West Malaysia loop ride

The first day of a loop ride is always special and eventful. I reminded the gang to have a good rest before the ride, especially the nights leading up to the first day because many riders have trouble sleeping the night before the ride due to the excitement of it all. Interestingly enough, this was true today as well as several of the riders reported this morning that they had trouble sleeping. I was a little troubled with the news…but at the same time…I was thrilled that everyone was so excited for the ride to begin. This is a good thing!

We had arranged to meet at the SPC station along Tuas Road before setting off at 6am. I was surprised to find that Nabil was there at 5am! As it turned out, he had so much difficulty getting to sleep he simply decided to get up and head off earlier! I have to say that this ride is different from the previous ones as I was not the first to meet up! In fact, when I did turn up, almost everyone was there already! This was fantastic because it meant we were able to start off on time at 6am. Wow!!!

Our route today would be a really long one…almost 600km! Here is the route we took.

The ride over the second link was an uneventful one. Everyone went through without much of a hitch…except for the fact that LPG forgot to bring his Touch and Go card. Thankfully, we only needed this card at the first toll booth…and maybe at the very last one if we choose to return via the same checkpoint. We quickly met up again at the first Petronas station just outside Gelang Patah. We all filled up our tanks, bought whatever last minute provisions that we needed, and headed off.

The first leg of today’s journey was really meant as an easy introduction to some of the situations that the riders will face on West Malaysian roads: long straights, sweeping bends and tight corners; dusty roads, heavy vehicle traffic and the occasional pothole to in places that can surprise any rider. The first real test was along Jalan Sawit between Pekan Nanas and Kulai. This is a relatively short stretch of road (about 30-40km) with relatively light traffic and some very exciting bends and corners. The gang quickly fell into a rhythm and things went relatively well. The only tweak we had to make was to ensure that not only do we look out for the rider behind, we also wanted to close up the gaps when we get to a straight so that the pace was not slowed down too much.

Alex asked me when we were going to have breakfast and I told him we will only have breakfast when we got to Melaka. He must have felt hungry because he got so worried with my reply. When it became obvious to me that we would not arrive at Melaka until lunch time, I decided to make a stop at a small row of shops along the road in the town of Chaah. Some of the towns in Malaysia have really interesting names, don’t you think? I mean…just say it out…Chaah…hahaha!

Breakfast was a delightful fare of Malay cuisine. Some had Nasi Lemak, others had Mee Hailam.

Me? I had the best breakfast there…Mee Goreng with Ayam Masak Merah and this vegetable dish that I cannot remember the name for. It was fantastic!!!

We ended up spending an hour at the breakfast place because we were also trying to synchronize our Sena helmet communicators.

Alex brought his communicator but decided to loan it to Chris as Chris was riding as the last man…however…after spending quite a bit of time installing it on Chris’ helmet, we realized that Alex did not charge the communicator! Hahaha!!! This also meant he had to use his earphones for his music!

We eventually set off again and headed north along Route 1. Traffic turned out to be rather heavy and several riders were stuck behind some big trucks in a number of occasions. At one point, one of them told me that we were missing our last man. I was not too worried because we were not making any turnoffs at that time and Chris eventually caught up with the rest of the gang. We stopped to fill up somewhere along the road and quickly set off again in order not to lose time.

As we continued on, I decided that we would head over to Port Dickson for lunch instead of Melaka. So we turned of at route M149. As our last rider (the one who takes the position at the rear of the gang to ensure nobody gets left behind) was caught up by traffic, we had time to stop for a quick rest while we waited for him to catch up. We also took the opportunity for some group pictures when he caught up with the gang.

Taking the M149 turned out to be a serendipitous decision as it was one of the best roads for the day! You just have to feast your eyes on the little yellow sign by the side of the road to know what I mean.

The road was virtually clear of traffic and the corners were fantastic! I remember my buddy said that I love corners…and he was right! I do enjoy riding on roads with many bends and corners. After all, that is where the thrill is! Long straights are no fun at all. But alas…the thrill was a short one.

We got to Melaka soon enough…and yet as soon as we got there…I was dying to get out of the place as the traffic was horrendous! Melaka was extremely crowded and the roads were jam packed! This made for some really slow riding. The slow riding, coupled with the very hot day, simply made the ride a little tedious. I was really glad when we eventually got out of Melaka and started to head towards Port Dickson on Route 5.

The roads opened up again…the trucks were virtually gone and the riding was fun again. While route 5 was certainly not as thrilling as route M149, it did provide lots of twists and turns…and plenty of excitement! The one big problem was the heat…it felt like an oven!

We were tired and hungry by the time we got to The Regent Resort Tanjung Tuan at Port Dickson for a stopover. However, I came here in the WMLR2010 and remember it vividly. The setting by the sea made for a very relaxing spot for a rejuvenation of the body and soul. We plunked ourselves down at the Coconut Grove (the beach bistro) and had ourselves a royal feast.

  

The food took awhile to get out and some were obviously deflated!

It was a strange place to have a meal on a biking holiday…but hey…I figured we deserve a good break given the long ride we had so far. The best thing here are the drinks. They have a strange mix of drinks here and I had something called Green Ice which was a concoction of Kiwi & Apple. I decided to stay clear of carbs and ordered the lamb chop for my lunch…which looked rather interesting to say the least. It was satisfying though!

Time flew by quickly at The Coconut Grove. I do not know why this would not be obvious given the amount of food and drinks we ordered! I decided it was time to push on as we still had half the day’s journey to cover before we get to Kuala Selangor.

As we rode away from Port Dickson, it became clear that we had to make up for lost time. The heat and traffic took quite a toll on the gang. So I decided it was time to break from tradition and take the North South Highway (NSHW) in order to make up for lost time. We started off at a good pace and was chewing up some serious miles…until the sky decided to open up and pour.

The rain provided some relief from the heat from the afternoon. It certainly cooled me down to the point where the ride was enjoyable again. Getting to Kuala Selangor required a ride through Shah Alam. The best way to get there was to take the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) exit so we could avoid the traffic in Kuala Lumpur. So we took the exit with the KLIA sign and proceeded on.

It was immediately strange that we encountered a toll booth. My memory of the KLIA exit was that it was an express way and that there were no toll booths. I found out soon enough that we took the wrong exit. The correct one was one exit down. This meant we needed to make a U-turn. At the turn, LPG contacted me that he could not see our last man. So we waited for him to catch up.

Unfortunately, he did not show up for the next 10 minutes. This meant he was no longer riding on the same road as we were. I called his phone but there was no answer. Presumably, he was still riding…I decided then that it made no sense to keep waiting and that the best thing to do was to ride to an easy to recognize place for a rendezvous.  The obvious choice was the KLIA! It made sense too as our protocol was for the lost rider to contact me on my phone as soon as possible. So I knew we would eventually be back together as a gang.

Taking the correct exit now, we headed towards the KLIA on the E6 express way. Our last man did eventually call me while we were riding and we arranged the rendezvous. So all is set! Here is a picture of where he called me from…can anyone guess where this is?

We encountered a toll booth along the way and I spotted shelter (it was still raining then) so I decided to stop and rest there while we waited. It was an ideal spot as our last rider would have to get through this same spot on his way to the KLIA.

It turned out to be quite a wait given the distance that he had to cover to get to where we were. But eventually he did arrive and we were reunited!

We were relieved that he was fine. At the same time, we were curious how he could have missed the turn since everyone else made it. It was quite a story. As it turned out, he had a large windscreen fitted on his bike. This was helpful in that it prevented wind and other road debris from hitting you while you rode. Unfortunately, a large windscreen can be disastrous in the rain…see…you need to close the visor of your helmet when you ride in the rain so the rain does not get to your eyes. This means that you would fill up the helmet with warm and humid air as you exhale. This, in turn, means that the visor will fog up…unless you have a stream of cooler air to ventilate your helmet. The large windscreen prevented cool air from hitting the helmet…which, of course, means that his visor was completely fogged up! By the time he cleared the fog, he thought we rode much further ahead…and you know the rest of the story. What a perfect storm of events!

Now that we spent another hour in the same spot, it was starting to get dark. It was time to push on just so we can make full use of whatever available light we had. So it was back to the bikes and ride along the E6 towards Shah Alam. The aim was to get onto the E35 (Guthrie Express Way) which would lead us to Kuala Selangor. Getting to the E35 was not a problem…however…the express way system here in KL is rather confusing. There are lanes for cars…and a separate lane for bikes…and if you miss the entry into the bike lane, you get stuck on the car lanes. This in itself is not too bad as our bikes can handle the speed…but it was a nightmare at the next toll booth.

You see, in most toll plazas in West Malaysia, there is a dedicated by-pass lane for bikes that you can easily access when you get to within 10m of the plaza. In this particular one on the E35, the by-pass lane was accessed via the entry into the bike lane…about 500m BEFORE the toll plaza. This meant we were now stuck on the car lanes with no way to get through. So we had to wait till a car has paid the toll just to squeeze through. It was scary as there was no allowance of space at the barrier…in fact…I was almost hit by the barrier as it started to come down after the car has gone through! Good thing everyone managed to get through safely.

It was really dark by the time we got out of the E35 onto route 54 which would lead us to Kuala Selangor. The rain was not showing any sign of stopping either. This last stretch of road was the most difficult that we encountered the entire day. We found ourselves riding in pitch black, with no street lighting nor reflectors on the road, our headlights reflected back by the heavy rain…making for a terribly difficult ride. I hit quite a number of potholes and bumps which took the wind out of my chest too! Thankfully, we eventually found the Firefly Park Resort…and we got there in time to catch the last firefly tour too!

I had thought that there would be no firefly tours with the heavy rain. I was wrong. So we went on the tour…well…five of us did. I have to admit feeling a little let down when I saw the place. The river was dark. The waiting area looked bare bones. The guides were…well…not too impressive. But we put on the life jackets and went onto the boats. Then the tour began. The boats were virtually silent…powered by electric motors…we glided on the dark water towards one of the banks. And then the magic happened.

As we neared the bank, the trees lining that area starting lighting up. It was a beautiful sight! Almost like christmas lights. The fireflies emitted a serene white light. It was not bright by any standard…but there were so many of them they took my breath away. Not only did they glow…they twinkled…and to top it off…the fireflies did not stay still! I kept looking ahead at the next stretch of trees and they would be dark…but they would all light up as soon as we got near. At one point, the entire river bank was lit with these beautiful, ethereal and captivating fireflies glowing and twinkling in the dark night. One of them even flew close to me! It was electrifying! This experience alone made the entire night ride worthwhile.

The twenty minute ride felt more like five minutes…way too fast. I could have sat there in the boat for an hour just watching the spectacular light display. However, it was time to get back on land…towards dinner!

One of the eating places remained open so we could get some food into our empty stomachs.

We had simple local fare which did not taste great…but was satisfying none the least. What more when we had the cute company of this little kitty?

It was too late to take any pictures of the place…so you will have to wait awhile to see how the place looks like. In the meantime, we had our shower, washed our gear, and grabbed a well deserved rest.