Kuala Lumpur-Teluk Intan-Kuala Kangsar-Grik-Pulau Banding
It is time of the year again. PCC
Annual Interstate ride 2002 which is held every year 30/8/2002-1/9/2002 in
conjunction with Malaysia Independence Day.
This year there are approximately 250 riders from all over Peninsula
Malaysia and Singapore, and out of 250 riders, there were 8 tandems. This is the
event of the year where riders from all walks of life gather and ride for the
love of biking.
The official time pushed off at 4.00am. I was busy preparing my Hi-Fi stereo on my tandem without realizing my partner wasn’t here yet. “Where the hell are u?”…I screamed on my mobile phone and the next thing I know, my tandem partner and her boyfriend got up at 4.15am!!
Three Tandems who pushed off together at 5.15am: May/Linda(Malaysia), Collin/Edwin(Malaysia), Ling/Faye(Singapore)
Finally, three tandems
pushed off at 5.15am and I was mentally calculating. We need to do at least
35km/hrs averagely to catch up with the group who left at 4.00am, assuming they
were averaging 25-30km/hrs. The three tandems were drafting each other until we
were able to see daylight. From
then onwards, we decided to draft our support vehicle instead.
This has helped us to increase our average speed to 38km/hrs.
We were all cheering when we caught the first sight of the last rider from the earlier batch at 75km
mark.
Road Condition: Bad to fair
KL- Ijok – Heavy traffic.
Dangerous as there were many trucks speeding up and down , turning the
road into F1 Sepang race circuit. There
were many potholes and road works. Road
was dusty and several area were under construction.
I was told one of the rider fell and broke his collar bone because of the
bad road conditions. Dead animals,
being the victims of road kills are a common sight for this ride. Bright lights
for both front and rear are highly recommended for night cycling or you may end up being the road
kill.
Otherwise, the road condition is fair and bearable.
Have plenty of sun block. There
are no tree linings or shade for this stretch to Teluk Intan.
Average speed from KL to Teluk Intan on a tandem without panniers was 35km/hrs.
Teluk Intan is just a stepping stone for us to rest before we move on to the next Town. The only historical landmark is the leaning tower of Teluk Intan Clock Tower. This pagoda like structure was built in 1885 and stand 25.5meters. The tower was once utilized for water storage. The Tower is actually leaning due to flood and soft ground.
Teluk Intan – Kangsar 116km
Suburbs/Towns you will have to pass through: Teluk Intan-Bota Kanan-Parit-Kuala Kangsar
Road Condition: Good to excellent. Undulating hills
Flat for nearly 71km before you hit the first undulating hill at Parit
town. The beautiful mountain views
scenery start from Parit town onwards.
Things to do/see at Kangsar:
The architecture, river and the history behind Kangsar creates a blatant
beauty of Kuala Kangsar or better known as KK. This beautiful well manicured
laid back town is also knows as the Royal Town of Perak.
One would have mistaken KK as a park rather than a town.
The air that permeates this small township is fresher than any parks in
Kuala Lumpur.
There are so many schools and colleges surrounding this township for such a small population. Well known Malaysian political leaders have studied at Malay College Kuala Kangsar(MCCK) which was built in 1905. Generally, the Malay folks here speak very good English.
If you do not fancy moving an ounce of your muscles after a hard ride, just relax at the riverbank near the Kangsar bridge, watch the kids play or fish at the nearby banks. Or simply relax, read or SMS friends until sun set in.
Kangsar market scene
Suburbs/Towns you will have to pass through: Kangsar-Kati-Cenderoh Lake-Lenggong -Grik-P.Banding
Road condition: Good to excellent. Except for minor road works at Grik
No heavy traffic. Flat for nearly 100km until Grik town. Misty
ride from Cenderoh Lake area for nearly 70km.
The trunk road which we were cycling runs parallel to a river
which flows to Cenderoh Lake.
At about 106km just after you pass Grik town, you can instantly see the initial undulating hills before we hit the 30km of major climb. We were averaging 12km/hr when we were climbing the mega long hill. Occasionally speed dropped to a mere 10km/hr. The climb led us to the peak of 2320ft before we decent at 65km/hrs to our final destination, Pulau Banding.
Resort food is reasonably priced and quite delicious. Can’t quite tell if we are hungry and famished for the past 3 days or is this our way self rewarding? If you don't fancy Resort food, try "Ikan bakar" (bake fish) near Lenggong which is approximately 50km away.
The Participants for PCC Interstate 2002
2002 PCC interstate participants
May and Linda (Malaysia) / Faye and Ling (Singapore)
Kudos to all the PCC
committee , the time they have taken to recce the place,
last minutes changes, all responsibilities of making sure
all riders who started at the official time get to the right destination.
Some pictures on this web page are taken by PCC members.
Refer to link for more information about PCC
