West Malaysia loop ride

The trip is complete and everyone is home safe. Please be patient for the blog…will be up soon!

Ask ten riders what they would pack for a six day adventure ride and you will get ten different answers. Heck…bikers cannot even agree on what the main essentials are! So I decided to use my own common sense (which may not be so common after all) and figured out my own little packing list. Here is a quick summary of what I will be bringing for the trip.

1. Essential items

• Identity card
• Passport
• ATM card
• Credit card
• Cash
• Telephone
• First aid kit
• Emergency telephone numbers
• Hotel contact numbers

2. Clothes and stuff

• Riding clothes
• Sleeping clothes
• Quick dry towel
• Toiletteries
• Slippers

3. Equipment

• Cameras
• Lenses
• Flash
• Notebook
• Tripod
• Batteries
• Chargers
• Memory cards
• Filters
• Mounts
• Power strip
• Adapter plugs

4. Tools

• Electrical tape
• Duct tape
• Sockets and wrench set
• Allen keys
• Pliar and cutter
• Head, indicator and brake light bulbs
• Cable ties
• Chain lubricant

5. Other stuff

• House keys
• Torch
• Plastic bags
• Pen and notepad
• Bungie cords
• Luggage net

Well, that is my list at the moment. I suppose I could pack a lot more than that but I suppose this would be a good list to start with. Let me know what I left out that you feel is essential!

Its time to start packing!

A big part of being in an adventure is just to go somewhere and worry about accommodations when I get there. However, that only works if the group is small and if everyone is really in for that kind of flexibility. With a relatively big gang like the one I have for this ride, it is best to have the accommodations confirmed beforehand to avoid any hiccups after a long ride.

I looked at the route that was made out for this ride so many times my head was beginning to spin. The reason for looking at it over and over again was because I wanted to find a solution to the “flexibility” problem I was talking about in the earlier paragraph. You see, there really isn’t any place in Dabong that I could confirm beforehand! So, after another round of research, thinking and tweaking, I am happy to report that the route and accommodations are better worked out now. In fact, the accommodations are kind of confirmed…pending some administrative details.

The major stops for this ride will be at Temerloh (Pahang), Tasik Temenggor (Perak), Tanah Rata (Pahang) and Tanjung Kling (Melaka). While most of these places are relatively major towns with a few choices for hotels, Tasik Temenggor is really in the middle of nowhere and choices were few. Still, I think that this place may just be the best one of the lot!

In case you were wondering, our hotels are the following:

1. Hotel Green Park at Temerloh
2. Banding Lake Side Inn at Tasik Temenggor
3. Eight Mentigi Guest House at Tanah Rata
4. Shah’s Beach Resort at Tanjung Kling

It was really interesting how the reservations were taken and what was needed to guarantee them. Both Hotel Green Park and Banding Lake Side Inn did not require any credit card nor deposit to guarantee the reservation. However, Eight Mentigi required a deposit into their bank account for half the total amount, and Shah’s Beach Resort required a credit card guarantee (or a deposit). So if you are thinking of making a booking in the future, do ask on the phone so you have it confirmed and guaranteed.

At the moment, I am just looking forward to getting to these places and enjoy the time there. It is about time too!

Anybody ever heard of the game of Woodball? Well, I certainly never heard of it until today. Apparently, this is a rather popular game in West Malaysia…and that is really strange because I never heard of this game before! Oh well, I learn something new everyday I suppose. I stumbled upon this game with a strange name while doing my research for this loop ride. Here is what I found.

A fun fact. Woodball, it seems, is so big in Malaysia that the country boasts the most international standard woodball courses in the world. The game of woodball is governed by the International Woodball Foundation (IWbF) and has almost 30 member countries from Belgium to Uganda! The game, a relatively new one, was invented in Taiwan and is played with a wooden mallet and a ball on a course. The objective of the game is to hit the ball with the mallet and get it through a gate that is found at the end of every course, much like golf except there is only one mallet, the ball does not take flight, and the cup is a gate! Intriguing!!!

Another interesting thing is that the state of Pahang has the most woodball courses in Malaysia!

I don’t know about the rest of the gang…but I gotta give this one a try!

The inaugural loop ride was completed last year and the next one is about to take off. I thought it was best to reorganize the blog so that all the rides can be accessed from one place.

The links to all the loop rides can be found on the links panel to the right of this post.

Happy reading!

Today I started looking at what I needed to do in case somebody needed medical attention while on the WMLR2011. This becomes very important as we will be riding on some rather remote roads where we may not have a mobile phone signal. Further more, smaller villages in West Malaysia can be separated by very large plantations and getting help may prove to be difficult.

I started off, as usual, by doing my research. I refreshed my memory of the first aid course I took while I was still actively diving…and looked up some additional material off the Internet. Other than getting up-to-speed on some of the procedures that I might be called upon to perform, I also got busy putting together a simple but versatile first aid kit.

I was not looking to assemble the best nor the most complete first aid kit. That kit would be virtually useless to me as I would not be able to take it with me on the bike. Rather, I was looking to assemble the most useful, practical and compact first aid kit that would fit easily on a motorcycle. This would prove to be harder than I though…as usual.

First off, medicines. One of the most common need while traveling is access to simple and commonly available medication. Since no member of my riding team has any drug allergies, nor were any of them on any long term medication, this task was relatively simple. I looked for medicines to treat simple ailments like a fever, an allergy, a diarrhea, an ache, gas and a runny nose. Those are the simplest things to obtain. Having said that, it is very important to ensure that these medicines do not cause drowsiness as we will be riding!

Next, stuff to treat cuts and rash…the kinds of injury that involve blood. I found that one of the most effective tools to have for cuts and rash are gauze pads. So I packed a few different sizes of them. Adhesive tape to secure the pads. Gauze bandages provide another means for covering cuts that the normal pads cannot secure. Elastic bandages for sprains and strains. Various plasters for smaller cuts. Cuts and rash also need to be cleaned. So some saline for cleaning, antiseptic cream for treatment, and water for flushing off dirt and sand in case of a fall are also necessary items.

Next are some simple tools that will come in handy. Some latex gloves to keep dirty hands and fingers away from sensitive wounds. Wet wipes for cleaning. A pair of small scissors for cutting. A pair of tweezers for removal of stings or thorns or other foreign objects embedded in skin or flesh. And just in case anybody gets burnt by an exhaust or something similarly hot, a cream to treat burns was thrown in for good measure.

Obviously, there are many other items that can be included into a first aid kit. However, these would cover a good 80% of the cases that we would encounter on a motorcycle ride. If there is a situation that the available tools cannot handle…well…let’s hope the mobile works!

One area that needed improving from the last West Malaysia Loop Ride was the accommodation plans. We had a tough time in Penang because the place we intended to sleep over was fully booked. Yes…I did not call ahead and book because I wanted the plan to be fluid…and that caused us almost two hours of searching around in the dark for a place to sleep!

So now that the route has been planned, it is time to get the accommodations sorted out. The simple thing to do is to Google the destinations, look for a suitable hotel or guest house, give them a ring and its done. Unfortunately, this task is not as easy as it seems!

Our first stop is actually quite easy. The town of Temerloh happens to be a rather big one with plenty of places to explore for accommodations. However, the second place is quite the opposite! Dabong is more of a kampung (village) than a town…and accommodation options are VERY limited! This leaves Tanah Rata and Melaka. It is quite easy to find places in Tanah Rata…but Melaka…even though it is a huge town with many options, the fact that we will have our bikes with us makes this task much tougher.

The criteria is quite straightforward. Clean. Affordable. Safe. Secure parking. So the clear accommodation options, at the moment, are Hotel Green Park or Hotel Seri Malaysia at Temerloh, Father’s Guest House or Gerard’s Guest House in Tanah Rata. I do not have any real options for Dabong right now…and I am unclear which would be best in Melaka for the bikes.

Dabong options are scarce. There is a guest house at the base of Gunung Stong but there is no way to make a reservation. So it is a hit and miss. The nearest alternative is to trek up Gunung Stong and camp but that means leaving the bikes in an un-secured location. The next best option is to travel up to Jeli (another small town) or to Kuala Krai. So this is still very much up in the air at the moment.

Options in Melaka are plentiful! However, many of them do not have parking at the hotel itself. Most of the parking places are located in back alleys, some are gated…while others are not. The Hotel Puri, for example, while an excellent hotel if you drive there, is not suitable because the parking area is located one street away, blocked from view. Many other hotels do not even have a dedicated parking lot. And those that do (like The Equitorial) costs quite a bit more. So there is still more to be done before this can be confirmed.

There are other things that need to be handled too. Confirming the participants, preparing the bikes, performing a shakedown ride, acquiring the gear, planning the service stop among others. So no time to waste…let’s get cracking!

One of the hardest things to do for any adventure is pinning down the dates. After all, there is no turning back once the dates are pinned down!

It took quite awhile to pin down the dates for this ride. I had originally planned to ride in March 2011. Those dates had to be thrown out the window after some consultation with family, friends and potential riding mates. I am happy to note, though, that the dates have finally been confirmed!

The ride will begin on 24 February (Thursday) and will conclude on 1 March (Tuesday), giving us six days to cover about 2000km to loop around the peninsular of West Malaysia. Not a lot of time…but sufficient for an exciting adventure with friends.

Have a look at the route that we will be taking…and read all about the journey as the adventure unfolds!

You know how they say “time flies when you’re having fun”? In reality, though, time flies even when you’re not having fun. In what seems like the blink of an eye, more than half a year has passed since I completed the inaugural West Malaysia Loop Ride.

My butt has been itching to start planning the next loop ride for awhile now. I even had discussions with several people about it! Well, it is now time to get things moving!

So today we see the setup of the new blog for WMLR2011. I will be planning out the legs in November 2010. At the same time, I will be looking for the new gang for the ride. Hopefully, everything will be confirmed before the Chinese New Year and we can get going in March 2011.

Come join the planning! Leave comments on the WMLR2011 blog if you have suggestions on venues and roads that we should explore. Its time to plan!