With all the icings and cherries consumed that was Camerons and Frasers……it was time to take a bite off the cake.
We opted for the Batang Kali ascent which is actually steeper compared to the ascent via Genting Sempah (or the old road). Got lost a little trying to locate the road but thank goodness for my GPS Garmin, we found our way! 15km from KKB, the climb starts and tells your legs almost immediately…..typical gradient 7-10%...relentless and that’s just a good 16km climb to Gohtong Jaya…there’s still that 10km to the peak.
Ben and I were suffering quite badly. Probably tired due to the climbs from previous days…..for me, I had an aching right rib and sore right thigh. We saw a lone cyclist dancing his pass us as we rested…bugger looked relax while we were down in spirits at every rest point. I could see Ben’s soul-less eyes at every stop! He consumed all his food stuff…..that’s when I knew he wasn’t going with me to the top.
At about the 14km point, I got my 2nd wind back….and could climb much easier so I went my own pace until the skyway and waited for Ben at Gohtong Jaya roundabout. We had wan tan mee (probably a bad idea for me!) and I left my bags with Ben. I set off for the 10km climb to the top. First 2-3km, past the police post….gradient 8-9%.....still ok….then I’m hit by THE WALL. A left hairpin turn…and as I’m cycling on the left hand side I had to tackle literally a step (>20% but only a couple of metres)….I grunted, stood up on the pedals and got through it only to be met by a slope of 10%. I stopped dead. Legs were aching like mad…..breathing heavily. They say the last 4km is the worst….man, I’ve not even there yet!
From then on it was a rest every 300-400m for me. I wish I could do better but on that day this was my best! There were quite a few hairpin turns….the left ones are the real killers. Took a good 1hr 40mins to do the 10kms up…..as I reached the misty top, I could not help but feel thank god, the suffering was over! Then it was going downhill…. The initial descent from
2 hours for 10km: Gohtong Jaya – Genting Resorts. I must do better next time!
Met Ben, who nearly fell asleep at the restaurant and set off downhill (there was another short uphill). At Genting Sempah we stopped and asked for directions to Jalan Gombak…this is the old road to Genting….rarely used and replaced by the Karak highway. This is a really nice 20-22km route, gradual 2-3% downhill and twisting through nice green forest and refreshing air….I really enjoyed this portion of the day. As we reached KL, it started to rain quite heavily….it was about an hour in the rain before we got to Putra Train Station at Gombak…..we were refused entry due to our bikes….only foldable bikes allowed. At the taxi stand nobody wanted to takes us. Well, everything changed when we offered to pay more…so we got 2 taxis, loaded our bikes into the rear seat and set off for my Sis’s place at Kelana Jaya.
Finally, we had a true place to rest for a day before leaving the next day to reality land called
Statistics
I kinda enjoyed this portion very much, very green with growth, fresh air…..this is THE life. And almost no cars!! I think we saw like 1 or 2 on the way up to the gap? We stopped once or twice on the way to the gap.
Reached the gap at around 9.30am…a bummer as the next opening to go up to Fraser’s was scheduled at 11am. So we had yet another nasi lemak at the gap stall. Milo-ais, Horlicks-ais and The-ais is a usual feature for us this trip. Couple of cars were already lining up for the next road opening to go up at 11am. At 11 am we went straight up after the cars….this stretch to the top is about 8km long and is steeper at 5-8% (typically, though there was a hairpin that went up to 11%). It quite a bit of effort but once in I’ve found my pace and ‘groove’ going up was not a problem. Its not a good idea to climb at other’s pace, you gotta go at your own.
It was the first time I went up. Nice touristy town at the top, quite well built up complete with a police station and clinic. We just sat around for like 20mins or so and down we went. I found the twisty stretch quite nice so I passed Ben and told him that ‘I’m going ahead’….so off I went, negotiating bends, less cautiously than I should have been I guess and the result, I spilled going into a right hairpin with off-camber and wet conditions….created 2 holes in my favourite BnB jersey (thank goodness I have 2!), bruises on my knee and elbow and a hard blow to my right rib. I got up quickly and settled…then Ben arrived. I spent the rest of the journey following his pace down to KKB.
Wonderful lunch at an Indian restaurant at KKB followed by some shut-eye. We wanted to eat the Nasi Lemak Kukus again but the there was a Pasar Malam going on so we bought a lot street food and ate them at a mamak stall, enjoying Maggi goreng as well!
The weather was perfect for Cameron Descent, I was a little cautious of course and but by the 15km mark from Brinchang, my hands were already aching from the constant modulation of the brakes! This road is the old Cameron road and its pretty twisty but in sad state on some sections. Still, the view was amazing; going down with a grand view of the ‘Tea Valley’ of Camerons, passing by Orang Asli stalls with kids waving and cheering us on along the way. The total descent to Tapah is about 60km. So it’s a relatively short day ride for us.
We had lunch in Tapah and proceeded to the bus station where we met with our friend. We loaded up both our bikes into his Toyota Prado (a humongous SUV!) and reached KKB at around 3pm. After a good couple of minutes trying locate a decent place to story we ended up at The Golden Goose, a newish lodging facility with 5-6 rooms only. We were to be the only tenants for the next 2 days! RM80 per night, basic, clean rooms where both of us and our bikes can have a good nights rest for the challenges to come.
Sent out jerseys, shorts and T-shirts to a Kedai Dobi (laundry) downstairs and it cost only like RM3. Goodness, that’s like cheaper than the price of laundering one underwear in
View from our Hotel...clear skies!
