We had a long unplanned break from riding due to the
country’s movement control order in a concentrated effort to flatten Covid-19
curve of infection. Thus, as soon as we are able, a trip was planned to revisit
Pos Titom, a settlement at the foot of Titiwangsa range 126km north of Kuala
Lumpur. Raining week leading to that weekend has casted doubt which made us to
revote about the decision to camp there but at the end of voting period,
majority has insisted we will ride there.
Despite a few last minute cancellation, 11 riders has agreed
to meet that Saturday morning at Bukit Beruntung highway exit around 8am and
Usop, a rimba raid and GS Throphy veteran made an appearance on CRF250. Also
present was Syahril after more than a year hiatus on his low-mileage 1200 GS
Rallye. Qamarul, Syahril, Jimmm and Tom were already there when I arrived while
Usop arrived slightly after.
We rode towards Kuala Kubu Bharu through Bukit Sentosa and weather is clear with ambient temperature around 24°C. A light overcast were visible when we arrived at Sungai Selangor dam and the lake level were high. The area were busy with activities from cyclist, riding up the winding road, with steep winding road backed with lush greeneries, it’s a perfect setup for those whom are fit.
The road surface was perfect although they were spots of
landslides under repair on the terrace of the road. We rode carefully as the
traffic was relatively heavy and the weather was cloudy. Ambient temperature
dropped to 20°C as we were approaching Fraser Hill and the winding road
FT55 down to Tranum were filled with durian aroma as its season is in its peak.
We passed Raub and head to Sungai Koyan through C5 and there were a lot of riders heading to the
same direction and we kept our distances for safety. Jimm and Fred were separated
from the group and they took a wrong turn. Around 11.30am, we arrived at our
designated lunch spot but it was closed so we decided to have lunch at Nordin
Tom Yam.
GPS 4.218251,
101.800476
The weather cleared as we started riding again towards Ringlet on FT102 but when we arrived at the trailhead the weather started cloudy.
The logging trail surface is a mixture of compacted red soil
and gravel trail on some climbing sections. We feared that if it rain during
our inbound, it is going to be slippery and dangerous so after waiting
30minutes for Cikgu Joe and Suhail we started without them.
Pictures from our friends riding the trail from previous week struggling to climb after a slight rain haunted me but we were really fortunate, it stayed hot and clear that afternoon. About an hour of riding all of us had passed the steel bridge that replaces bamboo raft crossings.
The broken tarmac
road condition had worsen since our last ride here with some ruts gotten deeper.
Fred fall a few times in this section but he remains in high spirit heading to our
campsite.
We met another group of 4x4 team on humanitarian mission with the locals at Pos Sop and around 4.00pm we have arrived at the target campsite, nicknamed ‘carwash’ campsite.
Suhail & Cikgu Joe arrived slightly
later and we finished setting up tents, flysheet and hammocks around 5.30pm. Later
that afternoon Tok Batin Ramli joined us at the campsite and he informed Tom
and me about the plan to plant rice beside the campsite and invited us to
return around 1st quarter next year to get the taste of the crop.
Ambient temperature dropped around 21°C around sunset and we were gathered
under the flysheet to recollect what we have missed during the long break. Dinner
was simple, some of us ‘tapau’ from the lunch place while the rest have instant
noodles and Kembara Food Pack. Syahril singled out his time off-ride while Usop
told us on how he had to do some convincing to re-join this trip. We retreated
to our beds around 11pm and I were joined by Zaidi to sleep on our cots under
the main flysheet.
The next day the weather was lovely with ambient temperature around 18°C and heavy cloud formation above the valley. We had instant noodles, spaghetti, and bread for breakfast before jumping into the icy-cold water river beside the campsite.
Around 9.30am, I have finished packing and went to the village to pass our contribution to the Tok Batin Ramli. Due to the pandemic, we have refrained from mixing with the villagers but instead we have collected some cash to pass directly to him.
We cleared the campsite around 10.30am and gathered at the main junction. Along the way out, Tom bought some durian from the villager for the group to eat at Ringlet.
The ride out was smooth and we managed to reach the trailhead around one hour without untoward incident other than Syahril dropped his bike during one of the climb. Suhail whom were riding behind him lost the momentum and ended up in a drain.
We proceeded to Ringlet
for fuel refill and later to the Gerai MDCH for lunch. We said goodbye to each
other here.
On the way back, Jimm blown his rear tyres near Behrang and he had to call bike warrior to carry his bike back.
For trailhead and campsite coordinates please refer to my previous post.
