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The Germans visit Malaysia Part 1

Posted on November 11, 2019 by alchemyrider

In October 2018 a group of R@SKLs had a wonderful time cycling in Germany. Thanks to excellent arrangements made by Ralf from Hong Kong, and Marc and some of his friends in Germany.

Being polite Malaysians, the grateful R@SKLs invited the Germans to visit Malaysia. To their surprise, the Germans accepted the invitation!

Not only that, they booked flights and would arrive in Kuala Lumpur on 1st November 2019 for a ten-day stay.

After several discussions over teh tarik, thosai and roti canai which began in mid-September, we had a plan. Which was a good thing because Marc, Patrik, Matthias and Dieter did board their flight from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur.

We didn’t realise it at the time, but this photograph was a clue, or more accurately a warning of what the next ten days would entail.

Photograph courtesy of Marc Linke

Day 1

Ralf had arrived one day earlier, and together with Chee Leong and Pai was on hand to welcome the others to Malaysia.

Their first stop after leaving the airport was Pegasus Cycles. CK and Danial reassembled their bicycles. Bike cases were loaded onto a truck and shipped to Penang.

Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai

You should already be getting a sense of the logistics required for our plan to work smoothly.

Getting bicycles assembled was important. More important was to introduce our guests to an essential part of Malaysian culture. Food.

TH took them across the road to the Grand Imperial restaurant in Plaza Damas for a dim sum lunch.

Photograph courtesy of Ralf Hamberger
Photograph courtesy of Ralf Hamberger

After lunch, we took the guys to the Hyatt House hotel, which was home for the next four nights. They soon discovered the infinity pool.

Photograph courtesy of Dieter Fecher

The last logistical piece for the day was to load the now-assembled bikes into Amy’s truck. Amy would take the bikes to the start of our Saturday ride.

Photograph courtesy of CK Lim

Day 2

We picked up the Germans at 6:30 am from their hotel and drove to Bandar Rimbayu. Our ride through the kampung roads to Bukit Jugra started at 7:30 am.

Map courtesy of Ride with GPS

It wasn’t long before there was a puncture.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng.

A stop after 14km was a bit sooner than expected.

Photograph courtesy of Ralf Hamberger

There was another mechanical problem soon after that, so we had another wait at the 7-Eleven in Jenjarom. Fortunately, that was the last forced stop for the day.

Photograph courtesy of Marc Linke

The highlight of this ride, or lowlight, depending upon your point of view, was the climb up Bukit Jugra to the lighthouse.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

We spent twenty minutes enjoying the view over the Langat River. Then it was time for food at our favourite Jugra ride restaurant.

Photograph courtesy of Ally

After a meal of rice, fish and vegetables we pedalled back the way we had come.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

After crossing the Langat River we stopped at Cendol & AC Santan Sawit Ross. It was time to introduce our German visitors to cendol.

The guys made a few new friends.

Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim

Everyone finished the ride safely. Back at Mont Kiara, the guys demonstrated an essential part of German culture. Beer.

Photograph courtesy of TH Lim

Heng Keng kindly hosted dinner at his home. Complete with roast suckling pig.

Day 3

The first and third Sunday of each month is KL Car Free Morning. Roads in the city centre are closed from 7:00 am to 9:00 am. It seemed like a good idea to do a city ride.

CK and Danial mapped out a 35km route which would take us past some city landmarks.

Map courtesy of Ride with GPS

The Germans rode the short distance from their hotel to Pegasus Cycles, where about twenty other cyclists were waiting.

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

We rode from Pegasus Cycles to Damansara Heights.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

Then we stopped at the main entrance to the National Palace, which is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia.

Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat

Our next stop was at the top of the climb up Changkat Tunku, which is popularly known s Mayor’s Hill. There is a good view overlooking the city.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

We rode back down Changkt Tunku and into the Lake Gardens. The Tugu Negara (National Monument) is there.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

We then rolled through Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). To the left is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, which used to house the British colonial government offices.

Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat

Next on the itinerary was the KL Tower. It is a 421 metres tall communications tower. It is the 7th tallest freestanding tower in the world.

Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat
  • Photograph courtesy of Lai Voon Kiat

The last landmark we visited was the PETRONAS Twin Towers.

  • Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng
  • Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

We had ridden about 25km. It was time for thosai, roti canai and fried noodles with chicken. All washed down with fresh coconut water.

Dieter was suspicious of the fresh coconut 😆.

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

We finished the ride well before noon. To keep the Germans entertained, Pai took them to Batu Caves that afternoon.

Photograph courtesy of Hsing C Pai

Pai dropped the Germans off at the Pavilion shopping mall. They found a German bistro that serves everything from pork knuckles and ribs to cold cuts and sausages. The place must have been a dream come true for our five visitors 🇩🇪.

Dinner was close to the Pavilion, at the food stalls along Jalan Alor.

Photograph courtesy of TH Lim
Photograph courtesy of TH Lim

Unsurprisingly, the Germans ended the night in a bar 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺.

Photograph courtesy of TH Lim

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Ride Your Age

Posted on November 20, 2018 by alchemyrider

I picked up a birthday “tradition” while living in The Netherlands.  Ride Your Age.  In most cases, this means a ride length equal to or longer than your chronological age.  My Duch cycling friends added a maximum speed equal to or faster than your chronological age to the mix.

It sounded like a good idea ten years ago.  Less so now.  There will come a time when the ever-increasing miles required turns this tradition into a fool’s errand.  Nevertheless, I set out on a solo ride this morning to ride my age in miles.  This was my first chance for a ride since my birthday last week.

The route which started in Bukit Jalil was a mix of motorcycle lanes, main roads and quieter back streets.

Ride your Age Route

Map courtesy of Ride With GPS

To make sure I covered the necessary miles for my age I took a little detour from Bandar Rimbayu to Bandar Saujana Putra.  All those lakes are disused tin mining pools.  In the 1880s Malaya as it was then was the largest tin producer in the world.  As late as 1979 Malaysia was still producing 30% of the world’s tin.

Much of the mining was done by floating dredges.  The chain of buckets on the front scooped up the tin-bearing soil, which then passed through an oscillating drum and a system of jigs and screens to extract the tin, before spewing out the waste material at the rear end through a number of chutes.

Tin Dredge

The heydey of the tin dredge has passed.  Tin prices collapsed in 1985 and the tin mining industry in Malaysia went into terminal decline.  The ponds which were left behind have become prime real estate spots.  My guess is that in five years a photograph taken from this spot will show waterfront homes lining this pool.

IMG_0919

The morning stayed overcast so I had a very pleasant ride.  I rode back to Bandar Rimbayu and then followed the usual route to Jenjarom.  From Jenjarom I rode along Jalan Klang – Banting for 15km / 9mi to the junction with the KESAS Highway.  I got back onto the motorcycle lane all the way back to Bukit Jalil.

As a bonus, I hit my age in kilometres per hour too.  There is a one kilometre stretch in Subang Jaya (see the top centre of the route above) which has an average gradient of -1.6%.  The slope certainly helps.  This is also the location of a major highway exit.  You come off the motorcycle lane and ride for that kilometre amongst five lanes of traffic.  The resulting adrenaline boost helps with top speed too!

IMG_0921

Another year.  Another Ride Your Age in the bag.

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The R@SKLs get fried

Posted on April 29, 2018 by alchemyrider

Temperature

I suspect what will be remembered most about today’s ride to Pulau Carey is how hot it was while we were riding back to Kota Kemuning.  It got up to 37° C / 99° F.  Combine the temperature with the humidity of almost 70%, and the temperature felt like 45° C /  113° F.  Even a rare tailwind – hooray – between Jenjarom and Bandar Rimbayu did nothing to cool us down.

Route

We shouldn’t have been surprised that it got so hot.  It felt warmer and more humid than usual at 6.15am when the first R@SKLs arrived at Restoran BR Maju.  Warning sign #1.

Carey Island early arrival

Photograph courtesy of Alfred Chan

30 of us were ready to roll at 7.00am.  Under a cloudless sky.  Warning sign #2.

Carey Island start

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

Twenty minutes later we were riding through Bandar Rimbayu, with the sun already making its presence felt as it rose above the horizon. Warning sign #3.

Carey Island riding

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

We were in Jenjarom at 8.00am.  The temperature was 28° C / 82° F.  About half of the group could only do a short ride and were turning back at Jenjarom.  We all flooded into a coffee shop for breakfast before the group split up.

Carey island breakfast

Photograph courtesy of TH Lim

Carey island breakfast 2

Photograph courtesy of Jiv Sammanthan

40 minutes later 17 of us continued on to Pantai Tanjung Rhu, Pulau Carey.  We were very happy to see that sections of Jalan Klang Banting had recently been resurfaced.  Including the section between the Lebuhraya Lembah Klang Selatan flyover and Jalan Bandar Lama, which had been exceptionally badly rutted and potholed.

As you can see from the route map above, Pulau Carey is barely an island.  The land mass of Pulau Carey is separated from the peninsula by the Langat River and a narrow meandering finger of the Strait of Malacca.

When we got to the sea at 9.20am, the tide was out.

Carey Island panorama

Photograph courtesy of Luanne Sieh

There was no shade, which was inconvenient as Jiv had a puncture just as we got to the end of the road.  There was quite a bad cut in his tire, so the fix was a bit involved and took some time.  CK to the rescue!

Carey Island flat

Photograph courtesy of Jiv Sammanthan

We interrupted the repair for a group photograph.  It was too hot to linger, so as soon as Jiv’s tire was fixed we started the return leg to Kota Kemuning.

Carey Island group

Photograph courtesy of Lee Heng Keng

By 10.30am we had covered the 16km / 10mi between the beach and our regular cendol stall.  Wet, ice cold and sweet.  Just what the doctor ordered when it was 32° C / 90° F and felt closer to 37° C / 99° F.

Carey Island cendol

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

The temperature kept climbing as we rode the 28km / 17mi from the cendol stop to Restoran BR Maju in Kota Kemuning.  We needed a short rest in the shade at Kampung Sri Cheeding after 15km / 9mi.

Lots of sunblock and sunscreen were applied today.  Nevertheless, I suspect some of us got burnt over the last 35minutes of the ride today.  It was a scorcher!  Probably hot enough to do this.

Carey Island fried egg

Photograph courtesy of alert-conservation.org

 

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A bit like trying to herd cats

Posted on July 17, 2017 by alchemyrider

Morib Banner jkstakent com

Graphic courtesy of jkstalent.com

The Bangsar Cycling Group organised a Sunday ride from Kota Kemuning to Morib.  I suggested that they use the route that the R@SKLs ride to get to Morib.  It avoids the heavily-trafficked and poorly surfaced Jalan Klang Banting, except for  4.5km / 2.8mi stretch from Jenjarom to Jalan Bandar Lama.

None of the BCGers knew that route.  That is how I ended up leading the BCG ride.

Coincidentally, the R@SKLs were also riding from Kota Kemuning to Morib on Sunday.  They were starting from their usual meeting point, Restoran BR Maju.  The BCG were starting from their usual meeting point, McDonald’s.  So I arranged for both groups to meet at Bandar Rimbayu, so that we could all do the ride together.

Both groups got to Bandar Rimbayu, as planned, at 7.30am.  There were forty two riders in all, including the cameraman for this shot.

Morib 01 J Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

From the left:

Morib 07f J Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Morib 07e J Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Morib 07d J Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Morib 07c J Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Morib 07b J Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

Morib 07a J Sopiee

Photograph courtesy of Johan Sopiee

I set off at the head of this large group of riders, leading them through Bandar Rimbayu and onto the bridge over the SKVE.

Morib SKVE Bridge Up Shahfiq Khairy

Photograph courtesy of Shafiq Khairy

As we rolled off the bridge I was still at the head of the group, riding at approximately the advertised moving speed of 29kph / 18mph.

Morib SKVE Bridge Down Shahfiq Khairy

Photograph courtesy of Shafiq Khairy

Just as I felt a sense of control over the group, my illusion was shattered.  Riders shot off ahead of me, clearly more interested in testing their legs than sticking to 29kph.  Oh well!

Morib 12 Winston Wong

Photograph courtesy of Winston Wong

To no one’s surprise, the faster riders missed the right turn at Kampung Seri Cheeding.  Mobile phones to the rescue.  A few back-and-forth calls, and Google map consultations, and everyone was reunited 15km / 9mi later at the junction of Jalan Bukit Jugra and Jalan Jeti.   Google maps didn’t warn of this road hazard though.

Morib Cows Wee Hwee Wang

Photograph courtesy of Wee Hwee Wang

As usually happens, there was some talk of climbing Bukit Jugra.  I thought that first getting some food and drink at Morib was the way to go.  And that was what we did.

It was about 10.30am, and getting hot, by the time we left Morib for the homeward leg.

Morib 03 Shafiq Khairy

Photograph courtesy of Shafiq Khairy

The R@SKLs left a bit before the BCGers, and they headed straight back to Kota Kemuning.  Some of the BCGers were determined to climb Bukit Jugra.  Which is why we ended up here.

Morib Jugra Climb Shahfiq Khairy

Photograph courtesy of Shafiq Khairy

Some, probably wisely, elected to wait at the bottom of the hill.  Those who braved the up to 17° gradients were rewarded with views of the Langat River from the lookout point.

Morib Jugra Viewing Shafiq Khairy

Photograph courtesy of Shafiq Khairy

And the added treat of watching a paraglider launch himself off the slope.

Morib Paragliding backpackerzmag com

Photograph courtesy of backpackerzmag.com

We probably spent a bit too long up on the hill.  I had expected that we would be back at Kota Kemuning at about noon.  It was 11.30am by the time we all got going again from the base of Bukit Jugra.  There was 45km / 28mi, and a cendol stall, between us and Kota Kemuning.

Any thoughts of skipping the cendol stall were dispelled by the 34°C / 93°F temperature.  The heat, and the distance, were starting to affect some riders, so a stop for a cold drink and a rest was well worth it.

And then the punctures started.  First at the cendol stall, when a tube spontaneously popped.  Then 5km / 3mi later.  A further 5km and it was my turn.  I rode over a rock. Eight of us clustered in the shade under a tree in someone’s front garden to review the damage to my rear rim.

Morib Flat Shafiq Khairy

Photograph courtesy of Shafiq Khairy

Not good.  Fortunately the rim was still rideable.

We weren’t done yet.  We had only just got moving again when we had puncture number four.  All in the space of 13km / 8mi.

What with one thing or the other, it is no surprise that out of the total ride time of seven hours, we were stopped for three hours.  Which explains why we didn’t get back to the McDonald’s in Kota Kemuning until 2.00pm, when the temperature was pushing 37°C / 99°F.

A salted caramel sundae never tasted so good!

Morib Salted Caramel

We all got split up between Morib and Kota Kemuning.  I haven’t heard any reports of missing cyclists, so I can only assume that everyone got back safely.  Albeit some with minor scrapes, cramps and sore muscles.

I need to practice being a ride leader.  If nothing else, it makes a good excuse!

Morib Banner north florida bicycle club

Graphic courtesy of North Florida Bicycle Club

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R@SKLs Do Morib

Posted on May 8, 2017 by alchemyrider

Morib Sign tripadvisor co uk

Photograph courtesy of tripadvisor.co.uk

The R@SKLs still had the 1,200 plus meters / 3,900 plus feet of climbing to Fraser’s Hill, from the weekend before, in their legs.  So for this weekend’s ride they opted for the flat run from Kota Kemuning to the beach at Morib.

Sixteen of us gathered at BR Maju Restaurant in Kota Kemuning.  We weren’t the only ones in lycra at BR Maju.  It is a popular spot for cyclists to have breakfast, or just a drink, before heading out on their rides.

Morib Restoran BR Maju

Photograph courtesy of Peter Shea

My previous rides to Morib have been westward on the motorcycle path alongside the KESAS Highway, and then south on Jalan Klang Banting.  The ride along the motorcycle path is nice enough, especially on Sundays when there are few motorcycles on the path with you.

The riding on Jalan Klang Banting, however, is truly unpleasant.  That road has been damaged by the constant heavy vehicle traffic.  Cyclists face more than 10km / 6mi of potholes, ruts, lumps and bumps.

Morib Old Route

This time Meng and CK led us along a much more pleasant route southward from Kota Kemuning to Bandar Rimbayu and the bridge over the South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE).

From the SKVE crossing to Jenjarom, the riding is along 14km / 9mi of well-surfaced, lightly trafficked kampung roads.  The occasional speed bump is much more preferable to the minefield that is Jalan Klang Banting.

Morib New Route

We did have to ride northwest along Jalan Klang Banting to get from Jenjarom to Jalan Bandar Lama.  Whilst the road surface along that 4.5km / 3mi section was not great, we had avoided the worst ruts and potholes to the north.

The right turn onto Jalan Klang Banting confused some of us.  A left turn onto Jalan Klang Banting, aka Federal Route 5, would take us south and then west through Banting town and onward to Morib.  Surely turning right would add distance to our ride?

Turning right instead of left did add 6km / 4mi to our ride.  The reward for riding extra kilometers was that once we were on Jalan Bandar Lama, we rode over well-surfaced and quiet roads to Morib.  Although the road surface south along Federal Route 5 from Jenjarom to Banting and then Morib does improve, there is always a lot of traffic to deal with.  Thumbs up for the coastal route.

The group had been divided about where to eat and drink in Morib.  Delicious Bread Coffee Shop was on the minds of some.  As the name suggests, their kaya toast is delicious.  But the coffee shop had run out of nasi lemak by the time we got there, so we opted for the food stalls along the beach instead.

Morib Delicious Bread

I had not noticed, but our group had shrunk by one.  Leonard’s bicycle had started making worrying noises as we left Kota Kemuning, so he headed back to his car.  And drove to Morib.  I’m not sure which he wanted to see more, us or the nasi lemak!

Morib Waiting for Food Simon

Photograph courtesy of Simon Soohu

This is what everyone had been waiting for.

Morib Food Mark

Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim

We found a helpful tourist to take a group picture of us at the beach.

Morib Group 2 Ong Peng Hong

Photograph courtesy of Ong Peng Hong

I suspect that most tourists are disappointed when they see Morib beach.  It is not one of Malaysia’s better beaches.

Morib Beach 1 Simon Soohu

Photograph courtesy of Simon Soohu

We retraced our route back to Kota Kemuning.  We rode along the coast for 7km / 4mi, and then along the Sungai Langat for 3.5km / 2mi.  Just as the road veers away from the river, there is the option to turn left to Bukit Jugra, and a climb of 180 meters / 590 feet over 1.6km / 1mi.

We turned right.

Morib Route

As is often the case, it had warmed up considerably by 11am.  Luckily we were spared the full brunt of the sun.  There were rain clouds over the sea, and it was overcast on the coast.  It had rained the night before.  The rising temperature had made it more and more humid, so everyone was dripping with sweat.  We didn’t help ourselves by pushing a 30kph / 18.5mph pace.

Once we had crossed the climb of the day – the bridge over the Sungai Langat – we were ready for a drink and a rest.

Morib Sungai Langat Bridge Google Maps

Photograph courtesy of Google Maps

1.5km / 1mi from the river is Ross Cendol & ABC Santan Sawit.  The stall is not much to look at from the back.

Morib Cendol Johan

But it has tables and chairs shaded from the sun by umbrellas.

Morib Cendol 2 Simon Soohu

Photograph courtesy of Simon Soohu

Morib Cendol Simon Soohu

Photograph courtesy of Simon Soohu

And of course, ice-cold and sweet cendol.

Morib Cendol 3 Simon Soohu

Photograph courtesy of Simon Soohu

It was about 30km / 18.5mi from Ross Cendol back to BR Maju Restaurant.  By the time we left the cendol stall, those rain clouds over the sea had moved inland ahead of us.  The wind picked up, especially as we neared the bridge over the SKVE.  Fortunately, we didn’t get rained on.  We got a bit splashed and splattered anyway.  The roads between Bandar Rimbayu and BR Maju Restaurant were very wet.

Apart from Leonard’s mechanical, that was the only blemish on the ride.  Nice roads, good weather, and excellent company.  What more can a group of cyclists ask for?

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