February 22, 2005
Day 7
Kilometer counter - 630 km
Did 85km on a sore ass knee. Kuala Terrengganu is allright, there are 2 great banana leaf Indian restaurants here. I will finally take a rest day tomorrow.
Posted by tyler at 03:34 AM
February 20, 2005
Guns Guns Guns
Toal KM 485
I found a nice hidden, or so I thought, campsite in an oil palm plantation last night. I was laying (or is that lying?) in my tent trying to ignore the 30 degree celcius heat and fall asleep when I hear a car pull up and park 10 feet away from me on the other side of some bushes that I was up against. "Damm" I thought - you sure know how to pick the "hidden" campsites. So I roll over put on my glasses and watch from someone. Two Minuites later 2 men walk by, not taking any notice to the halk naked white boy in a tent. Did I mention one of them was holding a nice, shiny rifle? Well, one of them was.
As they walk by I'm thinkink "Please don't be the landowner looking for trespassers."
I can imagine them thinking "Please don't be the landowner camping out to catch poachers."
So when they walked by and pretended not to notice me I laughed, took off my glasses and fell asleep. Hunters. That wasn't the first time my campsite has been infiltrated by hunters in Asia and I'm sure it won't be the last.
This all just goes to support my theory that "Everything in life can relate to the Simpsons."
It was just like that episode when Bart was skipping school and Homer was skipping work (the Freddie Quimby trial).
They bump into each other on the street and it goes like this.
"I can't let dad see me skipping school."
"I can't let the boy see me skipping work."
The hunters work me up again when their car pulled away 45 minutes later and headed further down the dead end road that I was on. Around 3:00 they woke me up with a gunshot. Nothing big, not like the wake-the-dead sound of my fathers Weatherby .300 Magnun. This was a quieter, gentler sound. More like the popping of a containter or Pringles. The trigger was pulled, the firing pin hit the primer which ignited the gun powder, launched the bullet off the casing, down the barrel and into the monkey. I can only assume they were hunting monekys because of the massive amounts of them that I've been seeing.
Posted by tyler at 02:58 AM
February 19, 2005
Fully acclimatized
Total KM 385kmCamped on the beach last night. Good sleep, slept it. My knee is killing me. I was in Pekan last night and I got talking to the owner of this restaurant where I was eating at and he told me quite matter-of-factly that "If a Malaysian wanted to do what you are doing he would need sponsors." I didn't know what to say, so I just pulled out the front of my jersey and said "Yeah, I have some!"
WTF was I supposed to say?
#1 "This is very sad, the world we live in, where I have opportunities that your countrymen don't."
#2 "Judging from all the Mercedes and BMW's that almost hit me today I'd say that Malaysia is doing fine."
Malaysia's estimated 2003 GDP was $9000. Less than half of it's southern neighbour, Singapore, but better than it's neighbour to the north, Thailand. Not rich yet not dirt poor.
Yes, yes I know there is a large gap between the rich and the poor, as is the case everywhere.
#3 "Would a US dollar shut you up?"
The point being that I'm not a walking bank, I worked hard to make this trip happen. Everyone has different priorites and responsibilities. I am very lucky in these matters, I know I am and it's constantly being pointed out to me. Sometimes for the better and sometimes almost in spite - kind of like feeling sorry for oneselves. So I guess I should have said...
#4 "So if a Malaysian "needs" sponsors, a Malaysian should get off his ass and find some." I am living proof that anyone can get sponsors.
Enough of this- I am fortunate and I know I am and I am grateful for all the opportunities that I have. Case closed.
Posted by tyler at 02:33 AM
February 18, 2005
What's with the heat?
Day 3 (in my hammock at the beach) Total KM 280
I started off very early because I wanted to get a jump on the weather. I had an amazing Roti w/egg breakfast and I met a ton of people from the Malaysia National Service. I don't quite understand what it's all about but I guess they were waiting for test results for something so for 3 months they were slaves of the government. Learning navigation, canoeing and doing forestry work. Not bad work for a slave eh? We took alot of pictures and I was bombarded with the usual barrage of questions.
Man #1- Where are you from?
Woman #1- Do you have a girlfriend?
Man #2- How much is your bike worth?
Woman #2- Do you like Malaysian girls?
Me- (holding my sore neck and looking back and forth, trying to converse with everyone at once) Canada; No, I don't have time; about $1000; Yes, they are very beautiful.
A professional photographer was "mentoring" the young, soon-to-be students and he took all my pictures for me. I'll try my best to get them up here. I met a really strange German cyclist today. He wasn't really having a good time in Malaysia. Maybe if you didn't wear the cock-hugging spandex biker shorts in a predominantly Muslim country you would get treated a little better...But what do I know? I'm still a kid...
I did 130 km today. I'm getting used to the heat (actually that's a lie, it was overcast today.)
Posted by tyler at 01:22 PM
February 17, 2005
Day 2
(sleeping on the side of the road in Malaysia) Total KM 150km
The road was almost immediately better today. I stopped after a puny 25km for a 5 hour lunch. This heat is killing me, I feel like giving up and it's only the second day. I was very slow even after the long lunch break, stopping every 5km for a nap. It's f'in hot out.
I did 75km and then camped in the jungle. Did I mention it's hot out? mid 30's...
Posted by tyler at 01:17 PM
February 16, 2005
Singapore to Johor Bahru
Day 1 75 km
I landed at Changi Airport and had some hassles at customs.
Lady- What's this lah? (they speak Singlish and say La for emphasis)
Me- That would be my passport...
Man- What happened lah?
Lady- It's wet!
Me- It got wet when I was camping in Japan. It's dry now, it's okay.
Lady to Man- What will they say in Malaysia lah?
They turn to me.
Me- What's the question la? (holy shit, now I'm speaking Singlish!)
Lady- What if they won't accept this in Malaysia.
Me- Then I guess I will get a replacement from my embassy here.
Lady- Execuse me la?
Me- If I can't get into Malaysia I guess I will just fly home.
Lady- You have a ticket home?
Me- No, I'm on an overland trip.
Anyways, you get the idea, this went on for a while until they reluctently stamped my DRY passport. I don't really blame them though, some stamps are almost completely washed away and all that remains is runny red ink.
I landed late at night and made my way up to the departures lounge to try and get some sleep b4 assembling Kylie (my bike) and Angie (my trailer). I ended up meeting this guy who said he was the Trek bike supplier for all of S.E. Asia and that he was waiting for his sons coming in from Europe with some high end bikes. We had a pretty good talk and he said he'd give me a ride into the city and to his house where I could shower and then off to his bike shop where I could set up Kylie and Angie in the morning. Maybe I overslept or maybe he was full of shit, but anyways I woke up and he was nowhere to be found.
If you are wondering why he was waiting for his sons in the departures lounge (as you must be), it was because it was too cold in the arrivals lounge and he would be there for a few hours waiting.
With everything set up I set off into the city in search of Optimistique Inc. where I was to meet my sunglasses sponsor and pick up a sweet pair of Rudy Projects ECKYNOX shades. http://www.rudyproject.com
We took some pictures and I was off through the city, over the causeway connecting Singapore to Malaysia, through immigration and in Malaysia. Horrible riding all day, traffic, traffic, traffic.
Posted by tyler at 12:45 PM
February 14, 2005
Home at last
I'm back at the place I call home anxiously awaiting my flight outta here. I will fly to Singapore tommorrow and I can't wait. I've just about got all the loose ends tied up except I need to finish packing and send a box home tomorrow. Now I'm off to a friends house to take their money (we play alot of poker) and post some pictures on this site as well as email some pics to Cateye http://www.cateye.com which are hopefully good enough for them to use.
What I am about to start on hasn't really sunk in yet, I don't think it will until I step off the plane tomorrow night in Singapore.
Posted by tyler at 12:27 PM | 1 Comments
February 07, 2005
Sleepus Interuptus
Feb 7th
Early start on the steepest mountain road I have ever encountered. I wanted to take the paved road to reach the north cross-island highway but was turned back because of landslides that destroyed the road this past summer. I've ridden both roads before and I like the paved one much better. It rolls along a mountain side through tunnels and over some beautiful bridges. I didn't have much food or water for the next section but I knew there was a town waiting for me some 20 km and 1000m in elevation away. When I rolled into town there was a group of locals standing around a shop and I got a hero's welcome and an invite to drink with them. Usually I'd say it's never too early to start drinking while one is on vacation, but I already felt a little euphoric so I declined, citing the need to eat and guzzle down a few litres of water while they broke out the rice wine and had a good old time.
Unfortunately my feeling of eurpohia truned to an unpset stomach and a sudden rush of tiredness. That night after I finally got my hammock set up and was settling down for the night I was rudely awoken by a local aboriginal man who was looking for firewood for the BBQ that they were setting up 10 feet from me. I got out and chatted with them for a bit and was invitied to do something with them, but I didn't know what exactly they wanted me to join in on. A few minutes later I sat there with about 20 young family members from a nearby town that felt the need to get away from the parents for a few hours. I quickly became the star of the show- signing autographs on arms, posing for pictures and eating myself stupid. As it turned out I was only 9 days older than the guy that had almost shook me out of my hammock, so I quickly became "ge ge" (older brother in chinese) while he was "di di" (can you guess? younger brother).
Posted by tyler at 12:25 PM
February 06, 2005
yi ger ren ma?
The title for this entry is chinese which means "Are you by yourself?" A question that I was asked constantly on my recent trip across Taiwan and I will no doubt be asked many times over by the time I roll in England.
Feb. 6th
I had a pretty late start this morning b/c of packing up. I should have been ready on Friday afternoon but I was suffering a horrid hangover and then I went out again on Friday night. Saturday was mostly wasted away with recovery. It was probably good that I didn't make the first day a big one. I ended up doing just 65km but climbed a 1400m pass with zero pushing. The fog was horrible, down to 2-3 m at times. The worst shore diving I've ever done had better visibility than that. I rode with a 44 y-old from Taoyuan whose name I never learnt. I am very happy to be out of the house and on this training/testing ride across Taiwan.
Posted by tyler at 12:11 PM