KOM 2 🚴 CH->GM->CH, 16&17Nov'24

KOM2, CH->GM->CH

Cameron Highlands KTerla-> Gua Musang -> Cameron Highlands KTerla. 

211km, 4386m elev gain

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Every cyclist would like to conquer mountains apart from the ultra long distance like our HER400km ( 24th August 2024).   We had our KOM1, Simpang Pulai to Cameron Highlands KTerla last year with 1850m elev gain.

 Therefore, we planned ahead for the KOM2 aiming at much higher elev gain of >4000m say. This idea was initially brought up by our AhPoh Bonny Kan wrt Bukit Tampin 9x which indirectly inspired by our Guru Dirk Limann who had many experiences in >4000m elev gain . Quek Shio's strava, Blue Valley to Gua Musang and return to Blue Valley, showed 5800m elev gain but all of us doubted if this is correct. Hence, we decided to conquer this KOM CH-GM-CH. I must thanks Cikgu Tan for the captain role who always supported my thoughts and fine tune the idea.  Appreciation goes to TongGe and Tong Shao for the FOC accommodation in KTerla. Not forgetting Tong Shao's cooking, so delicious all the time. Our original plan was daily ride, go and return within the same day.   However, we suffered the scorching heat in the noon time, freaking boiling hot!   Cikgu Tan also near to exhaustion when arriving Gua Musang. Julian wasn't feeling  comfortable with the heat.  Therefore, I suggested the idea to stay a night in Gua Musang, a place where I hv never been there except for a short stop at the railway station while on the trip from Gemas to Kota Bahru, Kelantan, in 1982. There were many poor kids running from cabin to cabin in selling packed Nasi lemak or mee goreng at Gua Musang railway station in 1982.  You don't see this nowadays as our country's economy has progressed so much .  Putting up a night was a good decision because I enjoyed the lunch and dinner in the old Chinese village of Gua Musang. Delicious food, the Tengkalan fish and the Meehoon Kuih soup.

Next day, the morning weather in Gua Musang was marvellous, misty and cloudy. This has helped our confidence reboosting of course. I'm glad to see our only lady rider, Wawa, the slowest but possessed a strong mindset to "die die" finish the ride. The final 20km was a torturing up climbs, killer climb I called it.    4 bottles of water also not enough. Hv to replenish fully. Yes, I agreed this was the toughest KOM route that i hv ever experienced, food refuel at every 25km without fail. Drinking water was mixed with Coca-Cola in order to gain more energy from the sugar.   

I would advised riders to avoid any night ride here because of the possible animal appearance.  Locals told me about tigers, black panther , fox, elephants that could appear on the road especially mid night .

The road  shoulder is rather wide. Drivers like lorries are showing great attitude towards riders. Never go near us.

Road condition; several areas were quite bad surface, pot holes.   Need to look far to avoid those holes, especially at the high speed mode of downhill. Certain repaired surfaces were uneven and our hand wrist could be painful when hitting on it at high speed level.

Do remember to stop for photo capturing, those scenic view. Smell roses along the way as English saying goes. 

Fitness preparation ; the last 2 weeks, four major strength training were performed daily, namely squat 100x @ 3 sets,  reverse calves raise 100x@ 3sets,  abs rolling 20x@ 3 sets, kettle bell swing 20x@ 3 sets.    These strength exercises were so important and helpful in preventing any early fatigue especially the up climb route from Gua Musang to Blue Valley, CH. 

Anyway, do rest at every interval of 25km. 

Compiled by

TayKC 

An avid cyclist 

A technopreneur and semiconductor industialist.