Tour de Bintan

The 6 cyclists with the police escort

On 11 Jul 2014 6 of us embarked on a 3 day 2 night trip to Bintan with friends and family.  Our Plan was to ride 100km for each of the first 2 days and 40km for the last day.  In between, our other main goal was to hunt for good durians.  We had already found out from last year's trip that Bintan has very good kampung durians which are grown without any chemicals, just pure and natural. 

Group shot at the jetty

With our police escort

Day 1 part 1

Day 1 part 2 to make up to 100km

Day 1 began from the jetty with the police escort bringing us to the western part of the island and then to our resort.  The weather was good with only a passing shower which we waited out about half an hour at a shelter which we found.  When we reach our resort, we realised that we have only covered 66km.  After a short rest, we decide to go for part 2 to make up the difference to 100 km.

 

Off we go from the jetty

First rest stop..durian store

The durian is quite good

 

Taking shelter from the passing shower

Lunch stop

Our lunch

At the last bridge before our resort

 

Off we go with Gunung Bintan in the background

Take your pick

Thank you Miss Lim for preparing the sumptuous dinner

Our durian expert

Relaxing outside

Nice view

Nicer view

Day 2

Day 2 started with heavy thunderstorm in the morning resulting in us having a later breakfast and having to wait for the rain to stop.  The skies finally cleared and while the road was quite wet, the weather was very nice.  The police escort brought us into the countryside roads which were very nice with very little traffic.  There were plenty of hills with one killer climb.  We only got to ride a good stretch of flats at Trikora beach which was also very scenic.

Lots of climbs

Waiting for the rest before the descend

The killer climb...too steep...need to drop leg

After climbing, the reward is the down slope

At Trikora beach

 

Back on the road

Lunch stop

Another good lunch

A little bit of rest

More durians

Take five

Nice roads

Where's Raymond?

Here comes Raymond

Day 3

Day 3 was a short one as we needed to leave for the jetty by noon.  However the short ride included still more hills which were very challenging especially after 2 days of long rides.

More Climbs

Still more climbs

One more for the road

Let's enjoy the downhill before the next climb

Another durian session

Also need to climb at our resort

Rambutan tree and waterfall

 

Beside our room

Great view of Gunung Bintan from our resort

 

Preparing our bikes for the jetty

 

All set to go

The whole trip was very enjoyable.  It was the first time we have cycled 3 days in a row.  The ride was very challenging as Bintan has many hilly roads.  However the road conditions were very good and there were not many vehicles which made the ride fun and very enjoyable.

We were supported by a police escort, a car and a pick up truck which was, safety wise, very good.

To sum up the whole trip...

Thumbs Up !!!

Looking forward to next year's trip.

Photo credits: Dennis and Boon Hiang