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Oh man! I surely missed riding yith you guys. Unfortunately I have not fully recovered from my last RIR on 23 Jan. My meniscus hurts a little but not as much as during the previous ride. Going up hill is a terrible and arduous task for me, especially now I am handicapped. My rear suspension has pumped out and that adds to more difficulty in climbing. I have learnt a new lesson. Get a hardtail bike next time. No wonder I could not keep up and burning more calories than anyone else in the group. I do have an intention to change bike but only after the 'demise' of my T-Bolt, then I shall consider a next hardtail. I hope I can get well for the next RIR and B.Pulau ride. Ah, yes.... the Hokkien Mee and kopi O too!
Regards, Peter
Hey Pete,
Don't wait. Ditch your T-Bolt and get a hardtail NOW. You want to enjoy your rides, not suffer. Live for today, not tomorrow.
See you at Balik Pulau again soon.
Tony
Hi Tony,
Finally got myself a hardtail, a Scott Scale 40. Cost me a bomb but worth the investment. Hill rides are so much better now. I need not worry about rear suspension anymore except I need to take care of my butt. Saddle is hard as a rock and when I go over potholes, the sensation is too much to bear. Now, I have to train to be better at hill climbs. See you this Saturday clockwise round island ride.
Pete
Hello friend, I'm sure you know that the saddle is changeable? I heard that the gel type saddle is very comfortable. I was in KL last week and brought back catalogues of fi'zi:k amd Selle Royal saddles. I can pass them to you if you want to read them. You have to go and find out which Penang shops are selling them though. Cheers and see you this Saturday morning. Will meet you all at the foot of Bukit Genting restaurant.
And Ray, I forgot. I owe you one big ang pow for failing to meet you at Titi Kerawang last Saturday. I'm really living up to my nickname, Lazy Rider.
I have also a beautiful scenery on the south part of Penang Island but very sad,I am the one who enjoy it by myself only.This 3rd of Feb 2010 is my offday.I planned to cycle to there and I hope there will be someone who is free on that day cause cycling alone is quite boring.It is not a trail ride,just rated 1 ride only.
cheers
seng chiang
Hi Seng Chiang,
Would be more than happy to cycle with you on the southern parts of Penang Island. But unfortunately I can only do it on weekends. So can't join you for the 3 Feb ride, but do let me know when you intend to ride on any future weekends.
Just for info and preparation, where is the route? I have cycled down from Balik Pulau via Teluk Kumbar and turned into Sungai Batu and back onto the main road and up to the end of Gertak Sanggul and back. The Gertak Sanggul stretch is something like Batu Ferringhi. Is this the route you are referring to?
Happy Cycling!
Bravo,Lazy rider.
That is the road I am referring to.Did anyone try this road before?? the balik pulau road,is it very hard? cause my brother told me to cycle that road which will be better and more challenging.
cheers
seng chiang
Hi Seng Chiang,
Yes, the Gertak Sanggul road is very quiet and peaceful. You can ride along at a leisurely pace. Unfortunately it's just a short stretch and there's no nice coffee shop waiting at the end for us to enjoy a good cuppa.
You should ride on up the Teluk Kumbar road to Balik Pulau. If you can do the hilly road in Bukit Jambul behind Equatorial Hotel, it should be no problem for you to do this 7 kms stretch. Once you reach the foot of Bkt Genting restaurant, it is all downhill until Balik Pulau. But watch out for some mild traffic and the various traffic lights as they are building the new road.
Then it will be easy riding from Pulau Betong to Pantai Acheh if you feel you need more oomph! That will add around 30 kms to the distance to and fro for you. Saying that, you should have joined the G-Club riders when they headed up that way last Saturday.
Btw, I saw two cyclists on the road at Bukit Jambul, behind Equatorial Hotel, yesterday at around 7 pm on my way home. Were you one of them?
Okay, let me know when you want to cycle up to Balik Pulau and I can try to meet you at Bukit Genting, or Gertak Sanggul or Sungai Batu. Just post your ride here.
See you.
Sorry,i really don't know who they are at all,but I got gave them a hand wave signal and reply but non of us get down and start talking before,too sad,I got saw him once in blue bicycle with helmet cycling on the opposite direction that I wanted to go.He usually will cycle late evening and once in a blue moon,He will cycle in the early morning like I would do.hehe.
cheers
seng chiang
Hello Seng Chiang,
Why don't you join Ray (stingray), Susumu-san, and Peter (posh66) on their round island (clockwise) ride this Saturday, 20 Feb?
They will pass through Bukit Jambul/Sungai Ara area, I think. You can join in as they pass by.
If you don't want to complete the full round island, I can accompany you back to the middle of the Teluk Kumbar road (foot of Bkt Genting) while the rest cycle on to Teluk Bahang. But from there you will have to cycle home alone.
Do try to join us.
Cheers,
Tony
Dear Tony,
Thank you so much for leading us to the balik pulau trail. The scenary of the kampung road along the coast is beautiful. I have to go....
Hope to see you all next time, Ray
Hi Ray and everybody on this morning's ride. Thanks for the good company. Beats cycling alone any day. Sorry the group broke up halfway. But now that you all know the trail, we'll stick together on our next ride.
And sorry but I may have to give next week's Bicycle Workshop a miss as I have to go down to KL. But please be sure to keep a cycling sticker for me. Anybody can have my nasi lemak bfast, haha!
Dear Lazy Rider,
Really need to thank you for the ride off-road. I have never in my life seen this part of Penang and I really thought that there is no such place already. You have proven me wrong and I really enjoyed the ride thoroughly. The smells, the vista I took in was priceless. I sure do hope places like these will still be preserved in Penang as we make way for more development on the island.
This place could really be an attraction of what Penang was during the days before mass settling began.
Thank you also Raymond for organizing this Round island Ride. Really a different ride compared to my regular round island rides.
Cheers!
Regards,
nightrider
Hi Nightrider,
I should be the one to thank you G Club members for the inspiration that led me to explore all these easy lazy trails through the Balik Pulau countryside after reading the articles posted on your website. All the stories of our G Club's cyclists' rides and photos encouraged me to seek new trails........ not thrills, as I am no mountain biker, haha! As I mentioned, we shall try the inner trail alongside the river banks once I remember how to get there. Haha!
Cheers and hope to ride with you up here again.
Dear Tony,
Everyone who joined this trail was moved including me with a significant beauty of Kampong life.
It was also nice that there are still many places in Penang where people can feel comfortable
being there and can look for untouched (pristine) nature.
Nature can always give a comfort to modern day folks/people as well.
Thanks you again for your nice arrangement.
See you soon, Susumu
Dear Susumu san, Doc and all.
Since everyone is now familiar with the trail, we will ride slower next time so we can stop and take photos of the interesting spots and landmarks.
That's why I like my rides there. No real challenges except for muddy patches when it rains and cowdungs when the cows are out grazing. But it is so peaceful and sometimes I wish the trail will never end. Morning rides are best as the air will be so fresh and cooling.
Saying that, is the section from the tiger prawn farm after Kuala Jalan Bahru to Kuala Sungai Pinang too rough? I worry about any of our fellow cyclists getting a puncture on that stretch.
There are other trails we can try, parallel to the coastline but more inland. Sometimes I ride on the banks alongside the river. We'll try it next time if I can remember the path. Hahaha!
Happy Cycling and look forward to my next ride with G Club and fellow happy cyclists!
From there on, the trails was flat and Tony led us through glorious padi fields, oil palm estate trails, and at one stretch we were riding along a trail of coastal swamp which we believe must be teaming with sea creatures. As if to answer to my suspicion, we ran across a live crab with its pincers poised for a fight. Could have caught the bugger and goreng him. From the map, you could see we cycle mainly along the coast. At one stretch, Pulau Betong could be clearly seen.
As we were passing thru a village with fishing boats along the estuary and riverine, we were so captivated by the scene and I was so busy documenting it in my camera, we lost the main grp. We proceeded with our own exploration thru many wonderful trails before ending at the Permatang Pasir junction with the Sg Rusa - Tlk Bahang main road. We continued on to the Sg Pinang junction for a rendezvous with Tony grp again. We teamed up shortly.
We had a short ride to Pantai Acheh for a bowl (Susumu,Jason and myself 2 bowls) of noodles and a 100 plus before heading back. We retraced the route that Tony's grp took i.e turned into Sg Pinang and go off trail before reading Pulau Betong to our waiting car. The rest in the meantime proceeded on with their round island.
A good outing, thanks to Tony, distance travelled 43.73 Km and calories burned 2,294 C
I have not watched beautiful scenery with nature so much so far in Penang Island. The wind to blow was a comfortable thing kindly. It is fortunate that there are not a dangerous car and a violent motorcycle. It was the first experience to have run 50km at a time. It is instant when it felt that the bicycle is really pleasant. I thank friends. I want to participate again this time if planned.
Cheers
takeuchi
Dear Takeuchi-san,
Sorry that I did not get much chance to talk to you last Saturday. But you looked so "local" I never realized you were Japanese. Haha! You have been Penang-ized.
If we start earlier, say around 7 am from Pulau Betong, I assure you the ride will be even more wonderful as the early morning air is so refreshing. Normally I start off from my house at that time.
The traffic on Balik Pulau roads are quite safe and the locals are very considerate as they are used to seeing cyclists coming up on most weekends now. But of course we should ride with care too.
Riding through the country side is so much nicer and the only thing we have to watch out for are the big cows, and occasionally a small crab like the one who blocked our way last Saturday, haha! And of course the chickens who decide to cross only when we are almost on top of them. And did you see some monkeys too? Sometimes there's a whole gang of them.
Yes, you are correct. In the peaceful countryside there are times when you can feel your bike bonding with you as one and I have at times heard myself telling my beloved bike to ride like the wind and hope that the trail will never end.
Hope to see you on G Club members's next ride in Balik Pulau.
Hi Tony, I think the rest might agree with me. The trail is perfect for a leisurely Sunday ride with friends. I dont recall any rough patches. Now that we know the trails are all interlink and if you are lost you are still in Penang Island !!! ...... so no worry. Next ride we will go faster and trash a bit. I really enjoyed the mild pot holes, sound of my broad MTB tyres going through the rough pebbles. Going to do more MTB now .......
Our Trails section is updated today..
Note that at this juncture only login users can view this page. And to update this page you must be at least a login special user.
At some point in time we will open up this page to everyone, not just to login users but also to all visitors to our site. But before we do that, we need to beef this page up with more details, pictures and maps. So I hope you can help chip in so that this Trials page can be wrapped up quickly. Thank you in advance.
ps: if anyone of you out there wants to contribute to this page and do not have the rights to do so, please please let us know. Send gclub@gclub.com.my a mail and we will immediatey grant you the right.
Doc,
Can send me the tracklog?
My e-mail address, turbosiputATyahooDOTcom
TIA!
This is another hidden germ in Balik Pulau. An idea place for newbie introductory MTB ride and also a good place for moonlight ride too! Was planning to go there myself one day too since my last visit was a long time ago. Too bad lah.
Glad to see you enjoyed the ride there!