"7 km" XC fellowship ride(?) in Mini Hidro, Gopeng, 16 January 2000
Okay okay I admit. This was supposed to be a MERE 14 km easy fellowship ride with Silent Thunder and Cycleflex riders, "A nice and easy 7km XC ride past some great river picnic spots, asli villages and ending up in an old mini-hydro station....no serious climbs or technical downhills.". It turns out that the ride was more than what they expected!
More than 30 riders showed up the ride. A big turn up! To my present surprise, Paul Kok of Cycleflex finally made it to the trip! We finally met each other after all the email and ICQ communications. Well, he did look as handsome as shown in the picture of his homepage(I am not pulling your leg Paul!) though.
After a brief introduction to the trail by cOOOl kNIGHt, we all headed for the trail. Initial ride was relaxing. I think because of the fairly flat and no bumpy ride on tarmac, everybody was cruising at faster than what they were used to be. I was trying to go in front of the pack but I have to put extra effort to do so. Just imagine how breathless I was when I tried to overtake the teng kahs of KOTRT, Cycleflex and Silent Thunders at the front pack just to take some pictures! They thought I was trying to break away. "Oi, slow down lar", "Cilaka you cari gatai aha? So early want to break away already!!", "Oi Turbo Snail tries to break away liao!!" etc etc. Boy was it a mistake! I only managed to accomplish by changing much heavier gear combo(42-12!!!), overtook them and shot the picture! I had to settle down and catch the breath after the picture taken!!
The fun began after we took our group picture at the trail head. Now I knew why the front pack, which consisted of the cOOOl kNIGHt were racing like hell to reach the trail head! Because they wanted to reach early so that we could take picture! There was one casualty though. We were told by Gary that his wife was hit by incoming motorbike when the rider of the motorbike lost balance. The basket carried by the pillion rider knocked her down. Few bruises were visible at her knees!
The uphill was very similar to the Mount Erskine trail but longer in distance and better condition. I volunteered to be a sweeper since Gary would be taking care of whole stretch. Wan, lady friend of Sany already showed sign of resigning from ride when I rode close to her after about 2km of journey. I encouraged her to continue until the support vehicle approached. Seeing the slow progress we were having, I left her to Francis after he approached from behind on Gary's Ford Ranger. Next was Gary's wife, Serene(did I spell her name right?). She looked painful to continue the journey, and she was alone. I decided to ride with her until Francis approached again. Minutes later, Francis arrived with Wan and I left her to Francis and continued my pursuit to the front pack!
We finally reached the destination after a "mere" 15km of gradual uphill. It was supposed to be a 7km ride. How it became a 15km one remained mystery until someone told me that some riders was complaining about the first seven kilometers being too short and they wanted more! Now, for those who had been cursing all the way from the seventh kilometer to the minihydro station, find out who was the culprit and dumb him in the river! Thanks to the preparation made by Gary and cOOOl kNIGHt, we had our morning makan with Maxxim's cakes. The water in the stream was cold and clean. Unfortunately, we did not spend too much time in the station, or else I would have chances to begin my fossil hunt in the stream!
We decided to come down after we took our second group pix since the time was already late, and Paul the webmaster of unofficial Cycleflex homepage needed to rush back to KLIA to fetch his sister. Guys, this is the best down hill I have ever had! Man, 15 kilometers of jumps, bumps, pond crossing...you name it!! I virtually flew down to the foothill after I finally overtook the long traffic jam after I saw flying Dutchman of Cycleflex overtook the line! No sweat, the fast and technical downhill sure made me want to come here again! The best jump I had was at the aboriginal squatters. I was just flying in the sky most of the time! One thing worth mentioning though, there was one bump followed by a 90 degree turn after the aboriginal village. I nearly lost control since I was anxious to chase after the flying Dutchman and the front pack. I flew over the bump and to my horror, there was this sudden right turn after that! Just imagine I was flying in the air, the river bank just in front of me and I have no way to change my direction. I was like, "Shit, my day is over!". How did I survive? Well, it was a split second decision though! Upon touched down, I immediate twisted my handle bar with all the energy I could squish out to turn it! I swear I could hear the agonize scream from my bike! I was virtually thrown out from my bike! How I managed to hold control of my machine still puzzles me!
The flying Dutchman was real good. If not for his stopping by to take pictures, I don't think I could catch up with him! Oh yeah, I really felt sorry for Fatt when I lost patient and shouted, "Go faster!" at the long crawling line. He was actually about to engage his warp engine to jump into warp speed when he saw flying Dutchman passed by! He lost control when he heard I shouted to go faster at one bumpy technical singletrack. Watch for Fatt next time. He is another potential down hill maniac in the 30 category of KOTRT! Btw, what was the name of that flying Dutchman again? Grant? Grant, if you read this, lets do it again man! Before I forget, we have a new nick for our dear Fatt. He is the Rubber Knight now! Why Rubber Knight? Hehe...no lar, not because he sells rubber. It is just that he is the most persistent rider that I have ever seen in the KOTRT. I admire his determination and "stubbornness" in attacking steep uphill climb. Never give up and never say I can't do it!
Makaning was done in Ipoh. What was the name of the restaurant again? Man Cheong? Yeah Man Cheong. The most expensive lunch I have ever had in the KOTRT outing. 32bux each for a five course lunch! Luckily the kamikaze kids and the teng kah kids were not coming, or I would have seen smoke coming from their pockets! I specially like the chicken and the venetian dishes. A little higher site I would say. Maybe next time we should go for Ngah Choy Kai instead!
Something I would like bring it out in this article, sometimes it is nice to have support vehicle to pick up less capable riders when the terrain is rough for them to tackle but it can also become an excuse for them not to continue! I think I would let the team decide whether we should have it in our next fellowship ride.
Stay tuned!