Riding with Uncle John gave me a totally different perspective about Ipoh.
This capital administrative district of Perak is indeed a large township.
We road about 10km towards Station 18 and regrouped with a few more cyclists.
At this point, the group was 30-odd.
It's a good mix with families and a couple of seasoned hands joining in the ride.
After a good breakfast, the ride towards Kellie's Castle was interesting.
It's a course of undulating terrain and it claimed our first casualty.
Evelyn Tung, a Sub-Editor from the EDGE Business Daily had gone down with a faint spell.
Her boyfriend Norman and decided to call off the ride.
I brought her bike towards a shaded area, made sure that she was okay before we parted ways.
Patrick, our sweeper had done a decent job looking after us.
Back in Petronas, I indulged in small talk with one of the Ipoh cyclist Mr Phuan.
He had a distinct look, mustachioed with a pony tail.
Phuan was with his wife and seemed to me like a serious rider.
We took snapshots at Kellie's Castle and pushed off towards Tg Tualang.
Before we could do so, we have to ride past Batu Gajah town.
Being a long-distance cyclist, this was a moderate task for me.
I was riding my Tern Eclipse S18 and this by far, is the longest ride I've taken with the bike.
I've already done some 40-km commutes to work.
In the case of Tg Tualang, its a typical touring scenario.
With my load, I was averaging at 15km/h.
The rest of the Ipoh gang were sprinting towards the destination.
None of the KL guys were familiar with the terrain..
We arrived in Tg Tualang at about 11:00am and took a break at a hawker centre.
The group had split into two.
Our Chinese gang were having drinks nearby while I kept a watchful eye.
Then, from a distance, I saw the party pooper gesturing.
I felt that something was amiss when two cyclists broke away from the main group.
The ring leader tried to rally a few more people. But to no avail.
Gino Wong, one of the old hands, well, new at cycling, but experienced enough -- told me that it was not right to do so.
As a courtesy, I rode towards the duo and asked if their decision is final. They said they wanted to "do things" in Tg Tualang
and that they will "Find their way back"
So, that said, we rode back towards Ipoh.