Day 4 - Tanjong Jara Resort

And Day 4 dawned. With some trepidation. I knew - and planned - for this to be the hardest part of the trip. But if I wanted to do Route 4, there was no way to avoid it, not unless I wanted to spend a night in some hole in Kelantan.

According to Google, it was going to be 370kms over a grueling 5hrs and 12mins. Planning for 3 fuel stops and one or two butt rests, that would be a 6 hour journey.

I planned to get an early start, so went to bed at 2145hrs knowing that my body clock will wake me up by 6am. But of course, just thinking about it made sure I only got to sleep at 2230-ish, and woke up every hour from 4am onwards. Nevertheless, I woke up at half-six, fully rested and raring to go. After breakfast (nasi lemak, fruit for some healthiness and two cups of coffee), I was checked out and on the road by 0830hrs. 

And overwhelmed by the beautiful scenery all around me and the challenging roads - mostly well surfaced. No room for error, and with the sun dapple get through the forest right into my eyes, it was slow going. Fortunately a family who had checked out a few minutes before me and were heading to either Redang or Perhentian (they had KL plates and the wife was yelling about how they were going to miss the boat, and they were heading in the same direction as me, excellent deduction, Mr. Holmes) pulled up behind me, and as they were going at more or less the same speed, I let them pass and used their taillights and “car body language” as a guide. This allowed me to pick up the pace a little. It also probably saved me from rear ending an 18-wheeler doing about 5km/h as I came round a bend.

Road was magnificient. Scenery was magnificient.Traffic was almost non-existent, with plenty of opportunities for safely overtaking the slow vehicles. Then we came to a road block (my fifth) and they were let through while I had to go through my fourth customary stop, check and chat. Stopped for fuel and the toilet, then it was the Jeli township, after which the roads got more - well - towny.

Still, pleasant riding. Good surfaces, clear overtaking so other vehicles didn’t get in the way too much. It was on along Route 4, turn off onto Route 3, then on the highway to Kuantan turning off at Kuala Dungun.

A few days before on the way to Lumut, I had noticed that my clutch lever would vibrate at high speeds. My right brake lever didn’t, so I thought of getting it looked at during the next service, but today I was observing it again, noticed the vibration.... and then spotted the stud that held everything together. Couldn’t feel much on the underside, but my conclusion was that the nut was loose.

And of course you can picture the comic scenario in my head. Everything’s well and good for months, but the moment the problem is spotted, the whole assembly comes apart while I can do nothing but watch helplessly in horror. It didn’t happen, but I stopped to check it and as an early butt rest stop. Turns out, no issue. It was held in place with a circlip, and the shaft was a bit longer than necessary, hence the wobble.

Anyway, the ride was easier than I’d imagined. I think deadlifts help strengthen all muscles that are key to handling a motorbike. With experience, my posture was a lot more relaxed and I wasn’t hunched over and clenched like I was knee-down racing anymore. And the coccyx was behaving.

But as I got on the highway, I see a sign saying “Shell station in 100km”. Which is all well and good, but I had about 80kms worth of fuel left, and would be turning off before the Shell. Pull over, look at options, the only one being to come off the highway earlier, fill up and back on the trunk roads to my destination. Which added some time to the journey, but not too much.

Finally arrived at this beautiful destination at 1415hrs, 30 mins later than Google said it would take. But this includes 3 fuel stops, a short rest, a clutch check and a detour. So I am claiming the glory here.

I beat Google.

Tanjong Jara Resort grounds

One of the pools. I opted for the other one, adult-only so quiet, bar so alcohol

Where the wife and I will be lounging on our next trip here