I am not familiar with the other people in the group with the exception of Abang Din whom I met at a bicycle shop prior to this trip. He is traveling with his family who were also riding in the event.
Out of the 18 people who participated in the ride, I was the only non-Muslim and yet, the folks whom I rode with were very understanding, hospitable and generous.
I made plans to meet up with Khairul at the KL Sentral station. On the departure day, I woke up as early as 05:30am and loaded all my gear onto my wife's car. Michelle drove me to the station and I wanted to stay ahead of time. The Ipoh-bound train departs at 09:00am sharp. The plan was to meet up with Khairul at McDonalds, get whatever we need like water and food, then load them up in the coach.
And as expected, the train arrived at the platform as scheduled and we began to haul our bikes onto the coach.
As a seasoned traveler, I booked the front row where I can stash my bike, panniers and other gear for the journey.
Unlike touring, bikecamping gear weighs heavier than the norm. There's the tent (I use a tarp and ground sheet), bedding (sleeping mat and bag), cooking gear (stove, pots and eating utensils) and food. This increases the weight on your panniers immensely.Other equipment that were given serious consideration with lighting gear (Black Diamond Apollo lantern), my outdated Petzl Myo XP headlamp, photographic equipment, two Sony Action cams and alternate power source in the form of the APC power banks (5,000mAH & 10,000mAH). These would add more weight to the already laden luggage packs. I had to ditch some equipment to lighten the load.
My bike of choice for this ride was the Tern Eclipse S18. Although slower than the average 24" bike, this one's really solid and steady for the long-haul.
After two and a-half hours on the train, we alighted at the Ipoh train station and while setting up the bikes, I bumped into En Zairil Hakimi Ishak, an avid cyclist whom I met twice in Ipoh. He tours a bit and our meeting at the station was pure coincidental.
Zairil was aware of the bikecamping ride in Lenggong, but was committed for another event in Cameron Highlands.
We had lunch at a mamak shop near the state mosque and learned that Khairul have had some problems with his bike.
The guy rides a Dahon Speed P8 and has never serviced it. I can't blame him because he is very new at cycling.
After the Friday prayers, Zairil helped with the bike and we were well on our way towards Kuala Kangsar.
Since this is a five-hour ride, the clock was set further behind as we had a three-hour handicap.
The plan was to reach Kuala Kangsar by nightfall, have dinner and rest there for a night...
READY TO RUMBLE: The writer's bicycle and camping equipment are neatly packed into two large Ortlieb Backroller Classic Panniers and an Ortlieb 24-litre rack pack for the journey to Perak.