A Knight's Tale: KLMBH (KL Mountain Bike Hashes)
KOTRTpit view by Fuji

Meet : Taman Emas, Rasa, Selangor

Time : started 9.30am

Trail : Rasa, Selangor & its environs

It was said that Pigs may have flown that Sunday and Chew might show up for work on Monday in super tight hot pants, mesh singlet and KOTRT cycling cap (ala Bruno). But alas, it was not to be (too bad for Pang & Adrian), Sany had flown the coop to Penang. At least Hulk and I showed up, so Chew, we split any 4D winnings three ways – cash only, ahem!

The rain was pounding down when my alarm clock went off. Nevertheless, all my gear was quickly prepared and stashed in the garage. The rain tapered off and Chew arrived at the appointed time. Cue the panicked swapping of the front skewer on my Blur. The XTR one had jammed last week for some reason, so on went my trusty Salsa skewer, circa 1995.

We loaded up and blasted down the road towards our Rawang rendezvous with Eric & Thomas, passing several accidents on the way. By the time we arrived at Taman Emas, parking spaces were literally worth their weight in gold. Almost every single space was occupied by a bike transporter, much to the annoyance of the local residents. We finally found a nice place to settle in and geared & lathered (sunblock & mozzie spray) up. I had doubts about doing the Long Run, but Hulk had signed up for it so it looked like I had no choice. Registration (guest number 98) and briefing went by in a flash and then we were off with the dire warning that both Long & Short were tough as nails. The weather was pleasantly overcast and we passed through housing estates and kampungs before hitting the dirt proper.

Hazy memories of the first bit, mostly open dirt roads with gradual climbs, many flats from the hardpack terrain, one girl fell hard on an uphill section, grimacing in pain as she limped to the trailside and one guy who kept on lying down flat on his back every few km. Asked if he was ok, he would reply weakly “I’m ok”, rest for a few minutes and then carry on gamely on bike or foot. Chew, Eric and Thomas had to wait up for us every now and then. We bumped into and chatted with Sha Damis, posted back to Malaysia and hashing on a borrowed bike.

Then came the split, left for Long and right for Short. We all stopped. Chew looked at Hulk and me. We looked back. It was like “Gunfight at the OK Corral”, without the cheesy background music. We decided to live and let live and parted ways. The first thing we ran into on the Short was a false trail. Bummer. Then a circular check, which was broken just as we arrived. Several moderate climbs and downhills followed before we hit the wonderful singletrack. Long, fast and flowing through the shade, it deposited us by a chicken farm. Poor chickens, barely enough room to stand up and two to a cage. Then past a vegetable farm and Bam! we were back at Taman Emas. Wow! That wasn’t as hard as the Hares said it would be (Short not suitable for women new to the hash and children?), took us about 2 hours, even with all the checking, false trails and wheezing up climbs, chasing Hulk and Sha on their old skool Litespeed Obed’s.

Sat down at the local Mamak to wait for Chew and caught up with Hulk and Sha over a light brunch. Chew rolled in around 12.30pm with his rear tire going flat just as he arrived. Thomas and Eric were not too far behind. Eric’s first words to me were “Lucky you didn’t follow us on the Long, or your legs would be charcoal!” Phew!

We cleaned and loaded up and then it was off to hunt for food and Durians in Rawang… J

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