A week of reconciliation

It was a rather good week. The week started with a "maiden ride". Edwin assured all of us that it was designed for beginners. It was Saturday’s morning at 7.00 am. There were surprises after surprises. First, a charming young lady turned out, she was in her late teens. That was promising. Then a while later 3 young ladies came with their shinning new bikes.

“Uncle- yours the same what! Carbon fiber!”

Even more promising. The crowd eventually grew to 9 riders, the situation looked well. But Edwin -where are we having our training? Hulu Klang-besides the Zoo! Oh that’s good, as Edwin father who operates the family business in Ampang knew the terrain well.

Off we go! Then came the first real surprise, look at the photograph! There were a total of over 20 riders and they don’t look a bit amateurish!

The ride was 3.5 kilometers on paved road, another 3 kilometers off road with laterite road and "single track". Couldn’t record the single track, as lighting was too low. There were plenty of “downhill” and you can only go downhill if you have gone up!

I choose not to complete the last and toughest kilometer.  I was already pushing the bike up the slopes most of the way. I am glad that I didn’t  - I later learned on the way "Downhill" that I was nowhere near to controlling the rear brakes even under Louis constant tutorage.

So a short 13 kilometers is classified as warming up and for beginners!

The next morning was the regular weekly routine. The morning was fine and the trip went as scheduled. We were saving cost and followed the old Highway 1. By  8.30 am we were in Tapah and that was the place that the strange metallic noise grew unbearable. A check on the suspension revealed nothing but we still decided to abort this week’s outing.

Why don’t we try Kampar, perhaps we could get a welder to patch back the front “firewall” that could be instrumental in causing that awful noise and threatening to break the car apart.

Couple of inquiry in Kampar, we landed up in the only shop opened for business and Mr. Loo.

We convinced him that it would be a straightforward task after we had removed the fuel tank. The whole frontage of the car would be bear for him to work on. Reluctantly he agreed and we got to work immediately.

Mr. Loo is a very experienced hand at his business and a proud workman. Still extremely fit at 62 years, he patched up the cracked front wall of the car’s body in a way that I had not seen for a long time.

Rather pleased with the repair job and calm enough to enjoy a late lunch, we had our second meal in Kampar.

There was still time enough for us to accomplish our mission for the day. We headed north to Ipoh. A short way out of town the noise came back! We had given the car a wrong remedy!

Frantically we backtracked into town and suspected that the front torsion bars ran dry of grease. This time we were not that lucky and ran into foul moods with so much of rejection and apathy from the service station operator on the loan of a grease gun. The town’s only mechanic was on hand and he unbelievably greased the 2 nipples the car had.

Feeling relieved for the second time, we left town. A couple of kilometers out the noise came back. I was flabbergasted as to what else could have gone wrong with this car. Stopped under a tree to carry out a proper looked through. Another new suspect, the least expected front wheel bearings were badly worn out.

For the third time we seek help. The mechanic was helpful very quickly opened up to confirm that it was seized bearing.

The next hour was spent cycling around Kampar town looking for replacement bearings.

The whole episode made the week's outing interesting instead of frustrating. It only confirmed that not all outings are full of roses and exciting discovery of nature! The breakdown and the subsequent efforts made to overcome the obstacles reinforce our belief that each week should be eventful. Tragedy though dreaded is also another memorable event.

It was very late and the gray sky was reminding us of the “scheduled” afternoon showers. We went on our way to the beautiful limestone district just outside Ipoh..

First, the heavy mining of the Karsts hills marred the majestic panoramic view these outcrops have once created in Simpang Pulai.

This cave, one of the many among the outcrops will vanish

In fact we found this place an excellent example as the mining is just at its doorstep.

Next sight- the road that will lead to the Cameron is deep into the Main Range, some 18 kilometers away from Simpang Pulai. Yet the hills flanking the old road were subjected to heavy logging activities.

The stretch of paved road to the road building sites was no longer as scenic as we remembered it. Perhaps the heavy traffic from the construction crew had left the place a little more littered, the river silted and the slopes completed bereaved of trees.

Construction of the 2^nd East-West link was going on rapidly. We were late and zoomed passed this signboard without reporting to the Security Guard.

The new track meandered around the hills. It was a beautiful sight with the rolling hills and near vertical service track etched into them. This parcel of road works cover a distance from Simpang Pulai to Lojing and 6 kilometers is now opened.

Work in now concentrated on construction of a bridge spanning the gorge of the Sungei Raio.

The track passes by the Semank and the Temiang aborigine’s settlements. Here some of the unaffected houses are left intact while others had been relocated.

Here you can see Joyce and Khoo, rushing off to check out the conditions. These houses would be gone within months.

Well, at last, we saw one completed unit.

We were quite fascinated with a freshly finished house.

Elsewhere see the worker perching precariously on the slopes sowing seeds to stabilize the slope.

Equally interesting was this excavator perching on the small hills of earth to load the awaiting trucks.