Holland ride! PCC's KOM 3, Genting Highland 04 Nov 2001
It all happens when I read about KOM rides in PCC journals. You know, they write about how tough are the climbs and how satisfy when they finally make it. I am kind skeptic whenever I read about the KOM thing. C'mon lah, we Penang folks' 84 is reputed to be the toughest climb in Malaysia. Not many people can do it, and once you manage to climb that Penang Hill jeep track in one breath, you can conquer any hills in Malaysia! So I decide to join one of the their KOM rides to see how tough it really is!
I was the only rider from KOTRT to join this KOM 3 thing. Others had either been quiet or claimed that they had guests to take of. What ever lah. I am always a lone ranger. This was not my first solo trip down to KL. I have done it twice before this one - Paul's Sungai Long and PCC's Janda Baik. In fact, I find it easier to travel alone(other than no one to chat during the three hour drive) since I do not have to wait for others and take my own sweet time. I did not start my journey down to KL until 4pm on Saturday evening. It took me 4 hours to reach Ria Apartment(It was raining after I hit Ipoh and I took a long detour to Bidor to get my "Kai Chai Peng"). Tough luck for me. Dinner was already served. Having no choice, I had to settle for the most expensive Nasi Lemak I had had at the Genting Kafe. Can you immagine that I paid 15 bucks for a plate of Nasi Lemak? What a rip off!
We got up quite early to get ourselves ready since the apartment we were staying only had one bathroom. I could not sleep anyway. The guys next apartment were so energetic that they did not need to sleep. I wonder what had made them stayed awake for the whole frigging nite! I decided to go down to the meeting point at Gohtong Jaya first after I had my simple breakfast(bread with lots of beery jam and a cup of hot Milo). I thought I was the first arrived at the meeting point. I was wrong. James was already there with Melody of KL Bike Hash, Shah and Bok from A2W. It was good to see them again since we have not seen each others for quite some time. I had never took notice of Shah's bike when we met in Penang few years back. It was a Canzo Ti, which shared the same design as my red devil, a VooDoo Zobop. Of course lah, I did not skip the oppoturnity to have a feel of his Canzo. It felt most or less like my Red Devil. As the time running out, I did not manage to test ride it. I would love to man!
We went down to Batang Kali after almost everyone was encountered for. It was a fast downhill ride. Everyone was racing each to the Batang Kali junction eventhough the road was wet, and the sky was still drizzling. It was very tempting for me to crank my heart out to chase after those on Giant TCRs. Speaking of which, there were bunch of riders riding Giant TCR ONCEs. It seems like Giant is very popular in KL. Probably the best value for money for a roadie bike?
Anyway, I decided to let the gravity do the job. I still managed to catch up with them and overtook some of the riders. As we approached, the rain all the sudden got heavier. I did not bother to turn myself into flying garbage bag, so I was virtually soaking wet down to my socks. The rain all the sudden stopped just meters before we reached the junction. A typical highland weather, I think! We took a short breather at the junction while waiting for the late comers to cacth up with us. A count before we took off showed that there were more than 30 riders joining the ride!
We took off after we had our group photo. I made a mental note that I would do it in 4 hours. It was a long ride. I had to pace myself. Those guys were well train and much better than me. I should not chase after them. But you know what? I forgot what I told myself when I was on my way to Gohtong Jaya! Man, it was the biggest mistake I had ever made. Maybe I started last(I was the last rider) that made me panic. It did not take me long to cacth up the few riders. I really respect some of the riders who rode their MTBs on knobbies. If I were on knobbies, I don't think I would survive the ride. We had a few chats before I decided to catch up the rest. I think it was because of the gradual slopes that gave me a false sense of confidence that I could maintain at present speed to reach to the peak!
It did not take me long to catch up another group of riders. I was casually cruising pass the aslian village, and I saw the riders in front of me one by one climbed down from saddle to take a rest. It was very tempting for me to stop as well. I think it is a evil thought effect that I had to come over with. Sometimes I just stop not because the climb is too tough or I am tired. I stop just because the riders in front of me stop! I resisted the temptation as I rode pass another few riders that were resting at the road side. Too bad, my bladder sounded an alarm that I needed to pee. I did not realize that I was only 2 km away from the cable car station.
I decided to continue after I had my pee to finished off the last 2km before the cable car station. Btw, how did I know? It was because one of the riders decided to stop and had a chat with me when he saw me standing in front of a tree doing my thing. Checking with his Santa Cruz Superlight, I realized that how simple was my VooDoo Erzulie. With Alivio all round and a rigid fork, no comparison. Checking his bike really made me drool. Chris King hub set, SID air shocks, XTR drivetrain. Man, luckily it was a broad daylight, or I would definitely rob his bike!
There were already riders resting at the bus stop when I finally climbed to the stool and took out my chocolate nuggets. I could see some of them were already limping on the seat. It just took me a while to finish the whole thing. I did not realize that I was that hungry. That Santa Cruz guy were still with me. I told him I was going to take a long break at the bus stop. I could see that he was relief to hear me saying that. Maybe he liked me so much he decided to stick with me? Hmm...
We took off to continue the rest of the journey after that Santa Cruz guy told me he had enough rest. I asked him to help me taking a picture of myself at the gate before we proceeded. Evidence lah. Otherwise those buggers back in Penang would say I make up all the story about riding the KOM 3 shit. We continued the journey afterwards. I don't know if it were mistake to stop every 2km after the gate. The climb no doubt was steeper than the Batang Kali-Cable car station but still manageable. I could continue non-stop. But that Santa Cruz guy was no where to be seen. At first, I did stop to wait for him. But it seems like it took him longer and longer to reach every designate stops. I decided not to wait for him anymore. Also, I started to see those riders that rode from Boon Foo catching with me. But the frequent stops had taken a toll on me. I knew it was not good to make frequent stops. My legs started to give away. It was my left thigh, both bicep and tricep cramped. It was painful no doubt. I checked the road sign, I was "only" 3km from the peak!
It was the longest 3km I had ever pushed my bike. I could not continue anymore due to the cramp on my left thigh. I tried couple of times. I did not exactly push all the way. But I just couldn't continue after a mere few hundred meters. And I swear the air all the sudden became thinner when I push pass the 3km marque. I found it more difficult to breath! The last one kilometer was even more painful. My right leg started to give way. Same thing, both bicep and tricep cramped at the same. I couldn't squat down, I couldn't walk and I couldn't even stand! I finally made it to the entrance at Genting Theme Park hotel after the longest one kilometer(half an hour!). With both of my legs cramp already, I still managed to climb back to saddle to finish the last 500 meters. At least I manage to mantain my pride by not embarrasing the KOTRT. Check my time, it was 1pm, four and the half hours later after we started from Batang Kali.
It was not a bad ride if I were prepare for it. The climb was very much like Gunung Jerai one but twice in distance. This ride has revealed a short coming of me: My stamina is not as good as what I have claimed. I still need a lot of training to do before I could comfortably say my stamina is okay!
No ride for the following week! Need time to recover lah.
Stay tuned!