West Malaysia loop ride

Day seven.

This was the final day of the ride and boy did I have some cool riding planned for the guys. I was definitely leaving the best for last in terms of planning…in my mind at least! As it was also a day with not too many kilometres to cover, we decided to get a bit more sleep in and only arranged to be ready at 9am.

Everyone was up by the time I was getting ready. It was good to see that a routine has settled in and everyone had a good idea of how much time they would need to get ready given the number of bathrooms and toilets available. So we set off on time and headed for breakfast. The Federal Highway was nice and pleasant today as we came out after the peak hour traffic jam and took the bike lanes whenever possible. We turned off at Kerinchi Link and headed towards the Mont Kiara area, eventually turning into Publika to park our bikes. It was amazing that we got here in such a short time!

Breakfast was back to basics roti at the Banana. Yes, the shop was really called Banana. Not Restoran Banana. Not Banana Leaf. Just Banana. I don’t know why this is so…but what I do know is that they have really good roti here. I had the Roti Bom as usual with the fish curry and sambal sauce. It was very yummy indeed! I also ordered some Putu Mayam for the guys.

Putu Mayam…not so easy to find this dish these days

My Roti Bom…this is a killer roti man! So yummy!

You only get the Curry & Sambal combo in Malaysia!

Enjoying breakfast on our last riding day

We spent quite a bit of time here at Banana as I wanted to bring the guys for lunch just outside Kuala Lumpur. We had a nice and relaxing time chit chatting about everything under the sun. It is amazing how there always seems to be something to talk about! Even more amazing is how time flies so quickly by!

Soon it was time to head out and we immediately felt the fury of the mid afternoon sun. It was almost directly overhead and it was shining with all its might and made the roads feel like a super big oven that is set on high! We rode on courageously through the heavy traffic, squeezing into small side roads, going over road bumps, squeezing between rows of cars…until we got onto the AKLEH (Ampang Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway) which was completely clear! Then I realised we were heading the wrong direction so we did a U-turn and it was also clear! Woohoo!!!

Like any road in KL in the mid afternoon of a working day, it will not be too long before something shows up to slow you down. And so it is that we had to exit the AKLEH into Jalan Ampang…heading towards Bandar Baru Ampang. This stretch is mercilessly hot…with lots of traffic…and traffic lights…which always seem to be turning red just as we approach. Before long, any memory of that easy stretch on the AKLEH was forgotten, replaced with concerns about dehydration and heat induced drowsiness.

A stop was necessary just to maintain some semblance of sanity. A water break of major proportions…yet…mindful that lunch was a mere 10–15 minutes away…and that too much water would diminish that experience. Tough decisions indeed! We eventually pushed on and made a turn onto Route B62 which would lead us to the lunch place…and boy…B62 was worlds apart from what we had experienced the entire morning! The road had so much promise. Turns. Corners. Elevation. Magnificent views. Before long, unfortunately, just after a few minutes we had to turn off to where we would have lunch!

At this point I signaled to everyone to be on first gear as this place is not one of those that you can access right beside the main road. In fact, to get to the restaurant, we would have to ride down a very steep incline that stretched about 200 metres. Does not sound like a lot of distance but it sure can get daunting when the incline is around 30–40 degrees. Plus the road here is not exactly well paved!

We parked and walked into what looked like a market with fruits and vegetables on sale, passing through a very long grilling area, then into the seating area of the restaurant. This place was built around a man-made lake…at least I think it was man-made. The place was constructed with wood and felt very relaxing and rustic. I felt it was a little touristy but I loved it anyway! We took our seats at a big round table. With our helmets, jackets and gloves off, we were able to sit back and enjoy the draft that is blowing from the fans around us. The view out onto the lake was quite spectacular as well.

A view of the lake…

Another part of the same lake (Photo by LPG)

Very quiet and peaceful place… (Photo by Chris)

Waiting for our lunch!

As usual, we ordered lots of food. Salt baked tilapia was a big favourite. Pineapple fried rice, grilled pandan leaf wrapped chicken, crispy morning glory vegetables, sambal squid with petai beans and a mango salad. Each dish bringing more oohs and aahs from the gang as they polished off one morsel after another. Dessert too! We had mango with sticky rice and ABC (Air Batu Campur – a local ice dessert with ice cubes, coconut milk and lots of beans, corn and jelly). We definitely took our time and we were all looking forward to the next leg – Route B32!

Sambal Squid with Petai Beans

Crispy Morning Glory vegetables

Pandan leave wrapped chicken

Belacan rice…with nuts!

Refreshing Young Papaya Salad

Salt Baked Tilapia…the star dish for lunch!

Serving the salt baked fish (Photo by Chris)

ABC…or Air Batu Campur…basically Mixed Ice Cubes…

Best of the lot…mango sticky rice dessert!

The allure of Route B32 notwithstanding, it was still a very hot day and the sun was beating down on relentlessly. Still, it was time to go with an entire day’s journey ahead of us! We refreshed ourselves, put on all of our gear and started walking out towards our bikes. I reminded everyone about the steep incline that we will now have to ride up and to use a low enough gear to maintain momentum so we can get up safely. With that, I powered up, waited till everyone is ready and moved off.

I kept my bike pointed at the top of the first in line, maintained a smooth and steady throttle, and progressed up that incline. At the mid-point I kicked down a gear, turned slightly to my right and continued to apply smooth throttle until I was at the very top. Then I waited near the exit so there was enough space for the rest to safely form up behind me when they got up. I counted them one by one as they appeared in my rear view mirror. One…two…three…four. Where is number five? After a minute I wondered if number five had a mechanical problem or some other difficulty. So after informing the rest to stay put, I requested for Chris to follow me back down.

The situation became obvious the moment I made the turn to head down…number five had fallen. I could see the bike laying there at the turn but could not see the rider. That was, in a way, good news. I saw him walking towards the bike…which was more good news…with a few local workers following…even more good news. We made a U-turn at the bottom and headed back up again. The plan was to assist. Unfortunately, my bike had absolutely no traction when stopped on the incline and kept sliding back. This left me no choice but to move to higher ground.

Took quite a few people to get the bike off the ground (Photo by Chris)

When I eventually was able to stop safely, I saw that his bike was on the side stand. Good to have helping hands! I saw, too, that they were going into shade to rest after the exertion so I went on up to get the rest to get into shade as well. I also shared the situation with them as they were at her curious what was taking so long. By now, everyone was feeling the effects of the sun…so it was time to hydrate.

It was to be another 10–15 minutes before I saw Chris riding up. But he was on the KTM. Randy decided to walk up…and Chris eventually went down to retrieve his Honda. They took longer because the bike fell a second time it seems. This time round, the side box sustained some damage. So we took it off the bike and started working on it.

Working on the panniers (Photo by Chris)

There is something causing it not to close properly (Photo by Chris)

It is common for adventure touring bikes, the side boxes sustain the most damage in a tip over because the entire weight of the bike, plus the contents contained within all that luggage, would go crashing onto them. Some people choose steel boxes thinking they’re more capable of handling that extra weight and shock, others believe hard polycarbonate works better, yet others believe soft molded plastic, being more pliable and light, is better…and some just decide to use fabric side bags to avoid the possibility of fall damage. In this case, the box was made of pliable soft plastic with some steel reinforcement panels.

We have lots of tools available for the job (Photo by Chris)

Always good for a pose! (Photo by Chris)

Everyone working hard on this (Photo by Chris)

One of the boxes, in this case, was split open at the front. Three sections of the front panel were ripped out of the box leaving a large enough gap to be worrying. We tried every possible way to put it back together again. Hammering. Pressing. Pressuring. Removing screws. Putting in screws. Aligning. Realigning. Every possible combination of ways too.

It cannot be that we still have not fixed this (Photo by Chris)

Ohhhh…but it is still not resolved… (Photo by Chris)

Are we almost there? (Photo by Chris)

We eventually found th very best way…using bungee cords!

Brilliant!!! (Photo by Chris)

With the box finally reattached to the bike and secured with a million bungee cords, we took one last breather and prepared to finally head off. But as luck would have it, it was third time unlucky for the bike as it fell just as we were about ready to ride off. I could see the entire episode this time round and realised it was a combination of heat exhaustion, uneven ground and a riding posture that was hindered by a large tank bag which prevented rider from reaching the brakes on time.

It was a long hot day… (Photo by Chris)

Let’s secure the right side as well (Photo by Chris)

Thank goodness for good crash bars! (Photo by Chris)

So we got off our bikes and pulled up the KTM. Rolled it to level ground. Freed up space in front of the seat. Then we all rested under the shade. It was getting late now and we had quite a lot of ground still to cover so I decided we would have to take a rain cheque for Route B32. Everyone agreed it was better to make up some time by taking the highway south instead. So that was the new plan.

It was four in the afternoon by the time we pushed off from the restaurant. We made our way back into the Kuala Lumpur traffic, rode through Cheras, then to Sungai Besi toll plaza. By that time we were tired out again due to the heat. So it was another hydration stop before making the big push to the south.

So hot! Best to hydrate! (Photo by Chris)

When we headed off, the weather started getting cooler and I felt a sense of relief. Finally, some respite from that extreme heat! By the time we got to Nilai, it was nice and cool…in fact, the sky was filling up with darker and darker clouds..eventually…it started to rain. It was great to feel the cool rain on my jacket as it really cooled me down. I gradually began to forget the heat and started to really enjoy the ride. The rain did not stop. Instead it got heavier…and heavier…and just when I thought it could get no heavier…it got heavier still. In fact, it was so heavy it was pouring down in sheets, completely obscuring our vision!

The road was now super wet and puddles were forming. Puddles are not good for bikes. There was always the risk of aquaplaning and I did not like the idea of that possibility. Unfortunately we were nowhere near a rest stop and traffic was still heavy…though slow. Just then, a truck on the left hit a major puddle and the splash caused my bike to veer to the right…and into a big puddle. Thank goodness for waterproof riding gear!

It was impossible to see behind me to count out the bikes so I had to find safe places to stop so I could ensure everyone was safe. It was also fortunate that we had intercoms as that at least kept me in touch with a few others. Eventually, I decided to make a stop at the Tangkak rest area just because we had been riding in the rain for more than an hour! Strange how we were now feeling so cold when just a couple hours ago we were feeling so hot…in fact…some of us were literally shivering!

The rain was so cold it froze his jacket zipper (Photo by Chris)

No shelter for the bikes! (Photo by LPG)

Cold and wet… (Photo by LPG)

We hung about for awhile at Tangkak but felt we needed to head out as it was getting dark. Also we wanted to get to Kulai for dinner…and some of us needed fuel. So we headed out, thankful for the shelter from the rain, and that the rain has slowed down to a more manageable level.

The rest of the journey to Kulai was uneventful with a fuel stop at Pagoh. It was just easy riding in easy traffic and weather. The rain has stopped after Pagoh and it was completely dark long before we arrived at Kulai…but arrive we did at 8:30pm…much later than expected…but boy…we were so happy when we could order hot tea…with ice of course. Hahaha!

Dinner was a feast. I guess it would not be right to have a small dinner after such a tough day. I felt like the guys went through so much today and needed a fitting reward. I was, myself, happy that we had a feast! It was my second time here and we ordered some of the same familiar favourites. This time round, I will let the pictures do the talking.

A simple stir fried vegetable dish (Photo by Chris)

Nice hot hot hot soup! (Photo by Chris)

Hokkien noodles…can never get enough of this dish (Photo by Chris)

Lightly fried tofu with century eggs (Photo by Chris)

Stewed Lou Shee Fun in a claypot…oh yes!!! (Photo by Chris)

Guess who is serving? (Photo by Chris)

Even though we were cold…nothing beats a glass of Chinese Tea with Ice!

We went two different ways after dinner with some preferring to enter Singapore at the Tuas checkpoint and others at the Woodlands checkpoint. It was an easy short ride to either one from Kulai so there were no concerns about people getting lost. I headed off towards Woodlands with Anthony, Chris and LPG. We decided to fuel up at the same Shell station right at the checkpoint. In some way, fueling up at the very end at the same place we fuelled up at the very beginning felt like we came full circle. It made the trip feel complete.

I would normally end the trip report here but there is one more thing that surprised me completely. In a way, it made the trip even more complete. Remember at the start LPG made a wrong turn coming into Johor? Well, he made a wrong turn again now heading out of Johor. So we waited for him by the road…and he did eventually show up.

And so it is…like every trip…the journey of WMLR 2015 has come to an end. Every rider arrived home safely that night. They brought back with them some bruises, some scrapes, some bike problems, some added bulk to their bellies. But most importantly, I feel, they brought back with them new experiences that will embolden their endeavours, great memories that will enrich their storytelling and deep friendships that will stand the test of time.

Day 1: 511km
Day 2: 568km
Day 3: 161km
Day 4: less than 100km
Day 5: 620km
Day 6: 121km
Day 7: 466km