KOTRT visit to KL, 4&5 November 2000
A personal visit to KL turned out to be a KOTRT visit! There was a Linux exhibition in PWTC. I was planning to see the exhibition on Saturday. If there were any ride on Sunday, I would just tap in. You know lah, social a little bit! Paul was still on his vacation. So, can't really check him out to find if there's any ride going on. He is also another computer geek. It must be a waste for him to skip this exhibition since next round will be in Bangkok! Four knights decided to go down to KL to see what could they offer us. The best punch they could ever come out? Or maybe the ride was so easy that even a three year old kid could get it with his train wheel bicycle? The rides turned out to be the one we were coming for! Bukit Ceraka really builds up to its name. It was one hell of the ride! It was really a true XC trail. And FRIM ride on Sunday was as scenic as what Paul had claimed. Unfortunately, I used up all my energy on Saturday, and I hardly made it to finish the Sunday ride! The climb at the steroid hill finally taxed me out flat. Ironically, the hill was no steeper than Batu Kawan and K2.
We met at Taman Sri Hartamas at 0800 hrs on Saturday morning. There were quite a number of KL riders waiting for us. Including us, thirteen riders showed up to the ride. One thing that we don't have in KOTRT is there are lady riders. Some of them are quite good. Actually some of us got beaten by them! After half an hour of breakfast time, we decided to proceed to the Bukit Ceraka trail. At first glance, it looked like it was just another singletrack in Oil Palm estate, which I thought it was just another moderate ride in KL. The trail at the beginning was okay, flat and no breathtaking climbs. It became interesting when the KL riders decided they had enough warm up and proceeded to the REAL Bukit Ceraka!
Again, it was okay at the very beginning. There were housing project going on at the entrance. It was actually an equestrian trail. I believe there was horse farm nearby. There were horse shoe print on the track. One thing, the track was made out of solve sand. I was too concentrated on the trail but I did not take notice. I just realized it when I found out that I had change gears often to keep up with the front rider!
The nice and easy ride ended when there was this gradual but very technical slope. The rain few days before eroded the trail terribly. I had problems to climb up. Most of the riders managed to climb up with some efforts. I decided to push my way up since I was new to the trail. It is always good to be reserved when go to an unfamiliar trail. It might ended up to be the toughest trail you have ever encountered! I learn this lesson when I was recce-ing Sungai Lembu with Dr Francis!
We already had two casualties before we really went into the Bukit Ceraka Trail. Two of the three lady riders decided to turn back. One had an asthma attack, while another one claimed stomach ache! Hmm...a sign to tell me to be careful now! It was sunny day and we started late. I think we started at around ten o'clock in the morning. By the time we went into the Bukit Ceraka trail, the sun was already high up and mercilessly toasted us up and down!
More and more stops were made since the heat became unbearable when the time was approaching noon. Being the newbie among the KL riders, I did not realize the heat was slowing taking our toll and kept on pedaling and challenging the front riders. One of them decided to give me a test. It happened when Dave, Fatt and I were climbing on a tarmac road connecting to another uphill singletrack. Fatt and I thought that there would be a descent after the climb. So Fatt decided to attack Dave first. Thump, thump, thump! I saw him using the Batu Kawan trick(34-18) to charge at the Singaporean rider. Seeing my high school already initiated the attack, I shifted to 34-24 and followed suit!
It was a breathtaking climb! It was breathtaking not because of the gradient, it was because we three were racing each other at heavier gear combo! Fatt went faster and faster. I could see smoke coming out from his head already. Dave still showed no sign of giving away. With an advantage of having lighter bike, a Santa Cruz Superlight, we should be no match of him! Tough luck for Dave, he should not try the Rubber Knight, who would never give up no matter what! I decided to initiate second attack when Fatt showed sign of slowing down. One shift down to 18, I overtook Fatt and sped ahead! Finally, Dave gave up the chase and slowed down to easy pace. Yes, we finally defeated the famous Kiasu rider at the hefty price to pay! We thought there would a descent and we could take rest by sliding down the slope. We were wrong! Instead of going down, we were told to turn to the right and continue climbing!
I could hear myself cursing loudly for being conned by the KL folks! Man was it taxing. Compare to the climb I had just now, I was virtually crawling! Fatt already decided to come down pushing his bike. Never wanted to give up, I insisted on climbing to the next pit stop!
The heat became more and more unbearable. We decided to stop at noon after we attacked another climb. Frankly speaking, the climb was okay compared to Penang Hill or Sungai Sedim trail. What make the ride so miserable is because of the heat. Ride under canopy is out of the question. Two third of the ride was under hot scotching sun. If we do not bring enough water, none of us would be able to cover the whole in one piece! With about one quarter of journey to go, my three liters of water became thinning out! Oh yeah, one of the lady riders was asking if I brought my whole house with me. I think she stopped making fun of me if she realized I was one of the few who still had reserve at my backpack after the tedious ride! You never know when you are going to need the reserve! Someone with a cheap doesn't mean he's no good okay?
We finally got it done three hours later. It was a long three hours for some of us! I virtually went back to hotel with sore thighs and half cook brain! Instead of going straight to the bed to get my sleep, I went out with ST and Fatt to check out the KLCC department store, which was the greatest mistake I had ever made! Later we went to have dinner with the KL riders at Taman Sri Hartamas, which was good! I liked the roast chicken and Tau Fu Bakar, a local delicacy, which I wouldn't find it in Penang! Over the dinner, we decided to do easy ride on Sunday. A ride that I could have been able to do it effortlessly!
We met at the Sri Hartamas again on the Sunday morning. The crowd got thinning out though. Few riders from a day before did not show up to this supposed to be an easy ride at FRIM. There were few new faces in the group. Simon and his son Eugene decided to join us in this "easy" ride. After an half an hour breakfast at the mamak store, we headed to the FRIM at Sungai Buluh!
I started to realize I was not in the condition to ride after the first pit stop at the steroid hill. Fatt quietly told me that he felt the same way. It was really a blow to me. I decided to continue after a very brief stop at the pit stop. I think I only had less than a minute of rest. The slope at the steroid hill was no steeper than Batu Kawan hill and one third of the distance. Even this, I had to stop three times to catch my breath, Three frigging times to catch my breath doing a climb that easier than the Batu Kawan slope! Man, it really blew my confidence to complete the ride to pieces! Seeing my condition was that bad, Sany decided not to continue to the Pine Tree trail.
My condition got worsen as we proceeded. I was virtually left behind by even the weakest rider in the group. I merely made it to the peak of the Leafy trail. With all the riders waiting for me patiently up there, guys sorry lah. I wasn't in the condition to ride ler. Anyway, we went down after a brief stop at the peak. It was an easy ride down to the ground. The leaves on the track may added few excitements to the ride. I had seen few riders skidded off when trying to attack the sharp bends with their state of the art machines, while I was doing my Rothman cornering with so much confident with my trustworthy Diamondback on Velociraptors. So what so special about WTB Velociraptor? I think I don't have elaborate more here now!
These two day events were one hell of the ride for me. It has shown me that I still need to go to Batu Kawan more often and maybe add K2 as the ride for Saturday or maybe on weekdays if I have time. I really appreciate the KL riders for spending some time with us although they are not obliged to do so! The food was excellent. Thanks to Adli, Azmi, Linda and Sany, hawker on Saturday night and Thai lunch at Sungai Buluh was simply excellent!
So what am I going to do this coming weekend? I don't know. I was thinking of doing Pulau Aman recce but I think I will check out if Vipers or Maverick has anything in their minds!
Stay tuned!