Bikepacking – Cyberjaya to Pantai Cunang (Tanjong Sepat)

Disclaimer: Riding a bike on an open road is a risky activity, please take necessary safety precautions to be safe on the road.

 

Introduction

The world has been battling the Covid-19 virus for almost 2 years now, on 31st December 2019, WHO was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan City, China. Even though the vaccine has been discovered, the impact of this pandemic is still here, and it will change our lives forever.

As the situation slowly gets back to normal, Malaysian that has completed their vaccination are allowed to cross the states, 95% of an adult was vaccinated as I’m writing this piece. People have started to feel a bit rest assured of their safety and starting to bring their family unwind over the weekends, that would include me and my long-known friend, Akmal. We are on a new adventure!

 

What is bikepacking?

It’s like backpacking, instead of using your legs to move from point A to point B. We are using our bikes to explore places. Bikepacking or carrying things on a bike and traveling a great distance isn’t something new. Soldier troops did it during World War, to colonize a land? Maybe, I’m no history expert. Idk.

The definition I got from the site below, makes sense to me. Bikepacking is a branch of bike touring with a minimalist approach.

“Bike touring is a broad category that encompasses all forms of loading up camping gear on your bike and traveling. Bikepacking is a type of bike touring which is more focused on unpaved surfaces (singletrack, gravel roads, etc.,) and the bags are optimized to address those specific challenges”

https://theoutdoorevolution.com/explore-on-wheel/bikepacking-vs-bike-touring

25^th October 2021

Preparation

We’ve been preparing the items for the past 2-3 weeks, after we made a reservation on the campsite, I’ve put the contact for reservation, you just need to WhatsApp your details to the person in charge. Most of the items we got from the online store below are the items that we bought along the trip as for your reference, things in the list below may differ depending on the climate and places you wanted to visit, you may take it as a rough guide.

Bike/ Maintenance

•  A Bike, duh. I'm using Polygon Bend R2 - Gravel/Touring Bike
  

•  Spare Tire x 2

•  Spare Tube x 2

• Tire lever

• Hand pump

• Pliers

• Allen Keys

• Blade

• Bungee Straps

• Bike Lock

• Bike Panniers

• Front/back light

Food

• Self-heating food x 2

• Water (lots of it) you can always buy on the road.

Cloth/Accessories

• Tent

• Sleeping bag

• Sets of cloths

• Sandal

• Toiletries essential

• Sunglasses

• Arm Sleeve/Glove

• Contact Lens/ Liquid

• Sunblock

• Mini Stove/ Gas

• Biking shoe or any suitable sport shoe.

• Tripod

All of these need to be stuffed and carry on the road, around 10kg of weight.

26^th October 2021

Progression - 1km – 20km – Flew like the wind.

Actually, I'm still feel sleepy

It was the early morning of 26^th October 2021, 5.00 am to be exact. After a couple of weeks of training, planning, and getting the equipment needed for this trip. The time has come to set off for another adventure. Pantai Cunang it’s around 18km from Pantai Morib and it is taken care of and well maintained by the aboriginal people who live there.

1km – 20km was fast, fresh legs and excitement filled up the atmosphere in the early morning. There were not many cars on the road makes us feel a bit safer, we headed north to Puchong and then south to Banting. If we set off around 7 am or 8 am this place would be bustling with traffic. 

20km – 40km – Easy Peasy.

After almost two hours on the bike, it still feels alright. We bumped into a small food vendor side of the road, we were trying to avoid the main road because the traffic is starting to build up, and just happened to be our breakfast pit stop. Sometimes the best plan is when you don’t plan at all because the meticulously planned trip usually never happened.  

Last 38km – Long straight road that feels like an eternity

Time marches on, the scorching heat of the sun starting to get into the skin. We stopped by a bridge at Telok Panglima Garang to take a couple of pictures, you can see Bukit Jugra from this spot. We went to Bukit Jugra on our second day, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience on our back to the campsite, more on that later.

Catch some breath at Pantai Morib, starting to get hot around this time. I put on the arm sleeves to get some protection; it does work!

Finally, we arrived around 12 pm, 5 hours and 32 minutes of moving time, 7 hours of travel duration, this is the longest and furthest cycling activity I’ve ever attempted. It was a blessing there was no tire puncture, accident, or any health issue during the arduous journey. The last thing we would hope is to change the tire or try to fix any bike mechanical issue on a hot sunny day. 

It’s been a while since I last set up a tent if I could recall it was during high school, manage to capture the time-lapse of the process below.

Stomach starting to growl at around this time, the cold shower is the best thing ever after sunbathing for couple of hours. We had Kembara meal pack, it is a self-heating food, just need to add water and it will heat the food to your liking. I’ve put the Putrajaya agent number below if you are keen to try some, or you can always get it online.

 

 

27^th October 2021

We still can feel the soreness from the 78km of cycling yesterday, the night was cold perfect for a good night sleep, even so the strong wind hitting the tent, flapping the tent cover awoke us from sleep now and then.

Testing out Insta360 camera, not bad. Able to figure out how to use in in seconds.

We had breakfast at Wak Cun Da Jetty, the Nasi Lemak and Lontong here is delicious! Behind the Dataran Tanjong food court, there is a Lover’s Bridge Jetty you can walk across and enjoy the sea breeze.

 

Bukit Jugra was the next checkpoint, we set off a bit later around 5 pm. Even around that time the sun is still up. It took us 2 hours and 30 min to get from Pantai Cunang to Bukit Jugra, initially, we thought it only takes 2 hours. We got chased by guard dogs on the way there, two times! On the way to Bukit Jugra and back to the campsite. Guard dog just doing its job, taking care of the villager’s farm and palm oil estate. Luckily, the dog just chases us for like 50 meters before deciding to give up.

Our moving speed at that moment I think would be on par with the Olympic cyclist sprinting to get the gold medal. Adrenaline is a powerful drug, the pure excitement, increasing heart rate, expanding of the lungs for air, blood rushing to the muscle is something I haven’t experienced in quite a while. 9 to 5 jobs can make people feel numb sometimes 😉.

“Back in the late 1800s, Jugra was the royal capital of Selangor; its well-preserved buildings are good examples of the artistry and grandeur of its glamorous past.”

Bukit Jugra lighthouse, a towering structure built-in 1976. They have a paragliding activity here where the jump base is conducted near the lighthouse

“Paragliding depends heavily on wind conditions, with March to September being the best time to soar through the air in Malaysia.”

https://www.visitselangor.com/bukit-jugra/

The last 2 kilometers were torturing, the elevation was the steepest I had ever ridden, we had to push the bike to get to the top. We pushed a bit too hard on the climb. I almost got a muscle cramp, and we still need to cycle for another 2 hours+ back to the campsite.

 

 28^th October 2021

It’s our check-out day, we decided not to cycle back, instead we called a friend to pick us up. Since we were so beat up from yesterday’s climb. We don’t want to take the risk of being physically tired out on the open road. Thanks a lot, friend!

Will this be the last bikepacking trip? Hard to say, it was fun for the most part cycling for almost 80km in 7 hours pushing our limit mentally and physically.

Highlights of the trip, it was done without any script. I started to think about what to say right after hitting the record button, lol.

What to expect?

It is beautiful, seeing the sunrise as we paddle across the road, being welcomed by the villagers as I was going to the straight road was heart-warming. You will feel the joy of being outdoors. Your muscles will hurt. 

You will probably fall hitting pothole. You will get a honk from random cars or lorry from time to time. Putting an extra 10kg weight on the back of your bike can throw you off balance sometimes. You will be thinking why I am doing this, and you will have fun with your friends!