Mooncake ride at Gertak Sanggul, 30 September 2001
It was raining cats and dogs! We did not expect the weather was that bad! But one thing for sure, we all enjoyed the ride. It was just about right for both seasoned and returning riders!
We were supposed to ride in Kedah. But thing changed in the last minute. The time was not right for especially Chinese because Sunday was coincidentally the Mooncake festival. The younger generation might not care about it but the old folks? I tried it before. My mom gave me the longest face she has ever made when I told her that I wanted to ride during the CNY. Come on lah. I don't play fire crackers anymore. I don't go out wet wet anymore. It's kind of boring to stay at home and do nothing other than shooting the cockroaches in the toilet(Hey, I am still single ok?). My fiancée was busy like a busy bee at her pub. I was bored to death! Luckily, she nodded her head when I told I would go for a quick round, and I promise I will be a good boy for the entire year(not!). You know, like cycling at the backyard. A 20km on road from my house to Kuala Juru and back.
There were nine of us gathering at Andy's pop's coffee shop. Faz said he was going to bring his Intelian friends. Apparently, eight thirty in the morning were too early for them to get up on Sunday. I kind of understand. Sat and Sun are the best days to catch some zzz. Only the crazy buggers like us could get up at such time. Even my high school buddy is no exception. I hardly see him ever since he's got married. Maybe it's time for me to ask him if he were thinking of selling his ATX830... Anyway, there was new face showing up for the ride. He was a returning rider. Rode a Trek OCLV, the bike was a beauty! Man, he really put me into shame lah. The bike was at least 4 to 5 years old but my two year old Vectra looked much older than his! Since there were no newbies, after a quick breakfast we decided to cycle to Gertak Sanggul instead of driving there. Good idea at the time of economy crisis. 15% profit sharing this quarter, how can I survive??? Sorry lah folks, I thought I could get myself a nice waterproof camera. But with tiny whiny 15%, I have to put the plan on hold I get my year end contractual bonus lah.
The traffic on the road was light compares to normal day. I was with Richard. Lee, Terry and Andy formed the mid pack, and Faz and the Trek guy were tailing behind. It did not take long for us to reach the first regroup point before the trailhead. The front and mid packs were cruising at above our normal speed. Richard and I virtual free spun all the way from Andy's house at Bayan Lepas. It was a good workout. The free spin ride managed to wake up my sleepy muscles. Maybe for the future ride we should include a short road ride before the trailhead! We met another rider at the meeting point. He is also a returning rider. I have ridden with him for couple of times. I could see that he was a skillful rider. He just needs some time to build up his strength and stamina again, and he will be one of the strong riders of Nuikars69! The back pack was still far away. We decided to take a breather and took our time to enjoy the view. Again, O'Joe's Trek Y22(another beauty) put me in shame one more time. Shit, I should have brought my red devil with me. At least, the red devil is not as terrible as my race machine!
We took another extra 5 minutes break for the last pack to catch up their breaths. I had no worry about Faz but the Trek guy really looked like he needed an oxygen tank. One thing that made me wonder. He claimed he rode before, I mean on mountainbike. How come he never realized that helmet is a must for a mountainbiker? Hmm... Anyway, we took off exactly after 5 minutes. The sky looked like it was going to rain soon. When I looked at everyone, they were so eager to go. So I decided to keep my mouth shut and continued the ride. Who knows? They might be as crazy as me. Riding in the rain is fun man.
Immediately we hit the slope, the group started to split into three groups. This time, Andy, Richard and me were in one group. O'Joe, Terry and Lee were in another, and Faz and the Trek guy again formed the last pack. Richard was already way in front when Andy and I were about to attack the slope. I decided not to overdo myself since this was not a short ride. We gradually climbed to the plateau as the sky was getting darker and darker. Terry was trying to follow me and Andy but he decided to give us a break after a while. We stopped next to the hut at the plateau to wait for the rest to catch up. I was shock to see that part of the land had been cleared. Apparently the landowner has something in his mind to do something out of the piece of land he owned. I have a very bad feeling that the Gertak Sanggul trail will be facing the same faith as my other favorite in the mainland!
The rest started to show up minutes after the front pack reached the plateau. We took another breather for our Mr. Trek to take his breath again. Seeing that he did not have helmet with him, Faz volunteered to loan Mr. Trek his helmet. Faz, I salute you! But this is what mountainbiking is for. We have to take care of the physically less capable riders in the middle of the ride should they show sign of trouble. Having seen this, I have put a mental note to bring extra helmet next time I go for a ride. We always see guys forget or do not bother to bring their helmets as they might think accident would not happen to them! Anyway, don't depend on luck leh. Bamboo pokes thru my helmet and leaves a poke mark on my head. If not because of the helmet, I would not be able to sit in front of my pc to write this journal!
We started our journey again after all of us took enough rest and mourning about what happened to that piece of land. It also started raining when we were about to continue our journey. We decided to take extra time to wait for the rain to settle down. The rain stopped after while. Without wasting any time, we decided to continue our journey!
Luckily, the rest of the trail remained the same as what I remember. The trail was wet due to the rain a while ago. I had to be very careful when I hit the cement ground. Bad memory always comes back whenever I see the wet and slippery trail. Although it has nothing to do with the previous accidents that caused injuries to my wrists, the memory of having a pair of wrists wrapping in bandages still makes me shiver!
When we were about half of the journey to another end of the plateau, it was raining again. I could swear I saw cats and dogs coming down from the sky. It was very heavy. I could hardly see a thing with my goggles...err...protective lens on. Andy, Richard and I stopped under the shade and waited for the rest to catch up. Since the rain was getting heavier, and there was no sign of showing that it would stop any time soon, Richard proposed to ask the rest if they wished to continue. To his surprise, everybody said yes! Yeah why not. You don't get to ride in the rain very often right? I decided to push the group to continue since I want to get the ride done before noon. To our surprise, by the time we crossed to the other side of the hill, the trail was dry and nice! So, this is what they called highland weather, hmm... I quickly zoomed down down the trail and hopefully I would be able to catch up the front pack.
We took a long break at the end of the trail. We were debating whether we should go down to Pulau Betong and climbed back up again! My innerself told me that I wanted them to say yes. But too bad lah, we had returning riders to take care of, another time!
We stopped at Mak Long Mee Udang to have our lunch before we went back to Andy's place. Good recommedation Richard. The price was just right and the portion was big enough to fill up my stomach. I could hardly walk after I finished my dish. Man was it full!
It was a fun ride. Mee Udang at Mak Long was much better than the one I had in, if I recall correctly, Gertak Sanggul also. Most of us really like it! The ride was just about right. We did not feel like our body was falling apart after the ride. This is what we are looking for!
We are talking about doing Kulim High Tech Park at the end of the ride. Whether it is going to materialize or not, well, it will depend on the weather!
Stay tuned!