Batu18 , Ulu Langat,Selangor toTiti, Negri Sembilan Ride

Date : Sunday 16 June 2014

Location :  Batu 18,Ulu langat -Perez- Titi (return).

The route from Batu 18,Ulu Langat up Perez to the Selangor / Negri Sembilan border and back to Batu 18 has been a favourite cycling/training route for me. I like it for it is a quiet area with few cars and the air is always fresh. I am sure many cyclists will share the same sentiment with me.  This route is always full of cyclists.  One can cycle up to the tee junction (approximately 11 km from Batu 18, Police Station). Here one will see the popular "photo taking" road sign of Kuala Klawang and Semenyih. 

Pic 1: Popular photo spot(taken in 2012-Semenyih trip)

Depending on how determine one feels, one can take the challenging K Klawang route to the left or the scenic Semenyih dam to the right. (The Semenyih Dam is another story for another time).  The K Klawang route will lead one uphill to the Selangor/Negri Sembilan border. This would be the highest point of the ride. At this point K. Klwang would still be 33 km away.  Most riders will usually make a U-turn and enjoy the downhill ride back to the T-junction before heading back to Batu 18.

Pic 2:Highest point of ride-Selangor/N.Sembilan border

I have always stopped at the highest point and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the area. If one were to continue on this road, one would reach Titi town before eventually reaching K .Klawang.  Riders I have met would tell me that if one is adventurous enough one can continue onwards to Titi where one can have lunch before making the return trip back to Selangor and Batu 18.  

 

I have always stopped at the border and made a U-turn back to Batu 18. The total distance cycled would be approximately 39.5 km.  On this day we decided to take the challenge to continue pass this invisible barrier and see what it is like to cycle beyond this point.  A total of us five riders decided to try to go all the way to Titi town. We were not sure of the additional distance to Titi. We guessed that the return trip would be in the 100 km range.

From the beginning of the ride, I had a tyre problem.  I had pumped both my tyres to a higher than my normal tyre pressure in anticipation of the long ride. I pumped my tyres up to 120 psi. That created a problem for my front tyre.  After travelling for less than 5 km my bicycle tube began to force the tyre to bulge out of its tyre rim.  Initially I had thought that my brand new brake pads were not aligned properly and were touching the tyre rim as it was making occasional squeaking sounds as I was pedalling.  Eventually the sounds got louder and more frequent. I stopped the bike and inspected the front tyre. On seeing the problem I was thinking, "Well some much for my attempt to Titi…my ride will have to end abruptly here!"  I pulled to side of the road, found a suitable place to sit down and tried to solve my predicament.  I had to release most of the tube pressure so that I could force the tyre back into the rim before re-pumping the tyre pressure back up.  Luckily I had brought my three year old never been used before Raleigh bicycle pump.  Today was when I realised that my pump was not a good pump as I was not able to pump my tube up to a high pressure. This pump of mine had a pressure gauge but the pressure gauge kept coming off and it was also the leak point at high pressures.  Eventually I gave up and cycled on with an extremely under inflated tyre.  I hoped to meet up with my other cycling buddies at the K Klawang/Semenyih T junction to tell them that I was aborting the ride.  Once reaching the junction, Edward was able to lend me his pump and to my surprise I was able to pump my tyre back up to a reasonably good pressure. I decided to continue uphill to the next point (Selangor/ N.Sembilan border) with the hope that this time the tyre would behave and stay in place within its tyre rim. Initially there were the same occasional squeaks that got me really worried. But the tyre held and I reached the highest point of the ride.

(Footnote: never leave home without a pump)

From here onwards to Titi, the journey was made up of undulating elevations with a general downhill ride to Titi. We reached Kongkol where there was a lone watering hole in the middle of nowhere. But to us this was an ideal spot to take a breather.

Pic 3:KongKol Pit Sop

We were still not sure how far Titi was.  After a brief re-fill of  “100-plus” and bananas, we asked the owner the distance Titi town.  We guessed that it was another 10 km away. The owner said it was only 5 km away to Titi. So that gave us the impetus to cycle onwards

After what felt like a fairly long 5 km we reached the Titi junction and turned right into the town. We had passed a Rotan factory, Lata Kijang forest reserve and the Jelebu correction facility (jail). This part of the journey was a good and welcomed stretch of flat elevation. We already noticed cyclists heading in the opposite direction towards Selangor.

We knew we had reached the town when we saw a bunch of cyclists eating at two coffee shops. Both shops served wantan-mee and pan-mee.  We asked a local for directions to the famous wantan mee stall but he said all the shops are good. So we stopped at where there were lots of patrons. (Looking back at the route profile I think the actual distance to Titi from Kongkol was about 10 km)

All of us ordered the pan-mee and in my opinion it was good. I supposed everything would taste good after cycling a distance of 45 km . (This was what was recorded on my Apps)

Pic 4 : Brunch at Titi

Pic 5: Brunch at Titi

After we had our fill we decided to explore the road and found another shop where there was a large crowd gathering. This shop was selling all sorts of cakes and condiments (kuih-muih). I did not try as I was quite full from the noodles. Made a mental note to eat less next time and save some space for the snacks on the next trip.

Pic 6: Kuih-muih shop

Pic 7: Snacks galore

It was getting to around 10:30am when we decided to make our return trip.  I stopped to take a few souvenir pics of a wall with a painting. The rest of the gang went on ahead.

The return journey was tough as I now had to cycle in the hot morning sun. I made a mental note that I had to only cycle about 24 km back to the Selangor border.  The objective was to clear as much distance as I could before the noon sun.  Once I reached the Selangor border it would be plain sailing downhill.  The first 10 km of relative flat road was easily covered but the last 14 km uphill was tough. I had to stop to rest, to cool down and to lower my heartbeat as it was tough pumping uphill under the hot sun.  

I was basically looking at the concrete kilometre road posts along the road and started counting backwards until I reached the sign post which read ”33 km to K.Klawang”.  It was a sigh of relief when I finally reached the Selangor border as I knew the hardest part of the ride was over.  I had the image of the long, cool one from the Batu 18 coffee shop in my mind. A nice bottle of chilled barley water made fresh from the coffee shop.

Pic 8 : The Long,Cool One

I was the last of the group to reach Batu 18 and when I reached the coffee shop…. the long cool drink was sold out. Dang! The nasi-lemak was also gone.! I had to settle for a 100-plus. 

Thus ended the Titi ride which is my longest one day ride distance attempted to date.

The Route Details and more pics below:-

Total Distance travelled : approx. 90 km

Note: As usual to get a zoomed in view of the pics place pointer onto the pic and double click the mouse button

Pic 9: Route Profile

Pic 10: Route Details : Part 1 From Batu 18 -Perez - Titi and back

Pic 11: Route Details : Part 2 From Batu 18 - Perez - Titi and back

Pic 12: Titi Town : the Main road to the noodle shop

Pic 13: Lata Kijang forest reserve

Pic 14:Titi Bus Stop : . Note all the bikes parked there also the N Sembilan bus

Around Penang Island -Where2Go Ultimate Challenge May 2014

Event:                   Where2go Ultimate Challenge 2014

Date :                    Sunday 11 May 2014

Location :             Penang Island

Distance:             81.45 km (on my Apps and not 84 km as advertised)

The following is a brief account of my FIRST cycling ride around Penang island done on the 11 May 2014.  This event was the Where2go Ultimate Challenge.  The route was a clockwise route around Penang Island.  The Funkier group had a major turn out of 12 persons who signed up early this year for the event.  Some of us car pooled to get to Penang from KL. Some drove up themselves due to work schedule.

Pic No 1:The funkier group at the front of the hotel

The drive up to Penang will take about 4 -5 hours depending on each individuals’ drive speed.   I hitched  a ride from Edward’s car together with Ernie in his BIG Nissan X-trail.

Thanks to Sam who blocked booked us at the Bayview hotel which was less than 2 minutes cycling from the starting point at Padang Kota Lama.

We arrived at the hotel/goody bag pick up point early at about 3:30 pm on Saturday a day before the event.  We retrieved our goody bags at the hotel and and checked into our rooms. After which we went searching  for the famous Penang  Cendol, Assam Laksa and Rojak on Penang Road just next to Joo Hooi Cafe.

Preview

My initial estimate based on my average speed in Ulu Langat hills,Selangor of 20 km/hr meant that to complete 84 km it would take me 4.2 hrs of continuous cycling.  But that duration discounts stoppage time for picture taking and pit stops.  So I estimated that it would take me 4.5 hours to complete. That meant that I would not meet the cut-off time of 4 hours.

Also I thought that I would need help to ensure that I had enough energy to ride continuously for that long a duration.  So this time I decided to use external “scientific” help i.e. get some power bars/gels and rehydration salts. The first time I tried the power gels was during the 2013  PCC MTB event.  I didn’t like the taste of it.  It had tasted extremely sweet.  Anyway this time I decided to get some again.  I also found out that I had to drink 250ml of water after eating the power gel. That made sense to me as it was so, so sweet that one would have to wash that sweet taste off with water, plenty of water.

So for the Where2go Challenge, I was more prepared against getting hungry and cramps.  I had power gels and rehydration salts to assist me.

The Main Event

Pic No 2: The stating line.  Waiting for the start of the event. Edward can be seen with his expensive sunglasses

We were early and we managed to get near the starting line.  As usual the photography sessions by the partcipants were going on while waiting for the start of the event. We were hoping that it would be cloudy with light showers in late morning/early noon.  Our journey to Penang the day before was very wet with heavy showers.

Pic No 3: Second Penang Bridge

The start of the event was uneventful. The event started off with the blare of the horn.


I  cycled about 15.4 kilometres  and stopped to take the first pic of the ride. The orange sign in pic No 3 on the right says “Penang 2^nd Bridge” and in the background as per the sign is the newly completed Second Penang bridge.  The bridge started operations in January 2014.

The first major climb of the ride is shown in picture no 4 below, one can see Bandar Baru Teluk Kumbar (Located south of penang island) in the background and the winding road from the right of the pic climbing up to the point where I took the picture ( at approximate KP 29.0)

Pic No 4: The first (1st ) major climb of the ride (approx 29.0 km)

After that climb it was a pleasant downhill ride on to flat elevations of riding through the country side.

To prevent myself from dehydrating and getting cramps I had taken a bottle of water at every one of the 4 water stations. That meant that my bladder was filling up.  So it was timely that I found the pit stop at the Jalan Sg Rusa/ Jalan Pantai Acheh road junction at KP 47.3.   A lot of the riders stopped at this point as it was the beginning of the second climb up the Balik Pulau hill.  The coffee shop there was doing a roaring business that morning.  I parked my bike in front of the temple next to the coffee shop and used the coffee shop’s toilet.

Pic No 5: Pit stop at 47.3 km

Pic No 6 :Temple next to coffee shop

From this point onwards the second major climb of the ride awaits. This time the climb is more gradual but it covers a longer distance.  This section of the ride in my opinion is the best part of the ride.  The temperature here was cooler  as the side of the hill helped to block part of  the morning sun at certain stretches of the road.

The second  major climb of the ride is shown in the picture No 7 below. The winding road can be seen at the bottom right of the picture( in the background) . The road  climbs up to the point where I took the picture ( at approximate KP 49.0).  Contrast this 2^nd climb (Pic No 7) with the 1^st climb (Pic No 4). There is so much more shade and trees making this section much more comfortable to ride.

Also one can see plenty of durian trees with the fruits about to ripen. The owners have actually placed nets just above the ground to catch the falling durians and prevent them from rolling down the hilly slopes.

Pic No 7: The second (2^nd) major climb (at approximately 49.0 Km)

Pic No 8 : Durians, Durians Galore (top of pic)

There were plenty of durian trees growing on the slopes of this stretch of the road.  As usual place your cursor on the pics and click for a zoomed-in view.

Pic No 9 The climb looking uphill

I also remembered passing a waterfall picnic area, Titi Kerawang waterfall at approximately KP50.4 km

About three quarters up the climb, there is a lookout point at KP50.6.  This is before the Tropical Fruit farm.  A lot of the riders chose to stop to take a pic there and to rest.  I managed to get a rider to help me take the pic below.  He too stopped to take a pic of his young son at the same spot.  Father and son bonding ride for the weekend.

While coming down the hill, I spotted a house with a sign on the fence “Home made assam laksa”. I was curious and wondered who would stop at this remote spot to eat.  I also passed a durian stall along the downhill stretch. Plenty of durians for sale there waiting to be eaten.  

Pic No 10 Lookout Point (50.6 km)

While cruising downhill when I first caught a view of the Teluk Bahang Dam, I made a mental note as I thought the reservoir was too close to the coast line.  On checking with google map later I found that the edge of the lake was only about 2 km away from the coast.  So I was right! (after all Penang is a small island, I suppose).  The water level of the dam was also not full as I noticed the lake’s water level to be below the treeline.  So the recent drought and water rationing in Selangor is not confined to Selangor alone.  Penang also experienced a drought. Also passed  a butterfly farm at Teluk Bahang.

I noted the remaining time and told myself that I had to minimise or cease my picture taking stops.  I had to try to make it within the 4 hours cut off time.  So in the end, I did not take pics of Teluk Bahang Dam, Butterfly Farm, Titi Kerawang Waterfall sign, the assam laksa house/restaurant and the durian stall.

The last leg of the ride along Batu Feringgi back to Georgetown was not particularly enjoyable as one had to cycle with the traffic along Batu Feringgi’s narrow and windy roads. Luckily it was a Sunday with less traffic(?).  There was an accident  at one of the hill side stretches involving a motorcar and a motorbike.  The motorcyclist was on the ground laying motionless as the police attended to the victim.  I did not stop as I was trying to make haste to reach the finish line.  It was getting hot and dusty with the addition of the buses, cars and motorbikes on the road.  As it was getting late, there were no marshalls to control the traffic at the traffic junctions unlike the early morning sections.  So one had to cycle at one’s peril at the traffic intersections.

Pic No 11: The clear view from the Lookout Point

I was glad when I reached Gurney Drive as I knew the finish line in Georgetown was very near. On reaching the the finish line, I made a beeline for the tent marked “FOOD”.  Saw the public toilet near the tent and went to the public toilet for another pit stop.  After that I lined up to collect my lunch.  It was only after I had eaten that I remembered the finisher medal.  I still did not know whether I managed to complete within the stipulated 4 hours.  Went to ask the organiser if the medals were still available and was told the medal counter was closed.  From my top of the head calculations, I estimated  that I had missed the 4 hour mark.  Texted Edward and he said that he was back in the hotel.  Anyway I went back to the hotel and got ready to check out as the hotel did not want to extend our checkout time.

It was only after we checked out when I had time to sit down on the hotel steps with the help of my Endomondo Apps that I was able to confirm my total time taken.

I had accidentally stopped my Apps when I stopped to take my first picture of the ride. So I had to start another file with the Apps.  Hence I have two profiles on that day. The first part was from the starting point at Padang Kota Lama heading south towards the second Penang Bridge which incidentally is not on the Google map. Google map has not updated their map of Penang. (From 0 km to 15.42 km )

Pic No 12 : Route details (part 1 of 2)

The second part was the remaining clockwise route back to the starting point (From 15.42  km to 81.45 km)

Pic No 13 : Route Details (part 2 of 2)

From my Apps record, my total time taken came out to be 0:30:58 + 3:37:50 = 4 :08:48  ie 4 hours and 9 minutes. (As usual place the mouse cursor onto the pics and click to zoom into the pics).  I came home “medal-less”  :-(   The rest of the funkier members completed the course within good time.

If one were not an avid cyclist, one would be thinking the following:-
“Are u out of your BLINKING mind?!!  Are you going to drive 4-5 hours from KL to Penang the day before.  Ride 3-4 hours around the island and then drive another 4-5 hours back to KL on the same day?!!!”

But it was an experience I had to try and I am glad that my reply to the question: ”Cycled round Penang island?", would be a: "Yes been there and done it!”    

Now what I need is a nice 2 hours of full body genuine massage which I could not find in Penang island but that is another story………

Kuala Kubu Bahru,Selangor to Frasers Hill, Pahang

Event: Kuala Kubu Bahru,Selangor to Frasers Hill, Pahang

Date: 23 February 2014

The following is a brief description of my first bicycle ride up Fraser’s Hill.

The Funkier Bikerz Group had planned this trip way back in December 2013.  The plans were finalised when we were having Chinese New Year “yee sang” dinner in early February.  At the dinner there was a count of more than 10 who were interested.  This number dwindled as D-day loomed nearer.

The plan was to meet in KKB town at 7:30 am, have breakfast and start our journey at 8:00am. Have lunch up at Fraser’s Hill and then make our way back to KKB town in the afternoon. Target time back to KL was 5 pm.

Besides the trip being my first bicycle ride up Fraser’s hill, the journey also gave me a chance to take a trip down memory lane. When I first started working many years ago, I had to travel to Batang Kali as the developer whom I was working for, had a housing development there.  The site office was at a shop lot in Batang Kali. Every morning I would drive from KL to Batang Kali via Jalan Ipoh and Rawang town passing by Templar’s Park.

This early morning drive to KKB took me on the same route.  Rawang town has prospered and the roads to Rawang and KKB had improved and were wider.  I could still see the row of shops where my former office was located.

But KKB town still looked the same, quiet and peaceful albeit this Sunday, I noticed a lot of people. The small public car park next to the Post Office was bustling with hikers and cyclists.  

We started the ride started at about 8:20 am. I had a quick bite of “kon-low” mee to fill up the tank with carbo. The plate of noodles was nothing to shout about (perhaps it was because I was gobbling down the noodles in my haste).

The first landmark that we will see is the Sungai Selangor Dam just a few kilometres from KKB town.  One can see a huge formation of rocks in the horizon as one is cycling along the road.   The road leading into the dam's information centre also has parking spaces for cars.  I noticed a lot of bikers parking their cars there also.

We stopped at the dam for some quick photos at the information centre.  I remembered when the dam was being proposed, there was an outcry from some parties that were against the building of the dam. Anyway, be it good or bad for Selangor, the dam was built and completed in 2002.

Selangor had been experiencing a dry spell. (say what? ..drought in an equatorial country? ) This was very evident from what we witnessed at Sungai Selangor Dam.

Pic of dam and lake when it is full (taken from the web)

Pic of the same spot on the day

Panoramic shot of the dam and water depleted lake

The pic below was taken at the highest point where we could actually see the severity of the water

level of the surrounding lake. The waterline of the lake when full can be easily seen and it is here where we note the severe drop in the water level of the dam.

Lookout point overlooking the lake and dam

(A point to note: On the following Monday, Selangor declared that water rationing was going to be imposed.)

From the look-out point, the road slowly but surely  increases in elevation with the occasional dips in the elevation.  As I was cycling down the road, the remnants of a previous accident still remained. The heavily log laden lorry must have been speeding down the dip on the road. The road was curving up the dip and the lorry must have lost control and crashed to the side of the embankment

Twisted lorry laden with logs

The Sugai Chiling  Fish Sanctuary Park is the next landmark that one would encounter along the ride  to Fraser’s hill.

The entrance to the park is just after an old steel bridge.  That Sunday both sides of the road were filled with cars. There were a lot of hikers going into the Park.  I too found out later that this was also a good place to park your car if you intend to cycle up to Frasers. The road from this point onwards is very well shaded compared to the early stretch from KKB town to Chiling Park.

Sungai chiling entrance beside the road leading to Fraser's Hill

The road that morning was generally empty and the weather was cloudy. That made for a pleasant cycle up to the Gap. About 8 kilometres before the Gap there was a popular camping spot with a waterfall just beside the road. That morning a lot of picnickers were there cooking their meals

Popular waterfall picnic area just before the Gap

The picture of the waterfall was taken on the way down. I did not want to break my cycling rhythm on the way up. It was already late afternoon and the morning crowd had left. I noted that during that time, there were park workers cleaning up the early morning mess left by the morning picnickers.

The Gap is the last resting point before the final 8 km climb up to Fraser’s hill.  I was actually hoping to have a nice English breakfast at the Gap Resthouse. When I reached the place I was disappointed to find that the place was closed and in ruins. All the window frames were gone and the entrance was fenced up. What a disappointing sight to behold

The pic below was what I remembered the last time I took a trip up to Fraser’s.

The Gap Resthouse during its hey day right after its refurbishment

In the olden days before the second road was built for cars to come down Fraser’s, the Gap road was the only way up and down Fraser’s. The road is only a single lane road.  Cars going up and down Fraser’s hill had to share the road. One hour to go up and the following hour to go down.  It was odd hours for vehicles to go up and even hours for vehicles to come down.  There were caretakers to man the road barriers at the Gap and at the top of Fraser’s hill so as to ensure that vehicles were going up or down at the correct times.

The Gap Resthouse was a good place to have a snack and a toilet break while waiting for your turn to drive up Fraser’s Hill.  I guess once the additional access road was built, the Resthouse lost a lot of business as no one was forced to stop and have a snack while waiting for their turn to drive up to Fraser’s hill.

At the Gap junction- taking a breather before the final assault

Instead all I could find was a mini-stall to stop and recuperate before the final onslaught up the hill.

The pic below shows the current R&R spot. We could still get nasi lemak, mee goreng and canned drinks from the mini-stall.  A not so clean "pay as you use" public toilet is also available.

After a short refill and picture taking , the  two of us stragglers made our way up.




We had already found out on the mobile that the two road bikes had already reached the top.  Oh yes, did I forget to mention that only 5 of us eventually met up at KKB to cycle up Fraser’s hill that day? Two were on road bikes while the remaining 3 used mountain bikes.

View of the Gap road looking down -at about three kilometres from

fraser's hill

It took me a bit more than an hour to finish the last 8 kms.  This was when my old knee started complaining again. My right knee was giving me pain whilst my butt was also sore from sitting on the bike seat.  In order to relieve the pain from both my knee and butt, I decided to get off the bike and walk up the hill for a while

This gave me more time to stop and take more pictures as I was climbing that last stretch of the hill.

Looks like autumn along the road up from the Gap...but actually its due to a small bush fire scorching the plants and trees

Finally we made it up. The two road bikers and the one MTB(Ernie) had already eaten and rested. They had time to cool down such that they were starting to feel chilly from the rather breezy afternoon air.   Michael and I had our lunch at the open air café just next to the iconic Fraser’s Hill clock tower.

View of mountainside -about 2 kilometres from Fraser's Hill

After we satisfied our hunger, we had our group and solo pictures taken.  The most photographed spot at Fraser’s hill for cyclists…. The Clock Tower!

One most certainly MUST take a souvenir shot or two to show off to friends ... hehehe

Souvenir shot at the Clock Tower

The return journey was generally a relaxing downhill ride. The road going down Fraser's back to the Gap was generally in a poor condition as compared to the road going up. The road comes out on to the main trunk road leading to Raub/Bentong.  We actually had to cycle pass a concrete bridge built on the slopes. As we reached the main trunk road, there is also a "Fraser's Hill" signboard which is more noticeable for travellers coming from Bentong or Raub heading (i.e from the opposite direction)  to the Gap.

The downhill stretch heading back was generally well shaded except for the last stretch of road passing the dam. There is no shade and one had to cycle uphill back to KKB. This was a pain as one was already tired and hot due to the afternoon sun.

All in all the ride up to Fraser's was a good ride. Going up in the morning, one is protected from the sun as the hill offers shade to the cyclist right up to late morning.  It would be better to start the climb early and come back down before noon but that that means that you will have to come down immediately and that would  defeat the purpose of going up to Fraser's hill. The cool temperatures at Fraser's hill invites you to spend a bit more time up there to chill and relax.



Historical facts of Fraser’s Hill & its surroundings Ref:   http://www.fraserhill.info/index.htm

#TRIVIAL FACT No 1 :-
Did you know that Fraser’s hill was originally developed for tin ore mining?

Well I certainly didn’t !!  

The following were the statistics of the ride:

Distance :KKB to The Gap                         = 30 km

Distance: The Gap to Fraser’s Hill             =  8  km

Distance : Fraser's Hill to KBB                  = 41.7 km

Map of ride from KKB to Fraser's hill:

Note : there was a loss of GPS signal during my ride up : hence the “flat line”  from about the 1 hour to the 2 hour duration of my ride.

As usual double click on the pic for a large view

 Map of ride from Fraser's hill to KKB

 

The  Funkier Bikers ( left  to right: Michael, Ernie, Sam, Chris)