Talk KOTRT “Great one! What a PAUwerful ride... sorry that I couldn't share the reserved pau with you guys because my mom wanted it. Moon was smart to jom it first.
But pls don't make my stay in that dorm again... I'll squeeze Moon's tits again! Glad to have new members to the crew.” Adrian.
“1st of all thanks for organising this trip. It’s really fun for me as the 1st time to join u KOTRT kaki for the ride. The trip was completed with fish... fresh fish, Pau, and so on.
Thanks for waiting us at the dorm. Thanks for the joyfull talk KOTRT. Can’t wait to join u guys for the next trip. Hope to see u guys soon.” Best Regards. Kevin.
“I share the same sentiment too. The weather was PERFECT! And little lumba haram within our kaki make things more interesting. Ada yang quietly sneak without helping fellow KOTRT member when he's disstress. Ada pulak yang dah ditolong, tinggal kita pulak. The pau is really kau. The Tasik Raban food is just nice as usual ;) The whole thing will not be as really SYOK without our KOTRT kaki. Very big THANK U guys! Macam-macam ada.” Regards Rin.
“I must say this KK MTB ride is the best in a long time. The weather was perfect, cool and cloudy. The trail was awesome, fast and furious with few killer climbs but lots of fast downhills. The ride duration was just nice, around 3 hrs for all. AND most important, I did not have to scrap mud from my 3.5” tires, or wait in queue to wash the bike after a long hot and wet ride. And best of all, we did not have to wait long for everyone to finish safely with lots of reserve to spare. No stomping ala gorilla dance or throwing stuff around. AND the Lenggong Ikan bakar lunch at tasik reban was out of this world, especially after a nice fast ride, and still good appetite cos not too tired. AND the after ride talk kotrt session in the dorm was really fun, have not done this for quite a while now. SO, here’s a big thank you to my fellow KOTRTies for a great outing and a great time. AND Happy Birthday, Malek…………rgds, st” ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ROADIE Ride – “Running away from the rain or rushing for food?”
Date : 7-June-08
Time : 7.45am
Route : Kulim – Baling – Kuala Pegang – Parit Panjang – Kuala Kertil – Kulim KOTRT Bearers : Azmi, Beh, Chen, Halim, Pang, & Rin KOTRTpit View By : Rin @ Jinx
It's a long weekend and all of us are looking forward to ride since we received sms from Kulim Lee on the plan for Sat and Sun....
We should be clocking over 300km as per the plan.
All email sent, all sms to confirm the crews attendance.
Six brave souls confirmed inclusive Beh and Halim as support crew while the rest kept quiet. They could be training in secret location (ala Michael Rassmussen), getting dope to enhance their power or recovering from external activities ;)
6.30am, all gathered to fill our stomach at our usual breakfast joint at Taman Sardon.
The chat was on current fuel hike and cost vs effect to our economy! Wow! 6.30am and they are talking economy?! So U better listen up PL! :p
We adjourned shortly and the drive was smooth all the way. Maybe everyone’s taking cautious “step” on fuel hike? Hmmm, maybe...
It was the usual suspects at car park, some even came with MTB as they would be training for their upcoming Lake Toba ride next weekend but Kulim Lee was nowhere to be seen? Speak of the devil! He appeared in a flash with his signature profanities! :)
Kulim briefed us on the route and it's not going to be an easy ride after I heard the word Baling! :( The route gonna be rolling all the way! Yikes!
We rolled out at 7.45am and the peloton was more civilized with Kulim Lee around. It was the opposite though when he wasn’t aound last few weekends.
Speed was consistently high at 20s as we cruised past Kulim hospital, Kulim Hi-Tech thru Batu Putih to Kuala Pegang junction. The peloton speed increased to 30ish when we were fully warmed-up around KM15.
We took turns to pull while some....S O M E....were hiding and conserving their energy!
We had to back track the last few weeks route when we were caught in heavy rain while riding back from our Bukit Hijau. Check out that write up in the KOTRTnickel....
The weather was kind in the morning with over cast clouds covering the sun. After a series of rolling terrain, pulling in the mid 40s, I got dropped by the peloton as I was accompanying Nizam and Gula. We have never been thru this route but I was confident that the group will wait for us at the critical junction :)
True enough, we reached a cross-road where the main road is the highway heading to Baling. We regrouped with the rest and head on.
Suddenly, Kulim Lee shouted everyone to stop after a short distance. Eh why ah? We noticed all the vehicles coming from Baling was wet and dark clouds were looming in the vicinity ahead. Damn! Or lucky? I would say lucky for now :)
So we turned back and took another route which was Kuala Ketil. If my memory didn’t fail me, there would be a climb just before we reached the town.... true enough, it appeared shortly after! The climb was short BUT painful!
We stopped at Dinas Restaurant in Kuala Ketil town for refreshment. Many had rice and some “I’m not hungry” were probably testing their "protein energy" level! No name mentioned here as we are all professionals! Quote unquoted. :p
Kulim Lee was having a field day teasing Choong Meng’s newly acquired Giro Advantage2 helmet, a full blown time trail helmet as used by 7th time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Maybe Choong Meng figured using this helmet can make him Legs-strong?! Kulim Lee even wore it the opposite way!
We adjourned towards Sidam, this road has very nice paddy field picturesque view! But sadly the roadwork made the area like Paris-Roubaix. Some rode cautiously while some showed their off-road skills! More of this later!
The peloton “disintegrated” as pace was getting high and I realized somehow I was with the front pack. Lucky me :) We pulled the leap from front to back and also trying a new way (in this group) by pulling from back to front. It's more effective and energy saving compared to pulling from back to front as all riders would do their equal share of work.
Some just hung on to the pack without doing their share of work! Sigh! Excuses being "I ran long distance yesterday then cycle...I'm so tired today..." with the lost puppy face expression! More on this later too!
We reached another critical junction, Pinang Tunggal where we regrouped. Mr Yellow Jersey made full use of the opportunity and conveniently helped himself to the support car. These area is famous for notorious headwind! The peloton move gradually and after a while we were hitting low 40s.
All of sudden "PHHHAAANNNGGGGG!" a loud noise rang out amongst the peloton! Danny’s super light weight tubeless chi-chi spoke had snapped! Huh! A broken MTB spoke on a road ride? :p Ni mesti kena sumpah as he rode aggressively along the Sidam “Paris-Roubaix” section of road works! Pity but luckily for him we had support car. Beh and Halim assisted him to load his bike to our support vehicle.
The peloton pace was hot again towards Bertam to Tasek Gelugor! We were riding hard as if being chased by ghost! We regrouped again at Petronas Tasek Gelugor and helped ourselves to a soya bean stall across the petrol station. It was delicious and relieving serving especially under the hot sun.
We left after resting for 15mins, with approximately 15km to cover from Tasek Gelugor to Kulim via Lunas.
Our Yellow Jersey guy instructed us to cover him and pull him to the finishing line. He insisted that we have to ensure he would reach the car park 1st! Sadly our YJ unable to cope with his strong domestiques and he was almost left behind. We slowed down for him and at that moment the Lost Puppy guy took the opportunity to breakaway.
KOTRT then launched our highest paid domestique to chase down the Lost Puppy and managed to reel him back to the peloton. I find it surprising the Lost Puppy had so much energy burst as earlier in the ride he mentioned he was so tired from his long distance run etc. BUT some how he regained his second wind to blast towards last few KM of the ride?! @#$%^% Where got gentleman Bro!
Everyone reached safely at the car park. Our tummy was calling for lunch! No wonder, we had burnt 3000 calories plus today. I suggested Laksa Kelang Lama, which we tried last week since Azmi and Halim have yet to try.
We helped ourselves and Mr Dope-Pope suggested that we should look for rice after this. Wah! To much dope can make U hungry? Some one even said Laksa was enough as we only burnt 3000 calories. Yea right!
But majority ruled and Halim proposed we head for Ikan Bawal Goreng in Juru! What a brilliant idea!
We conveyed to Juru Auto City, Halim gave instructions to look out for Molex factory as the landmark. The shop is well secluded behind rows of factories.
We saw many inhabitants queuing under the heavy rain to get their food at this stall! Damn! This stall must be good as it was so secluded yet many people were eating here!
True enough the dishes were simple; they only served Fried Bawal, Sambal Belacan, Ulam, Curry gravy and soya sauce (kicap!) to go with it! That was it? Sure? Y E S !
Surprisingly Mr Dope Pope was hungry too as I believe the supplements he took must have kicked in at the wrong time? He helped himself to a full plate of rice. The other surprise was the guy who claimed a bowl of laksa was enough for 3000 calories also had one and half plate of rice! Nuff said!
After our second feast, Halim took us on a tour around the Juru Auto City area. There was an auto show and promo going on with lots of people every where we turned. The walk relieved our stomach cramps and needless to say, we got an eyeful view! It was a good way to work off all that food consumed!
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ROADIE Ride – “6 Hills”
Date : 1-June-08
Time : “Slightly later” than 7.30am
Route : Kulim – Sg Tengas – Selama – Serdang – Air Putih – Macang Bubuk – Taman Selasih – Kulim
Distance : ~ 90km
KOTRT Bearers : Adrian, Beh, ChenPION, Derek, Pang & Rin.
Honest (really!) Eyewitness Account By : Pang D Tongue. One upon a time, along long time ago in the 3 dimensional world. The horn of Narnia was blown to summon the Kings and Queens of the past to accord blessing to the challenge of 6 Hills road ride and of course upon completion…the bragging rights. There we were the King of Mountains, King of Proms, The Drug King, King of Jinx, King of Pakistan XX , Kings and Queens of Daisy Chain, King of Zipp and etc. The assemblies of all were to conquer the 6 hills. The Khaw brothers were the lead riders in absence of the great Kulim Lee and our Drug King Azmi. You guess it right; again I made it first to the start line, an unrivalled feat for a while. Adrian my passenger dozing in the car while driven to the forest reserve waiting point. I can imagine him swearing and cursing to leave so early in the morning. Well enough of profanity on a Sunday morning. Anyone can by now expect, my description of locations WILL always be in the wrong order or that mix up from previous rides. This is the problem all will have to live with when I write. You will however appreciate my sarcasm and candid observation which will always be exaggerated and spiced up to command readership. Sometimes may result in short live misunderstanding. AND I will never want to clarify them. So you may put it in your blog (just like those political one) to stir and garner support of which I will not bother anyway. The original challenge was 120 km but reduced to 90 km. Which left most of us hunger for more at the end of the ride. The group can be always divided to 2 main groups for the sake of my write up which are the KOTRTers and the others. The story will of course focus on KOTRTers with highlight more of the antics, misdeeds, special hardware for the day, and also everything under the sun the writer wants pen out. As I understand, these write up are meant to generate group members’ interest and to pull all together. I agree to this goal as most of us seldom meet anyway. My only hope the write up placed in our Kronikels will not end up under the X category in the internet by external readers cum visitors. The gang left slightly later than 7.30 am. That is due to absence of Kulim Lee’s concentrated swear words to round up everyone. Somewhat, the riders have grown to accept BUT fear them to avoid being the target for the morning. Well, the group started late lacking the dose of morning call. Better late than never. The speed began moderate but was short lived when some smart aleck decided to rev up. Of course without Kulim Lee, the group lacks discipline. Derek, Adrian and the rest were the culprits. Yes, Derek has his shiny dazzling red trek with super Zipp rims were commanding the speed. Derek throw in a Jedi mind trick on me before the start that he will wait for me at all the 6 hills. I took it seriously and plan it strategically to counter the Jedi powers. Alternate at the front pack was Adrian in ecstasy and raving over my loan of Zipp rims. Each time he promise to domestique ( pardon if wrong spelling ) me. He ends up being miles ahead. One crazy bugger. Forgot to warn Adrian that it takes great skills to master the use of Zipp rims. During the entire ride, he got 2 punctures. I was with him for the first one and got a good rest while waiting for the fix taking place. King of P XX went to ease himself at the palm tree along the road. If I am not mistaken a paparazzi was hovering in the vicinity. Watch out boy. Rin waited for us at a bend leading to the break stop. Fortunately so, otherwise we would have been lost. At mid way we only passed 2 hills. Derek and others were at the break area for R&R waiting for us. When we regrouped, food followed with lots of drinks. Carbo loading would be a better description. After 20 min or so the ritual of eating ended and the torture began again. Danny said don’t worry, slope only what not even a hill. Easy for him as he brought his mountie to accompany us. Surely by bike design coupled with his superb piston ( leg ) power no hills are a problem. Followed the leading pack for next portion of the journey and lost the rest at somewhere ¾ of the journey. Danny signaled us to stop and wait for the group. After a long wait came Adrian swearing on the Zipp puncture again. Apparently he did not do a good job in checking a pin sticking on the tyre at the first puncture. Guess, he wasn’t meant to use a Zipp! The worst hill came with such steepness. At Macang Bubuk was where the climax took place. Almost forgotten the hill which is a natural human response to block and blank out all nightmares. The strong came pacing in… We have the dazzling red bike of Derek, ChenPION, Rin and Adrian. I came trailing behind trying to catch up. Yes, King of P XX was very very far away from us all. The road leading to the peak of the climb was sandy and covered with dried cement spilled from cement mixer plying the route to the construction site nearby. The road and the hill conquerors both made the peak more desirable. That peak is a personal challenge rather than among our buddies ie King of Kings. Very tiring climb, maneuvering away from the sand, cement and blocking riders. As I passed by the peak I whizzed past Rin who was with King of Zipp. The latter’s bike halted from moving uphill momentum likely due to road condition and ChenPION’s bike kissed the rear tyre of King of Zipp. Again no profanity on Sunday, bike kissing is also not allowed. Chen fell from that brief brush and he got up quickly with the lorry at his back competing for the peak. Swift actions and a professional recovery by Chen. Before I knew it I was ahead at the top of the peak feeling very satisfied and reliefed that none of my crew had any major physical injuries. Surpassing this tough hill, King of P XX reappeared, teasing the group by cutting in and out of the front pack with ease. Shamoon pulled a grin on his face to show his friendliness and soliciting for attention from me. Must be overdosed of drugs that morning . One wonders why he is so adorable and drives others to pinch him. His jersey with the print PTN sends a signal to PTN( please touch n _ _ n _ _ ) . His juicy arse in front of me when he tucks in on aerodynamic position. It was calling my name and I could hear it very clearly. I was slurping my tongue all over. At this point, he decided to stay away ie at the back so as not to tempt me. His lucky day making that move as I had low self control that morning. Hereon, the journey was a pretty much a collective effort peloton till the finishing line. The only person I wish to single out is to caution our GPS co-ordinator who actually got lost or should I say took a short cut. He was there smiling and greeting us all with no sense of guilt and committed a sin on a beautiful holy Sunday . Oh yes, about 100m to the end King P XX broke away to steal the yellow jersey. He was greeted by Chen who planted a kiss on him when he handed him the official yellow jersey. The ride ended with a discovery of a great Laksa from the Kulim car park. Adrian got the lead from one buddy he bump into short while back. We got lost while searching but the effort was worth it. It is a great Malay Laksa per Derek culinary knowledge. We must all come back here again whenever we are in for the road ride. The food is good and so are the daughters of the stall operator. The stall is actually in a housing estate operating using a house frontage. Illegal if you ask me. Eat while you can before the enforcement acts on them. Another adventure on the trail and food ends. The chapter is closed. The Kings and Queens returned to be summon again for the future.
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