Day 3 | The King's Road, Sitiawan - Butterworth

Distance: approx. 180-190km.
Time started: 8.45am.
Time taken: est. 11 hours ride, 1 hour of cumulative stops and breaks.
Mood: All pumped up!
Body condition: Sore ass, sore neck, sore shoulders, sore feet. Still. And worse.
Weather: Fair.

I woke up at 6.45am, packed my bag and checked out from SK Hotel. Gave Peter a call and met him in a curry house nearby. We had our breakfast and talked about my ride up here. Revealed my intention to do Sitiawan - Butterworth in a day. Peter advised at least a few stops in between. I reasoned my need to do it since I wanted to arrive in Ipoh on the way back ASAP. So Peter told me it's not impossible and that he had done it before. We left the place on our bikes and he showed me the back way out of town.

All pumped up, I took on the road with high hopes. I set out with music in my ears, with great clouds ahead to provide shelter. The whole way was pretty flat, with a few hills on the way. I cycled like an idiot who stuck pins and needles into the saddle. I minimized ass contact with the saddle as much as I can to avoid friction. The bicycle trousers I had on did not function its best as I already had bruises and wounds on the face of my buttocks. So I had sore ass anyway for the whole ride.

Pain; nothing more than a mere distraction. Did not dampen my spirit by a thousandth of a fraction. I was motivated and eager, yearning to set this personal record.

So I cycled. I never considered the alternative to enter Taiping, to stay a night or take a rest. I cycled on. Roadside stalls were sufficient.

Many hours had passed and I have cycled along with the rushing minutes. It was a real long way and as Peter told me earlier before I left Sitiawan, "You might think that 40kms is a short distance right now but when you're that far away from your destination, it won't seem that short anymore.". And it's true. 40kms felt like a ride from Singapore to Thailand. A lil' hyperbolic but yeah, you'll get it if you try it. Haha. Worse is when you're really close to your destination -- when I'm only 14kms away from Butterworth, I was going to give up and just end the whole trip there. The King's Road, as Peter had put it, is not an easy one.

And so I've touched down in my final destination. The way back..? Haha, you're not going to believe it. Stay tuned, I guess.

P/s.: Pictures to be uploaded to facebook etc. Will post some here too. Soon. Yes, it's always "soon" with me. Never now, huh? xD