The Goal
Photograph courtesy of Kelin Chan
38km / 23.6mi from, and 1,200 meters / 3,937 feet higher than Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB).
It Almost Didn’t Happen
Graphic courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
The weather forecasts from Weather Underground, Dark Sky, Accuweather, Yahoo etc. were unanimous. Thunderstorms were coming to Fraser’s Hill.
A quick 5.00am WhatsApp conversation decided the issue. The R@SKLs would be badass. 
The ride was on.
Eager Beaver
Photograph courtesy of Alfred Chan
Alfred was knocking on the door of this coffee shop in KKB at 6.25am.
Superman
Photograph courtesy of Leonard Yee
As the rest of us were driving to KKB, we passed Daniel, who rode from his home. He had a bit more than a 60km / 37mi warmup, before the 30km / 18.5mi climb up Fraser’s Hill. That was not enough to tire him out. After getting to the summit, he rode back down to the slower riders and proceeded to push them up the hill.
Daniel cemented his Superman status later in the ride – see below.
A Big Group
Photograph courtesy of Daniel Lim
Twenty of us rolled up the road from KKB.
Views Along The Way
The lake at the Sungai Selangor Dam.
One of the bigger waterfalls.
Success Part One
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
Photograph courtesy of Simon Soo Hu
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
Part One of the climb is to get to The Gap. The Gap used to be the point where the two-way road became a one-way road for the final 8km to Fraser’s Hill. Traffic went up on even hours and came down on odd hours. If you missed the gate time at the Gap you waited at the Gap Resthouse.
Sadly, The Gap Resthouse is No More
It was closed for renovations and never reopened.
Success Part Two
Photograph courtesy of Daniel Lim
Photograph courtesy of Leonard Yee
The Clock Tower shot was particularly sweet for Alfred and Leonard. It was their first time riding up to Fraser’s Hill.
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
Refuelling
Photograph courtesy of Daniel Lim
We are in the middle of Ramadan. The oddly named Restoran D’Olio (Oil Restaurant) was the only eatery in the vicinity of the Clock Tower that was open. Actually it was barely open. Everyone had to wait for about thirty minutes for the kitchen to fire up.
You wouldn’t have guessed it by how quickly the food was gulped down, but reports are that it wasn’t worth the wait.
No Sudden End to the Ride This Time
The last time I rode down from Fraser’s Hill, I crashed at this corner. No such mishaps
this time.
Take Photo Take Photo
Photograph courtesy of Kelin Chan
Photograph courtesy of Kelin Chan
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
There is a bridge over a ravine about 5km / 3mi into the descent. A good place for a last set of photographs before the non-stop ride back to KKB.
Good Samaritans
Photograph courtesy of Tomoe Suga
Photograph of the day!
Photograph courtesy of Luanne Sieh
About 7km / 4.5mi from Kuala Kubu Bharu, there is a lay by overlooking the lake behind the Sungai Selangor Dam. Someone had dumped a litter of puppies there. Being puppies, they were gamboling along the side of the busy road connecting KKB and Teranum, near Raub. We tried, with limited success, to usher the puppies off the road shoulder and onto the grass.
On the way back down, Luanne, Tomoe, Chen Li, Daniel and a few others went looking for the puppies. They found two. Superman Daniel carried one in the front of his jersey.
Luanne delivered the two puppies to the Paws Animal Welfare Society. Fingers crossed that they get adopted.
Kapitan! Again??
Photograph courtesy of Leonard Yee
Three rides. Three rear tire punctures. Perhaps we need to buy Simon a protective charm. Thank you Meng for getting Simon back on the road.
Did it Rain?
So much for the accuracy of the weather forecasts.
Did Everyone Have Fun?
Photograph courtesy of yesbikes.com.au
The fun didn’t stop with the ride. Some of us met up in the evening at Via Pre Italian Restaurant for coffee, dessert, and sake. An excellent end to an excellent day.
Old Roots, New Routes 
Looks like you guys and gals had so much fun. Too bad I cant join. Down with food poisoning over the weekend.
I hope you are feeling better now.
Alchemyrider, I will be visiting Malaysia in February and planning to ride Fraser’s Hill. How steep is the last 8KM? How long would the entire ride take from KKB since I will be traveling from Penang and need to think of logistics?
I realize the above question is very rider specific. I am not the strongest rider and my FTP is about 220W but can push to 350W for steep climbs.
Hello Surinder.
The ride to Fraser’s Hill from KKB is about 39km up, and 40km back down. The one-way road loops around a bit from the clock tower before heading back down. Hence the additional 1km on the way down.
The last 8km from the Gap, which marks the start and end of the one-way loop up to the top of Fraser’s, averages just over 5%, with the steepest grade being 14.5%.
Note that the descent from the clock tower includes some climbing over rolling terrain, with the steepest uphill section being 13%.
My average speed for the entire ride was 23.4kph, and my moving time was 3 hours 23 minutes. I would add at least another hour to the ride time for rest stops along the way, and at the top, where you might want to eat something as well.
My sense is that you will be able to do this ride. The key is not to push overly hard on the lower sections of the climb. Gearing of course also plays a role. A compact crank with a 34 tooth chain ring and large rear cog of 28 or 30 will certainly be easier to push up the climbs than a standard crank with a 39 tooth chain ring and a 25 tooth rear cog.
Do you plan to travel from Penang, do the Fraser’s ride, and return to Penang in the same day? It will be at least 7 hours driving time from Penang to KKB and back to Penang. Most start the ride from KKB very early in the morning to avoid the midday heat on the descent.
Let me know if you need any other information or help.
Best wishes,
Johan
Hi Johan,
Firstly, apologies for delayed response and thanks for your advise. Reassuring the gradients aren’t too bad (except for the 14.5% section). I have done steeper for brief sections so should be able to handle.
I will have a support van/driver and leaving Penang very early in the morning (5 AM) – going to be a long day. After a quick bite at KKB hope to set off around 9 AM. Worried about the heat but I hear it gets cooler further up the hill. I have a compact crank and will use a 11-32 rear cog for climbing. Seems very doable since i ride longer distances in New Jersey and climb about 2,500-3,000 feet during my regular weekend rides. Only concern is that it is uphill all the way for 39 KM! Will get a couple of days to acclimatize by doing several round the island rides in Penang.
You have a great blog and enjoy reading about your interesting rides especially since I was born in Malaysia (but left 37 years ago) and can relate to your experience.
Best,
Surinder
Hello Surinder. By the sound of it, you won’t have any problems riding up Fraser’s Hill. And there will be nothing stopping you from taking a rest once in a while. There is a waterfall about two-thirds of the way up which makes a good excuse to stop.
Fraser’s is not as cool as it was when you lived in Malaysia. There is some shade on the ride up, but less on the way down. Wear some sunscreen.
I recall you saying that you would be in Malaysia in February. When are you doing this ride?
Hi Johan,
I am planning the Fraser’s Hill ride for Thursday, February 22nd. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
Best,
Surinder
Enjoy your ride Surinder.
Very best wishes.
Hi Surinder. I see you did the Fraser’s ride last week. Did you enjoy it?
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