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· Date : 27 April 2008 Honest eye witness account: My turn for the writeup this time. Adrian delegated his task to me. He should have been careful about this! The Kotrter’s who went were Azmi, Adrian, Wei Liang, ST, Moon and me. The losers will be those who committed to me on eve of ride at Abe’s wedding nite BUT chicken out (KFC) . You k now who you are right ????. As usual, it is not professional to mention names BUT if anyone interested to know, when we meet next, I will point to you who they are! More... ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| · Date : 20 April 2008 Honest eye witness account: All of us were so hyped up, it was decided that P2K organize the next ride but at their level of playing field! The Broga they called it! So the challenge was thrown, accepted and preparation was soon under way. Since then, every weekend without fail Kulim Lee's group has been regimentally clocking mileage and training on hilly terrain. This would be in anticipation and preparations for the most sadistic ride in the Central Region...or so it was claimed!...more ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| · Date : 20 April 2008 Honest eye witness account: Broga, it sounded like some Italian name for motorbikes or something. Just where the hell is this place? Or what type of ride was it? Anyway, we headed down south, central aka KL early Sat morning. more.... ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| · Date : 19 April 2008 Honest eye witness account: Lt introduced us to the TRM merry band and I found out what TRM actually stood for; Titi Raja Muda; a popular meeting place for them before they start their ride. more... ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| · Date : 13 April 2008 Honest eye witness account: The pace was civil ONLY for the 1st 5km before some riders kicked up the pace! It was a consistent average pace of high 30s km/h until the town of Serdang. We were slightly lucky as everyone cooperated.... more ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| · Date : 13 April 2008 Honest eye witness account: It was supposed to be a “gao2” ride planned for the GI Jane before she took off to thongsan again. She had asked, no, pleaded for a gao2 ride and one was planned for her to suka-suka in KK. So we guys who did not sign up for the Suka Suka ride planned our own regular roadie for sat and Mountie rides for Sun. So it was a pleasant surprise when I received an SMS on Fri nite from Azmi, telling me that he and GI Jane were coming to join us for the weekend rides. Apparently, the China Dolls and Beef paus were not enuf to lure our Kotrties to Kuala Kangsar and so the Suka-Suka ride was called off. GI Jane was a tough cookie, so on Sat morning, we went for a 5 hill roadride, Paya Terubong, Tun Sardon, Teluk Kumbar, Tun Awang and finally, Yeap Chor Ee . You may argue that Tun Awang (airport road) and Yeap Chor Ee road cannot qualify as hills, but ask the GI Jane, what it felt like in the mid day sun, after climbing Paya Terubong and Tun Sardon. Every incline on the road seemed like a mountain after that. So what was supposed to be a Gao2 ride over 2 days turned out to be a Gao1 ride, as GI Jane had enuf after 5 hills on the road and could not face climbing Sacred Hearts on the Mountie ride planned for Sun. So she quit! Enuf! No more GI Jane, just plain Princess of KOTRT. Maybe should increase doping dosage like triple X, instead of double X….hee, hee! Then, one by one, the SMSes came, with confirmed riders pulling out from the Mountie ride on Sun. Moon who pulled out on Sat, was the surprise inclusion on Sun and came ringing my doorbell at 7.58am, for an 8.30am ride. OK, Moon, we forgive you for all previous tardiness! Then Pang came without Sue and Yascha, who also pulled out after a late nite drinking session on sat. So from 9 confirmed riders, we were down to 3. And off we went! First a warm up ride up to AID. Then an easy crank up to Hilton. Strange, but Moon was huffing and puffing when he reached Hilton. Maybe his new Fox shocks is not yet run in or his baggy pants too big and flapping in the wind, creating too much resistance. Whatever it was, our KOTRT no.1 KONtender and I had a pleasant time resting at the 5star Hilton while waiting for him. Then, it was downhill all the way to BP, taking a new diversion through some winding trails under durian and rambutan trees. Then up again through the BP MUhibbah Cemetary, where we observed the BN making poster perfect appeals to the phantom voters residing there. Moon has documentary evidence in case you guys want to take this up with the EC. The trail leads up, up and away, meandering among durian and machang trees. Seems the trees in this cemetery trail fruits early, as we observed an abundance of matured durians on the trees and machang on the floor, presenting a very nice aroma as we rode past. Reminds me of the sambal at Sup’s post ride makan-makan in Alor Star. How I missed those times!! At the peak of this hill (name unknown), is a very nice lookout point, overlooking Pulau Betong and the SW district with the horizon in the distance, so more Kodak moments and training sessions for our aspiring actor. And then, it was a quick and tricky downhill all the way down to BP exiting at Jln Chai and some refreshments at the Petronas station, where the whole supply of Coke and 100plus was depleted by Moon and our KOTRT No. 1 KONtender. Must be the prospect of climbing Scared Hearts to Hilton that scared them so much. Must also be the reason why so many confirmed riders pulled out on Sat nite and Sun morning itself. As for me, it was a nice and easy ride back home. No more hills, and no need to load up on coke and 100plus. Well, house ownership in BP has its privileges……………ST ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| · Date : 6 April 2008 Honest eye witness account: I received an e-mail from Azmi there would be a ride on Sunday at Blue Mountain. Hmm…where is Blue Mountain? That was the 1st question that appeared in my mind. Without think twice, I replied that I will join the ride. The night before the ride, I got home very late. After loading all my gears for the Sunday ride I slept, hoping that tomorrow I will have sufficient energy to finish the ride without letting the guys wait for me. But it was to be a long night as I can’t sleep well at all. I woke up almost every half and hour. Man...I am in for a hard ride tomorrow. After breakfast, I was on my way to Farlim when I saw Shamoon cycling alone to ST’s house. I asked him for direction to ST’s house as I didn’t know the way. After I parked my car, I regrouped with the rest of the guys and we started the ride at 8.00am. I asked; “Moon, how is today’s ride? Is it very tough?” Moon replied; “Kevin, you better don’t ask. I don’t want to spoil your mood.” “Huh………” was all that came out of my mouth. I wonder what he meant by that? Never mind, I would know soon… After a short ride, we reached the foothill of Blue Mountain. We regrouped with Adrian who was already waiting for us there. I was told by Shamoon that if you see ST and Adrian hang their helmet in front of their bike, it means that there will be a tough climb ahead! “Don’t worry Moon, I am die hard one” I replied. How true as I found out later… Then we started our climb to the top. For the 1st few corners, I could still keep up my pace to follow their backs. Soon…I was dropped by the guys and only left Shamoon and I. Although it was only 8.30am the sun burned my whole body sapping my energy. The way to the top was not covered by any trees nor shade. I decided to stop half way to rest and thought I might as well wait for Shamoon while I rested. After Shamoon arrived, I decide to continue all the way to the top. It took me almost 45 mins to reach the top where Azmi, Adrian, ST and Pang were chit chatting. Azmi kacau me I should ride hand in hand with Shamoon, and not leave him behind instead! Sorry Shamoon, I didn’t mean to…just got carried away! The ride continued after a 15 minute break. Then trouble! Shamoon’s fork started to sag and lost all travel! Azmi checked the fork and even tried to increase the compression but the fork was beyond help. Sudah kaput! Anyway, Shamoon decided to continue the ride in spite of his broken fork. We came to a spot with an attractive view of Paya Terubong and the island. We didn’t waste our time; everyone took out their hand phone camera and started to shoot some pictures. I took a few pics myself for remembrance. Further down the trail, ST showed us more spots to capture the breath taking landscape in the area. We came across a farm and from there onwards we had to carry our bikes for a short distance before continuing our ride. It was downhill all the way till we reached the main road at the top of Paya Terubong hill. We crossed the road to re-enter another trail. I was hesitant to continue the ride as I was worried I might not be able to reach home by 12 noon. But I told myself die-die also must try! I made up my mind to continue the ride the rest of the way with the guys. We took a wrong turn at a fork and ended up at a farmer’s house. Oops wrong turn! We turned back to the fork and continued our descend to Bukit Jambul. We had to ride a section of Yeap Chor Yee road before we enter the trail to Bukit Gambir. Along the way, Azmi stopped in front of a row of shop lots as I requested a re-fill of my Camelbak. We ran into the nearby 7-11 shop and replenished our water supply. Adrian, Shamoon and Pang followed me in. The short break and carbonated drinks helped recharge my energy to continue our last leg up Bukit Gambir. It was almost 11.00 am and the sun was shining mercilessly on our backs! I knew I would be in trouble if I stopped again. So I die-die continued slowly all the way to the peak. As usual, Azmi, Adrian and Pang were already ahead followed by ST, Shamoon and me. I finally got to the top and we waited for Shamoon. He arrived a while later and rested. After the climb it was time to reward ourselves with the long downhill to Farlim. The trail was winding and some parts were mossy and very slippery. I was lucky I managed to clear the slippery section but Adrian wasn’t so lucky; he slid and cempedak, hurting his elbow but luckily nothing broken! It was already 12.30pm by the time we got down to Farlim. Today Shamoon is the HERO! Although his fork was broken, he persisted and completed the ride! Riding with a sagged fork on flat road was already difficult and challenging but to ride up/down steep trails? Good show Shamoon, we tabik you! You are da man of this ride! Although I was aching all over, I look forward to the next ride with the guys. Why? They have shown me so many new trails (a new trail for me every time I join them) and I may die-die but I have lots of fun with these guys! Hey, no pain, no gain right? This is what mountain biking is all about! Thanks guys…I think?
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