Just a normal road ride, 17 September 2000
Instead of doing my weekly activity in offroad singletrack, I have decided to give myself a break. I wasn't in the mood to join Azmi's or ST's kamikaze rides in Penang Hill! No heart pumping climbs, no leech blood sucking nightmare, no crystal clear fountain to fill up my dehydration bag. Nothing, just a plain old tarmac ride at my house backyard. Okay lah, Ong was supposed to call me to inform if the ride at Serdang were on or not. Apparently, he forgot to call me, or he decided not to have a weak rider in his group. I was left in my cosy air con room until the sun shined my butt!
It was a 40km loop, which had a 5km stretch of offroad singletrack. Yup, this is mountainbiking we are talking about. No matter what, I sometimes still want my bike to get dirty! After having a late lunch with my fiancee, I rushed back to my house, get my bike fixed up and ready to go!
Prai Industrial Estate was quiet on Sundays. A busy B road was devoided of any motorized vehicles, which make it an idea place for biking. Sad thing is bicycling is not a mainstream sport in Penang. Or else, we are going to see a lot of people pedalling around!
I reached the trailhead of the singletrack after 15 minutes of pedalling on tarmac. It was the place that I had my first taste of offroad riding 2 years ago. I have not been to this trail for couple of months already. I thought it was time to check out the trail.
The trail changed alot. There was construction going on next to the trail, which changed the contour of the place totally! The hill was flatten to make way for whatever thing those people were to erect. It is very sad to see the last piece of untouched land is given way to so-called developement. It was an eye sore! There used to be a stream running along side the trail but it was no where to be seen! It was sad, very sad! I hope this would not be my last time to ride on this trail!
It only took me 55 minutes to finish the 40km loop. It was fast! I wish I can do the same at those killer climbs in Penang. But it is different story. This is a flat 40km road ride. No climb...okay there was a climb but it was a joke. Any Tom or Harry can do it effortlessly!
So, what am I going to do next week? I don't know. Probably see what's Azmi, Ong ot ST cooking. I will have to introduce a new rider to the group, who is from Kajang but currently working in Penang now.
Stay tuned!