Ride Report #11: Christmas Ride

Disclaimer: Not all photos posted in this post are taken by me. I have the permission from the owner to use their photos for the blog 

 

Since Christmas fell on a Friday and we had a long weekend the group planned a ride to Pedu lake on Sunday. Since this was uncharted territory for all of us we had a lead, sweeper and pointers. There were a total 17 bikes joined this trip which is the biggest group we had so far.

Complete route for the trip - Courtesy of Afizi

There are 2 meeting points for the planned out. First is the usual Caltex at E-gate. There are a total of 9 riders who are meeting up here before taking off to the next stop for a regroup and ride briefing before starting the trip. After some introductions between riders, we left for the second checkpoint.

 

Introduction between riders before leaving the island

Since I am the slowest they asked me to go ahead and said would catch up but I ended up reaching the second checkpoint 10 minutes before the rest of the group arrived.

Killing time taking photos before the rest of the group arrive for the trip briefing

When everyone is present we had a briefing on the entire trip plan especially where our regroup points are in an event if some of the riders were split from the main group and missed by the sweeper.

During the group briefing Barney decided to share some cornering tips

Some bike photos before kickstand up

After the briefing and kickstand up our lead, Alex, lead the group out of the station and as usual I was the sweeper. Don't get me wrong, I love being the sweeper. I can take my time sight-seeing as I need to be as fast as the slowest rider in the group. We headed up north through the NSE (North-South Expressway) until the Gurun exit (Exit 173). After the toll exit we stopped to regroup and when then headed to the next stop which is a petrol stop at Gurun.

Gurun petrol stop to refuel, relief ourselves and to stretch our legs

After a 10 minute break we took off again towards Pedu lake. The route consist of nice stretches of shady and windy roads which goes through small towns and palm oil estate which reminds me of the Segari trip a few weeks ago. We proceeded until we reached the Muda dam.

Muda dam. It was a sight to behold. There is a road leading into the forest which I suspect leads to somewhere nearer the dam

Took a 30 mins break at the dam taking in the sights of the dam and looking for the best photo location. It was a comical sight to see a group of bikers riding up and down the road stopping every so often to see how their bike is against the background of the dam.

Opposite the dam there is a small stream of water. Since we are not be able to go to the waterfall to cool off, I decided to go to the stream and cool off my legs and take some waterfall videos while waiting for the rest of the group to get ready to head off to Pedu.

Stream and waterfall opposite the Muda dam. It is so calming just listening to the sound of the water

After everyone is pleased with their photos of their bikes, Alex lead the rest of the group to our next destination, Pedu lake. As a sweeper I am the last to leave, I decided to take a video of the group riding pass.

I apologise in advance for the wrong rotation of the video

From here we left for Pedu lake with nice long windy roads and weather. It was a enjoyable ride and not long after that we have arrived at Pedu lake. It was more hyped than it is. There was no place to stop for a proper photoshoot so we just stopped by the lake, do a quick photo and plotted our next destination, petrol stop.

Vulcan at Pedu lake

Further up from the place we stopped there was a small service road turn-off to the abandoned Pedu hotel where some of them turned off to do a bit of off road exploration in hopes of getting a nice place for photos but there was no place to stop and it soon turns out to be a huge u-turn exercise.

The group who turned off from the main road into the service road. A little off-road adventure

I lead the group from here to the nearest petrol station. We passed through small towns and they were all shocked to see a group of 17 high powered bikes passing through. It was not long after we saw the petrol station sign and you could feel the relief of everyone in the group.

 

Stopped for about 30 minutes for everyone to refuel, stretch, re-hydrate and chit chat before deciding on our next course of action. There was a choice of either a visit to the waterfall or lunch and majority chose lunch over the waterfall. With the decision made, we headed out from the station to our planned lunch stop but little did we know the shop closed earlier than expected.

Alex and Edwin discussing with the shop owner on the next best place for lunch

After some discussion and directions, Edwin led the way. I thought the next stop was just a stone throw's away but that was not the case. Every time we rode pass some road side stalls which smells heavenly I thought we would be stopping. We turned off into a small road but halfway through we stopped by the roadside, a short discussion among those in front and did a u-turn back to the main road.

We continued along the main road heading into Alor Setar town. There was a slight miscommunication at one of the traffic lights where the front of the group indicated to turn right at the traffic light but was changed to straight at the last minute. This miscommunication made Alex turned right instead of going straight and since I was in front of him, I slowed down and waited for him by the side of the road. When he did not show I called him and sent him a location of where we were and after a few minutes he regrouped. We stopped at a Arabian restaurant for lunch.

 

Bikes parked in front of the restaurant

Lunch platter for 2 pax. It has lamb and chicken and the portion is just nice

The entire group filled up one part of the restaurant. The owner was thrilled to have such a big group in his restaurant

After lunch, some were planning to hit the Grik highway as they want to play with the twisties and some wanted to go to Jerai and the rest wants to go back. After some discussion, all agreed to go visit Pulau Bunting (Pregnant Island) on the way back to the island. There was a u-turn which was dangerous as it has on coming traffic from the straight and there are no traffic lights. This was where the rest of the group left me and Alex to play catch up.

From Alor Setar we used the North-South Expressway heading to southbound and turned off at the Pendang exit (Exit 175). From there the road took us through small villages followed by unobstructed views of paddy fields. Both of us arrived just in time as the group was starting to take group photo.

Group photo at Pulau Bunting

There was a huge concrete rock at the entrance to Pulau Bunting to prevent people from driving there but there is a small path which pedestrian can pass to walk to the island. There is nothing at the island and the name comes from the shape of the island which looks like a pregnant lady hence the namesake.

Do you see the pregnant lady shape of the island?

Since it was a hot day, we decided to stop at a coconut shop nearby to refresh ourselves and also to relax and talk about the day's ride before going our separate ways.

Bikes galore in front of the one of many coconut drink shop

Barney entertaining the group with his stories while working as a part-time coconut seller

After spending about 30 minutes at the stall, some were contemplating to go up Jerai or leave it for another day as the entrance up too Jerai is just opposite the stall. Since it was getting late the group decided to leave Jerai for another adventure. After reaching the expressway we all went our separate speeds and ways. Overall it was a nice and enjoyable trip with great company.

Relive video of the ride. There was some error during the recording which shows us going straight at a certain part of the route but in truth it was a very nice windy road.

Remember to ride safe, be vigilant and keep the rubber side down