West Malaysia loop ride

Yes, the WMLR2024 is a GO! The dates have been set for 20-25 March 2024 and I am so excited to get started with the planning! I looked at the map of Malaysia for many hours, zooming in and out from region to region, looking for interesting routes, please to visit and possibly food to sample. So many things jump out at me as I went from spot to spot.

I tend to like doing this ride as a loop, hence the name! In general, I feel it is best to do a loop so we are not repeating sections. It would feel rather tiring and uninteresting to go up one route, enjoy a place, then go back the same route towards home. I also tend to avoid expressways unless we are short of time. I find that travelling on the expressway tends to increase our average speed and decrease our attention span and alertness. This is a sure recipe for mishaps to happen. In fact, the biggest accident we had was mine in 2017 which occurred on an expressway in Kuala Lumpur and the biggest close call we had was on the North-South expressway. The incidents we had while travelling on the smaller roads were all relatively minor by comparison. I can remember the ones in 2012 and 2016 on small roads were really minor with no injury and did not hamper our journey nor spirits.

So this time round I was thinking we will explore the central part of the peninsula again, going up to places like Temerloh, Jerantut, Kuala Lipis, Gua Musang and Jeli before heading west towards Gerik and then south towards places like Lenggong and Teluk Intan and Muar. While we have explored some of these places before, going back to roads that we have ridden on before always brings new experiences. This is one of the joys of riding. New sights, new smells, new discoveries. For this trip, I was thinking perhaps we can make Lenggong a location of focus. I saw some really nice UNESCO world heritage areas around the Lenggong Valley that looked interesting for exploring.

Just recently I did receive news that one of the riders needed to pull out. This means the WMLR2024 would be a duo ride and that presents us the opportunity to do something different. I remember the very first one (WMLR2010) we had a route in mind but no accommodations planned out. Then I got a message from Tony to suggest that perhaps we up the game and decide each destination the night before. He actually said the morning of the ride itself…but frankly…I much prefer to plan a little bit and do it the night before. So…this is going to be an adventure unlike any of the other ones we have had previously. I have long thought about how exciting it would be to be spontaneous and now i have the perfect opportunity to do exactly that! I cannot wait to get started!