Gertak Sanggul again, 07 October 2001

I was supposed to join Michael's Mengkuang Dam Merry Go Round this morning. A sudden phone rang changed my plan of morning ride when I was about to leave for the meeting place. My pop and mom were stuck in Raja Uda after the car they were driving was down. Cursed under the breath, I had no choice but to go to Raja Uda to fetch them. I knew by the time I took them home, I would not be able to make it to the meeting place on time. It was very disappointing. Seeing that my morning was already ruined, pop offered to buy me a breakfast at his favorite dim sum place. But do you think I would have the mood to enjoy my breakfast? Well, what I wanted to do was hoping that the toll truck could come and pick up the Kanchil so that I could rush to the meeting point! It turns out that the luck was not on my side. I had no choice but to tell Faz that I was not going to make it! What so special about the ride in the Mengkuang Dam. Lets put it this way, you are going to be one of the few who has the opportunity to try the trail first before anybody else. Isn't it a privilege? Anyway, I did not want to waste the Sunday for doing nothing. So I decided to do Gertak Sanggul again, with my red devil!

It was a cloudy evening. Funny, morning was a sunny day. But when the time approached noon, the sky all the sudden turn dark. Maybe that guy up there knew I was not in good mood, so He changed the weather to suit me. I called some of my riding buddies to find out if the weather were okay on the island. The weather was okay, no rain but cloudy. It took me 20 minutes to reach the trailhead at Gertak Sanggul. Having wasted no time, I quickly fixed my red devil up and proceed to the ride of the day.

The trail was wet and slippery. Apparently it was raining quite heavily in morning. I had to be careful when saw green stuffs on the trail. Bad memory always comes back whenever I see those green stuffs. With the stiffness of the rear suspension set to the max, I found the bike behaved very much like a hardtail. The pivot still moved whenever I pressed the pedals. But it created much less bops than before. I found it to be of my style. I only want the shock to do its job when I attack the big bumps, not every single tiny bumps I encounter.

I wish I have stop watch with me. I have a feeling that I took less time than last week to reach the plateau. I did not stop for a regroup since there was no one I had to wait. I continued my ride after I took some time to catch some breaths and had few sips from my dehydration pack. One thing I like about the trail in the plateau is it is not exactly flat. The trail runs ups and downs with the terrain. The climbs are not as knee busting as those K rating climbs on the island and mainland but steep enough to give you a good workout. The mix of cemented and dirt singletrack also adds some fun factor to the ride. Those who had ridden the Gertak Sanggul and love it will agree with me. This is a nice trail for daily workout and also an idea trail for advanced beginners to start a feel what is all mountainbiking about.

Since the trail was wet, I had to be careful during the descent on the cement section. The trail was very slippery. I had to be careful not to lock the front, or I would have the most spectacular fall on the trail! At certain section, I nearly fell to the cliff when the front wheel rubbed the trail shoulder. Luckily I managed to pull the devil back on line before the front wheel gave way.

It only took me about half an hour to reach the other end of the plateau from the trail head. I took a short five minutes break and decided to go back. Maybe another time, I would descend to Pulau Betong and make a loop back to Gertak Sanggul! Yeah, it is a good idea since I have already made a reservation with PCC on their coming KOM3! A full loop next time maybe? Hmm...

Riding alone is always fun. But one thing that some might find it disturbing - it was that spooky feeling when I was passing thru the jungle section! I always had a feeling that somebody is watching me. It reminds me of the song sang by LL Cool Jay, "somebody's watching me!" I just could not get away from the feeling that someone is hiding behind the bush and watch every single move I am making. I become very cautious not to curse out loud, which I always can't help to do it when I am riding in group!

I don't know what am I going to do next week yet. LIMA is on next week, and I will be going to the exhibition. Anyway, lets see what happen!

Stay tuned!