Fraser Hill, 29 April - 1 May 2000
I have been reading about Fraser Hill in the Cycleflex homepage, and always eager want to try the ride over there. Finally, Francis came out the plan to do scenic ride in the Fraser's Hill a month ago. I immediately signed up for the trip.
We did not have a big group to go there. Vipers' group pulled out in the last minute when their leader had to involve in a softball tournament in KL. Mike had his own ride in Cameron Highland, which was planned after we all decided to go to Fraser's hill. You know, hotel has been booked. Deposit paid, and if we didn't go, we can't get our money back!
It took us 5 hours to travel from Penang to Fraser's hill. It was quite an eye catching sight: three cars with bikes on roof and back seat and three superbikes cruising at 140kph on NS highway! It was a smooth drive. Not many cars on the south bound since most traffic were towards north bound. We stopped at Fu Sang Ipoh to have our breakfast. Guys, if you happen to be in Ipoh, you hafta try dim sum at Fu Sang. Too bad the food is not kosher. Otherwise, I'll bring my Muslim friends to there to enjoy the best Dim Sum in Ipoh!
We finally reached Fraser's Hill at noon, just about time to check in. Maybe we were early, there were not much traffic over there. Yeah, traffic was a nightmare on the second but there was another story! Me, Fatt and his lady friend checked into Jelai Resort. Others went straight to the Silver Park. My first impression to Fraser's hill was like "Wow, heaven!". The air was fresh and there were so many greens there. Now I understand why Fraser's hill is one of the favorite spot for bird watching. I really hope the cooling and the greens will stay on after the new road opens. Leaving no time to waste and so eager to explore the trails, I quickly checked in and fixed up my machine. Minutes later, I was on my way to Silver Park!
Most of the tarmacs were twisting single lanes. I had to be very careful and look out for incoming vehicle. It was very tempting for me to release the brakes and let momentum did the job. I decided to be careful. You know, bump into an incoming vehicle will be like a bug splash on the windscreen. Splat and that's it, game over! Instead of going straight to Silverpark, I took a wrong junction that led me to the Jeriau Falls, a 4km Batu Kawan like downhill. Remember, what go down will eventually come up. I didn't realize that I had taken a wrong turn until I saw the LLN power station. My instinct told me something was wrong but I couldn't figure it out. I checked my map again and the road sign. I nearly fainted. Shit, I was already half way down. Should I continue and suffered the 4km uphill torture, or should I turn back and explore the fall later? I took the second option. I pusing balik! Call me a chicken or whatever you want to call, I think I had made a wise decision consider that I drove 5 hours before I climbed to my bike's saddle. The climb back to the junction was like the climb I did in Batu Kawan, 12 minutes of agony!
Most of the riding activities were on the second and the third days. After study the map we got from hotel, Fatt and I decided to try the Pine Tree trail, which was 6km long. The trail ended up not rideable due to the falling trees and steep slope. We pushed more than we paddle. We did not finish it. Instead, we turned back after we reached the second base camp and continued our ride by exploring the tarmac single lanes surrounding the Fraser's hill town. It was an easy ride. No hard climb. The weather was cooling. We hardly sweated at all. This is an idea place for MTB tour for newbies. Maybe next time we should organize another trip cater for newbies only. The only obstacle we were facing was the rain. Fatt and I came back to hotel after doing one loop around the golf course soaked. Don't know why, it was fun. We enjoyed the ride very much. Riding in the rain in Fraser's hill was as fun as riding under cool air. The water was so clean that we were tempted to bath in the rain! We did second round when ST and his wife arrived!
There was another story when we did the ride again on the last day. ST, his wife, Fatt and I decided to ride the whole loop this time. We would ride to the Telekom tower, round the golf course and returned to hotel. Then, ST would us to explore the waterfall. Well, the ride went on smoothly. Mrs. Chia was a surprise. She conquered the Telekom tower climb, which was considered to a killer climb even for me! Yeah, she arrived breathless but it was a big achieving for a first timer like her! Another surprise came from Fatt the Rubber Knight. He really smoked me upside down. Me and ST were wondering what had happened to him. We both agreed that he must had fixed himself a booster or something like that. Else, there was no reason why his performance improved so much in such a short time. Hmm, good idea to ask him to bring his girl with him next time! We branched off to Jalan Batu Pecah when we reached a junction that led to Jalan Lady Maxwell at the golf course. Nobody knew where would this Jalan Batu Pecah lead to. When we consulted our map, it showed the road ended at the Lodge. Fatt and I thought it was a good idea to check it out.
That was the biggest mistake we had ever made. The map was outdated. Actually the road continued after the Lodge. Apparently, it was too much for Mrs. Chia. They turned back after our first pit stop. Me and Fatt decided to continue to find out where would the road lead to. The view along the ride was breathtaking. There was a valley that beautifully covered by greens. A heaven to nature lovers! I wonder why they wanted to build a dam in this beautiful place. What a waste! We met lots of bird watching enthusiasts. Most of them were locals. Who say we don't love nature? They'd better come to Fraser's hill and see for themselves!
We went down for half an hour and realized that there were still miles to go. Consider that we would have to check out before 1pm. We decided to find someone to ask. To our horror, a local told us that the road was to Raub, which was about 50km away from Fraser's hill! That means we still have 40km to go! Man, if we stayed for one more day, I think I was going to do it! 50km downhill and uphill on a Gunung Jelai like trail, wow!! The climb back up was the hardest part of the ride. With booster fitted on him, Fatt smoked me again. The long twisted road seemed endless. The joy and the cold breeze was replaced by harsh gasping and sweating under hot scotching sun. It was a wonder that all the sudden the climate so dramatically. I tried very hard to keep up with him but he outpaced me. With average speed of 13km/h, it was not my cup of tea. I could only pace at 6km/h using 22-16. Think I would have to revise my training in Batu Kawan!
We finally reached hotel exhausted. ST was waiting enthusiastically for me at the junction. I really felt sorry for him. He was all set to explore the waterfall. We had to call it off because of the time constrain. Definitely I was going to do it if we stayed one more day.
It was fun. It was definitely worth the time we spent on wheels to come here. The ride in the loop was relaxing. Though we did not manage to ride at that long downhill single track that I had read about on the Net and told by Azmi, we discovered a good tarmac ride on Jalan Batu Pecah. I am planning to come back to conquer that 50km tarmac in the future. Anyone game?
Stay Tuned!