Just another day for me at the office?
KOTRTpit view by Rin The Jinx

Wake up : 4.00am
Prep Up : 4.30am
The brave souls : Pang, Adrian, Chen, Beh (support crew), Halim (support crew) and me
Depart to Ipoh : 5.00am
Arrive in Jelapang toll : 6.10am

Arrive at Spg Pulai : 6.20am
Ride start : 7.45am
Route : Simpang Pulai – Tapah – Ringlet – Tanah Rata – Brinchang – Kg Raja – Simpang Pulai

Distance : 182.8km

Ride ends : 4.45pm

Total riding time : 7hrs 11mins

Total biking time : 9hrs
Dinner : 6.00pm

Arrive in Penang : 9.45pm

Total away from home : 17.5hrs!

Data data data…..everyday we are filled with data….even riding, we will not pass a glimpse of the data available on our watch, cyclo computer, heart rate monitor, GPS etc…..

The crew rendezvoused at my house at 4.30am…..YES! 4.30am! We repacked and reorganized some stuff between our 2 cars.

Halim drove Pang's car together with Adrian, while I drove my car with Chen and Beh. The idea behind asking Halim to drive Pang's car was so they could cope up with the speed and would not get lost during the journey! I guess U know what I meant right?

Time is very crucial as we need to be in Simpang Pulai by 7.30am or the peloton will leave us behind! Ipoh group is known for their punctuality.

We reached Spg Pulai toll slightly after 6.00am after clocking 140km/h along the highway. We immediately searched for a breakfast joint and we found a mamak shop just few km away from our starting line.

Menu as follow:-

Beh – 1pc roti telur

Rin & Chen – 1pc roti telur + 1pc roti kosong

Pang & Adrian – 2pcs roti telur

Halim – 1pc roti telur double! (pls ask him!)

After uploading(food) and some people downloading(dump), we headed to the starting line. A big group of riders were already there, preparing, warming up, stretching etc.

It had been drizzling since we decended the tunnel highway till we finished our breakfast. However soon as we headed for the starting line, the drizzle stopped and we were rewarded with an overcast sky! Thank God!

I saw some familiar faces like Mac of PCC in yellow jersey, Andrea "pancit" Tan, Wong "Trek", Lim Yew Meng on his black stealth Orbea, Kenny "Mild Seven Adventure", Malaysian triathlon gold medalist Kimberly Yap, Khalib with 5 of his ATM riders, Kulim groups ie Kulim Lee, Eddie, Khaw bros, Nizam, Zul, Lan BMC, and Ipoh groups.

Not wanting to waste much time, we started to unpack as we were roaring to go as much as the rest of the cyclists! Unfortunately one of us fixed his brand new Conti GP4K on the opposite rotation. Luckily the KOTRT crew worked like the F1 pit crew! It was done within seconds! Phew! That was close.

Sharp at 7.45am , the group started moving with generally fair and friendly pace. I noticed some MTB following us and I respect their determination as this route would not be easy. The initial pace was around 25-28km/h until we clocked 20 km , suddenly I heard Kulim Lee calling me…"Rin, maih!....". I quickly sneaked behind him to get the best wind cheating advantage available in the peloton and I signaled Adrian to join.

I peeped in front and noticed Khalib was the one pulling the leap….he is DA machine. He was consistently pulling at 40-42km/h for the next 20km! God! I was hanging to my dear life holding hard on my bar to ensure I'll not get dropped. The 1st 45km was small rolling hills, some Ipoh riders eg Mr Polka Dot etc was playing "chase me if U can" and I believed many riders would get dropped if the pace did not subside. The road was all ours with an estimated 130 riders who turned up for this ride. We just rolled pass the traffic lights like the Le Tour de Langkawi and Tour de France.

I saw my cyclo computer was reading 52km/h at one time, yes! 52km/h ( please refer graph with speed). It would be a disastrous day for me if the pace continued this high, sure koyak lah Bro! Luckily I saw a signboard Cameron Highland turn left and the best part was a Shell petrol station at the junction too! That meant a pit stop break! Phew!

We refreshed ourselves with chilled drinks, energy bars/gels and refilled our water bottles. What a relief! I noticed a black Iswara Aeroback stopping at the traffic junction and the driver actually came out of his car and started shouting towards us at Shell. All of us didn't pay attention to this maniac and he drove into the station and started looking for someone. He approached one of the marshals who used his bike to support the ride. He looked very angry but left shortly after.

I being kepoh-ci, asked the Uncle…."apa pasal?...apa dia mau?..." His respond was simple…"Dia kata dia Polis, dia tanya saya, apa saya jadi marshal kah? Lumba haram kah? …saya kata saya jual pisang saja…" I just smiled and walked away with a big grin on my face .

We rested for about 20 mins while waiting for some backbenchers to arrive . I browsed my Suunto to check on elevation before start of the climb, it's 144ft. Well, I should be doing about 5000ft to climb for next 45km . Wah, can die wor….

Slowly I rolled out while some riders still lingered around Shell Station. I needed to warm up my legs as the steep climb ahead would be bad for my knees. Eddie MKH also joined me with some Ipoh riders. Kulim Lee decided to wait for a little longer with the rest of the faster riders. The view was beautiful with streams and orang asli villages. I noticed there was even a campsite for rent along the way. The climb become challenging soonest we reached a dam, it was not as tough as the new highway to Cameron but it was kind of gradual and consistent climb.

The climb is something like Teluk Bahang to Titi Kerawang but longer and no flat plateau. The road busier with heavy vehicle especially lorry transporting veges from CH. The pace increased as we kept overtaking some smaller group of cyclist. I saw Lim Yew Meng and another cyclist wearing a blue jersey approaching me fast when I look ed back for the rest of Kulim's group. It was Lim and Kimberly! Boy! They were fast; I fetl like I'm in reverse gear when they overtook me. I hopped in behind them and holding on with my best effort. They were going 24km/h on this climb! I managed to keep up with them for only a few km, then out of a sudden my tummy growled! My tummy hurt so bad and I felt like purging! Oh shit…I need to take a dump!

We had passed the scenic waterfall where Halim and Beh were grinning while capturing the moment with camera. Later at a blind corner, we saw a lorry coming down fast, Kimberly almost got hit by the lorry if she had not reacted quickly by pulling to the side. That was close, the lorry missed her by few cm and I almost banged her from the back !

My tummy was cramping badly and my energy was focusing on my tummy instead of the ride. They dropped me as I couldn't manage to maintain my pace with them. Slowly I pedaled alone to ease my tummy cramp. I just wanted to stop by any stream to ease myself but it went off soonest I stopped! I couldn't take it anymore and I stopped at KM86, I just pulled by the roadside as I need to do what I hate to do especially by the jungle! Luckily one of the other riders support car stopped by me. She drove a silver MyVi. She asked if I was ok. I told her that I had stomach ache and I needed to ease myself. She even offered me a pair of slippers and an umbrella for cover as she doesn't have any spare towel.

I ran quickly, looked for a safe spot and positioned myself. I felt relieved soonest the dirty deed was done. Thank God I didn't purge in my pants. It was a good dump!

Adrian, Roger, Wong and few more riders were kind enough to wait for me while I cleaned myself. We continued shortly after and it was just few km away from the peak of the climb. Descend to Ringlet was fast but short. We rendezvous with the rest of the fast pack riders at a food court.

I met Kulim's, Army and Ipoh group at the food court. I quickly grabbed a plate of rice with fish to replenish my much needed energy for the next 90km. The lunch was good as my body has been lightened up by few pounds just now.

After resting and refilling our water bottles, we continued our adventure to another half of the ride. The skylight was filled with dark clouds and my Suunto barometer was pointing down. The rain poured heavily as we reached Habu. It was freezing and I could imagine Adrian in his sleeveless jersey.

Climbing from Habu to Brinchang was bad , the pouring rain and chilled strong winds made it worse. The bunch left me again as I didn't manage to hang-on to their furious climbing abilities. I was left with Pang struggling to conquer the highland at slower pace .

I was relieved to see Adrian, Halim and Beh waiting at Brinchang town. Although it's only 17km from Ringlet to Brinchang but it was tougher as weather was freezing. I really regretted not bringing my ACG jacket for this ride, otherwise I could weather the condition better.

After refueling, I continued the climb to Equatorial's peak. That will be highest peak for today's ride but at that point we only clocked 110km! Descending to Kg Raja was scary especially in wet condition, slippery road and bad eyesight. We stopped at Kg Raja for a much desired cup of coffee. The caffeine really warmed our frozen body. We were running late as it's almost 2pm. It meant we have ridden for almost 6hrs!

I told Adrian that we had to move and not waste time at Kg Raja since it's getting late. Adrian was reluctant to make a move as it was pouring; Pang rode past the coffee shop ignoring us. It must be his tactic to win over other KOTRT members by sneaking past thru' us! Kulim Lee hailed him and he had no choice but to stop.

I offered Pang a cup of coffee but he declined as he was ready to continue his ride. So we were left with 3 KOTRT crew out of 4 when we started. Chen was nowhere to be seen. We last saw him at Ringlet as we prayed hard hoping he was ok.

To our surprise it was not raining at the peak of Kg Raja-Gua Musang highway. We were thankful the road was dry and it could be an added advantage and safety when we descend later. Adrian as usual complained he was hungry and we stopped at a kiosk for some light refreshment.

Descending to Simpang Pulai was not easy as we thought. There were also some climbs along the way. Some riders like Khaw Bros zoomed past us during the descend as if they were motor assisted! I was left behind alone as I couldn't manage to cope with Adrian's climbing ability while Pang took his grandma's time to descend.

I reached the car park at exact ly 4.45pm, exactly 9hrs of biking activity! Wow! It was a good accomplishment but it could be much more fun if only we had the full KOTRT crew joining us for this ride.

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