CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
335 km from Bukittinggi to Bukittinggi, about 5 h 24 of riding. It goes by way of Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping, Coal Storage and back through Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Padang Panjang is a cool, rain-washed town in the highlands of West Sumatra, in the land of the Minangkabau, at the foot of two volcanoes, Marapi and Singgalang, each rising to nearly three thousand metres. The railway station here is a relic of the Dutch colonial network built in the 1890s to carry coal from the mines of Sawahlunto to the port of Padang. The line had a difficult climb to make from the coast, and part of it used a rack system, with a toothed rail between the running rails and special locomotives gripping it to haul trains up the steep slope.
Read the complete Padang Pandjang Train Station write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Padang Pandjang Train Station is where the day begins. Next is Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping.
Coal built this corner of West Sumatra, and the buildings at Salak and the Ranith pumping station are part of the machinery that moved it. The Dutch colonial government developed the Ombilin coalfield after a geologist found rich seams near Sawahlunto in the nineteenth century, and the whole system of mine, railway, power plant and port was later recognised by UNESCO as the Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto. A power station gave the mines electricity, and a pumping station supplied water, because a steam age needs both.
Read the complete Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is Coal Storage.
Coal needs a harbour, and for the Ombilin mines the harbour was at Padang, on Sumatra's west coast, about five kilometres from the site. The Dutch built a deep-water port in the bay south of the town, naming it Emmahaven after the queen consort, and the railway from Sawahlunto ended here at the quay and the storage yards. Today the port is known as Teluk Bayur, and some of the old coal-handling structures can still be seen.
Read the complete Coal Storage write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 167 km into the recorded legs you reach Coal Storage. Next is back through Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping, late in the day. Next is Padang Pandjang Train Station.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Padang Pandjang Train Station write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Padang Pandjang Train Station. That is the ride.
Padang Pandjang Train Station → Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping → Coal Storage is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Coal Storage → back through Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Salak Power Plant and Ranith Water Pumping → Padang Pandjang Train Station is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.