"Easy" Ride? Yeah sure! K2, 6 August 2000
Okay. I told myself a day before that I was going to take a break after three days of ball busting ride in Batu Kawan. I was trying to beat the 10 minutes limit on Thursday and Friday, and Batu Kawan back hill ride on Saturday evening. These rides really take a toll on me. I had started felt my thigh showed signs of fatigue and a need to take a day off from cycling to recover. Then I met this guy, whom I hadn't met for some time. I thought he had quit cycling already until I saw him cycled around with a beaming new Wheeler. So we met, had a few chats and then ,"Want to do Batu Kawan ah?" "Cannot lah, I need to recover!" "No problem lah, we will go slow" "Okay lah okay lah, lets do it at 4. Call me three thirty to confirm." I knew I was going to regret it. Then he called three quarter before four. We were going to do Sungai Ular!
The mention of Sungai Ular would definitely make my heart stop beating and I hoped I had never agreed to ride with them today. Sungai Ular, the mother of all XC ride in Northern part of Malaysia. People who had tried this trail will agree with me that it is a suicidal for newbies and physically less capable to ride there! My head was already on the shopping board. I couldn't say no now. "You're sure we are going to do Sungai Ular at this time?" "No worry lah. Easy ride only. We will get it done before sunset!" Yeah, easy ride. Anyway, they are already waiting outside. I had no choice but to follow suit! Actually I can pull off in the last minute but if I do that, how am I going to face the rest of the K.O.T.R.T??? So, reputation of K.O.T.R.T was at stake. It was a do or die situation. I would have to protect the good name of the Knights no matter what. So, Sungai Ular it is. Here I come!
We all met at Suria's house in BM. To my surprise, there were only five riders, including a lady rider! "So we are ready to do Sungai Ular this time?" I was still skeptic about the plan. It ended up that actually we were not going to do the whole length for god sake. Dr. Francis' plan was to do the first part of it, which would detour to a waterfall that I had never heard of it before! No wonder they were so confident that we could do it before sunset!
Thing was a little change after we visited Michael Ooi at the Kulim Motorcross track, Taman Selasih. The original plan of Sungai Ular would have to be done in another day since time was already late. I suggested to do Sungai Lembu, which was a 17km long offroad XC with moderate climb at the end. I think Dr. Francis misunderstood what I said. We all ended up at K2!
It took me almost half an hour to finish the climb. I had to stop to gasp for air before the last climb. This was no child play. Although it was short, the climb would sure take your breath away if you do not know how to control your pace and breathing. I was the last rider to climb up after I picked up the food from Sim and split the load with Dr. Francis. By the time I finished adjusted my dehydration pack, Dr. Francis was already at two hundred meters away from me! You have to see yourself to believe it. With something like 3 kilo extra on his back, he just cycled like he was spring loaded! It was quite a sight to see him cycled up. With his body curved like a bow and sprang to release the loaded energy everytime he was trying to attack the steep slope. I decided to go slow and keep my pace. With only 28 tooth cog as my granny gear, I did not have the luxury to waste any energy to fast spin to the steep climb. It was tough climb not only for newbies and physically less capable riders, but also to experienced riders like Dr. Francis. With extra load on our back, we had no stamina to finish the climb one without stopping.
The last rider reached the peak an hour later. I was among the first three that reached the peak in half an hour. Maybe I have to revise my training in Batu Kawan so that next time I would be able to attack this slope in one breath! After enjoying the delicous nangka bought by Sim(Thanks Sim!!!), we went back down to the foothill and adjourned to another nice tosai dinenr at the BM town!
It was an unexpected ride. I never anticipated the ride on Sunday evening ended up in one of the toughest slopes in Penang. The escape from the gluing 84 ride and Viper Ong's torturous ride in Berpait Crematorium did not spare me from another killer ride. "Now I understand why it's called K2, it's Killer 2!!!" Exclaimed Suria! One thing for sure, we all enjoyed it. I mean, the food part! Btw, we discovered two branch offs that led to another great single track to somewhere in the BM forest. Are we going back to the track again? Why not? Fatt, are you ready for another offroad feat next Sunday? Let me know!!!
Stay tuned!