Borneo.

Day 14: Saturday, 4 May 2013 – Serian to Kuching

Day 14 got tougher as my whole body was aching so badly. I didn’t want to wake up. I wanted to continue sleeping and just do nothing. The time was 5 am when I finally got up. It was way too early. Next on my mind was to message the people I was supposed to meet asking them if it was possible for me to meet them the day after, day 15. If I did that, I could stay and rest for a day, there would be another day that I would ask the same again. I pushed myself to get up and to start packing. The first step was always a challenge. I got up, took out my stove and got to boiling water for my coffee, then started to pack. My aim was to wait for the bicycle shop to open and try to get my bike serviced and then get into Kuching if my body was able to do it.

Before coming to Borneo, I did manage to train regularly up until the last two months where my schedule suddenly got hectic. I still got to ride, but the distances were too short and mostly without load. I wasn’t worried as the plan for Ride Around Borneo did factor in that for the first leg from Kota Kinabalu it would be an easy ride, short with recovery rides in between. But 14 days into Ride Around Borneo, even the recovery rides weren’t easy. The endless slopes, the heat and the fast moving traffic was enough to stress me out physically and mentally. Here I was struggling to get moving on day 14.

I was ready by 7am, checked the bike and forgo the idea of waiting for the bicycle shop to open. If I move on slowly, I might just be able to cover the distance and get into Kuching, which was approximately 60km away, by noon.

With only 1 mug of coffee as my fuel, I set off at 7.30am, pedalling out as quietly as I came in. My first check point would be Siburan, 27km away to meet Reo, a friend from Kuching and Ride Around Borneo supporter. I was told by Reo the night before that the route out to Kuching would be flat and I joked about how Simon Sandi telling me the same thing while we were in Sabah, “Flat”.

I should write a little bit about Simon Sandi since I have been mentioning him in my writing. Simon is like a brother to me. We can get along really well, and we have so many things in common except the choice of our bicycle in Borneo. He rode and completed cycling Tip-to-tip from Kudat, Sabah to Kampung Pueh, Sematan in Sarawak. Total distance covered, 1674km. A respectable achievement considering his age, the terrain and the weather. I would love to cycle with him one of these days.

I could not believe my eyes the moment I got out from Serian, the road was flat as a pancake and as far as I could see. 10km out, it was still flat. It was good for the bike and I did not think I needed to be stressed about the bottom bracket at all. Just when I thought it would be a breeze to cruise into Siburan about 17km away, the creaking sound came back. At 12km mark, I saw a row of shop houses and decided to check it out to see if I could find anything resembling a bicycle shop. Not lucky but saw but saw a crowded Chinese coffee shop and I thought it would be a good idea to stop have my second morning coffee and to check the bottom bracket. It was leaking very badly. I could go on until the bottom bracket gave way or contact someone in Kuching for a pick up. Well, I needed to replace the bottom bracket for sure so I decided to ride until it gave way.

I finished my coffee, got going again and the clacking sound was gone. Still rough pedalling the bike but no sound. I rode on slowly covering the next 15km into Siburan and met Reo and wife driving passed me. I was so happy to meet someone that I could talk too, a friend and supporter of Ride Around Borneo. I had a big order of breakfast, chatted with Reo while scoffing my murtabak and thosai. It’s rare for me to have murtabak in the morning or rather it was my first! We said our goodbye after an hour. I headed to Kuching while Reo southward to Sibu, his hometown to cast his vote.

After such a heavy breakfast, the going was getting slow and I have only had 33km to go to get into Kuching with a broken bottom bracket. At this point of time, I broke the 30 odd km into parts of 5km to make it less painful for me. I cancelled off one part each time I crossed 5km and that made it easier for me mentally. While cranking, I saw the sign ‘Panchor Hot Spring’, the same hot spring Simon had directed Heather and I many months ago for our stopover into Kuching. Now that I am alone, with broken bottom bracket, I wasn’t at all that enticing  to make the stopover. I cranked on slowly until 10km outside Kuching when I stop to take cover from the rain, where I saw missed calls from Francis and Simon. Both had arranged a bicycle shop for me.  I felt good knowing both of them thought of me. Since Simon was waiting for me 5km outside Kuching, I went straight to Simon, cranking like there was no tomorrow and 15 minutes later I saw him on his dirt bike parked on the pavement. From there on, I chased him like I was on a road bike. I totally forgotten how heavy my bike was and how bad the bottom bracket had gotten.

We arrived at W.G Cycle in Kuching in about 20 minutes and sat around talking to Michael from Sarawak Tourism Board as Collin was busy. After an hour, without getting the bike done, I contacted Francis and was directed to Moh Tak (Ah Siong) bike shop. Simon and I took off from W.G Cycle towards Moh Tak with a quick lunch stopover.

From there on, everything else went quickly. Left the bike at Moh Tak, took a cab to Simon’s place as he was riding his dirt bike. Upon reaching Simon’s place, took out my dirty clothing for laundry work, cleaned up and took a short nap. At night, Greg came over and together with Simon, we headed to D11 Steamboat. The most awesome steamboat place I’ve ever been too. But it was freaking hot that we left immediately after dinner for a short walk by Sarawak River, which I secretly planned to return for some daytime photo without my two awesome hosts Greg and Simon.

When we got home, my body had already switched off and I went to sleep quickly knowing it was going to be a long day on Sunday. I was told Simon and Greg would be going to bring me to the polling centre, long houses, water fall and more. It was a perfect night to end a story.  

The hot and the cool - Bintulu to Sibu ride

Day 8: Sunday, 28 Apr 2103 - Bintulu to Tatau (Recovery ride)

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.