Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Perak : UTAR Ride 4 Charity

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Cycling Malaysia / Perak / UTAR Ride 4 Charity
                                    AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures                                      
Perak : Kampar UTAR Ride 4 Charity
Kampar, Perak : 10th March 2013
Distance covered : approx. 31.00 km.
Time : 7:30 am - 10:00 pm
Time Taken : 2:30 hrs. (including a stop for breakfast)
Route Recommendations : Except for the stretch on the main trunk road, the kampong roads are nice to ride on. Do watch out for lorries, the can pass by very close.


PRE-RIDE
When the Student Representative Council (SRC) of Universiti Tunku Adbul Rahman (UTAR) posted their event UTAR Ride 4 Charity, many of us were keen to join in. It was not because for a mere RM30:00 registration fee one would get a free helmet or Cat's Eye light and event T-shirt, it was more to do our bit for charity. And some of us were graduates from Tunku Abdul Rahman College, a predecessor to UTAR.


As the ride would be starting early on a Sunday, most of us from Kuala Lumpur drove up a day earlier to stay the night. Some of us went slightly further north to Ipoh to savor it's renown Ipoh Hor Fun (...see more)


and the creamy soy bean milk at the oddly named stall called "Funny Mountain Tau Foo Fah" (... see more)


and boxes of Kaya (egg jam) Puffs from Sin Eng Heong to take back home (... see more)


and packets of this meat-floss biscuits from Ching Han Guan (... see more)


AhPek Biker's Brompton @ Siswa Hotel, Kampar
Finishing that short eats romp into Ipoh, we drove down to Kampar and checked into the Hotel Siswa.


We had a short rest, freshen up and was ready for our next adventure, not food this time but a short recce ride of Kampar and UTAR.


Main Hall UTAR Perak Campus
The UTAR Perak Campus sits on 1,500 acres of land, surrounded by lakes...


... and limestone hills. It's a nice scenic place to ride in. There are even storks & cranes nesting in these lakes.


Later on, at night, some of the members of the KCC (Kampar Cycling Community) took us on a short ride.


At a short stop in the campus, some students played Chinese flutes to entertain us.


Oh-oh! One of our lady bikers had a puncture, but no worries as there is always a biker knight at hand to help the damsel in distress.


With that puncture incident behind us we rode on to have supper and then back to the hotel... Tomorrow's Ride Day!


In the early hours of the following morning, we rode over to McDonald's.


While some of us were having a good breakfast to pep ourselves for the ride,

Sweet was getting impatient.....
LET'S RI I I I IDE!


THE RIDE


UTAR Ride 4 Charity Route Map  (click for Map Link)
The ride will start from the UTAR Perak Campus out to the main trunk road, towards Temoh along the kampong roads and thence back to the start point.

First a quick look around before the start:
The team from Siput Gondang.


A couple, older but still cycling strong together on a Norton tandem bicycle.


We were most repectful of this amputee with a never-give-up attitude : LIFE MUST GO ON!


Aaaaannnnnd..... THE FLAG OFF!


The ORI cyclist from Folding Bike Malaysia, looking very smart in their jerseys.


The route took us partly along the main trunk road, but one lane was cordoned off for the event.


A couple of young riders.


Riding pass the Kampar District Police Headquarters.


Up a bridge at Temoh Station - almost at the half-way point.


Watering station at Checkpoint 2 - time to quench that thirst and top up the water bottles.


The police were at hand to control traffic and ensure a smooth & safe ride.


But just in case, St. John's Ambulance Brigade members were posted at various points to render first aid.


Also passed by this Teddy Bear stall. What's this doing here at the side of a trunk road, in the middle on nowhere?


Back to Kampar "new town" area; almost at the finish.


FINISHING LINE..... yahooooo!

(Excuse the blur photo, the heat got to my camera.)

POST-RIDE


Just after the finish line, we were directed to a sports field; at the entrance these pretty girls cut off a corner of our number tag (with the number written on) to put into a lucky draw box. Hope some of us win something.


The field had tented stalls selling cycling accessories. At the far end is a grand-stand where speeches and the lucky draw will be held.


The field was rather hot; so we cycled over to one of the shadier campus buildings.
With the Shimano goodies bag, it looked like we were going back to school.
Hey! That's an idea, why not? After all, the campus grounds and the vicinity seems to be made for cycling.


Add the shady building, many of us just laid down on the cooling floor to take a short nap.


While others did some meditation to atone for their sins; or more likely to prayer and win some lucky draw prizes.

Siesta time's OVER!
Back at the field, we saw this guy with an interesting Horny Helmet.


Up at the Grandstand, lucky draw prizes were displayed. Helmets, cycling jerseys, etc. were the consolation prizes.


The top three prizes were bicycles.


Our biking buddy, Kim won a cycling jersey! Congrats Kim.


The rest of us won nothing, but the experience of attending the ride was well worth it. Perhaps, better luck next year.
Time to go back!


On the drive back, we stopped by to buy some of the well-known Kampar CB (Chicken Biscuits). It's sweetish-salty and makes a good dessert.
The shop is at the Kampar old town, along the main road.


Cylcing did make us hungry, so further down we stopped by at Tapah's Sing Seng Kee Restaurant for lunch.


We ordered eight dishes for the fourteen of us.
Among which was this delicious steamed Tilapia In Spicy Bean Paste Sauce.


... and this sinful Kau Yoke. It's deep fried pork belly with deep fried yam slices. Mmmmm... wonderful!


"Pak Sok Kong" up-stream catfish, steamed with garlic sauce. I always like this as it has lots of slurpy fish fat (... see more)

Well, GOOD RIDING MEANS GOOD FOOD TOO!

Adieus!


Related Blogs:








You may also like:







You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Cycling Malaysia / Perak / UTAR Ride 4 Charity
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)

No comments:

Post a Comment