Day 1: Singapore to Mersing (144km)

Our first day of the trip started rather early at around 6am as we had an estimated 140km to cover before reaching our intended destination - Mersing.

Waiting for Shohei and Deming at a busstop along Upper Bukit Timah Road (0600hrs)

Everyone arrived at around 0615hrs and we set off for Woodlands Checkpoint to cross into Johor Bahru City, Peninsular Malaysia. As usual, there was the routine traffic jam at the checkpoint, but the queue for motorcycles and bicycles moved fast enough such that by 7am, we were well on our way to our brunch point, the little town of Kota Tinggi.

Riding steadily towards our brunch - the renowned Kota Tinggi Bak Kut Teh

During our ride last year, Shohei used only a backpack throughout the entire journey. This gave him a nasty backache after each day's ride, and even more so on the days which involved riding more than 100km.

This time round, he decided not to let history repeat itself and came well prepared with clamp-on panniers for his clothing and equipment. The specialized bags were not cheap but from the wide grin on his face below, it seems well worth the investment!

Fully satisfied with his Topeak clamp on pannier rack and bag

Deming refuelling with Bak Kut Teh and 100 Plus

After an energizing meal of bak kut teh soup and rice, we were refreshed and raring to go! It was to be another 90+km to Mersing, but we had ample time to reach before dusk.

On our way to Mersing

Unfortunately, at about the halfway mark of our day's distance (70km from Singapore), the freehub on my rear wheel started to fail. This was probably one of the worst kind of mechanical fault we could have faced, there was no way to repair it except to have the whole rear hub changed.

Miraculously, as I continued to cycle, the freehub managed to hold up with only the occasional slipping of the hub. We could only pray that it could tahan all the way to Mersing, and hopefully, there would be a suitable bike shop in the town that could help to replace the hub.

I really should have sent the bike for a full servicing before the trip!

Taking a break at a road side food stall

21km more to go!

Fortunately, we managed to make it all the way to Mersing without further incident. By the time we cycled into town and checked into our accommodation for the night, it was time for dinner. As it was a Sunday, the bike shops in town were closed, so I had to get it repaired the next morning before we set off for Rompin. Good thing it was a short ride of only 60km to Rompin the next day.

We made it! - In front of our Mersing hotel

For dinner, we wanted to have seafood but our favourite restaurant was full house! Apparently it was Father's Day so many families were eating out that night. (Last year, when we went to Mersing during our 2007 ride, we also could not eat at that restaurant as it was closed)

Anyway, we still had a hearty cze char dinner at an eating place near our hotel and went back to have an early night.