Sunday ride in Pulau Betong, 12 November 2000

I have not been to Pulau Betong for quite some time already. Last time I went I suffered the hell out of it. I never forget about the suffer of trying to complete the climb. With my heart panting like it was going to come out from my mouth, I told myself that it was going to be my first and last time to come again! Human beings tend to have short memory. Months have passed since my last visit to Pulau Betong and here I was, suffered the shit out trying to "conquer" that god forsaken climb again! I nearly got out of hook from joining the ride. Then, it seems like the Al Mighty did not want me to miss the "fun". Fatt SMS-ed me to ask me to wake him on Sunday morning when I was having a good time in Saturday night! So no choice lah.

I was late to meet the rest this morning. All others had left for the trailhead by the time I reached ST's house. Luckily ST was to wait for me since I called him before I began my journey. Fatt was apparently late also. Without wasting any time, we loaded our gears into ST's Ford Ranger and we set to go!

More than 10 riders showed at the trailhead. We also had surprise visitor this time. I have not seen Lee for quite some times since our ride schedule always clashes to each other. The last I saw him was the ride we had at the Hilton hut. Was it last year? I did not remember! There was also a newcomer joining us. A young man who just bought himself a brand new GT Agressor. I really thought Pulau Betong wasn't a good place to introduce newbie what mountain biking all about. The climb from the foothill to the plateau would definitely discourage anyone who was never taking cycling other than a mean of going to sundry shop buying tampons for his/her mum! Anyway, I hope he would survive the ride and came back again! After the breakfast thing as usual, we all set to get ready for the ride.

The trail had changed since my last visit. Apparently, there was something going on at the hill site! The trees, which used to provide shaddy ambient on the cement trail at trailhead had been cleared. We started the ride quite late. An uncovered trail would not be a welcoming sight! Luckily, it turned out to be a short distance only. After that, I was back to the cool and shaddy trail again!

The climb was, ahem, as terrible as always. It's very tricky to ride on narrow cemented trail. If your balancing skill is not good and the gradient were to steep for you to climb, your bike's front wheel would always drop to the side. It would be very difficult to go back to the cement surface and maintaining on saddle. I have a seven speed bike, which largest cog is a 28 tooth one. Compare to most other's nine speed machine, I would have to use more energy to climb. Someone told me that 22-28 combo was already good for most climbs. I think he's referring to the pros. I am not a pro. I am just a weekend warrior. It seems to me that getting an 8 speed with 32 tooth cog is really justified. Hmm, a new set of wheels with Acera 8 speed and SR Sun Suntuor cassette? Vincent and Lee were infront of me. I decided to keep my own pace and not chase after them. Still, just few meters before the end of the climb, I gave up and pushed the bike! Maybe it was because of late to bed the day before(I went home at 2am!)! Anyway, it was much better than my last ride, which I took at least 5 stops to finish the climb!

After a short break, we continued our ride to the plateau. Again, I was behind Vincent and his buddy. Ah Hwa led the way since he was familiar with the trail. One will have to be careful when riding on the plateau because if the ride were not familiar with the place, he/she would get lost! I managed to overtake Vincent and the rest at one junction since they preferred to "eat the wind"(slow, casual ride). I prefer to storm the trail instead of doing the makan angin ride. This is not a ride to sundry to get mum's tampon okay? We are here to enjoy the thrill of mountain biking! Just a few stroke and I had lost sight of any riders behind. I am not saying I am a fast rider by the way. It just happen that I was the faster rider in that pack that's all! Cheng, a young ride who was a Junior champion in the recent SIMBA MTB race and Penang Close was with another group. Otherwise, he would not let the chance go to chase after me. I wonder why did he always want to keep up with since I was not the strongest rider in the KOTRT. Hmm, maybe I was the only one that he could keep up with?

It only took us less than half an hour to finish the ride on the plateau. We went down to Gertak Sanggul for a short coffee break. With me, Cheng, his brother, Fatt, KT Saw and Vincent's folks, we were waiting in the coffee shop for others. It was a long wait. Apparently someone had dragged the whole group down. We decided to ride back to Pulau Betong after we all finished our drink since Vincent would have to meet his wife in the afternoon.

It was a fast and fun ride. This is a ride combo that the rider will suffer at the start. Fast singletrack ride at the plateau and kamikaze downhill to both Gertak Sanggul and Pulau Betong on cemented trail. My thighs are still sore after the hefty workout on the climb and fast undulating singletrack ride. It would be a nice place to bring guest riders for a spin in Penang. Will I go back to Pulau Betong for another ride. Maybe after I change a new wheel set with 8/9 speed 11-32 cogset! So, what are we going to do next week? Sungai Sedim race track? Game anyone?

Stay tuned!