Once in a while work schedules allow some of us to do weekday morning rides. Which means that the KTM Komuter train service can be a part of the route plan.
The Komuter service to the north terminates at Tanjung Malim. So we rode to Tanjung Malim and took the train back to the Kepong KTM station. Ongoing track upgrading work means that Kepong is still the closest we can get to the Kuala Lumpur city centre.
We parked at the Kepong KTM station for RM4.00 / USD1.00 per day. Annie, Kieren, Mark and I rolled out of the car park at about 6.00am, heading for Federal Route 1 toward Ipoh.
By the time it was light we had completed the climb of the day, 100 metres / 330 feet over 1.3km / 0.8mi from Templer Hills to Taman Amansiara, and were rolling through Rawang toward Serendah. Serendah was a good place to stop for breakfast. Nasi lemak, char koay teow, meehoon soup, half-boiled eggs, iced Milo and coffee teed us up for the rest of the ride.
Photograph courtesy of Annie Lim
We were blessed with overcast skies for the entire ride.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
And once we were north of Rawang, we had relatively quiet roads. Most traffic heading north uses the North-South Expressway, which provided a faster alternative to Federal Route 1.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
We were aiming to catch the 10.15am train from Tanjung Malim. We had a few delays caused by mechanicals early in the ride. It was 8.40am when we got to this signboard. We had covered 39km / 24mi. We still had 34km / to ride to the Tanjung Malim station.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
We would have to up our pace to make the 10.15am train. Otherwise, it would be a long wait for the next train, which was not until 11.54am. We were at the Tanjung Malim station with 10 minutes to spare.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
If you look closely, you can see the train on the platform behind us. Unfortunately, it was the platform across the tracks from us. So we had to do a quick cyclocross-style scramble up a flight of stairs, across a walkway, and down another flight of stairs.
With minutes to spare!
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
Definitely a ride to repeat, especially in weather like this.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
Old Roots, New Routes 