Valentine eve ride in the Hilton, 13 February 2000
After 10 days of non-MTB activity during the CNY week(I was with my father in China), I decided to back in action again! I called up ST right after I reached home on Friday night. It was already 10.30pm at night but what the hell, I just wanted to find out if there would be any ride on Sunday. "Yeah off course! We knew you would be coming back today. Wanna try the Hilton loop?" Hilton loop? Hmm... It turns out that the loop is actually an off road trail loop that started from the right entrance in front of the Hilton hut and comes out at the back of it. I was told that this is a nice trail under tree shade. No sun exposure. Well, lets see about that. I kena couple of times from them already. Often time the so-called nice and easy ride turns out to be an unforgettable and breathtaking one!
We did not have a big turn out this morning(9 riders) but it was a rare occasion that all the kids turned up for the ride. Eng Tai was a big surprise. Everybody thought he was already in Ipoh pursuing his senior year high school study. It seemed like the trip was not materialized. Also, we have a newcomer here. Kiar Meng was Eng Tai's sister friend who happened to be a road rider. This was his first time to join us in our Sunday ride.
Something was wrong with me. I couldn't get up on time this morning! Don't know why. It must be that two bottle of Carlsberg Ice I drank a day before! Anyhow, we all set to go at 9.00am. We arrived at the parking lot half an hour later. The ride up to Air Itam Dam parking lot was as usual except some complains from our new guest, Kiar Meng. He was going to give up after we already covered half of the climb. Lucky him(?), I decided to be a sweeper this time, and he was pushed by me by giving him an assurance that "there are only too more kilometers to go!".
Well, the actual "torture" did not start until we reached the Hilton. The trail head was at the left hand side of the hut, a narrow uphill single track leading to somewhere in the jungle. What I meant was we did not know where would we lead before the ride. The whole journey was mostly under the shade with few gradual climbs. In certain section, we had to ride in the grass covered trail. It seemed like the trail had been abandoned for some time. We met a junction not far from the trail head. The trail from the left will probably lead to Bukit Penara, where the famous "Three Poles" located. We planned to tackle this trail next time.
It was a good ride though with few casualties. I did not feel good at the entire ride. Maybe it was because of the long rest during the CNY week. Eng Tai had a leg cramp before we reached the hut. Our new comer, Kiar Meng had already shown sign of cramp upon reaching the hut after the loop. We finished the ride by having a good lunch at one of the coffee shops in Farlim, which I took Pasembu and later suffered from the after effect of that thing(food poisoning!). Good food? Hehe, at least for me or else I will not have excuse to enjoy two extra days of rest!
Stay tuned!