West Malaysia loop ride

I’m back from lunch…and a nice ride…its time to do part 2 of yesterday’s ride. You can read about today’s ride later when I blog about it.

As a recap, we had lunch at a corner store just outside the town of Taiping along route 1. I noticed this store mainly because there was a Carlsberg sign hanging outside. Lunch was excellent and we had a good rest there. During lunch, one of the gang requested for me to give a two minute notice before I start off…its a good idea…though I think I am really bad with these things.

Anyway, we set off after lunch on route 1 heading south for Ipoh. Along the way, we passed through the towns of Kuala Kangsar and Sungei Siput. These small towns are very attractive to me for some reason. I just like the atmosphere in the smaller towns because I feel very relaxed every time i get into one. I took a wrong turn at Kuala Kangsar which turned out to be…a blessing…because we got to see the istana (palace) of the Sultan. It was HUGE and grand…I could not resist taking a picture of the gang by the gate.

We also passed by several other places. One notable place was a hill that I used to call 狮子山 (Lion Hill) because the shape resembled a lion’s head. My brother and I used to be really fond of this landmark because it stands about halfway between Penang and Kuala Lumpur. You see, we used to travel this route very frequently with our parents because we lived in Penang and have relatives in KL. So we always looked out for it. I still like this place a lot!

The road had become a lot more dusty because we were in the industrial area. A very large and impending cement factory came suddenly into view on the right immediately after making a corner. It looked like something you might find in a Batman movie…a very Gotham City kind of industrial look. It was so big that it sat on both sides of route 1 with two long conveyors spanning the road! Amazing!

We rolled into Ipoh shortly after that. The original plan was to have lunch in Ipoh. Unfortunately, due to the later start and the delay at the bike shop, we were too hungry to wait till Ipoh. And since we had eaten at Taiping which was just about 90km from Ipoh, we were too full to want any food! So we just rode pass the city and headed for route 5…which would take us the rest of the way to the Klang Valley. I found route 5 easily and decided to fill up the bikes there before moving on. It proved to be the right move because the skies opened up while we were resting at the petrol station! But this rain stopped relatively quickly so we decided rain gear wasn’t necessary. However, to protect my camera, I covered my bike with the rain cover…which meant…no more pictures!

Now I have to confess that I wasn’t familiar with the roads from there on because I had planned to go on a route that was more like a detour. I wanted to go near the coast hoping that the roads would be more interesting. You see, I liked the drive from Port Dickson to Melaka so much when I drove there I was looking for something similar. So I spent quite some time trying to figure out if I should head towards Lumut or Meglembu. In my mind’s eye, both these places were south of Ipoh…but I suppose the petrol station happened to be no the very outskirt of Ipoh and between those two towns. So I asked for directions from a truck driver…who directed me to the North-South Highway (thank you very much)…so I detoured again…stopped somewhere and rechecked the GPS…so Lumut it is!

The ride to Lumut on route 5 turned out to be quite different from the road from Port Dickson to Melaka. It was long and straight…more notable was that it was the evening rush hour by the time we hit this stretch of road. We were still very far away from our final destination at this point…so it was going to be a late arrival. To make matters more interesting, I encountered two conflicting road signs: Sign number one said to turn left to Sitiawan on route 18 and go straight to Lumut on route 5, followed by sign number two said to go straight to Lumut on route 18. So I had to stop the convoy and recheck the route. I knew we would get to Sitiawan on route 5…so we turned anyway…and later down the road…there was a sign that said we were on route 5. Hahahaha! So if you do decide to drive or ride down this route, be sure to note the locations you want to pass through…and be prepared for a contradictory sign or two.

Things started getting even more interesting as we passed Sitiawan because what was a fine drizzle started turning into a heavy rain. We took shelter under the staircase of an overhead pedestrian bridge (yes, we have these things in Malaysia too) and put on our rain gear (guess who looked like he was going skiing with his “rain” gear on?). Thing is…we took so long to put them on, the intensity of the rain lightened when we pushed off. Hahaha! Anyway, push off we did until around eight in the evening because I wanted to stop for dinner. I spotted a roadside structure that served food near Telok Intan and we stopped there for a quick dinner. I also filled up my tank with my reserve fuel from my trusty (though unwieldy “gasoline” tank). Alex and Dan decided to remove their rain gear after dinner because the rain had stopped. Me on the other hand decided to leave mine on because there were still dark clouds in the sky…and they were DAMN tough to remove. Hahaha!

Serendipity struck me again soon after because the extremely dark sky soon started to light up with a magnificent series lightning bolts…it was almost continuous for a good 20 minutes…I really enjoyed this part of the ride because it was like watching a show while riding…and the light did make the road more visible! It then started to rain…and I was so glad I left my gear on. We kept pushing on anyway…because it was getting really late and we were still a long way from Petaling Jaya. At one point, the rain got so bad that we had to move at 60kph because some had difficulty seeing the lines on the road. We also passed an accident scene where three cars seemed to have skidded and collided. Good thing there wasn’t any injury…at least I didn’t see anyone hurt.

We eventually rode into civilization again when we got to the Klang Valley…and arrived at the hotel just before midnight. We were all tired but I thought the gang did great to stick together and arrive in one piece…ok…four pieces. Hahaha! We had three rooms…and turned out the room that Dan and Tony were sharing had some weird shit in the tub (I kid you not!) and they got upgraded to a junior suite! Who said shit is a bad thing???

Some other observations that made this leg unforgettable:

• Alex almost skidding when he hit a particularly bad patch of road in the dark and rainy stretch. He did well to maintain control.
• Dan riding his bike many times around the petrol station.
• The biker who decided to show off his cub by riding really fast and weaving in and out of the gang…almost pulling a wheelie.
• Dan exercising his dirt riding skills when he almost skidded over a pile of sand.
• The traffic light that kept all directions on red for a good minute.
• Dan almost went past the exit at the expressway as we were heading for Petaling Jaya. Good thing he managed to turn with the rest of us.
• The other traffic light that kept our direction red for three cycles while the other directions had their turns!
• Alex needing a Red Bull because he was getting so tired at one of the petrol stations.
• Tony having one of his blinking LED panels drop off and did his usual MacGyver magic with Supa Glue.
• Alex getting to utilize ALL of his brand new toys…er…I mean gear…right Alex?

You get the picture…hehehe! We made the following fuel stops along the way:

• Penang (before heading off)
• Simpang Empat (63 miles or 101km)
• Ipoh (73 miles or 117km)
• Telok Intan (74 miles or 119km)
• Tanjung Karang (52 miles or 85km)

Well, it sure was an interesting ride…and Klang Valley turned out to be super fun today…watch for the blog!