MTB Tracks & Report

[turbosnail]

I rode the trail in Batu Gantung again this morning. I wanted to find out if the connecting trail that I saw at the peak of the climb when we did the ride from Rifle Range were going anywhere or not. From the map you can see it did going somewhere!


Profile of the trail. Total distance travelled: 16km(5km climb).


My 10 year old Bell Helmet, Azonic gloves and the King's goggle that I bought recently(scratch proof lens, very light and comfy and cost 10 times less than my Cateye goggles!). Picture taken at Station 45. I started from Batu Gantung instead of Rifle Range. Took me 25mins to climb that god forsaken slope!


View of the cement farmer trail and run parellel to the stair case and run up from Rifle Range trail. Think it has been there before the stair was built. Btw, the stairs run up to 39.


View of the connecting trail. You can see the slope from the picture. It is the steepest of the whole ride.


Fallen rock. Must be from the recent landslide due to incessant rain for the past few days.


When you see this hut the trail starts to go down, steeply!


View of other orchards on the slope of Penang Hill. Many of them are illegal ones.


The trail continue to go down. You can see the traffic is mostly two wheelers.


View of the Hai Keat village.


The trail widen up when approaching Hai Keat village.


I came out from the Hai Keat village. This temple is Miao Xiang Lin temple before the Penang Hill foothill station.

Everytrail log: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=86469

Tracklog:

07122008(BatuGantung-HaiKeat).gpx

Done! 236 - OngCC

[turbosnail]

This Sudnay saw me struggling up to the mid tram station via a farmer trail we call Hait Keat Village Farmer trail.


Total distance: 18km with 6km of sadistic fun...;)



The ride began with gradual slope that could make you to believe that it would be a walk in the park.



Soon after the gradient of the trail changed dramatically. You can see from the photo how steep it was!



With my tongue touching the ground after the god forsaken climb, I decided to take a shorter break in front of this temple before continue my ride to the Mid tram station.


Petai tree, just right after the temple.



A view of the trail leading to the Mid tram Station


Saw this feisty canine on my way.


Going to the tram station. Nice view, eh? The tall buildings are aprtments in Farlim.


The mid tram station. Other mountain bikers decided to take the tram down. Too steep the descent to their liking, I think? I continue my ride after a short break at the tram station. It was basically a gradual slope that was downhill incline.



I finally exited to another trail that started from the Tai Seong Loh Koon temple at the foothill. It was a very steep descent. I had to stop to let my rims cool down.


View of George Town halfway down.



Entrance to Tai Seong Loh Koon temple. My exit from the ride, 2 hours later.

Tracklog:

18012009(Hai keat - Tai Seong lo koon).gpx

Done! 242 - OngCC

[turbosnail]

I decided to join KOTRT on one of their weekend rides, which they took a group of riders to scale 1200 steps and Blue Hill. I have been wanting to do Blue Hill since I last heard about it. But none of my riding partners dares to join me due to the difficlut climb!



Total distance: 25km approx with 19km of sadistic fun.



I met the group at the entrance to the AID road. The one with orange jersey is the ride leader. We started the ride after the last two riders showed up.



This photo was taken after we branched out of the 1200 steps trail and going to the direction where a meditation center is located. It was also our second regroup point. FYI, I was the slowest rider amongst them.


Breathtaking view to the George Town area at the second regroup point.


We began to descend to Paya Terubong just before reaching the meditation center. The trail was mostly cemented. According to the ride leader, he would not take us there if it was raining.


We regrouped at the junction to Jalan Paya Terubong. One of the riders was experiencing disc brake problem on his Shimano XT rear disc brake. It seems the rentention pin of the brake pad had flunked off.


This picture was taken 1/3 up to the peak of blue hill. The trail was not only steep, but also quite exposed. I just couldn't got myself onto my VooDoo to ride up. I gave up staying on my bike and push all the way. I didn't know that I was experiencing what we call bonking. I forgot that I had power bar with me. I should have eaten one of them!


Riders waiting at the peak. My legs started to cramp, one of the bonk symptoms. It was the first time I bonk and I did not realize it. I later experiencing dizziness and rapid heart beat, signalling my sugar lever is at the rock bottom. But I still continued and without realizing it.


Riders awaiting to cross to the adjacent trail. I was later told by the ride leader that the old trail had been blocked. We should have taken the new trail that connects to this adjacent trail.


Seeing here are riders helping to portage the bikes down to the adjacent trail.


Riders waiting at the adjacent trail after we crossed over. The trail started to descent after this point.


We reached to another connecting trail that would take us back to the Air Itam Dam. It is called Jalan Balik Pulau on the map. It's more like a farmer than a road. I parted with the rest of the rider and going at my own pace. And yes, I "found" my power bar and quickly took one down. I felt much better afterwards. But just on the safe side, I called my wife to fetch me at the foothill of AID.


Tracklog:

08022009(1200 steps - Blue Hill- AID).gpx

More pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=oc6i5yj.2dz3gmsj&x=0&y=-1hhq5r&localeid=en_US

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=124931

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There were two possible ways to connect to the same trail. When I last visited I took the downhill inclined one. This time I decided to try another one, which is the trail that is more frequently travelled by farmers and others.


The profile. It was about the same distance as my last ride. But this way is more brutal since it is more uphill incline.


The view of the orchard and beyond. This picture was taken after I took a short from the climb from the mid station. The farmer told me it was much gradual than the one before the mid-station. Yeah right! But I made a better time y 15 minutes to reach the mid station this time.


The trail started to go downhill after the picture of the view was taken. It was a blessing though it was a steep and a breathtaking climb. Man, the song, "Take my breath away" starts playing in my mind now.


I met this junction after a short descent. The one on the right would lead me to the peak of Pg Hill. I decided that I had had enough and took the one of the left.


No far from the junction was a Chinese temple, which is for Tua Pek Kong(God of Prosperity). I took a short breather there again. Must admit that my age's catching up! Bike in the picture is my 10 year old Red Devil, a VooDoo Zobop.


There were lines of "amblah" trees on the descending trail, which I didn't take notice in my last ride. Don't know what it is called in English. But I remember my pop calls them "wild olive" in Teochew.


The flower and the fruit.


Beautiful "rock garden". It's actually a dried up farm.

More pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Help2.jsp?&localeid=en_US

Everytrail:
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=129639

Tracklog:

15022009(Hai Keat - Mid - Tai Seong Low Koon).gpx

[snail-works]

look at the profile, i feel 'pensan' ... no wonder the mtbers from penang are fit and strong... if i every week train like that, i can fly already...

u r bro.

[gizmoe]

Wow that BM Mountain cross thingy looks interesting. Wonder if they're gonna have it this year, would love to join it!
Just came back from the Tampines bike park race in singapore...the trail was pretty sweet!
Even have the GPS plot for it...the race route was slightly different from the usual trail route.

[hari]

OffroadTrek Balak Wang Tepus for Kedah Jamboree.

Will submit more soon.

Done! 265 - OngCC

[hari]

Offroad - the same area

Done! 266 - OngCC

[turbosnail]

Decided to posting although it is not a rideable track.

Hiking track of the Youth Park. There is a track extension that is not in the map.

[hari]

Famous trek for Alor Setar and Jitra MTB Riders

Ladang Jati trek

Please remove 'Perik-Sabok Tar Trail' around that area and replace by this

Done! 274 - OngCC