taking the first corner....as if....
It’s been a week since the ride...as usual; I just couldn’t find the time to put down into words the whole ride coverage. Also...I’ve no idea where to start....the ride was definitely not a favourite of mine...it was tiring...but not as how it was supposed to...I could accept if it was the distance that worn me out, but that’s not it.... the never ending climbs...with ridiculous climbing degrees made the climb unrideable for me...and some even impossible... I could say that I only enjoyed the ride partially...the first 10km’s...the descending part (downhill) in certain areas....and the company of friends...other than that?....total crap!
trail map....40km of pure torture
Well...what’s done is done...at the end of the day...one could only assess his performance and fitness level based on his performance for the day...me included....and I must say....based on my performance for the day, I need a major overhaul! =p
Arrival
Woke up at 3.30am...hmm....just 3 hours sleep...I really gonna screw this ride, I think...Got myself ready and after leaving a goodbye kiss to my daughter and wife, I left home at 4am. I drove straight towards Johor Jaya in the cold Sunday morning to fetch fellow rider, Wan Mizer, who will be riding his first ever bike hash....gave him a few pointers the night before...not sure whether he heeded my advice by getting enough sleep before the ride but judging from his Facebook status, I don’t think that fella had any sleep at all...hehe
Reached his place at 4.30am, as promised....waited for a while before started the journey to Batu Pahat with his bike stashed in the back seat. To make way for his bike, I’ve arranged my bike to be transported to BP with the rest of Tamago’s bikes via Abg Sam’s lorry.
Reaching the Skudai toll plaza, I rendezvoused with the rest of Tamago’s before driving on towards our first stop, the Machap R&R. It was a quiet morning drive....since my co-pilot dozed off next to me. Tailing Abg Sam’s lorry really makes me sleepy since we’re only moving at 90kmph...decided to overtake and sped off to the RV point. Along the way, I was overtook by few cars with bikes perched on top of it....a nice view....kinda reminds me of my “late” thule rack...sad....=(
Arrived at Machap R&R half an hour later , was greeted by the Gereker’s who was having their breakfast there. It was nice to see some familiar faces especially when you’re heading to the same destination. There were Akmal, Lond, EG, Panjang and few other Gereker’s present. I guess only Reza sat out the event. Too bad....we could’ve teamed up and ride the hash together...like the old days...ceh!
After having breakfast, we continued our journey to Seri Medan, BP and exited via Yong Peng (U) toll exit.
Arrived at Seri Medan at 7:15am....began unloading and gearing up...headed to the starting point with few minutes to spare, got my riding pass from Along and moments later...the ride starts ..
me and the Tamago's..
Starting
The hash was only open to a limited 300 participants....but the sight that morning was overwhelming....the starting point was packed with riders anxious to start the ride. Strangely, I wasn’t feeling nervous or thrilled or excited as before....it was more like a normal weekend ride for me........
mesmerized by the crowd...
moments before the flag off...
I was waiting for the ride to start, standing beside a bus when I was called by Lond. He will be riding with a friend, whom also riding his first hash...great...maybe I could teamed up with Lond and guide our first timers throughout the ride...
Finally, the ride was flagged off around 8:05 – 8:10am...I didn’t immediately join the large crowd dispersing ....instead I rode slowly and started at the back of the pack....riding slowly towards the first stage of the ride...as if i was riding the normal Sunday ride...what I didn’t anticipate was...that was the beginning of a torturous journey.....
1st stage
The hash comprises of 3 stages....for the first stage....the first 10km was relatively easy...some climbs....but all rideable...had my first stop during a climb after the 10km mark....a fellow Gereker had broke his chain. Me and Lond stopped to offer our help....turned out that it wasn’t any of our expertise...luckily Ah Wee was riding by and I seeked his help. Being an expert....Ah Wee remedied the problem in a flash and we continued hiking uphill.
geez.....really dunno what to do here...
The route conditions were relatively easy on the flat sections....but turned gnarly later with the extra steep uphill....some of it was unrideable...
At one point, we were forced to hike almost 300 meters on a steep slopes...reaching the top....all of the riders or shall I say, bike pushers were out of breath....some of them took the opportunity to take memorable group photo’s as the scenery was breathtaking....after resting a while I continued with the ride hoping for a sweet payback after the long hike...and I was not disappointed...the ride down was a bliss....a sweet long DH with some small jumps...but was thwarted by a loose pebbles section at the end of the trail...then the ride continues till we reached the first checkpoint.
me and the hero of the day....
picturesque
After getting the CP1 sticker, I didn’t stick around for long.... after a while, me and the rest of the guys left and heads for the next CP.
2nd stage
The distance to the next check point was about 8-9km, I guess. The first few km was a straight flat road....momentarily on tarmac...it was a pleasant change of pace after the gruelling hill climb in stage 1. I was trying to catch up for lost times by pushing hard, going fast, leaving Lond and the rest behind...my plan was to beat Lond on the next hill climb as I’m sure he will attempt to ride it whereas me, unsure whether I’m able to conquer another hill after the previous hiking. And I was right...after the 2km dash, there it was...another hill to conquer....I managed to pedal halfway before giving up the effort. I resumed the journey uphill as a bike pusher....though pedalling would be a more ideal choice, I was too exhausted and I could feel signs of cramps on both of my thighs...decided to walk slowly to the top...moments later, Lond and his friend pedaled past me heading to the top but he too had to stop with about 200 meters left....same case I assumed.
hiking up....
gang members photo session...bike pushers gang that is.....
Reaching the top, one could expect a welcoming payback in form of a sweet downhill but that wasn’t to be....we were given a slight descend before another lung busting uphill climb where only few made attempt to conquer it...while the rest opted to hike up. Reaching the top, we took a breather...took out and empty my chilled Coke which I usually keep reserved in my backpack as my victory drinks (note: kinda like victory cigars in those war movies...I don’t smoke, you see) and opened a pack of dried mangoes and passed it around. Feeling refreshed after a 10 minutes break, I decided to continue the ride alone, since the rest wanted a longer rest there.
The downhill was treacherous with very steep descend and I had to carefully manoeuvred over the rocky surface...the “excitement” was cut short when I came across this motorcycle riding Marshall who was moving slow....I overtook him at one section and continued riding downhill and thru the oil palm estate heading towards CP2.
going down.....
Reached CP2 and found that Akmal was already there....moments later, Lond and the rest also arrived. We had to extend our rest there to wait for the organizers to replenish their water and bananas....it was unbelievable that they’re unable to ensure sufficient stocks of the most essential items in an event such as this. Nonetheless, we had to wait as most of us has had empty reservoir on our back.
After the refreshment finally came, we quickly replenished our H20 reserves, gulping down few bananas and make haste for the next CP.
3rd stage
My entire body has already taken a huge toll from the long ride (and the never ending climbs...hehe). By now...I’ve already travelled some 30km from the starting point....other than getting really tired from the long hours on saddles, I’m feeling muscle cramps on both thighs...the trail condition does not change even though the Marshall in CP2 told us that the ride would be a smooth flat ride to the finish...he clearly tipu-ed us all.....morale support?...nottt!...=p
There were climbs after climbs in the section of the ride....at this point, you could hear swearings from the participants all the way to the finish line.....I wouldn’t blame ‘em...coz I’m one of ‘em....hahahahaha..
There was so many climbs that I already lost count.......what I remembered was there was this really long climb thru the oil palm plantation, right after the CP2...which goes on till another torturous, steep and very slippery impossible climb...that goes on to another open climbing...to another long climb on a concrete road surface....with so few descends....until we reached a roadside....which was the only blessing left as after that we had to turned in to another tarmac hill climb which was also steep and torturing under the open air...luckily it stayed cloudy that day...else it’ll be hellish for us riders for sure...
I had to stop pedalling halfway again as I was too exhausted....Lond and his friend has long gone, leaving me behind during the concrete pavement hill climb...and so me and several riders continued hiking up the tarmac.
Reached the CP3 and found Akmal having a rest there....the organizers were kind enough to reward us with refreshing watermelons and bananas other than the usual drinking water....totally worned out after a long hike...I munched down a lot of those cooling watermelons....tired maaa?....hehehe
CP3....saved by the melons....
Finishing
Rested a while before started pedalling again...went ahead of Akmal but was overtaken later on...me slow...hehehe...
But seriously...the fact was...I was totally exhausted...and started to feel muscle cramps on both legs....after a short but steep climb, the pain suddenly came....out of a sudden...both of my legs were numb and the pain starts kicking in...I fell off my bike...and had to take 5-10 minutes break to wait for the pain to ease...once feeling okay a bit, I started riding again...
moments before the cramp attack...hehehe
The ride went on to a sweet single trail DH...quite steep at some sections but it was enjoyable...kinda reminds me the Gunung Pulai trail...but this one’s better....since there’s no need to pedal, I manoeuvred the trail gracefully...cheh!...but really.....to me, that was one of the moments I enjoyed that day....
Reached the bottom of the hill and found Shamsul and Yunos Tamago....there were only few km left so we all rode on in a quick pace...wanting to end the suffering as soon as possible...
Reaching the town area, I got a bit excited....saw this speed bumps and rode fast and did a bunny hop past it....BIG MISTAKE....once landed, the cramps kicked in again and I fell again for the second time...Shamsul stopped by and helped me up and the both of ‘em pushed me to the finish line...sorry guys....hehehe
Finally reached the end of the crazy ride at 1:45pm....not bad....for a tourist rider like me....=p
After consuming the Nasi Beryani (so~so only), me and Wan packed up and left without waiting for the lucky draws....we’re riding on other people’s passport....not qualified maaaa?
Our destination was the Machap R&R for some quick shower....I smelled terrible but there were no place for us to freshen up at Seri Medan....along the journey, Wan dozed off again....leaving me driving alone again...sigh......
Overall
I would not say it’s all that terrible....I mean...I enjoyed the company of friends....registered my ride as a Cyclemotion’s, drove to BP with the Tamago’s (my bike hitched a ride with theirs), riding alongside the Gerekers...mixing around with other fellow riders, making new acquaintances...I was enjoying myself riding alongside friends....and yeah....really enjoyed some of the DH....apart from the suicidal uphill climbs...I could say it was a great day....
BP Hash track elevation - taken from NPC blog
But I guess, the organizers should look into the event and do some post mortem...I mean judging from the trail conditions , the organizers had probably done the trail recce-ing using some motorcross bike or something....or maybe the tester should be on drugs while marking the trails...hehehehe...
Other factors was the absent of Marshall’s in some dangerous parts of the trail...I didn’t even see any sweeper at the back....being at the back of the pack, I should at least saw one, right?...other than the guy who’re riding the motorcross bike....there were no other official riding with the participants....hmmm....serious safety issues there.....
The trail marking was excellent.....no way a person could get lost that day with so many paper trails and warning hazard signs...I’ve no complaints about that...the organizers had done their jobs ...and being able to organise the whole event....kudos to them...(next time give us a more rideable trail lah!)
I’m looking forward for another event in near future...provided that I’m free lah....looking forward for another ride this week....Plentong?....definitely.....craving for an off road ride......hehehe...
**photos courtesy from Wan Mizer, Joren Mohd, Ah Wee and NBC
