The Gerik Loop

Big loop through central Malaysia – mountain motorways, valley racing and the best nasi goreng this side of Kuala Lumpur

- Jeremy Torr

We had decided to go for a long weekend ride in Malaysia. As we (me, Teng, Melvin, Phil, Safri, Dave and Phil's mate Steve) lived in Singapore, it was just a matter of packing a passport, a toothbrush and changing some dollars to ringgit... and away we could go. This time we were heading north up the main North-South Highway, towards Kuala Lumpur and the famous, 600km long, cloud-clad Gerik Loop ride.

The Gerik Loop is a famously challenging circle of biker-rated tarmac, bang in the middle of Malaysia and snaking around the fringes of the dense mountain jungle of the Cameron Highlands. It is wild country, but is also the launch pad for hours of swooping, jaw-dropping, mountain-climbing, vehicle-free, cloud-piercing and valley-racing riding the likes of which boring Euro Alpine adventure motorcyclists could never imagine. It is biking heaven defined, and we were on our way there.

On the ride up towards the Highlands, riding the three-lane highway, we cruised at about 140-160kph (85-100mph). The limit was 110kph (69mph), but we weren't worried about getting booked. Not because we wouldn't be stopped (we often were), but because we knew we would simply never get actually booked. Here's how it played out.

A traffic cop steps on to the highway and flags us all down.

"Do you know why we stopped you?"

"No."

"You were speeding. We have you registered on our speed gun at 134kph!"

"Can you show me the speed read-out?"

"No, it is on the last bridge, back up the road a way."

"Well, you can't prove I was speeding then."

"Yes you were." "No I wasn't." "Yes you were." "No I wasn't"... etc., etc., would then go on for an unspecified length of time. The reason this banter and repeated denial didn't see us immediately spreadeagled over the bonnet of a cop car with handcuffs cutting into our wrists was simple: most Malaysian traffic cops don't have speed guns.