Here we go. The old donkeys have decided to be more serious about riding. Well, ONE donkey at least... After weeks of doing half hearted rides all over town. Someone actually asked to have a more dignified ride so as not to shame the children telling their friends in pre-school that their old man is a weekend warrior. ( 50 minutes was all we did for last Kiara ride. Hence the absence of any ride report. It was too shameful to even publish in cyberspace.)
So this week we are off to do a half day epic ride. In PCC terms, that also means you might get lost and end up spending 12 hours in the trail with only a dozen of old smelly donkeys for company.Do not sign any documents during ride briefing. Thats where they catch you off guard.
This is your chance to prove to mummy dearest that you are actually trained stoopid. NOT genetically gifted stoopid. Attached below is the ACTUAL ride feedback from the FIRST epic traverse done in 2003. Reading it now still makes me weep...
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| The Height of Cycling fashion circa 2000's... |
Homecoming of the Long
Lost Son by Cool Lane
Our
M&D section talked me into joining the first HOB of 2003 which was Sg Pusu,
the first ever self-supported overnight off-road ride. I must admit that it has
been a long while since I had gone for an off-road ride and one that involved
climbing some hills at that but the call of the wilderness was too strong to
ignore. Consulted some of my partners in crime to join me but they all had
fallen into the dark side and the excuse was too many leeches. So did my
shopping for the trip and sent my mountain bike that had collected quite a bit
of cobweb for service.
Woke
up bright and early on Saturday and together with Ivan and Annie headed down to
the Caltex Station at Taman Melawati, the meeting point for the trip. At about
7.30am, everybody arrived and after a short briefing of the trail, we headed
towards UIA where the trailhead began. Almost immediately we began to climb the
hill which was rutted and quite unrideable and made worse by a 20-lb backpack!
The climb up to the peak was a real lungbuster not that I rode most of it but
pushing was bad enough.
After
what must have been forever, we finally reached the first peak and began the
downhill blast which was quite exhilarating. It had been so long and I had
forgotten what a rush an offroad downhill blast can give you! Soon the fun
ended and the second climb started and it was as bad as the first one but as
with everything that goes up, it must come down and the downhill was as good as
the first. The downhill led us straight to the river where we were to set up
camp for the night. Unknown to us, there was a reception waiting for us at the
campsite hosted by some jungle trekkers who had built the makeshift facilities
at the campsite. After scoffing down some teh O and cucuk udang, we set up camp
after bidding farewell and thanking our host who had moved on up river for a 2
and a half hour trek to a waterfall upstream for some kelah fishing (wish I
could join them!). After setting up camp, we had lunch and whiled away our time
by chitchatting and just simply enjoying the serenity of the surroundings. As
evening approached, we pooled our food rations and shared it with everybody
which resulted in some fine variety of grub.
After
dinner, Peter and Danny arrived, as they had left much later in the day due to
work commitments (talk about being hardcore!). Night came and we sat around the
dining table sharing stories of past rides while downing endless cups of coffee
and more food. A small surprise was in store as that day happened to be Meng’s
29th birthday (or the 20th anniversary thereof) and a
cake was brought out as we sang Happy Birthday while Danny played his harmonica
(a man of many talents, should hear him sing!). We went to sleep at about 11pm.
Some people complained of a passing train but I didn’t’ hear a thing, must be
their imagination.
Day 2
Woke
up bright and early and washed in some icy cold water, followed with breakfast.
The night before was pretty cold somewhere in the low 20’s. Once we were warmed
up, we broke camp and so began the second part of our little adventure. This
part of our trip had nothing to do with our ability to ride a bike but how to
balance our bikes and backpacks (which were much lighter after scoffing down
all our food) through some pretty nasty ground. Here some of us picked up some
hitchhikers who were there not for the ride but for some fresh blood. After
traipsing through the river for about half an hour, we reached a section where
2 rivers meet and the sight and ambience of the place can’t be described; you
have to be there to appreciate it and who would have thought that you could
stumble upon an abandoned overhead railway track smack in the middle of
nowhere! A short distance upriver, we reached the trailhead and began the climb
to the peak. The weather had started to heat up and we were not covered by
canopy as much as earlier. This time around the hills were quite rideable, they
were not too steep or rutted. Again as everything goes up must come down, we
blasted downhill but not for long as the trail was so badly rutted even some
full sussy had to push down too. We exited the trail at Kg Kemensah waterfall
entrance where Danny appropriately stopped an ice-cream man and all of us
promptly attacked with vengeance. The weather had started to become hot and
heavy as we finished our cool ice cream and continued with the last 5km to the
Caltex Station.
While
having lunch, I pondered about my experiences over the weekend and what I had
been missing ever since abandoning M&D! The weekend had taught me one thing
and that is no amount of road riding can replace the sheer joy you get from
riding a good offroad ride, being at one with nature and its surroundings,
clean air and water that you could drink without hesitation. Some may beg to
differ saying it’s messier and the distance too short but it still is great fun
and gives more adrenaline rush for the buck. So I am going to maker it a point
to return to my roots and do more offroad rides this year.
So
Mother Nature, I am Coming Home!
Many
thanks to James the PainMaster and Peter (dudes, thanks for showing me the
light), Danny (for the compliment “shoulder of a tiger and waist of a bear”),
Ivan, Annie, James, Louis, Rob, Simon, Oneil, Adrian, Orang Gunung, Patrick,
Mark, Eric, Emilia, Keith and Meng.
BIKE
TILL YOU DROP!
Falling in Love…by
Emilia
Am falling in LOVE! ...Am falling in LOVE! …Am falling in
love with MUD & DIRT, sorry TAR & GRIME I found someone else better
than you....
Wat else to say...so damn syiok! ...Tolak basikal, masuk
sungai, naik bukit, turun bukit...no complaint lah! ...Cannot find it in KLCC
tau!
Talking bout the leech...ala…not many, fews only la…u scream
n the guys will come running to u to save your kaki...apa susahkan? Cannot
carry your own stuffs, send for courier service. That’s what I did and thank
you, thank you, thank you zillion thank you to Meng. Without him my
barang and myself would not have safely reached the campsite.
So...where we goin next week Peter?
Another Great and Memorable Ride
with PCC by Eric ‘Orang
Gunung’ of Singapore
Smokinn Babes
and myself left Singapore at 3.30am, only to arrive slightly late for the
7.30am rendezvous with the rest of the riders. After a quick (but regrettably
heavy) breakfast of nasi lemak and curry sotong, we made the ride towards Kg Sg
Pusu without much issue.
From
there it’s off the tarmac, and almost immediately it was dismount and push
time… the upward slope though rather gradual, was too rutted to ride. It was
mainly uphill from then and after lots of pushing (for myself at least), we
finally made it up to a junction that leads either to Genting Highlands or to
our campsite. From there, it was an excellent technical downhill on the “mother
of all ruts” track. Deep ruts on both sides await to eat up those who go astray
for not riding the ridge well. Poor Smokinn Babes was eaten up… twice, and
myself once… I somersaulted after my front wheel hit flat against a ditch, the
mistake I pay for choosing the wrong line! The “mother of all ruts” led to a
river with slippery logs (hear that someone slipped and fell off those slimy
logs), and from then it was no issues to the campsite.
A 2pm
entry into campsite must have been a first for PCC HOB! The campsite was a
lovely surprise… huts, tables, chairs, clear river, butterflies everywhere…
what’s more we were warmly welcomed with snacks and tea! How’s that for a
self-supported ride???
The
early entry to the campsite was excellent for me thought… time to chill out by
the river and catch up on my much-needed sleep! Lots of the other riders, so
used to a typical hectic PCC ride, found it difficult to chill out.
Dinner
was a sumptuous experimentation of all conceivable junk food… from “sandy”
rice, to Friskies. Yeah we lived to tell the tale. Smokinn Babes and myself
zonked out soon after dinner… it was blissful 12-hour snooze in the cool
mossie-less night, to the call of frogs and crickets.
The
morning mood was just as relaxed… a relatively late waking, a simple breakfast,
and then off to hit the tracks again. This second day experience was totally
unique again… an initial few kilometers of true forest single-track… bunny
hopping over roots, great V-dips across pristine forest streams, and the
occasional duck from the many rattan vines out to catch the unwary. Then it’s
river running time… a good long push of the bike along the river to soak those
muscles cold.
Out of
the river, and onto the hills. Not too difficult… many of the up slopes were
very doable, provided you have enough momentum.
What
goes up, must come down… but to my dismay, the most of the downhills were
technically too challenging for me to ride down, with narrow ruts and ridges
leaving little room for error. With the heavy pack on the back, I was not
willing to take the risk.
At the
bottom were the plains to Klang Gates. A short ride brought us back to the
fringe of civilization, were we all treated ourselves to a few servings of
ice-lollies.
Thanks
again to the crazy guys of PCC for yet another great ride….
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