Ride Report #3: Round Island: The other way round

There was another group ride to Grik over the weekends but I was not up for it as I have yet to get a new gloves. The week before I went looking for cycling shorts and finally found one in my size and it was on clearance. The reason it was on clearance was because it was attached to the outer shorts like a 2-in-1 pants or like the pants which comes with built in underwear. The salesperson suggested if the shorts is not comfortable with the outer pants, there is always an option to separate them.

Since there no plans on the weekend, I decided to go for a round island trip on Sunday to test the pants. If it doesn't work out, I will have to perform 'surgery'. The last round island trip started from home and went north through Balik Pulau and back through town. This time round we will be starting from home, heading to town for breakfast then going the other way round back home.

 

Round island route

Geared up and got ready to leave as we were feeling hungry and needed to look for breakfast. There was a few options in mind and ended up at Argyll Road for the Dry Koay Teow and beansprout chicken

 

One of the decoration on the table. The artwork is from the Old Master Q comic which I used to read when I was a wee lad

 

Breakfast: Dry Koay Teow with beansprout chicken

First pit stop bike photo of the day

Continued the trip after breakfast to Esplanade. Since it was early and there was no traffic, decided to do another photo pit stop of the bike with the Esplanade sign.

Headed south towards Balik Pulau through the expressway. There was nothing much along the way so we decided to make a small detour to Gertak Sanggul. I have always wanted to ride a bike there and when the opportunity comes knocking on your door, you just have to grab it and go. Since it is almost lunch time, we decided to visit our local seafood haunt: Gertak Sanggul Tua Pek Kong Seafood

Ais Kacang with Durian ice cream

A very friendly dog who was curious about us

Vulcan on the beach. Who says a cruiser is unable to go off road

  

Steamed ladies fingers and octopus

    

Steamed prawn and fish

The reason this is our favorite haunt is because the seafood are freshly caught for the day and their menu depends on the catch of the day which makes it exciting and adds a bit mystery. Another plus side is the view. As the restaurant is by the beach, one can enjoy the view and breeze while enjoying their meal.In the evening, one can even catch the sunset if the weather is good.

After a fulfilling and light lunch, we continued our journey to Balik Pulau. We explored the small town before heading towards Teluk Bahang. There is a waterfall along the route but sadly the area was under restoration so we could not stop to take a dip and photos. This is the only we manage to get from the back of the bike.

 

It was a nice narrow 2 lane road with lots of bends but due to the rainy season recently, the ground has wet fallen leaves and debris from the hill. There was also some construction work going on at sections of the road.

The next highlight of the trip is the Bao Sheng Durian farm but as the durian season just ended, the place was closed. We stopped at the sign at the entrance for a customary bike photo as proof that we were there.

Bao Sheng Durian farm entrance

 

From here on it is more twisty roads to the next stop which is the Tropical Fruit Farm. There were lots of cyclist going the opposite way and when we reached the fruit farm for a break, a group of them were staring at us like as tough we were from another planet. I gathered they were jealous that we are on motorised engine and not manually powered.

 

A short video recorded from the back of the bike on the way to fruit farm

From here on it was a short ride to the Teluk Bahang dam. This is the first time the road was clear of any traffic which is rare. The weather must be very hot as the water level at the dam is low. Hopefully it rains soon before the government starts water rationing.

Route to Teluk Bahang Dam

 

From the dam we passed a few interesting sights but because we were near the town of Teluk Bahang, there were some traffic which makes it hard to stop to take photos. Passed by Entopia which was re-opened and they are currently expanding to have more display.

 

 

Entopia

  

In the Teluk Bahang town there is a very interesting round-a-bout which has a sculpture of a monkey cup. Personally I feel this is one of the nicest round-a-bout in the island.

 

 

Teluk bahang round-a-bout

 

From Teluk Bahang it was a straight ride home passing beaches and traffic jam caused by beach goers. Overall it was a nice ride and finally manage to get the the Relive video of the round island trip.

 

 

Relive video of the round island trip

 

Remember to ride safe, be vigilant and keep the rubber side down