Ride Report #12: First Ride of the Year

Disclaimer: Not all photos posted here are mine. I was given the permission from the owner to use their photos for the purpose of the blog

After the Christmas ride, the group started planning for a ride for the New Year. Since the group did not manage to ride up Jerai the last time they were there they decided to ride up Jerai as the first ride of the year. There was a total of 7 riders who joined the ride and one of them came all the way up from Ipoh.

Group photo before heading out to Jerai

As usual the riders from the island met at Caltex before meeting up the second group at Shell Sg Dua. Once all the riders have gathered at Shell, I gave a short ride briefing before the group headed off. I took point because the rest did not have GPS on them and Alex took the role of sweeper. We headed off north until we reached the Gurun exit (Exit 173). We regrouped after the toll and when I saw Alex coming in from the toll, I continued to lead the group to Jerai. This time instead of turning right to Pedu, we turned left and headed to Jerai.

Reached the foot hill of Jerai and was supposed to stop to take a group photo before heading up but the parking spot was filled to the brim with cars and there was no proper place for a photo op. Since that is the case, we decided to head up to Jerai instead. It was a nice ride up to Jerai. The further up we go, the cooler the weather became until we neared the top and we stumbled upon a massive jam.

Traffic jam near the peak of the hill

We followed the jam for awhile until we decided to overtake the cars to figure out the cause. There was an attendant at the entrance of the car park who is controlling the numbers of cars in and out of the lot as there are limited lots at the peak. As we are on bikes, the attendant waved us pass and after paying RM 1 entry fees, we were allowed to ride up to the entrance of the to Jerai Hill Resort to park the bike.

Customary group photo of the gang

There was a bit of a problem at the bike parking. There was not enough place for all our bikes at the lots so we got a bit creative and parked some vertically (and in gear). After parking and taking a group photo, we entered the resort grounds to have a little look see.

      

We stumbled upon a sign in the resort which says 'I Love Jerai Hill" and it is the only sign we have which proofs that we were at Jerai. There was a large crowd and people waiting to take photo with the sign so we waited our turns to take the photo.

The weather up there was cooling and since some of us did not have breakfast prior to the ride they started looking for places which sells food. There is a restaurant which is attached to the restaurant and it is expensive until we stumbled across a small cafe.

Cafe is the small building in the center of the photo

They sell coffee, cakes and some nasi lemak. We ordered 7 cups of coffee and the barista told us it would take half an hour for the coffee to be ready. We summarised that they may have to transport the coffee bean stock up from base hence the long waiting time due to the jam. We spent the time chit chatting, looking at the views and enjoying the cooling air and fog.

While having some coffee and chit chatting, I wandered off to see some sights and took some photos I met another rider who came with his family from Selangor. He told me he saw us riding up passing his car which looks like a lot of fun. Told him it was and if he ever came up from Selangor on his bike it would be an honor to ride with him. When we started talking about bikes, his wife jokingly said "sudah-lah" which loosely translate as 'gone' in English and walked off with her kids to see other sights. Gave him my number and we parted ways as he has to look for his family.

After getting enough of the cold and fog, we decided to head down for lunch. The planned lunch stop is at the Restaurant Top D Gurun but it was jam packed when we passed the restaurant on the way to Jerai. We stopped at the foot hill of Jerai and discussed the next best place for lunch.

 

 

We decided to continue heading towards the highway until we came to another restaurant which was not so crowded and have ample parking for our bikes. We stopped at the Lot 405 Steak & Grill restaurant but they did not serve grill and steak. They served economy rice instead and free flow of drinks.

Lunch which mostly consist of vegetables

After lunch we headed back to the island. We went our own way and speed when we reached the expressway. There was a massive traffic jam when I reached Seberang Prai. The direction of the jam is towards the toll heading south. It could be due to the long weekend is ending and everyone would have to go back to work on Monday. After escaping from the jam it was a nice ride back home.

Home sweet home

Relive video of the trip

  

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