Cruisin'
Ride reviews
To the other End..
Pengerang in Johor is located on the Southernmost tip of the continent on the east coast of the state which is worth exploring on a bicycle..
ENDING THE JOURNEY:
Samo and Mohd Radzi posing at the signboard at Sungai Rengit in Johor. This is the other side of the Continent's Land's End.
What about the 'other' end???
I had a couple of days off and the desire to explore Southeastern Johor.
The destination: Pengerang district which is on the Eastern side of the Tebrau straits.
This is practically about 100km away from Johor Baru and is accessible via the new Senai - Desaru Highway.
But my journey starts from another town.
Creating the route
Initially, I wanted to cycle from Kulai which is located along the train route towards Kota Tinggi.
In the past, I've traveled to the area to cover Court and Crime cases when I was based as a reporter in Johor Baru.
So, the plan was simple, set out to Kulai, get off the train and ride towards Kota Tinggi and stage the ride from there to Sungai Rengit in the Pengerang district.
I've been to these towns once when I was covering a baby-smuggling syndicate in Pengerang.
But, after much thought, I don't have the luxury of time.
So, it has to be cut short and by using the best possible way to stage the ride.
I ended up driving to Kota Tinggi where I booked a night's stay at a local hotel.
The plan was cut short to a day trip to Sungai Rengit and see what happens.
Since we were heading into the unknown, I stayed away from inviting joyriders to avoid doing baby-sitting work.
Co-incidentally, there was a weekend ride organised by a teacher from Rawang to Serendah.
Most of the joyriders were involved in it, so, that gave me plenty of room to pick and choose the "right stuff".
So, I emailed my regular kakis Roger Teoh and Patric Yee including newcomer Mohd Radzi Mohd Noor.
Both Roger and Patric are seasoned touring and bikepacking riders.
I have issues with them as they have earned my trust over a few long rides.
Unfortunately, both had to decline the ride due to personal commitments.
I ended up doing the ride with Radzi, who is untested on extended stay and rides.
The only time I hooked up with him on an overnight trip was to Raub last year.
Radzi, it seems, is a strong rider who owns a basic folding bike: the Dahon ECO7.
That is just enough to cover the 90km-plus distance that we were about to try out from Kota Tinggi to Pengerang...