Young & Dangerous 2023 Tour Part 1
Young & Dangerous is the first gravel race in Northern Malaysia, spanning the two states of Penang and Kedah. The route showcases all manner of road conditions from the dusty champagne gravel of paddy fields to the deep red earth of plantations, with fantastic views of the rural Sungai Muda area, parts of which are in the larger Jerai Geopark together with Kedah’s Yan District and five islands.
Let’s be honest, Eka and myself never ever join races. Not if we can help it. But gravel races are a good excuse for us to plan a cycle tour to the race village and soak in the vibes while not actually participating in the race itself. And the inaugural Young & Dangerous race in 2023 was the perfect excuse for us to do just that, especially with some friends being on the organising committee. We’d toured up north during the first three years of the pandemic, riding from Ipoh to Alor Setar when borders opened in 2020, Ipoh to Penang Island in 2021, and Penang to Perlis then subsequently Langkawi Island in 2022. For Young & Dangerous, the location would be Sungai Petani in Kedah - not the furthest north we’d toured but still quite a distance away from our home base in Kuala Lumpur.
Couldn’t we just take the train with our bikes all the way up? In a nutshell, no. The long distance trains in Peninsular Malaysia are the KTM ETS and KTM Intercity, which don’t allow bikes onboard at all. The only ones that do are the KTM Komuter, which does not run the whole length of the country and only allows bikes on certain segments. The KTM Komuter exists in two different areas, KTM Komuter Klang Valley has two lines (1.Batu Caves, KL to Pulau Sebang, Melaka & 2.Tanjung Malim, Perak to Klang, Selangor) and KTM Komuter Utara (Ipoh to Padang Besar). Bikes are allowed onboard all Klang Valley lines, but only up to Butterworth on the northern line.
So to get up north we would have to go beyond the limits of the KTM Komuter Klang Valley line, which ends in Tanjung Malim, Perak. This presented a logistical challenge, since we didn’t quite have enough days to ride all the way up from Kuala Lumpur. Instead, we plotted a route that included a train ride to our starting point in Tanjung Malim, and in doing so cut out junk miles riding out of the city. In between we’d utilise the KTM Komuter Utara line to avoid some unpleasant bits of road and save a bit of mileage too. After five days of fairly brisk but enjoyable riding, we would arrive just a day before the race weekend with plenty of time for some R&R in Kedah.
Stage 1: Tanjung Malim to Simpang Pulai - 119km, 488m elevation
Stage 2: Simpang Pulai to Kuala Kangsar - 90km, 522m elevation
Stage 3: Kuala Kangsar to Padang Rengas - 15km, 50m elevation
Stage 4: Taiping to Nibong Tebal - 78km, 46m elevation
Stage 5: Butterworth to Sungai Petani - 41km, 34m elevation
The first two stages had a decent amount of climbing along our route, since we were traveling from the Selangor-Perak border through central Perak. Perak is hilly due to its location on the Titiwangsa Range, a major mountain range that forms the backbone of Peninsular Malaysia. Once we reached upper Perak however, we finally came to the famed paddy fields of the north where you’ll notice the terrain began to flatten a fair bit. If we had more time we could have circumvented the central spine trunk road from Tanjung Malim and taken the longer route that cuts westward before heading north yet again. The central route is the most direct way to head up from our starting point, but is a logistics route with many lorries and buses sharing the same road, often without a proper road shoulder to safely ride on. However, even with a less than ideal route at the beginning of the tour, I will admit that ultimately, this Young & Dangerous tour would prove to be one of the most enjoyable we have had in Malaysia.
Tanjung Malim
As mentioned above, Tanjung Malim, Perak was the starting point of our midsummer tour through the central states of Peninsular Malaysia. Not for any particular reason except for the fact that the KTM Komuter Pelabuhan Klang-Tanjung Malim line that allows us to travel north of Kuala Lumpur without driving. It is a heritage though - the first railroad stretch connecting Tanjung Malim and Kalumpang opened in the year 1900, linking the Perak and Selangor railway system. The old railway station is just 100 metres from the newer KTM Tanjung Malim station (currently in use), but has been converted to a restaurant. Today, the KTM Komuter line runs through the heart of Tanjung Malim, separating the old and new town areas. In the heart of the old town, two rows of shophouses built by Hokkien immigrants still stand, some of which are more than a hundred years old.
Tanjung Malim started life as Kampung Jambu, a settlement along Sungai Bernam in the 18th century. It flourished under the leadership of Dato Haji Mustapha Bin Raja Kamala, a Rawa chief from Raub who settled there after leading a group fleeing from the Pahang Civil War (1857 to 1863). The name Malim is said to come from the word "Muallim" which is Arabic for "teacher," a reference the town's academic background thanks to the establishment of the Sultan Idris Training College there in 1922. The Bernam river now serves as the state border between Selangor and Perak.
Stage 1: Tanjung Malim to Simpang Pulai
Start Tanjung Malim
Finish Simpang Pulai
Distance 119 km
Climbing 488 m
Grade Easy/Medium
After almost missing the early morning KTM Komuter train that goes up north, we arrived in the sleepy town of Tanjung Malim about 1.5 hours later. As mentioned above, Tanjung Malim is the end of the Tanjung Malim - Port Klang KTM Komuter line and the furthest north we could take the train with our full bikes. We opted to spend a night in Tanjung Malim rather than heading out straight away upon arrival, since the long train ride meant there was no way we could start the ride in the morning. Spending a night there would ensure we could start out early next morning on day 1 of the tour - a 120km ride. It also allowed us to have a local delicacy for teatime - Yik Mun steamed pau - although word from the locals say there is there is another company that does it better these days.
Our journey began by following Federal Route 1, believed to be the nation's earliest public roadway with construction beginning as far back as 1880. The Tanjung Malim-Slim River segment however was only opened in 1966 as the first tolled road in the country, before giving way to PLUS Highway in 1994 and becoming the trunk road you see today. This means it is now the main backbone trunk road in Peninsular Malaysia. This route would take us through many old railroad towns that started life back in the tin mining days during the 1890s, which presented the perfect spots for us to do quick cool down stop as we made our way up north. This was definitely necessary, as the interior of Perak state gets pretty toasty throughout the midday and early afternoon hours,
The old railroad towns such as Behrang, Slim River, Bidor, Tapah, Kampar, Gopeng and many others still retain much of their old world character, even though these towns are flanked by busy logistic roads. The first stop we made was the border town of Ulu Bernam for a local kopitiam breakfast of soft boiled kampung eggs and toast, washed down with some thick Hainanese style coffee. We then made our way out through the back kampung roads that flanked the railroad tracks, crossing a flyover to join the main trunk road. It was nice and cool in the morning but pretty hot by the time we were approaching Bidor, where we stopped for lunch at a nasi kandar restaurant famous for its fish head curry, which was sadly too big for the two of us to eat together.
Lunch was following by more riding up the trunk road, with several dog chases when we passed by random construction depots or warehouses along the busy road. Considering it was a logistics route we had to contend with fairly heavy traffic, often having to steel our nerves when a large lorry or even bigger trailer roared past. Eventually we reached the quieter parts as we continued riding north, making stops in Tapah, Temoh and Kampar respectively to escape the blistering heat. By our last stop in Kampar the afternoon sun had reduced significantly in intensity, and the final 30km through Gopeng and finally to Simpang Pulai was infinitely more pleasant owing to the cooler temperatures. We did a quick laundry run as we were eating a dinner of fried rice with turmeric chicken, before heading back to our Airbnb for the night.
Stage 2: Simpang Pulai to Kuala Kangsar
Start Simpang Pulai
Finish Kuala Kangsar
Distance 90 km
Climbing 522 m
Grade Easy/Medium
The next morning we awoke to a slight drizzle, delaying our departure a little to let the rain ease before we continued on our way. The route still had a lot of lorries on this stretch, and we peeled off for our breakfast stop gratefully barely an hour into the ride. The roadside restaurant had many Malaysian breakfast staples, but we opted for chapati as it struck a nice balance between being filling and not too heavy for the ride ahead, considering we fully planned to make several fuel up stops along the way. Approximately two hours later we had reached Parit town, a small town in Perak Tengah located on the east bank of the Perak River. Once again the lovely cool morning had given way to some pretty serious midday heat, and an ice cold coconut drink beside the river was the perfect excuse to stop there.
An old clock tower sits in the centre of Parit, which plays a little traditional Malay tune before chiming at the top of the hour. The sleepy town is so tiny you could probably run the length of its streets within ten minutes, and everyone seems to know each other by name. Not much is published about the town’s history, but it was said to have been set up in the early 20th century by two men who sailed up the river from Teluk Intan after losing a bet in a traditional game called Semperit. Parit’s pre-war buildings and small size make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, and it is a nice town to spend an hour or two for a brief respite from the mid-day heat while enjoying a kopitiam meal. We were too late for that though, and made do with a nasi kandar lunch in the same area.
After lunch we took the bridge that crossed the Perak River to move from town into the kampung side, making our way through the quiet roads at a more relaxed pace. From there the route went from flat kampung connector roads to rolling trunk roads, with some steep and punchy climbs heading into Manong town. Unlike the kampung roads, the trunk roads had no canopy for us to take refuge from the afternoon heat, so another cool down stop became necessary once we reached the town. After a few drinks each and munching on some steamed pau, we had successfully brought our core temperatures down. The route flattened out a bit from there, until we took the turn off to head into smaller plantation roads which we had hoped would be better considering the high afternoon temperatures. We soon found out that shade came at a price.
The rolling climbs of the road to Manong seemed like a walk in the park compared to the steep climbs winding through plantations. We huffed and puffed up many double digit gradients, which led to the occasional downhills of the same steepness yet often ended in an abrupt 90 degree turn at the bottom. In addition, broken tarmac, the occasional random unmarked speed bump and the sudden appearance of a villager on a motorbike at blind corners all combined to make this stretch fairly challenging. We had to stay alert at all times and be ready for immediate evasive manoeuvre's if necessary. But despite the terrain and a brief detour when we got lost in the plantation, we reached Kuala Kangsar’s old palace while it was still daylight, after which it was a nice bit of freewheeling downhill past town to where we were staying for the night.
Having stayed at the top of the hill the previous time we were here on another tour from Ipoh to Alor Setar, we opted for something different this time around. Our new location outside of town gave us some tranquil riverside views - the sunset painted the sky awash with colours as we rolled into the resort before the last light of day. Luck was on our side that evening, as a group of men on a company training and team building getaway at the same resort offered to share their BBQ with us for dinner, having grilled a bit too much meat for their small group to eat on their own. We thanked them for their kindness, enjoyed a good meal and a lengthy chat with the men before turning in for the night.
Stay tuned for the write up of our Young & Dangerous 2023 Tour Part 2!
