Morning Ride To Terusan Utama, Tanjung Karang (also known as Bangkenal)

Bangkenal is a local name for the main canal that provide fresh water for Kuala Selangor paddy field, which is originated from the term Ban Canal.

The canal, which started from Seri Tiram and ends at Sungai Panjang, Sabak Bernam has a nice picturesque straight road besides it, which made it an ideal strolling place for nature lovers or a quick morning ride route for riders like me.

The ride started from Tol rawang and ends at Hentian Sebelah Rawang and the route map looks like this

 The route passed through Selangor Fruit Valley before making a turn into a short cut road – Jalan Rantau Panjang, which is only accessible to light vehicles due to this small bridge crossing Sungai Selangor

Selangor Fruit Valley

Sungai Selangor bridge at Jalan Rantau Panjang

The small road lead into Jalan Raja Musa and it is where new campus for Universiti Selangor (Unisel) is currently located.

The road is currently undergoing massive construction and it is in a very bad condition.

(Update May 2015)
Road upgarding works in Jalan Raja Muda Musa is almost completed with only small stretch (Less than 3km) between Ladang Tennamaram and Unisel Bestari Jaya campus is still underway.

Kampung Seri Tiram is where the canal begins and the entrance to Jalan Terusan Utama here is still on loose gravel and trunk road

 But as you go along, the roads started to widen and the scenery is getting better 

Riding in the morning means the sun is the right side of the road. So if you are a fan of sunset, it is advised to be here in the afternoon so you can have a view of sun setting into paddy field at the left of the road.

With only a few minor corners, this road is really straight all the way to Sungai Panjang

Jalan Terusan Utama, Tanjung Karang

This area is absolutely beautiful

Parit Empat, Sungai Panjang

More road construction is currently in progress in Parit 4 towards Sungai Panjang as they are building a massive retention ponds, so more gravel ahead until Jalan Sungai Panjang. 

Jalan Sungai Panjang towards Felda Gedangsa with a view of Gunung Liang Timur & Barat

The road leads to Felda Gedangsa and a left turn into Sri Keledang and the road become smaller and it back to loose gravel

A small bridge crossing Sungai Bernam

Nice and new tarmac estate road means we are getting nearer to Ulu Slim. From here its all estate road until I met Perak state road A134.

The road leads directly into Slim River and I've chosen to enter the North South Expressway at Behrang tol.

Its a nice combination of tarmac, gravel and a little bit of dirt road. One can actually opted for all tarmac road to enjoy the good relaxed and picturesque scenery of the ban canal in Tanjung Karang through various inner road that connects this road to the main Federal 5 road.

Live Life Ride!

Ride snippets
Rider:Myself
Distance: 300km
Duration: 4 hours
Petrol: RM30 (full tank)
Meal: Breakfast RM5
Date: Saturday 27 Dec 2014

Note: Our memories and support for all flood victims of 6 states in Malaysia, feared to be the worst in history with over 200k people are displaced from their houses (On 29 Dec 2014)

Ride to Tasik Raban

Tasik Raban (also known as Chenderoh Lake) is a beautiful serene lake situated in Lenggong, Perak. It is a fresh water reservoir resulted from a dam built in early 1920s by the British for hydroelectric power station. It is in fact one of the oldest man made lake in peninsular Malaysia.

Picture from Google

This ride started from R&R Rawang, ended at Hentian Sebelah Rawang and the route map looks like this:

Joining me in this ride is Mr. Zul Mamat and his son Mr. Mohd Zufarahamie from CBG and this is my second ride with Bro Zul after tour of Sungai Pahang

Less than an hour from Rawang we saw this accident..

The rest of the journey to Taiping is smooth and we only met with light rain in one or two places in between Selangor and Perak border.
We reach Taiping exit around 11.45 am and head to Kuala Gula and Kuala Kurau.

We've stopped by a nice paddy field in Kuala Kurau to refresh before heading for lunch.

 The original plan is to have lunch in Kuala Gula's ketam lembut but during my research before the journey, most of the review of that place were bad.

So we've settled in a beautiful riverside food bazaar by Sungai Kurau and the place is called "Halim Kari Sembilang Claypot", which is exactly in front of Kuala Kurau Fire Station.

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

After a lunch break we continue our journey to Tasik Raban through Alor Pongsu and Kubu Gajah and encountered this breathtaking place (do check it out @ 5.159451, 100.895333)

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

This road section reminded me of a similar road from Ampang to Semenyih dam but without litter and rubbish by the road side.
Nice bending road with ascend and drop section at average around 10% in certain areas with lush green forest in the background.

It is scouring hot when we reach Lenggong.

 We head straight to Dataran Tasik Raban and had some refreshment to cool of the heat

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

"This is byfar our earliest time of arrival" said Bro Zul when we reach Tasik Raban resort around 4.15pm.

That night we rode out to check out Lenggong town and find some supplies for the stomach, as the resort do not provide any late refreshment
The town is a small and slow one-road type of town but with nice people.

 We woke up the next day cold after an overnight rain.
The lake and Raja Muda Nazrin bridge is completely engulfed in mist and fog.

We have breakfast in Dataran Tasik Raban and everyone had roti canai : )

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

 We continue our journey along Sungai Perak through Kampung Padang Ampang and Sayong. We stopped by a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) workshop in Kampung Sayong Hulu to see how they make Labu Sayong

 The route along Perak river is really astounding

The ride back is then continued to Dataran Nordin in Parit, and have a chat with locals who went fishing at the jetty

We stopped by Menara Condong Teluk Intan and being a famous gathering point for bikers, the place is buzzing with bikers from Ipoh and KL

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

 From Teluk Intan we went through Sabak Bernam and Sungai Panjang to have lunch at Selera Rimba restaurant, another famous gathering points for bikers

We had rendang ayam kampung, puyuh sambal and landak masak cili for three person and the total cost is RM118.00

 The ride is then continued through Felda Gedangsa and Behrang, before stopping at our last RV in Hentian Sebelah Rawang

Ride snippets 
Rider: Zul Mamat + 1 pillion & Myself
Distance: 700km
Duration: 2 days
Petrol: 4 times x RM30 (full tank)
Meal: around RM70
Date: 22-23 Nov 2014

Day ride to Fraser Hill and Ringlet through Sungai Koyan

It was a busy week and by the weekend, I am technically longing for a ride.

A few quick exchanges of fb messenger with my buddy Shahril, has resulted in a ride that look like this:

  We met at R&R Rawang northbound and proceed to Kuala Kubu Bharu through Bukit Sentosa. From there, its a scenic route around Sungai Selangor fresh water reservoir.

We continue riding up to Fraser Hill and have a quick breakfast there. The weather at this point is misty and cloudy but no rain yet

At this point, based on the good weather experienced throughout the journey, we decided to push on to Sungai Koyan and Ringlet, although acknowledging that only on last Wednesday, there was a mud slide and flash flood that kills 3 people. Indeed we are ready to scale Mount Brinchang if the weather permits.
Raub town is buzzing with activities as we passed that afternoon but the weather is still good with only one or two spots of light rain along the way. When we entered Felda Sungai Koyan to Pos Betau junction, the road is amazingly good and has only little traffic

It is not until we have crossed into Cameron Highland district border, the sky is beginning to darken and light but steady shower of rain water begin to descend. We passed through Bertam Valley swiftly and the devastation from the recent mishap is clearly visible along the Bertam river.

We had lunch at Brinchang and decided not to push on to Mount Brinchang as it is raining steadily that afternoon. So we turn back to Tanah Rata and head straight to Tapah

It was raining heavily and the road is literally filled with mud water. The murky water were flowing from both sides of the road and fallen trees and logs are everywhere. We rode really slow at this section and keep a steady eye on incoming traffic as the road had became very narrow and watery.

We made it back to the North South Highway safely and made a stop at R&R Tapah

It was a very short but memorable journey and all smiles are onboard!

Ride snippets 

Rider: Shahril & MyselfDistance:430km
Duration: 10 hoursPetrol: RM60 Meal: RM15Date: 8 November 2014