Mervick's Kulim High Tech fun, 05 August 2001

I think we have run out of place to ride. I just realized that we are riding on the same old trail over and over again. Quite a while ago, riding in Kulim High Tech Park was the thing we kept on talking and praised how unique it was. But riding at the same trail for the fifth time, I don't know about others, I think I am thinking of looking for new trail to ride again. That was my thought before I rode on Sunday. The Kulim managed to change my mind totally about the Kulim High tech trail. It was one hell of the ride. Why did I say it was different? Because this time we did a full loop, a full 50km loop! Man!

With both my Diamondback and Zobop still in garage, I decided to take my rigid Erzulie out for a spin. Faz called me up 7.30 in the morning. I was in the middle of having a wet dream and he called me up. With all the xyz I could come out from my mouth, I told I would be there in half an hour. Oh yeah, the doc called 15 minutes before that. It looked like I would have to be up no matter what. Actually I was thinking of skipping the ride already. Hang over lah. Two bottles of Stout a day before made me felt like shit. But if I did not get up at that time, Azmi or ST were going to call me again! It was a cloudy day. The sky looked like it was going to rain anytime soon. But I was already on the way to the trail head. Turning back was not the option. I just hope that if it rained, it was not going to be the fun stopper. Azmi called me when I was about reaching the first toll of BKE. I knew he was going to call me since I had not been showing KOTRT ride lately. Cannotlah, sometimes I think I have to make the KOTRT presence felt at other group ride you know?

40 riders showed up for the ride. Nice! If you recall, riding in Kulim High Tech trail would not complete with few incidents. At the very beginning only, one of the riders had his rear wheel tire punctured. He had to turn back since no one had a spare tube that has long presta head. Two others decided to follow him since they carpooled together. The ride just about to start and there were already three casualties, very nice!

The sky was getting darker when we finally started the ride. It was a typical mountain biker time in Penang. All say ride starts at eight, it always ends up at nine. Sometimes, I have a feeling that if I were late for half an hour, I would still be able to catch up with the ride! Okay back to the ride thing. Having riding a URT bike for two months, switching back to rigid bike was like sky and land(it means huge difference!!). The feedback from ground was so intense that I wonder if I could get overwhelm by information overload. One thing for sure, I felt like I was flying! It clearly showed when I was riding on the first section of the ride! Anyway, I decided to slow down in the remaining journey.

The lucky was not with me when we finally hit the dirt. It was an out of blue instant. The tube of my bike's rear tire decided to give. A close inspection showed that the certain sections of the used Wild gripper that I fixed on Erzulie was already ripped open. Problem is I was no where in the pack since I volunteered to be the sweeper. So the only choice I had right was either turned back or patch the tire. Luckily, I still had the aluminum foil with me. I would have to make do with it since I would have to catch up with the group and told them what was happening.

I finally caught up with the group after 15 minutes of riding alone in the oil palm estate. Kind of spooky you know? No one was in front or behind. I was all on myself. To be honest, if I were not familiar with the trail, I would definitely turn back. But apparently the Kulim folks had done a good job in trail marking. They tied ribbons at the junctions to tell riders which way to go. After they inspected the "injury" I had on my bike, the decision was I should continue to the next pit stop since it was not far away Faz had volunteered to ride with me just in case he could help if I had another puncture again.

Well, apparently the Lady of Luck was not at my side. The bicycle shop at the 2nd pit stop did not have any knobbies available, not even the cheap local made Feng Keong MTB tire! They offered to get the tire from nearby store but it would take half an hour or more. I did not want the whole group to wait for me to get new tire fixed. I decided to use the patch to fix the opening at the side wall. Lots of riders, especially those from other groups were amazed at the stuffs I brought with me. For some, it was still not enough but for them, it seems like I brought the whole workshop with me! I almost used all the available patch to fixed the openings. The wall had already ripped open in quite a number of places. And you know what? When I get panic, I can never think straight. I should have switch the rear to the front! I did not do that until I finished the high speed ride on the paddy field trail.

Paddy field trail? Yeah, that was the portion that makes this ride different from previous one. All the while we only do half loop. This time, the Kulim folks decide to take us for the full loop, which paddy field trail is the one that provides most the fun. And what a fun it was!!! The head wind was so strong that I wanted to cry. I was again in the middle between groups(Next time I make sure that I will start with front pack together!). The front pack was already far away. I could see them but it was going to be an all out effort to catch up with them. To make the situation worst, I was all by myself. No one was available to draft me. Even when I managed to catch up with the sub groups, apparently slowing down after they had exhausted their effort to catch up with the front pack, expected me to draft them. No way man, dream on! You guys are on your own! When I saw people were trying to draft from behind, I immediately switched to lower gear and sprinted all the way out! Sorry lah, survival instinct took over rational sense!

I did not know it took to finish the whole paddy field trail. I just knew that by the time I was about o give up already(after overtaking countless sub groups), I saw riders in front stopped at the front of one kampung house. Apparently, they realized there were riders behind trying their butt out to catch up with the front pack. Upon inspection on the rear tire, there were more openings than before. And then, others started to make fun of me that I had gone too fast that the tire couldn't take it. On serious, I think they spoke the truth. The tire just could not take the stress that I applied on them. I decided to take Rin's advice to switch the rear to front since there were still 18 more kilometers to go! We went back to the oil palm estate again after we rode a short section of tarmac. It was a connection to the trail that we came in.

We finally finished the ride just half an hour afternoon. Total distance traveled: close to 44km. Not exactly 50km but I felt I was riding longer than that. The ride on paddy field was the killer. Some riders were still no way to be seen when I was already packed up and ready to go.

Was it a fun ride? Some says it was. Some says it was too easy. For me, I like the thrill of speed, especially the roller coaster ride in the estate. You speed down the slope, and then the momentum takes you up to one half of the slope and you pedal the rest. You just get faster and faster. It was fun!

Lunch was at Pelita Chai Leng Park. Of all three Pelitas I have tried in Penang, the Pelita Chai Leng Park is still the best place to have my favorite beef curry!

Stay tuned!