West Malaysia loop ride

There is nothing like waking up in the morning knowing that there is a nice long day of riding ahead. We arrived last night at the Firefly Park Resort here in Kuala Selangor and had a nice evening watching the fireflies. At the same time, due to the rain, our gear were soaked! It was good this morning to find that everything had dried out overnight and that we would be able to start our ride comfortably with clean and dry gear…for me anyway! To be more specific, everything I washed last night was nice and dry. Strangely though, the spare socks I had in my bag was damp! The rain has somehow found its way there yesterday. Oh well…I’ll have nice socks blowing in the wind as I ride today!

Our route today would take us from Kuala Selangor to Pulau Pinang, a familiar and favourite destination for many. Today’s ride would be a shorter one and everyone was looking forward to it!

As the gang was getting ready to leave, packing things and warming up their bikes, I took the opportunity to walk around the resort and got some pictures.

Getting ready on the second day always takes a little longer as the routine has not set in yet. However, the gang was ready to go in short order. I took the opportunity to get a picture of the entire gang…and strangely enough…this would be the only photograph with everyone in!

I decided to mount my GoPro Hero HD camera on my bike this morning so I could film some riding. As usual, the first stop for the day would be the petrol station to fill up the bikes. The ride out from the resort to the petrol station was really good, especially the first 2km going from the resort to the main road. It was the perfect kampung road (village road for those who do not understand Malay). Unfortunately, I realized after filling up that I had neglected to empty out my memory card and it was full…so nothing could be captured! Oh well…there would be plenty of other roads to film over the next few days. So I quickly emptied out the memory card for the next leg. On to breakfast!

Breakfast would be at an Indian Muslim joint nearby.

Breakfast was a simple affair of Roti Canai, Nasi Lemak, Kopi & Teh. We did not spend too much time here as we were all eager to get back on the road. Remember how Chris could not use the Sena Alex lent him yesterday because it was not charged? Well, it was charged up last night and we synced it up with the other two Sena units. Now we could ride and stay in contact! LPG in the middle and Chris at the end of the pack…yeah!

The next stretch of road turned out to be quite a let down. It was long and straight. Not only that, there were many bumps along the way that shook me to the bone. No, I am not talking about potholes…rather they were like terribly stubby speed bumps. Why would anyone build a road with such stubby speed bumps? Still, it gave the opportunity for some in the gang to stretch their legs a little. I soon got weary of the road and looked for a way to get out…and eventually found a detour via route 58 to Ipoh.

Route 58 was a much better ride than the previous stretch of route 5. The road was less bumpy…and less straight…but there was more traffic…and the weather started to get HOT! It was not too long (about an hour) before I felt it necessary to stop so everyone could get hydrated. We did not cover much in that last leg…but that is how it is on long rides sometimes. So while we rested and cooled ourselves at the stop…I mounted my GoPro facing the back so I could film everyone in the gang on the next leg.

  

Filming the gang turned out to be quite a laugh. I had expected that they might wave as they road behind me…but nobody really waved except for LPG. They simply rode on as if nothing was happening. Just as well since the camera was not mounted in a particularly firm spot and the video was rather shaky especially when going over speed strips and uneven road surfaces. I stopped after 40 minutes of riding as the heat was getting unbearable again. We found a nice little hut at the side of the road and decided to take a break there. I took the opportunity to mount the camera facing the front again so I could film the gang from the back of the pack.

It was high noon by the time we left this nice and shady little hut by the roadside. I decided then that we had to head for Ipoh quickly so that we could grab lunch! Filming the gang from behind turned out to be harder than I expected as there were six riders to film! I did get some nice shots though…phew! The rest of the way to Ipoh was relatively straightforward, no major incidents and no further stops.

Everybody knows that Ipoh is famous for a very special brand of Hor Fun (flat rice noodles), Chicken Rice and Tau Geh (bean sprouts). Some even say that Ipoh is famous for beautiful girls…though I beg to differ (as some in the gang vehemently objected). We wandered around Ipoh looking for a store that offered their unique speciality and eventually found one.

This place had an air conditioned dining room which was welcome relief! We filed into the dining room and took up two tables…one for us…and one for our gear! It was SO nice to be able to sit in air conditioned comfort while enjoying the fantastic food on offer!

  

In fact, it was so comfortable in the dining room we stayed there for almost an hour! The lady at the shop next door was very chatty. While we were packing up to leave, she wanted to serve us coffee samples and asked many questions about our trip. I thought it was interesting that she was giving away coffee samples in a shop that sold fruits! In the end, we decided to get two pomeloes from them. Apparently, they could tell if the pomeloes were of the sweet or sour sort. We, of course, wanted the sweet variety. Teng tried his level best to bargain and even posed as an Ipoh local…to no avail…hahaha!

Just as we were about to start up the bikes, Alex requested to have coffee across the road…he likes his local coffee so we decided to oblige him. In reality, I think we were all happy to delay riding in the heat for a little longer! We had another 30 minutes of relaxation…and fantastic local coffee…then decided to push on towards Pulau Penang.

Teng suggested during coffee that we might want to go via the NSHW (North South High Way) as there was a nice tunnel that cut across the mountains. We took up his suggestion and headed towards the NSHW. This turned out to be one of the best moves in the day as the tunnel was wonderfully cool…and this particular stretch of highway was both scenic and curvy…really curvy! Woohoo!!! We eventually exited at the Taiping (Utara) exit and headed back onto route 1 for the rest of the journey.

Alex rode up to me after about an hour and indicated that he needed a drink. I was going to stop further along as Teng mentioned a place for some local Assam Laksa near Sungai Jawi but decided to stop anyway just so he could have a break. We found a shady spot off the main road and cooled off there.

It was a short ride to the Laksa place Teng mentioned…I had a nice serving of the local delicacy even though it was just a couple hours after lunch. This was a kampung version of the dish…quite different from the ones you would find in Georgetown. I enjoyed it very much!

We were now only about 50km from our destination. However, because it was the end of the working day, the traffic made the ride quite a bit longer! We eventually got to the ferry terminal in Butterworth at about 6pm. Some of the riders had never experienced the ferry to Pulau Pinang so this would be a real treat for them! I was also hoping to capture some video footage and was really looking forward to it.

Thankfully, the ride from the ferry terminal to our hotel (1926 Heritage at Jalan Burma) was a short and easy one…even with the evening traffic. We got there soon enough and the gang was having a laugh outside while I checked us in.

The plan was to freshen up and meet again in an hour for dinner. So we got to our rooms and showered, washed the clothes, changed and returned to the lobby to meet up for dinner. We decided to take two taxis to the dinner place at Gurney Drive. It was a short journey costing us only RM10 for each taxi. The place was crazy crowded as usual…but we found ourselves a table and was impatiently waiting for food to arrive!

Our strategy was simple. Have a few riders go around ordering food and have the rest sit at the table to ensure nobody took any of the seats we needed. I, of course, decided to sit at the table while the others went to order food. Hahaha!!!

  

  

  

After having so much food and drink (I had three glasses of the Ambula drink!), it was time to head back to the hotel. I thought it would be a good idea to take a slow and leisurely walk back to the hotel especially after such a heavy meal. While some others though I was crazy…I was just glad they decided to go with the plan…if only just for the first part!

One of Teng’s childhood friends joined us that night as they wanted to catch up. As we walked back, we stumbled upon a new courtyard along Gurney Drive where some young people (Geez…I sound so old when I say that!) were playing in a band. They were playing some Kenny G standards…and for a night like this…I wasn’t complaining!

We eventually moved on towards the hotel, only stopping in order for me to get myself a Grande Ice Latte at Starbucks (I had a craving for some reason). We ended up walking all the way back to the hotel. The walk did take us almost 45 minutes but I felt a lot better. Walking after a major meal always made me feel better…I hope the rest felt the same way too!

We sat at the courtyard outside the hotel and chatted for awhile. Some went to get some beers from the 7-eleven store nearby. It was a nice evening to kick back and relax after two long days of riding. Then, it was time to get some shut eye. Tomorrow will be another fun and exciting day!