Georgetown Hotels

From renovated 100 year old Chinese shophouses to historic colonial British luxury, there is no end to the hotels on offer in Georgetown. We got a sneak peek of some of the hotels and chose our favorites where we can really picture guests relaxing at the hotel and within walking distance of everything to enjoy the city. Here are some pictures from the visits:

Penang Hill

I couldn't leave Georgetown without trying the climb to Penang Hill again. Last year I read about it and tried it. Blog entry 2011. I knew what was coming, 5 km with ramps at 35%. 16% average.
I didn't take the Felt, used Debbie's Orbea instead, with a compact 34 in the front, 28 in the back.

I tried to make it earlier, but it was already 11am. At least it rained last night and it's a bit cloudy. I left the busy streets of Georgetown behind and went by the botanical gardens.

Passed by the open barrier to the climb, the steep grade arrives quickly, 30%. No more gears. Standing up and giving everything to go 4-5km/h.

In the first 300meters, memories start coming from last year, realizing it's harder than I'd wanted it to be. There are marks every hundred meters, which change very slowly. By km1, I start to fade down and think about going home.

After a few minutes to take a breath, I keep going up. Some hikers cheer me on. One says, oh you must have a triple...huh...i wish!

1 hour later I am at the top!

Riding in Penang

Today reminded me of the days Jordi and I have gone out from Girona to explore alternatives and new rides. The conversation goes something like this, ¨Look! This is new, we never did that before. Where does this paved trail go? Oh, the pavement has ended…¨ If we’re lucky, the path is in good condition. If not, it turns into a hard mountainbike trail, with mud, plants…but it pays off if we find a good connection. Those are the days we may end up doing 3hrs and 35km of riding, destroying our legs. 

That was today. I left Georgetown. I wanted to climb up to a reservoir and try to reach the other end of the island. The map showed a road, or a trail with a different color than the other roads. Other riders said it could be done on a mountainbike… The first climb was hard, but having done Penang Hill before, I would call it medium hard. Once at the top, the road is what one may dream of when thinking about riding in the jungle. This is what the real experience in Malaysia should be.

The plains by the sea in the southeastern part of the island were also nice, and I took a few small roads through banana and palm trees, and rice fields.

I stopped for some fried noodles and iced coffee (kopi’o ais) to recover and consider the way back. Option 1: the direct easy way. Option 2: checking more options. Of course I take the second choice…

Debbie and I went for a ride and got a bit lost in the mountains. Needed a breath in some steep parts. A guy came by in a mountain bike and we followed him to the next town. The cemented path we went on was amazing and we had difficulties to follow him. At the bottom he bought us a drink and showed our way back to Georgetown just before dusk. The kindness of malays

Georgetown

While we are still deciding where the tour will start, we head north to Georgetown.

We are travelling with road bikes and just a suitcase for the two of us. It’s easier to travel and move around than last year, when were riding with panniers. Everything felt heavy and slow. This time we only have to take care of finding good riding, accommodation and food.

 Why Georgetown? Declared a UNESCO World heritage city in 2008, the city is bustling with life: the mixture of Malaysia’s three cultures Indian, Chinese and Malay are well differentiated in different parts of town. This also translates in the amazing food on offer, fine restaurants and hundreds of food stalls that serve the best Malaysian, Indian and Chinese dishes.

The construction of the traditional Chinese houses, built under Feng Shui rules, give the old city a special character. The hotels we selected combine old Chinese and Malay luxury and we see similarities with our Bikecat style.

Georgetown is on the little island of Penang and the riding, once you leave the busy center, is exhilarating. The trails in the jungle are very challenging and have some steep sections…

Then there is Penang Hill, which is definitely the hardest climb I have ever done.  4.5km and 700meters of total ascent, more than 15% average, with pitches around 30%! I highly discourage doing it, but on the last day of the tour, I´ll be happy to try it with you.

The Planning

We used our initial days in KL to meet up with Jeff, plan our stay and direct energies for creating the tour in Malaysia. Here we are enjoying Malaysian tapas, checking out the velodrome and the 2012 Asian Cycling Championships. Jeff brought us to nice places to plan the trip, like the birdpark café, where we could admire the hornbills. Jaume working from the heart at our hotel. Then we were off to Georgetown, Penang!

Cycling in Malyasia 2012

Malaysian Adventure 2012 begins
This year our time in Malaysia is to make it happen: Cycling Tour in Malaysia starting in 2013. We will meet up with Jeff, our local contact, do the rides, find the best restaurants and hotels, just like in Girona.

Off to Kuala Lumpur through Amsterdam and some quiet cramming time for learning Malay

Bikecat Cycling Tours - Cycling in Girona 

New website online. 

During the past few months, Debbie and I have been working with Xavier (La Imaginaria) and his never ending patience to edit hundreds of changes and photo contents. A long process that finally comes to light. The new website has been launched, same philosophy, cleaner design. We hope you like it and find your pictures and tours easily.

www.bikecat.com

Cap de Creus

Saturday I came along to enjoy the beautiful day and prepare for an upcoming tour that will bring us out to the Cap de Creus, the easternmost point of peninsular Spain. We started in Castello d´Empuries, important for being the capital of the Empuries county during the Middle Ages. I enjoyed the pastry shop and little squares while Jaume, Tom and Hugh started off on their ride. I met up with them for a relaxing lunch near the Cap de Creus lighthouse. Debbie

Don i Simon

Last year we got to meet Don during Easter vacation and this year he came back with his son Simon for some riding. The first day they headed out to Santa Pellaia with Jordi and really enjoyed the descent. Next they did Les Serres climb and rode on beautiful countryside roads. The last day, Don went on a discovery of medieval villages over the rolling hills in the Emporda. All days with sunny spring weather!

Pulau Perhentian Islands

To end the tour in the Perhentian Islands would be ideal. Snorkeling in the amazing coral reef with the possibility to see sea turtles and many colorful fish. Finding the perfect spot on a deserted white sand beach with a good book and daydreaming. Listening to the lapping waves from your chalet as you fall asleep at night.

I am sure we will have more cycling in Malaysia soon...

For now, see you back in Girona

Kota Bharu

In Gua Musang we woke up the next morning to pouring down rain. Feeling a little tired of rain, we decided to ditch the next couple days plan to ride to Dabong and go caving, and decided to head straight up to Kota Bharu. KB is a city in the northeast near the Thai border known for its amazing market. We enjoyed wandering around and trying different food. We rode up to the beach for ice cream without the bags and out to a must-do restaurant called Yati. (Jeff’s recommendation)

Tanah Rata to Gua Musang - 100km

Our next adventure was going to be the most challenging of our entire trip. 125km. Leaving Cameron Highlands would involve a bit more effort than what we´d done up until now, with it’s up and downs, +10% and -10%.... We were told, that it would only be for the first 25k. Then we’d have a 40km descent and easy terrain to the next village, Gua Masang. Yes, next village after 100k with nothing but jungle in-between.

So we made sure we had packed plenty of water and fruit for the route.
We woke up early, still dark. Had breakfast and time to realize it was raining. A local bus let us on since there were only a few people on the 8:30 bus. In Blue Valley, at the top of the descent, it was extremely foggy and blowing a sideways rain. We decided to have a 2nd breakfast of Roti, an Indian flatbread filled with banana and strawberry jelly, and hot tea while hoping the rain would end and fog would lift. No such luck, but we started the descent with good cheer and only a 100km to go, instead of 125!

The foggy weather disappeared quickly as we descended a few kilometers. The road was wide and no cars. The first part of the ride turned out to be very fast, yeah! going downhill, but not so long as we expected, as the road started to go up. 15km on the bike and we were climbing the unexpected hills, which were short and seemed to have a constant 9%!
To finish quickly, a supposedly flat ride turned out to be 1200meters of climbing, alternating sun and showers every 5 minutes. Dry, sweat, wet, dry, wet, dry, sweat…
In Gua Masang ready for bed.

The next day, after a good sleep, it was time to remember. It had been an epic ride. Crossing from Western to Eastern Malaysia through a remote forested area. We felt happy to have ridden it!

Cameron Highlands

We rode up from Ipoh on the bus, this being highly recommended by Jeff, with our bikes being stowed down below. Up we went through the amazing forest and curving roads to Tanah Rata, the main hub town. It would have been a 40km climb. Luckily, we skipped doing it under the rain.
Settled down in a little hotel just off the main street to work and enjoy the area for a few days. We got to see the exciting end of stage 4 of Tour de Langkawi with some new friends from England.
Met Jeff at our favorite restaurant in town while he had a coffee break and also met more organizers of the LTdL, they were so welcoming and happy to have us following the race.
On our last day, we went on a hike through unbelievably green tea plantations, up Mount Brinchang, through the mystical Mossy Forest and back down a jungle trail.
The Cameron Highlands was first developed by the British in the 1920´s, as a cool mountain getaway. (We understood why the British liked it so much because it rained on and off the four days we were there) The non-riders options of jungle trekking, visiting tea plantations, strawberry farms, and the ¨native¨ people who still live in the hillsides and villages, all make it a special place to spend a few days and discover this different part of Malaysia.

Le Tour of Langkawi 2011

Le Tour de Langkawi starts Sunday, and during these days we’ve seen the teams training and getting ready. Today was the Team Presentation and we were invited. The set up was impressive and they had an amazing opening ceremony with traditional dance. In fact, LTdL is the biggest Asian race, and the media covers every detail.

We are excited to see the start as the island gets ready with events and flags everywhere.

Riding in Langkawi

We are spending 5 days riding on the island before Le Tour of Langkawi starts next Sunday.
It’s been a great spot for cycling and we’ve covered almost every single road. The loop around the island is about 100km. Of course, we’ve been trying to look for some back roads where often we ended up riding on paths. But that is what makes Bikecat riding J

Most of the riding is flat with roller costers along the coast, beautiful views and not much traffic. And then, there is the climb to Gunung Raya, similar to Rocacorba in Girona, so it´s also challenging.

Langkawi

Ooh Langkawi. The waterfalls you can swim at the base of, the clear beautiful beaches, jungle vegetation, seafood, that idea of paradise comes to mind. The possibilities for non-riders: boat rides to private islands, a bat cave, an island tour, hikes in tropical forest, cable car to the top of the second highest mountain on the island (the tallest the riders have to climb). The night markets are kind of like doing tapas in Spain, but of course more exotic with things like mango salad, coconut pastries, local rice specialities, and juice drinks of all kinds. We are planning a tour but also having such a good time imagining how much fun people would have if they came here.

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Georgetown, Penang

A fast ride from Taiping led us to Butterworth where we took a ferry to the island of Penang. On the way we met the first cyclotourists, they were on their way to Kuala Lumpur from London! Off the ferry, we were launched into the bustling city of Georgetown which is a fascinating mix of old and new. It is the oldest of the British Straits colonies and many of the beautiful colonial buildings are being renovated since Georgetown was named to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2008.
We went to see some really beautiful hotels, thinking this would be an excellent place to bring a group of riders.

Penang Hill
This morning I decided to check out Penang Hill. I had read about it before and knew it was going to be hard. I started my way out of the city, after 7km I was warmed up to face the climb. Wow it really started kicking from the beginning, 20%!! I was fresh, and the compact helped. Kept a good cadence, but after a few turns, I was all sweaty, and… a sharp turn I saw a wall in front. 31 % according to the gps. My speed was now about 7km/h and I started to zig zag on this tiny one lane road trying to keep my equilibrium. 170 bpm.1km done, I didn’t know how long it was, and was already thinking of being at the top.
The easier section at 10% gave me a leg rest. Ahead I saw another steep section,it really looked like a wall. I had to stand,4k an hour,leaning all my weight on the front wheel, struggling. Tried to look at the gps, 42%, oooooh, that was painful. I had to keep up. Reached 185. Only with 1.5km covered.
I took a break, and stopped next to a bench. Caught some air before starting again. Well, I did the same process for 4km more. Stopping two more times. My legs in pain. I had done it!
On the way back, I tightened the brake cables and did the descent more like I was mountainbiking. On a turn, my front wheel started to slip away, I thought it was gravel, I was falling down. I realized I had a flat, and went straight to stop the bike. The rims where boiling. Probably that caused the flat. Changed it and made my way safe to the bottom and back to the hotel. 30km total and the job done. I had enough. I was exhausted.
Pels que coneixeu Aiguafreda, doncs, res igual. He patit pujant com mai, casi no em podía mantener sobre la bici. Parat. La mitja de 14.4%. Vamos, que ha sigut la pujada mes dura que he fet mai.

Taiping

The people next to us said that we had to eat the real Indian way, with our hands.
Imagine going up a hill all loaded up
We were very impressed with the market in Taiping. It seemed like it hadn´t changed in a very long time.

Ipoh to Taiping - 95km

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We found a good way out of the busy city of Ipoh. Not long after, we took a very nice road with a motorbike lane that was perfect to cycle on. At an intersection we saw a little van with a woman and her three children that went by waving at us. A little after, the same car came back and they waved at us again and later on were stopped waiting for us to go by again. It seemed we were the attraction for them for the day to see two foreigners on a bike. It was a good feeling to be so welcomed by them.
An exotic lunch in Kuala Kangsar and then we headed on to our destination. To our surprise, near the end we hopped onto a tiny road, just one car wide, through little villages (called Kampungs) and a sensation of being in the real country.

Teluk Intan to Ipoh – 81km

Debbie had the first flat out on a country road just after passing a rice paddy vehicle. For this repair we had a nice shady spot. This was the first day we had an all sunny day and we had a much appreciated stop for coconut water along the road.

Near the end we saw mountains ahead of us but we wouldn´t be climbing them yet, we´ll wait for a week or so more of training with the bags before we attempt to reach the Cameron Highlands on top.

Ipoh has over 600,000 people and so we were a little nervous as we made our approach. It turned out not to be a problem and the gps was a great help and brought us right to our hotel.

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