Everyone who wanted breakfast was at Kedai Kopi Jalan Pasar, across the road from the hotel, at 6:45 am.
Photograph courtesy of Google Maps
Not only is the location convenient, but the wan tan noodles are good too.
Photograph courtesy of ML
We loaded our bags into the Ativa, took a “Ready to Roll” photograph, and headed out to ride in reverse the roads we came in on yesterday.
Photograph courtesy of THL
The sky was relatively clear as we rode out of Teluk Intan. I don’t think I was the only one hoping more clouds would roll in.
Photograph courtesy of VV
There was more cloud cover an hour later but it was still sunny enough for us to need a stop in the shade at the fruit stalls and Kuala Bikam.
Photograph courtesy of VV
The humidity was 95%. I was sweating profusely. I was not the only one. Everyone was happy to stop at the first roadside restaurant we saw after riding through Sungkai. Kedai Makan Sri Bakti was out of roti canai. An unexpected breakfast crowd heading to an event at a nearby school ate them all. Nasi lemak and fried eggs were still available.
Photograph courtesy of GK
We were at the Slim River Petronas station at 10:50 am. We spent twenty minutes sitting at the small table in air-conditioned comfort, sipping our drinks. We were 23 km from the Tanjung Malim KTM station. We had plenty of time before the 12:40 pm train.
We were lucky with the weather on both days. The sky was overcast most of the time. When the sun broke through the clouds, the temperature never exceeded 32º C. The humidity and the increasingly rolling terrain still pushed my heart rate from 88 bpm when we left Slim River to 148 bpm six kilometres later. The others were feeling it too. We were happy for another break in a Tea Live at Behrang Residen.
Photograph courtesy of GK
I needed that large Signature Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea.
Photograph courtesy of tealive.com.my
We arrived at the KTM station at 12:32 pm. The 12:40 pm train was delayed so we had time to cool down and relax.
Photograph courtesy of VV
When the train did pull into the station I realised that we were at the wrong end of the platform to board car 6, the rearmost carriage on the train. A security officer and the train’s conductor told me off for riding my bike to the other end of the platform. The upside was that the conductor assured us that trains would wait for us to board before the carriage doors were closed. That is good to know.
The last five rides have been with the R@SKLs, most recently in January 2022. It was time for another udang galah dinner (giant river prawn) ride.
We chose the weekend of 5th and 6th September. I later learned that this was KL Standard Chartered Marathon weekend. The 10 km route circled where I live. My greatest challenge was crossing Jalan Sultan Ismail through a sea of runners.
Photograph courtesy of Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon
The decision to have a water station at the Medan Tuanku monorail station made it impossible for me to cross the road there. I rode along the pavement and on the parallel Jalan Medan Tuanku 1 until there was nothing else to do but jog along with the runners, edging myself and my bike through the crowd and across Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
This message greeted me at the entrance to Putra KTM station. Point taken.
Photograph courtesy of GK
All present.
Photograph courtesy of THL
Train number 2023 arrived on time and we were on our way. The two cyclists behind us boarded at Rawang. They would get off at Kuala Kubu Bharu station to ride up Fraser’s Hill.
Photograph courtesy of WWK
We were at Tanjung Malim station 73 minutes after leaving Putra station.
Photograph courtesy of THL
We were on our way after some food and drink at Restoran Hijas. About 85 km lay between us and Teluk Intan.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
After 12 km we rode up to a group of RELA (Malaysia Volunteers Corps) personnel directing traffic. We were not sure about what was going on at first. Then we saw the finisher’s gantry ahead. Complete with cameramen, videographers, and people waving flags and cheering. All expecting that we were the lead group of bike racers. I am sure they were all disappointed. TH and I made the best of it by crossing the line with arms aloft!
G looked online and found out what the event was.
Image courtesy of Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah
At most one kilometre later TH had a puncture. The only flat tire over the two days.
Photograph courtesy of VV
Three of us helped with the inner tube replacement while the rest of us admired this traditional kampung house.
Photograph courtesy of VV
It was cloudy and cool, but very humid. We needed regular stops to take on fluid. Which meant frequent restroom stops as well. The Petron station in Slim River is distinguished by the painted wall on the building behind the station. We can count on V to notice these things.
Photograph courtesy of VV
We also stopped at the larger Petron station in Trolak to buy more drinks.
Photograph courtesy of VV
56 km into the ride is Kuala Bikam. Noted for a group of stalls selling fruit from the orchards surrounding the village. Pomelos, papayas, mangoes, bananas, watermelons, pineapples, jambu air (rose apples), guavas, mangosteens, durians, dragonfruit, soursop. The list goes on.
Photograph courtesy of ML
The sun broke through the clouds and the temperature jumped by 2º C. Ice creams at the 99 Speedmart in Taman Okid provided a welcome relief. The cloud cover rolled in again too.
Photograph courtesy of VV
We made one more restroom stop before we got to the Yew Boutique Hotel. Seconds before it started raining.
Photograph courtesy of VV
We hung out in the hotel lounge drinking our complimentary drinks while waiting for my Biker Chick to arrive with our bags. We had our bags ten minutes later. Everyone stayed while J walked in the rain to buy that famous Teluk Intan chee cheong fun. He came back with the last two pieces available. We supplemented that with orders from the hotel café. They have expanded their menu since the last time I stayed there. Just a snack though.
Then it was showers, naps and massages before meeting at 6:30 pm for dinner. It was still raining, so six of us squeezed into the Ativa for the short drive to Restoran d’Tepian Sungai. The two others met us at the restaurant.
Our food had been pre-ordered. Two udang galah dishes, sweet and sour fish, fried squid, omelette and mixed fried vegetables.
We made short work of the dishes before us. When the dust settled, there was nothing but rice left.
Photograph courtesy of VV
The rain was still falling after we finished eating. We grabbed umbrellas from the car, took this photograph on the bank of the Perak River, and walked through the night market to Teluk Intan’s landmark building.
Photograph courtesy of VV
The night market was filled with food vendors. V bought us all crispy apam balik (peanut-filled pancakes).
Photograph courtesy of Apam Balik Crispy Sepang
The Menara Chondong (Leaning Tower) was built in 1885 to store water and to display the time. The soft ground on which it was built as well as the weight of the water in the water tank caused it to lean towards the southwest.
Photograph courtesy of ML
We strolled back to the hotel, chatted for a while in the lounge, and then hit our beds. We planned a 6:45 am meet up for breakfast.
Danial, Halim and I had intended to do a bicycle tour to Port Dickson and Melaka at the end of December. That plan was scuttled when I had to pull out.
The next possible dates for an overnight were over the Thaipusam long weekend. Choo Chian and Mark were able to join this time. The program was to take the KTM Komuter train to Tanjung Malim and then to ride from there to Teluk Intan.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
Choo Chian met up with Halim in Ampang and they rode to the Kepong KTM station. Danial rode from his home and linked up with Choo Chian and Halim en route to the Kepong station. The three of them had to reroute when they discovered that Jalan Ipoh was completely closed for the Thaipusam chariot procession.
Photograph courtesy of The Sun Daily
Despite the redirection, they got to the Kepong station in time to catch the first train of the day to Tanjung Malim. That train departs Kepong at 7.30am.
Photograph courtesy of Danial Marzuki
Track upgrading works mean that until the end of 2019 the Komuter train service to Tanjung Malim starts and terminates at Kepong. Once the upgrading is completed the service will run from and to KL Sentral station.
I drove to Mark’s house and we rode to the Kuang KTM station. The first train to Tanjung Malim gets to Kuang at 7.54am. We would meet our three companions on that train.
Mark and I got into the last of the six carriages as discussed to find that the other three had boarded the first carriage. Fortunately, that was the only part of our two-day plan that went awry. We nevertheless had both carriages to ourselves.
Photograph courtesy of Heng Choo Chian
We arrived at the Tanjung Malim KTM station bang on at 8.51am. On thing that KTM got right is running the Komuter service on schedule.
We rode one kilometre from the station to Restoran Ocu Amy on Jalan Ketoyong for breakfast. Fed and watered, we got onto Federal Route 1 and rode northwest to Sungkai, which is just over halfway to Teluk Intan.
Federal Route 1 is believed to be the nation’s earliest public roadways ever constructed. Construction began in 1880 under the orders of the Sultan of Kedah at that time, connecting Alor Star to Songkhla, Thailand. Federal Route 1 now runs 993km / 617mi from Johor Bahru in the south to Bukit Kayu Hitam in the north.
In 1994 the North-South Expressway took the role of the Federal Route 1 as the main backbone route in Peninsular Malaysia. This has reduced the volume of traffic on Federal Route 1. Coupled with the numerous towns that grew along its path, Federal Route 1 is quite a nice road to cycle on.
We stopped at Slim River for ten minutes. We stopped again at Sungkai. It was 11.00am, we were riding under a cloudless sky and the air temperature was already 32ºC / 90ºF. We needed a cold drink and to refill water bottles.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
We left Federal Route 1 at Sungkai to join Jalan Kuala Bikam – Sungkai (Perak State Route A189). That road is relatively new, so the surface is good. However, I managed to bang into one of the very few potholes after about 10km / 6mi. I was more vigilant about keeping my eyes on the road ahead after. There were no more flats.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
The temperature had risen to 35ºC / 95ºF by 12.30pm. We were getting toasted.
Photograph courtesy of Danial Marzuki
We stopped again after 63km / 39mi for yet more drinks and bottle refills. That was a 20 minute stop. It was even hotter. We needed some time in the shade.
20km / 12mi later we were in Teluk Intan. More specifically we were in the McDonald’s Teluk Intan. It was almost 2.00pm. Time for lunch.
Hot and happy to be at our destination.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
The Yew Boutique Hotel is our regular hostelry when we visit Teluk Intan. Not least because it is a bike-friendly hotel with a convenient place to leave our bicycles right next to the 24-hour reception desk.
We parked our bikes, plopped into chairs in the air-conditioned lounge area and drank numerous glasses of the lemon citrus water provided by the hotel for its guests. Then it was time for showers and to wash our sweaty cycling kit.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
Another plus for the Yew Boutique Hotel is its friendly and accommodating staff. It was no problem to hang our kit to dry on the fence next to the car park. We were even given extra hangers.
Everyone then took naps. At about 5.30pm I was awake and convinced Mark to come with me to explore the neighbourhood. I messaged the other guys but got no reply. Mark got no reply to his offer to get some of the famous Teluk Intan chee cheong fun. They were still fast asleep.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
Those are rainclouds over the arch. The wind blew those clouds toward Mark and I. When rain drops started falling on us we made a quick call to Halim to ask him to bring all our cycling kit inside.
I had booked an udang galah (giant freshwater prawn) dinner at Restoran D’Tepian Sungai. The udang galah is frankly our only reason for visiting Teluk Intan. The rain stopped in time for us to get to the riverside restaurant only five minutes late.
Photograph courtesy of Heng Choo ChianPhotograph courtesy of Mark Lim
The udang galah dishes – masak lemak cili padi, tiga rasa and goreng berempah, as always, were awesome.
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
In a post-feast prawn coma . . .
Photograph courtesy of Mark Lim
On the way back to the hotel we bought Magnum and Solero ice creams for dessert. It was 8.45pm. A bit early to go to bed even though the plan was to start riding at 6.30am. We sat in the hotel lounge drinking more of that lemon citrus water as we chatted. It was 11.00pm before we checked the time again. Definitely time to the hit the hay.
We all slept well. Yet another plus for the Yew Boutique Hotel is that it is in a very quiet part of town. The New Glutton Square food court next door shuts down quite early.
We were on the road right about on schedule, with our first stop of the day being 4km / 2.5mi down the road at Restoran M. Gulam Rasul for breakfast.
It was such a nice change to be riding in cool temperatures.
Photograph courtesy of Heng Choo Chian
We were in Sungkai at 8.30am. We stopped at a BHPetrol station for drinks. These ducks stopped there too, but they didn’t get a drink.
We briefly entertained thoughts of getting to Tanjung Malim in time for the 10.15am train but conceded that was too ambitious. A more realistic goal if we had started at 6.00am.
We had plenty of time to make the next departure from Tanjung Malim at 11.55am.
Photograph courtesy of Heng Choo Chian
We were on the same route that we had ridden the day before.
Map courtesy of Ride With GPS
Danial and Choo Chian stopped again at the PETRONAS station in Slim River. The petrol station where I had dropped and broken the screen of my mobile phone during our ride back from Ipoh in July last year. Halim and Mark were ahead of us and had stopped a kilometre up the road. I kept going and as I rode past them I shouted: “Let’s ride to Kuala Kubu Bahru.”
It is just over 21km / 1mi from Slim River to Tanjung Malim. Kuala Kubu Bahru (KKB) is a further 21km down the road. The three of us got to the PETRONAS station in Tanjung Malim at 10.20am. The train we wanted to be on leaves KKB station at 12.11pm. There was more than enough time for us to ride to KKB.
We got to KKB at about 11.30am. We had time to ride into KKB town for some fresh coconut water and a slice of sweet pineapple before heading to the station.
Choo Chian and Danial were on the train, in the last car this time, when we got on. It was getting as hot as it had been the day before, and the air conditioning on the train was very welcome. Though it didn’t feel as cold as it had been on previous rides.
Mark and I got off the train at the Sungai Buloh station. It was too hot to ride back to Taman Megah from Kuang. Choo Chian, Danial and Halim got off at Kepong.
Mark and I made one last stop before getting back to his house. It was 37ºC / 99ºF. A couple of bowls of icy cendol hit the spot.
The heat was the only drawback in a very enjoyable weekend. Good company, good food and good riding. All in all a very successful bike tour. More of the same, please.
** Four of us have Apidura saddle packs to hold our clothes and other bits and pieces. The other uses a Topeak saddle pack.
We were a bit slow to get going in the morning. There was some not-necessarily joking about taking the bus or train all the way back to Kuala Lumpur or getting a ride with someone.
We did make the walk to Hollywood at 7.30am. Plates of prawn chee cheong fun, char kway teow, and lor bak, washed down with glasses of leng chee kang (lotus seed drink) perked everyone up.
Photograph courtesy of Danial Marzuki
Photograph courtesy of Danial Marzuki
At 9.0am we were packed and ready to roll. Danial’s friend Eric rode with us to Gopeng before turning around and heading back home.
Photograph courtesy of Eric
We made a quick stop at the 7-Eleven in the same row of shophouses as the Ampang Cycle House. Our first proper stop was at a Petron station in Gopeng. The breakfast drinks had made their way through our bodily systems by then.
The day had started out cooler than it had been the previous day. Everyone was pleased about that.
Photograph courtesy of Danial Marzuki
37km / 23mi into our ride we were in Kampar. A Petron station was a convenient place to stop for ten minutes.
At 12.30pm were in Tapah. The KFC there was a lot less appealing as a lunch venue than it had been the day before. After some scouting around, we ended up at . . .
Photograph courtesy of Ozairi Othman
Pizza Hut! That was an underwhelming experience. The pizzas were smaller than we had expected, there was no ice for our drinks, and the air conditioning wasn’t working very well. Nevertheless, between us, we polished off three regular pizzas and four 1.5 litre bottles of Pepsi Cola.
The cool of the early morning had given way to full-on heat. It was 35° C / 95° F outside. The plan had been to spend an hour in Pizza Hut. The ineffective air conditioning while we were eating made that seem unlikely. By the time we were finished eating the air conditioning had upped its game and we finally began to cool off. And so we stayed there for seventy minutes.
We then spent fifteen minutes at the Petronas station 200 metres down the road eating ice cream for dessert.
Thirty-five minutes later we were in Bidor. The iced mango and other fresh fruit at the Sakinah stall, where we had stopped on the way to Ipoh, were calling our names. That was another fifteen-minute break.
Photograph courtesy of Ozairi Othman
It was past 2.30pm. The temperature would stay in the mid to low 30s° C / low 90s° F for the next three hours. We would be stopping a lot. So no change from the MO of the day before.
Photograph courtesy of Danial Marzuki
One of the benefits of riding on what used to be the main trunk road linking Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh is that you pass through lots of small towns. Towns which have at least one petrol station with an air-conditioned convenience store where we could stop and rest.
Sungkai was the next of these towns. We spent twenty minutes in the BHP station there. We were not in a rush. The first non-peak train leaves Tanjung Malim at 7.00pm on weekends. We had about 45km / 28mi to go, and more than four hours to cover that distance.
It is 22km / 14mi from Sungkai to Slim River. Just a bit too far to do all in one go, given the temperature and the rolling terrain. There isn’t much between Sungkai and Slim River, so we stopped in some shade beside the road at the junction to Trolak.
We spent forty minutes at the Petronas station in Slim River. More ice cream and cold drinks. That was the good news.
The bad news was that I dropped my mobile phone and broke the screen.
25km / 16mi to Tanjung Malim. It was 5.30pm when we left Slim River. The temperature had dropped to 29° C / 84° F. Enough of the cutting edge had been taken off the heat that we were able to cover those last kilometres to Tanjung Malim in one go. We stopped at a Petronas station a couple of kilometres from the Komuter station to regroup and get a drink.
Photograph courtesy of Halim Zin
We then rode to the KTM station to get tickets for the 8.00pm train to Kepong. We planned to have dinner during the hour or so before that train departed. We got to the KTM station at 6.50pm and were told that we could board the 7.00pm train with our bikes. The train was already at the station. We quickly hauled our bikes up and across the overpass to the platform on the other side of the tracks and hopped onto the train.
Photograph courtesy of Danial Martzuki
Once again we had the entire carriage to ourselves.
It was dark when we pulled into the KTM Kepong station. There had been talk about getting dinner before riding home, but by the time we wheeled our bikes off the train at 8.30pm the gloss had worn off that idea. It had been a long and hot weekend, and everyone just wanted to get home. Which we all accomplished safely.
This was my first ride to Ipoh. It was a lot of fun (double pinch flats and broken phone screen aside). I would do it again. Any town with its own Hollywood-style sign is worth another visit.
Old Roots, New Routes 