The first ride in Y2K1, 07 January 2001

The first ride in the year of snake, my Chinese zodiac sign! There have been a lot of things happening. Gary got his new born baby, ST becomes the father of his third kid, we have more newcomers to join the KOTRTs, and I just got myself a new VooDoo Erzulie rigid! It seems like we all had a good year in Y2K. Speaking of my new VooDoo Erzulie. It was a love at first sight. It was a painful decision to encourage my high school buddy to acquire this baby. But the chemistry did not click between them. Instead, he settled for a Y2K1's Giant ATX830. A good decision I suppose. Strange, it is just like a faith. If she's yours, she's yours. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, the Cupid will not give up to shoot his love arrows to both of us. So, after another hard look at her in Gary's shop, I decided to say yes, you are my baby! I called Ong three days before Sunday to find out if he had anything in mind. He suggested Getak Sanggul-Pulau Betong ride, a moderate ride with scenic view. Also, a good place to try my new baby!

I arrived at the Gertak Sanggul beach at exactly 0830hours, the time that me and Ong agreed to meet. There were no others except me and Julian, the new knight who just moved to Penang from Kajang. Five minutes later, Yeoh, another rider showed up. There was still no sign of others. Something was wrong. Ong was never late. He was always on time. It ended we had to wait for more than 30 minutes before the whole gang arrived. Oh yeah, what happen to Azmi and ST and all? They were more into tough climb and torturing themselves. So they decided to start from Pulau Betong end, where has steep climb that surely take their breath away. I decided to stick to the original ride program to start from Gertak Sanggul, where has moderate climbs and more fun!

I decided to start early since time was running late. And Julian would have to go back to Intel to finish his unfinished work after the ride. Yeoh decided to join us. It seems like he also couldn't wait for the rest to get their rigs up. We wasted no time and charged the trail at relatively high speed. Why I said it was relatively high speed? Because it was like we all had an unspoken agreement, we would like to get this ride over as soon as possible!

I felt totally different on VooDoo. Although it was a cromoly frame with basic components(except I swap the XT wheels from my Diamondback), it was easier for me to climb at Gertak Sanggul slope. I managed to go as fast as I could, and the ride was much manageable than my stiffer Diamondback. We didn't stop at the end of the climb as usual. We decided to continue without waiting though my heart was pumping like it was going to jump out from my mouth!

The bike felt more stable than Alu bikes that I have ridden. Maybe the frame was flexier. It was tempting to go faster and faster until I did not realize I had gone over my limit. I had forgotten this bike did not have a front shock. So I squished the front brake when there was a slope in front of me, which also happened to be wet and slippery! Next thing I knew I was flying over the saddle and my left knee hit at the stem! It hurt like hell. I couldn't talk, and tears came out from my eyes! Julian was far behind me. Yeoh was somewhere in the trail to catch his breath since we went much faster than our usual pace. Julian was able to witness part of my spectacular action. Luckily, it was only a small cut on my left knee. I wonder what had caused the pain. Direct hit to the bone? Hmm....

We met the Azmi's gang at the halfway of the ride. The Ong's group was still no way to be seen. We decided to go ahead and waited for them at the end of the plateau farmer trail. I decided to go slow after that god forsaken accident. Man I must admit, I had grown softer ever since I switched to hardtail from rigid a year ago. This has taught me a good lesson. I would have to be careful with this baby even though she gives better ride than my Diamondback!

There were still no sign of Ong and the rest when we stopped at the trail end. Julian decided not to go down to Pulau Betong since the climb back would be a breathtaking one. I decided not to go down as well since the fall really killed my mood to "torture" myself further...hehe. But Yeoh decided to proceed to the foothill.

Ong's group finally showed up 15 minutes later. Julian and I were about to turn back already. We did not stay long to chat with them since I used Julian's return to office as an excuse to leave first. We decided to go slow on our return. We had a chat about our job and what would be our plan in the year. Yeah, we had a lot to talk about our job since more or less we involved in the same industry. Intel has not been having good time last year. If their business sux, Solectron is going to suffer. Anyway, we are not going to stay in the same company for too long right? What for? They are not our father's company!

It was a good and less stressful compared to our last ride in Sungai Ular. The VooDoo Erzulie was really a surprise. It was a good buy. I did not regret to spend RM1200 on it! So where are we going to ride next week?

Stay tuned!