The Malaysian Foldie issue 10, June 2014 | Page 15

Johnny said they were old enough to make their own decisions and had allowed them to be on their own.

So, that said, we rode back towards Ipoh.

Batu Gajah is the next town and I was riding with Yun, Mohd Radzi and Mr Phuan as our sweeper.

At the junction to Ipoh, I signaled for the guys to pull over for a drink.

We cooled off at a stall selling coconut juice and continued with our journey towards Ipoh.

Despite the heat, undulating terrain, we did good time.

By 2:20pm, we were back at the hotel.

We had time to rest and while we were at it, Norman came to inform us that the party poopers were not back from Tg Tualang.

I gave him the reasoning of doing an average of 10km an hour. Tg Tualang is 37-km away from Ipoh and they need at least

\three hours to complete the journey.

They won't make it back in time.

So, Norman took their belongings and headed back to KL.

Later, we found out that the duo had boarded the ETS from Batu Gajah.

What kinda pissed me off was the non-chalant attitude of the ring-leader. As if nothing had happened.

That said. this is the last time we are cycling with such a selfish individual.

Back in Ipoh, we rode out towards the town area for a late lunch.

Heavy rain had prevented us to leave earlier.

After lunch, we rode towards the end of the train station in search of a place to have a cup of tea.

That was when my tire had a flat.

A piece of screw had pierced the thread and punctured it.

My only option was to replace the inner tube, inflate it at a petrol station nearby and resume our journey.

That done, we rode into the train station to pack our bikes and regrouped with Johnny and a few others minus the party

poopers.

The ETS was delayed for 10 minutes. This means our journey back to KL Sentral was later than the usual.

At Kepong Sentral, a large group got off and only three of us were left in the train.

When I arrived at Sentral, the first thing on my mind was to hop onto a cab and head straight home.

I had no desire to cycle as I was mentally-drained.

As far as the journey was concerned, we did quite okay.

The only grouse so far, are the non-stop riding. Perhaps for beginners, we should have turned back to Ipoh after Kellie's

Castle.

Having said that, the route was given out earlier, so, any protest or feedback would be entertained..

With Ipoh checked-out, our next ride is Taiping and I am working on it..