XC ride in Taman Semarak, Sungai Petani, 18 June 2000

It was one hell of the ride. The climb was so breathtaking that even those Cheruk Tekun frequents would also have problem to tackle it. The steepest climb I have ever had! It was also the best trail I have ridden so far though it was a little bit short(I think the distance is less than 20km).

We all gathered at Sungai Dua toll plaza at 0745hours. Eleven of us decided to take up the challenge. What so special about this ride is we all did not know what were we going to face in Sungai Petani. Speaking of which, whenever we mention Kedah, the first image come out from our mind will be vast flatland and no hill. Most paddy field rides, which some riders might find it boring. Wrong! There are hills in Kedah, and they rival Penang Hill and other trails that we have tried in the mainland. This trip has made me very convincing that Kedah is going to be our next destination once we all get bored of farmer trails in Penang.

We reached Sungai Petani half an hour later. The rendezvous point with the Sungai Petani MTB group was at the Caltex gas station, the one next to the exit from NS Highway. We were greeted by five of them and without wasting any time, we all fixed up and set to go. The trail head was about 4km from the town. That means we would have to bare with the traffic in SP town and ride for five to ten minutes before reaching there. Funny though, it wasn't very heavy. Cars were few on the road. Maybe because the banks were close. Anyhow, we did not have much problem to ride to the trail head in one piece.

The trail that we were riding was very visible from far away. It was a gravel track snaking up to the power transmission tower. I was about to chicken out already by merely seeing the track from far away. It was so steep! I wonder how the hell was I going to ride up! Anyway, head is already at the chopping board. I had no choice but to proceed!

The climb was like hell! I only managed to cycle up half of the climb. Most of the rest did not even manage to finish half! The loose gravel made it very difficult to spin. I tried to use the fast spin method to tackle this sun of the gun slope. Tough luck for me, the harder I span, the rear wheel started to give way and the front wheel started to lift no matter how hard I pressed the handle bar. I finally gave up and started to push the bike!

It was no fun to push. The slope was steep even for two footer. My legs started to complain of the excessive stress I put on them! I saw home built on the slope along the way. I wonder how the hell can they manage to climb up and down on daily basis at this god forshaken slope? Man was it torturous! It was a painful climb! I finally made it to the top, made it the seventh rider to reach. No so bad considered that others were still struggling to push/drag/climb! We were all awarded by the breathtaking view of Sungai Petani town and Tikam Batu. We did not spend too much time on it. We decided to continue the ride.

The fun part is always the downhill. People might wonder since I am so fond of downhilling, how come I never consider to get myself a full suspension rig? Well, it is very easy. Because a good full suspension bike cost a bomb, which I don't think I am willing to invest my hard earn cash on it. Also, so far I have not met a downhill trail that really requires a fully to ride down. I can tackle most of them using my present Diamondback hardtail. Bumpy ride? Of course but that's the fun of it. If you wanna a smooth ride, go ride a Honda cub okay?!

This is the gravel trail, which means loose stone here and there. I had tried it before in Jitra, and I had the most terrible fall since I got involved into this MTB thingy a year ago. Due to my bad experience with it, I decided to be extra careful. Careful it was. When I saw Daniel the kamikaze kid zooming down at full speed, I started to have that itchy feeling to follow suit! Fall down fall down lah. The hell with it!

So there I was, trying to outrun the kamikaze kid. The trail was awesome. A slight hesitation and you are in the bush or kiss the tree! It required full concerntration and no side track! No bumps and drop off to give you a sudden heart attack! It was just a "smooth"(if you have a right tire!) DH to the foothill! I nearly lost control of my bike at certain tight corners! The rear wheel just washed out and slide to the edge! Later I found out that one of the riders really kissed the bush! Boy pity him!

It was an awesome ride. It is worth going for another visit again. Though it was't a long ride, the climb would be worth all the time taken to travel to SP! Too bad I didn't manage to get the contact info from the SP riders but there always a chance to meet them again!

Stay tuned!