Ride Registration for MKH riders is now closed. We have about 30 road riders who has paid up and committed to ride for the 2 days. Below are the logistics of the ride and MKH ride & support expectations from all registered riders
Meeting logistic
- We will meet at Pengkalan Hulu for breakfast at 6.30am. The coffee shop is 50m away (on the left) from the traffic light as you turn to the direction to Betong
- Will leave at 7 am sharp for border parking for those who do not wish to drive over to Betong. For those who wish to drive into Betong, take note that you need your car registration card under your name or authorized letter by car owner.
- We will quickly unload bicycles and place all our luggage into our official Support car (Phanter's 4WD). Pls keep to 1 small hand luggage since we have limited space to house 20+ bags
- We will all proceed to immigration, note that you need Rm2 for immigration services
- We will ride to the stating point Betong MTB shop 6km from the border.
For those who do not know where Pengkalan Hulu is and want to convoy to the meeting place, Meet at Petronas Kulim on the BKE after the 2nd toll at 5.30am. We will leave Petronas by latest 5.40am
Day 1 Ride Program
Distance ~125km. with 5-6 relatively short hills above 15% gradient, out of which 2 hills peaked at 19%. Betong roads are full of hills so pls ride conservatively. 1 regroup/water stop at top of 1 19% peak(~40km). 2nd Stop is a Bang Lang Dam for simple breakfast (~55km). There will be some local coffee shops and you need Thai Baht to purchase stuff . Note that the 1 and 2 stops food/water supply will be from our support car. We will use discretion on whether we need the 3rd stop along the ride. Expect to reach back in Betong at around 2.30 where will check into Penthouse Hotel. Rooms will twin sharing and you will decide who you want to partner with. Free and easy beyond this
Day 2 Ride Program
Distance ~50km Start riding at 8am (Malaysia Time) , pls have your breakfast before that, We will leave our luggage in either our support car or at the hotel (to be decided later). will ride to Piyamid tunnel (Tourist attraction spot) as our first destination. You will encounter 4km of climbing of up to 19-20% gradient. From here we have 2 option, for those who want to attempt 22% road climb will ride another 2-2.5km more and come back to Piyamid Tunnel. 2 option is to for riders who want to visit Piyamid Tunnel , you need to bring/prepare your slippers/sport shoes if you want to do this. we will leave Piyamid tunnel at approx 1 hour after arrival. Next short stop is at the Betong Hot Spring. will spend at max 30 min at that location, you can replenish your drinks there. Finally ride back to Betong for lunch (1 hour for lunch) before proceeding back to the border.
Ride and support expectation
Due to the nature of the extremely hilly ride and the fact that we are in Thailand, we will need for all riders to understand and adhere to a couple of simple expectations
1) The 1 and only support car is meant to make sure that we have a smooth and safe ride hence it has to move together with the whole group, it is not meant be an individual support vehicle. So with potentially huge gap in riders ability, adequacy of bike gearing we will bound to have riders who cannot follow the pace, we ask for riders who significantly fall back from the group pace to get on the support car and not hold the group back. you can however rejoin the group at the intended stop points. Bottom line, the support car has to continue to move to ensure safety and convenience of others and also not to get lost in a foreign country. Note that there is not cellphone communication in Betong (no roaming services !!!)
2) Pls be on time for for the rides, we need to work as a team. For those who are significantly late will be left behind and you can your free and easy day
Thank you
Lee and Danny
