Thailand to Singapore, via East Coast of Malaysia, Ride: Day 10

A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are for.

         (John Augustus Shedd)










7 AM.










With a cup of coffee in hand.










Robert's friend, Vincent, shows up with a 4WD for the fishing expedition.





No wet clothes to dry today, so the trunk bag is stocked with provisions.





Structure housing swallows (to produce bird's nest).





10:30 AM.
Time to hit the road.










Back on Highway 3.










Nenasi Motel, where I bunked over on the 1993 Singapore-to-Kuantan ride.





Located just beside the bridge.

























A place to stop by in Rompin if your bones need some pampering.





Summerset Resort.





1:45 PM.
26.32 km (16.45 miles) from Nenasi, I run into Michael. With his 61 cm Specialized hybrid, Ortileb panniers and handlebar bag, as well as a large, black bike bag, he's riding north to Kota Bahru, and then taking a bus west to Perlis, where he would continue his journey up to Thailand.

In the course of the conversation — whilst baking in the 110° F (43.3° C) heat — he mentioned he was looking up information on riding in Malaysia and he's not sure if I've come across this blog, Pedal! Damn it!   ^_^

He then went, "OMG! I don't believe it! I was wondering why that Cateye ATC cyclocomputer looked so familiar..."

[UPDATE:  Jan 2009 — Michael posted his complete ride report. Read all about his 1038 mile (1671 km) journey here  :-D  ]





A few kilometers after we parted company, I had a disturbing encounter with one of the locals — which I will not elaborate here. It will suffice to say, however, that it reinforces my decision not to carry mobiles / cell phones, and all those who advised me otherwise are henceforth written off from my list of individuals to pay heed to. Words carry consequences, especially unsolicited advice.





It got a little cooler, but not much.





A restored Malay meeting house.










Lunch at Bandar Baru Rompin. There is a bicycle shop in this town, Le Run. Some sort of franchise?





Missing nuts, or why you shouldn't sit on the railings.










One of the entrances to Endau Rompin State Park.





Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) farm. To the right, the concrete structure houses swallows for bird's nest.










Well, I did ask for cooler weather. I just didn't have this in mind.





An alternative to Mersing.





Sri Malaysia Hotel at Tanjung Gemok was full, so they booked me a room at their sister branch in Mersing.





Crossing Sungai Endau.





Mersing was not part of today's plan.










Somewhere along here, I crossed over from Pahang to Johor.





27 km (16.9 miles) to Mersing.





ELMO:  Use your twin turbo!








































6:40 PM.
10 km (6.25 miles) to go.





Sounds intriguing but another day, perhaps.





Mersing.










'Had a little trouble finding Sri Malaysia Mersing due to the one-way streets and ended up riding to the edge of town, towards Jemaluang.





2nd floor. No lifts.







DATA

Cateye AT-100
Elevation climbed  600 feet (182.9 m)
6 hours 2 minutes 25 seconds
Average speed  12 mph (19.2 km/h)
Maximum speed  30.1 mph (48.2 km/h)
Distance  72.3 miles (115.7 km)
Temperature  94° - 110° F (34.4° - 43.3° C)

Cateye Velo 5
Distance  116.56 km (72.85 miles)
Maximum speed  48.3 km/h
Cumulative distance  683.5 km (427.2 miles)