BUKIT MERAH RIDE WITH MAVERICK
Sunday June 17, 2001
This must be the day all the Penang Island riders decided to get back to the warmth of their blankets as it rained the whole morning. I was about to leave my house for Sg. Ara, in full cycling jersey & shorts, camelbak on my back, bike all oiled and checked when it suddenly poured. I called Alan and he said that it was raining on the mainland too; Viper Ong cancelled the Sg. Ara ride.
So what did this old man do? Called Annuar! Yes, Annuar is riding with Maverick at Bukit Merah, why don't I check the new trail out! Guess what, I managed to get ol' Alan out of bed to join us!
We met Maverick and his gang at the toll plaza exiting the highway at Bukit Merah. Alan arrived very timely in his faithful Daihatsu Ascend. Annuar was behind me in his brand new Ford Ranger. After briefly greeting each other, we proceeded to Bukit Merah Laketown. At the Laketown, we were greeted by En. Dollah. He dutied a guide to show us the track, a nice pleasant chap, I like him, but forgot his name.
He took us to the trailhead, which started behind a door, right in the birds' farm. The first 2.5 km was simply unrideable. We had to carry or push our bikes 99% of this part. There were lots of Bertam plants and thorns. The track was full of roots running across. The track was very narrow and overhanging thorny branches were a menace. The trail was very near the water and I dread if there were a big tide, the trail would just disappear.
Maverick was the first casualty. He got a flat due to one of the thorns (Sup called them Booboo at the Penang Hill trail) and we spent about 10minutes waiting for the repair. There were also very narrow small log bridges. I wondered how come no one fell into the lake.
After 2.5km of torture, we came to an open clearing. Here the ground was mostly gravel and sand, small gravel chips. We cycled our heart out here, to make up for the frustration of the first 2.5km. It was fun, with Maverick's gang bellowing out jokes about the trail and Alan thanking me for getting him out of bed and onto this trail (I told him to thank Maverick).
The guide is a very jovial and cheerful chap, and he showed us the camping site and then got back to the trail. There are a couple of climbs, which should be rated as easy. After about 6 km, we came to the end of the trail and did a nice downhill ride on tarmac. You should see the Turbo Snail grinning at the sight of this downhill. We zoomed down and had sheer fun, forgetting the torture we had earlier.
We were then entertained by En. Dollah for some refreshments and were invited to enjoy the facilities at half price. However, Annuar, Alan and I declined. Alan wanted to do another ride in the afternoon; apparently he has not had enough.
The Bukit Merah Laketown management wanted to have a racetrack at the resort. My personal opinion is, a racetrack can be done on the second part we rode. The first part was simply unrideable. If they can get a good consultant, who knows all the technicalities of MTB, a nice fast track might just blossom out of this resort.
Hats off to Bukit Merah Laketown for the idea to come up with a race track, at least you've got MTB on your mind.
Hmmmmm.....why don't I spend my next holidays there, its so much nearer and cheaper than going overseas, water park, good fresh air, good scenery and a MTB track!