Genting Highlands Day Ride

Today Nick decided to ride to Genting Highlands and back from KL. Genting Higlands is a resort situated in the mountains about 60km from KL. There is not much of interest at the top (a casino, a theme park and flash hotels) but it was the ride that was the main drawcard. The ride is part of a stage in the Tour de Langkawi, a world class cylcing race held in Malaysia.

It was a great days ride, clocking up 120km there and back and climbing to an altitude of 2000m.

The Breakdown (for all those cycling aficionados):
This ranks as one of the top cycling climbs in the world (according to a recent magazine article) and has 3 sections.

0-15km: Dodging traffic on the way out of Kuala Lumpur wasnt too bad, I left at 7am so I was going against the morning rush. It was mostly flat and I managed to avoid the expressways. (Jalan Pahang -> Jalan Golok)

15-43km: The most beautiful part of the climb. A gradual increase in gradient and the rode would its way up a valley under the shade of a tropical jungle with the odd monkey to keep me company. This road was very quiet as the expressway which is faster runs parallel to it. I saw a few other cyclists on this part of the climb.

43-63km: The main "genting climb". This starts at the base of the hill near the expressway exit. There is a police checkpoint which signals the start of the climb. the road is 4-6 lanes wide and gets steep quickly. There is a 2km downhill section at 49km. The road was viciously steep in sections, especially on some bends (see photo) and I was hurting even in my lowest gear!! This part of road was pretty busy with bus and car traffic but most were very considerate with lots of waves and toots of the horn. One car stopped to ask how long I had been cycling for and were amazed when I said 4 hours!!

The stats:
Distance: 121km
Average: 18.1km/hr
Max: 72km/hr
Altitude gained: 2000m

The 20km Genting Climb:
Distance: 20km
Time: 2:05

The main climb to Genting Highlands:


Through the jungle section:


An example of a "steep" corner: