Saujana Putra Newbie Ride 30th JUNE 2019

Tea Plantation Newbie Introduction Ride:-

Sri Cheeding Boh Tea Plantation.

   Dotty was to be blame for this entire episode. She suggested the ride. She thought it was long overdue for us as group to host new riders to our idea of fun on a Sunday morning. Plans were made 6 weeks back. Bikes were borrowed , begged and empty promises to return it clean pledged. Helmets were also borrowed. Heck, almost everything possible was taken.
 
   Dotty showed up bright and early. She had invited 10 newbies for the ride. The old goats somehow managed to show up with 10 bikes. Some borrowed. Some lied upon to the real owners. Plan was to give the guest riders an experience on what's fun mucking around, playing with mud and spending time feeding mosquitoes on a Sunday morning instead of attending church like all good Christians should.
   Come Sunday morning. It rained. It rained cats and dogs. Messages were aplenty flying around asking if the ride would continue. I sat on the toilet bowl for a longer time that i should. Should have taken that serving of pumpkin last night i thought. But i suppose they would wait for me. Or at least 2 guest would have to wait for me, seeing that i have the 2 spare bikes for them to use. It felt good knowing you are wanted. But that will have to wait for now. I took a deep breathe and made one last squeeze, i finally made it.

   Drove to the meet point after having my coffee with Unker and Albert. Came upon the herd getting ready for their introduction to this MTB nonsense. I had a shock. There were more than 10 guest riders strolling about waiting to be dressed and served. I counted a lot of people. Unker gave a confirmation. We have 41 riders today. Oh boy.... This is either gonna be a laugh or a sobbing party. Like i mentioned in the beginning, it's all Dotty idea. If at any one time the princesses decides to cry, it's Dotty's problem. I can only promise her that my phone is fully charged. I will try to take the prettiest photo possible, and laugh only after the ride ends.

   Unker had the honor of standing on his truck and make clear that today's ride was Dotty's idea. If anything goes wrong, look for Dotty. We all nodded in unison like obedient goats. One newbie asked who this Dotty fella is and what he looks like. Ivan pointed. Annie kicked Ivan. Dennis smiled. Yeong Yeong kicked Dennis. Cecilia looked like she was in a bad dream. Amelia continued giving instructions to LeAnn, Kavi, and the young man in black. I felt like i was back in secondary school again. I can't wait for the school toilet to explode.
   So off we went.

   Everyone stuck to someone. The newbies blinked a lot. Ivan and Annie couldn't stop grinning. We pedalled off slowly on the tarmac towards the trail head which was 3km away next to a cemetery. It was all sunny and cheery as we pedalled along. My tyre went flat within 10 minutes.

Annie helping to change tube.

   It was ok. Seeing that i had the company of friends with me. Took me a good few minutes to fix up the flat. Them friends were helpful. They stood by and gave instructions like all good friends do when you are suffering a mishap. One fella even took out his camera. They never once thought of abandoning me. They waited patiently while i squatted like an old chimp peeling a mango. Of course they offered words of encouragements. They still couldn't agree if it was a mango or a nangka.

   We caught up with the rest of the pack at the trail head. Into the trail we went. Gathered everyone at the Indian Temple while Unker went searching for the one newbie. After a bit of time spent kicking branches, we found out the newbies name. LeAnn.  Turns out, the senior riders designated to babysit her were sleeping on their job. The seniors did not give LeAnn the correct instructions. LeAnn had to learn to ride the mtb all by herself. Poor thing was given 10 minutes to learn. That is old school Chinese Tiger Mum Parenting skills. Anyhoo. LeAnn made it. VC looked like he was on the verge of crying. Ricky , well ... he smiled a lot.
 Annie kicked Dennis when Dennis raised his hand to ask what's going on. Amelia continued saying something to no one in particular. Kavi stared at the palm tree for the longest time. Vivian smiled as much as Ricky. The guy in black. Well... He was cooperative.

   Unker counted the herd. All 41 accounted for. Away we went. Rode 200 meters and Unker stopped the herd. We have arrived at the promised tea plantation. I counted 30 phones. We spent the next 10 minutes politely standing around. I felt like a Japanese. Ricky and Vivian continued smiling. Siew Yung joined the smiling party. Ivan was lost for words. He asked if we plan to stop every 200 meters. We sent Ivan back towards the trail head. Ivan went off like a happy Billy Goat in search of birds to play with.

   Photos taken. Group tour continued. Lotsa smiles and happy faces.

  Ivan came back to the group and away we went. Rode 200 meters and i caught another puncture. Ivan almost had a heart seizure. Annie was having the time of her life. The 2 UMNO representative started whispering to each other quietly. Discussion done and the 2 UMNO boys stepped up.

   " Pat. It pretty obvious why you are getting a flat tyre. You are a cheapskate Chinaman. Stop buying old tubes. And this is not the way to get attention. Today, it's the newbies day. Let them have the attention they deserve. You stop doing this nonsense now. "

Dennis helping to change tube.

   If not for them having a combined height of 12 feet and 7 inches, i would have stood up to them. They were lucky. I let that remark pass. But i did take a slightly longer time to change my tube this time around. Just to get back at them. Annie was very supportive though. She smiled and kicked pebbles in my direction. Ivan gave us a grumpy puff and cycled back towards the trail head again. Dennis started to smile a lot as well.

   We caught up with the main group within minutes. Rode 800 meters this time before we came to the other photo stop. From then on, it was pretty monotonous. Newbies seemed to be enjoying themselves. No one complained or stopped to throw up their breakfast. Seng Kiat was mighty dissapointed. His guest rider was totally having a good time. We asked Seng Kiat why he looked so gloomy.

   " Understand this Pat. Derrick is my school mate. I have known him all my life. I know Derrick inside out. Derrick has a special skill. He breaks his bones all the time. He broke his bone while playing carrom. Mind you, he didn't break his finger. He broke his toe while playing carrom. You see why i am so disappointed now?"

   We could only pat Seng Kiat on his back and send him on his way.

Ivan lapping the riders out of boredom.

Apple break.

   So we rode for the next 2 hours. Stopped 4 more times to take photos. Ate some apples along the way.
   Came to to the lotus pond and spent another 15 minutes playing tourist. Then it was time to head back to the car and call it a day.

Green grass.

   All in, it was 17km of riding. Almost 3 hours of riding. No one fell. Ate a lot of mud. Derrick didn't break any bone. Dotty did not get lynched. Kavi promised to cry only after she gets home. Vivian gave many thumbs up. LeAnn was unconscious for most part of the morning. The Young Chap in Black said 2 words. Ivan wanted to go for second round. Annie threw something at him. VC was thirsty by 10am. Aric wanted to eat durian. Siew Yung agreed to everything. Ricky has 5 smelly goats to deliver back to PJ.
   Away we went in search for food.
   Another Sunday ride done and dusted. Expect those 10 fellas to walk funny in office today. Let's see how they smile with a painful butt today.

   Un'believable.