Taiping originated as a Chinese mining settlement in the Larut district, where large-scale tin mining developed in the 1840s. In 1874, it was the first town in the Federated Malay States to be officially designated as a city. Taiping became the capital of the state of Perak until 1937. Well-preserved colonial architecture bears witness to Taiping’s political and economic importance.
The Heritage Ride Taiping 2025 is one of several events held to mark the 150th anniversary of the city. A group of us registered for this ride and planned a weekend in Taiping. We booked rooms in the Flemington Hotel. The Flemington Hotel was where we stayed during two rides to Penang. Once in 2020 and again in 2023. We like the Flemington, and it had the added benefit of being close to where the Heritage Ride would start.
The hotel faces the Taiping Lake Gardens. The Taiping Lake Gardens dates back to 1880 and is the first public garden established during the British rule in Malaya. The iconic angsana trees have been there for more than 100 years.
The week before the ride was a very wet one across the country. There were floods in several areas, and the Malaysian Meteorological Department issued a Tropical Storm Warning the day before we were scheduled to travel to Taiping. We went anyway.
V took the train to Taiping. My biker chick and I drove through continuous rain. J was also driving up on Saturday. G and T decided to defer driving to Taiping until the next day.
We had planned to have dinner at the Hu Jing Ge Chinese restaurant in the Flemington Hotel, reputedly the best Chinese restaurant in Taiping, but changed our minds because there were only three of us in Taiping that Friday night.
I had asked a friend who lived in Taiping for restaurant and café recommendations. He gave me a list of places.
The Double Tap Café is 350 metres from the Flemington. We walked there for coffee and a long chat. We then took a Grab car to Sri Annapoorana Curry House for dinner. My capati and my biker chick’s Maggi mee goreng were very good. V’s thosai was less so.
The rain had finally stopped, so we decided to go to the Taiping Zoo Night Safari. The Taiping Zoo was established in 1961 and is the oldest zoo in Malaysia. I think it is the only zoo in the country to operate night safaris.
You take a tram ride through the 36-acre zoo while the driver points out many of the 140 species of wildlife in the various sizeable enclosures. We were very impressed with the variety of nocturnal wildlife we saw in the special lighting, which mimics moonlight.
The zoo is on the other side of the Lake Gardens from the Flemington. We had a nice walk under the angsana trees back to the hotel, where we finished the evening with potato wedges and teh tarik at the hotel’s Raintree Café.
I had plotted a cycling route for Saturday morning. However, V’s bike was in T’s car, which hadn’t left KL. So I rode on my own.
My route included crossing Jalan Air Kuning on a bicycle-accessible bridge. We need more of these bridges across our main roads.
The three of us walked the 650 metres from the Flemington to adaruang for brunch. Everything we ordered, except for the pau, was nice. The pau was reheated rather than freshly steamed.
G and T arrived in Taiping at about 2:00 pm. V and I took a Grab car to the Larut Matang Hawker Centre, where G and T were eating lunch. That hawker centre is a short walk from the Taiping Mall, where we collected our goodie bags and ride numbers. The ride organisers had a sizeable team on hand to ensure the goodie bag distribution was efficient.
We all got an Event T-Shirt. Green ones for the 60 km participants, blue ones for the 90 km cyclists, and pink ones for the 20 km riders.
V and I walked back to the hotel. By the time J arrived, most of us were too lazy to leave the hotel for dinner. G and T went to a nearby seafood restaurant while the rest of us ate at the Raintree Café.
The Flag Off for the 60 km event was 7:15 am. We left the hotel at 7:00 am to make the 1.5 km ride to the Dataran Warisan Taiping (Taiping Heritage Square).
The Dataran Warisan Taiping is fronted by the Larut Matang & Selama Land and District Office building. Initially called the New Government Office, it was completed in 1897. The then State Engineer, Francis Caulfield, designed the building in the shape of the letter ‘C’ after his last name.
We arrived at the start line as the last of the 90 km riders got underway. We joined the back of the queue for the 60 km event. While we were waiting, a person came around to check that everyone had an official participant’s number. This was to stop unregistered individuals, aka ghost riders, from taking part.
We were flagged off on time at 7:15 am. Our route was actually about 65 km long.
We had hardly gone more than one kilometre when I had a puncture. I pulled over to the side of the road and was getting ready to replace an inner tube when the event support van pulled up. I just watched as two gentlemen replaced the punctured inner tube, got the tyre up to pressure with an electric compressor and put the wheel back on the bike.
I was ready to roll in less than three minutes. Kudos to Izuwan Automobile and Jami Bike Centre for providing such rapid neutral service support.
My four ride companions pedalled away around this corner.
I wasn’t with them. I had a dropped chain. When I got going, I was the last person on the road. With a course marshal with a flashing light beside me.
I wanted to lose that marshal and his flashing light. The chase was on. I caught up to my four companions, and we set off to overtake the tail-enders ahead of us.
15 km later, we started to reel in the slower riders ahead of us. By the time we got to the first water stop at 30.5 km, J, V and I were comfortably ahead of the average pace needed to finish the ride before the cutoff time of 11:00 am.
We refilled our bottles with water or 100 Plus isotonic drink and went on our way. We decided not to wait for G and T. The route was clearly signposted, so we were not worried that G and T would get lost. What we didn’t know was that brake rub had slowed T down for the first 20 km or so. G slowed down and waited for T to catch up with her. She had had the same brake rub issue herself in the past, and was able to fix T’s problem brake.
There was a second water stop after 40 km. I still had a lot in my bottle and decided to keep going. I should have stopped to collect a banana or two. J and V were disappointed that I didn’t stop.
As is often the case with organised rides, there were a few hills to climb in the last 20 km. Including a 500 metre kicker before the final right turn into the finish. We all rode under the Start/Finish arch within the cutoff time.
The Dataran Warisan was lined with the event sponsor’s booths.
Including ChekHup and McDonald’s. ChekHup iced coffees, McChicken sandwiches and hash browns before we rode back to the hotel.
Remember the Hu Jing Ge Chinese restaurant in the Flemington Hotel? We couldn’t eat there on Saturday because it was fully booked for a wedding lunch and dinner. Fortunately, it was only partially booked for a wedding luncheon on Sunday, so we had lunch there. The ikan bilis fried rice, the seafood fried rice, the crispy duck and the orange chicken were highlights.
All that was left for the group was to hit the road out of Taiping. One went to Penang. Two went to Ipoh. And three drove back to KL. The trip to KL was very slow, as it usually is on a Sunday afternoon. The traffic was not helped by someone who had crashed into the back of a police car. Oops!
In closing I must mention my experience of how this event was run. There has been some criticism of the event organisers on social media. Some participants complained abut the lack of route marshalling and poor signage. That was not my experience, but I can only speak about the 60 km event. I wasn’t racing for a podium spot, either.
The 60 km event started on time. I have already told you about my positive experience with the neutral service support. All the road junctions were manned. The directional arrows were easy to see. There were many marshals all along the route. One marshal even checked that I was okay while I was putting arm screens on at a Caltex station at the 42 km point. The two rest stops were well-stocked with water, 100 Plus, and bananas in the case of the second stop.
There was plenty of space to put bikes, to relax and to enjoy the aforementioned free drinks and food at the Dataran Warisan Taiping after the ride. I would come back if there is a Taiping ride next year.
Old Roots, New Routes 