Probably the last ride here?

The telephone must be one of the most powerful and convenient inventions for mankind. Had it not been for the phone, today’s ride would not have been possible for many of us! Just last night after 08:00pm I received an urgent telephone call regarding today’s ride. There was no way that I could have sent an email and informed everyone about it in time. And so once again, using the only ‘primitive’ invention of time, I started making emergency calls to the rest who had given me their telephone contact numbers.

Mountain biking can sometimes cause the mind to react in a very strange way. Sometimes I just can’t help it but wonder if mountain biking has made most of us crazy or just plain out of mind? I mean, was it not only two (2) days ago that we drove so far from Damansara just to have a riding session in Kuala Khubu to Frasers Hill? And now, here we are again, in KKB, to ride this Pertak trail! What is it that makes all of us drive such distance just to have a ride in the forest? We could have just climb up on our bike and rode around our housing estate? Whatever the reason, I think I would prefer to stick to the old excuse or the true reason that is, true affection and love for this great and healthy sports – mountain biking! Ask any mountain biker and only they will know what this addiction is all about.

The usual agenda of the day and ride: gearing up. Like a ritual chore, everyone was kept busy putting on their cycling shoes or just preparing their mountain bikes for the ride. No one was in any hurry, as we all knew that soon, we would all be heading towards the same trail and excitement. Did I just say excitement? What excitement? Is it the sight of watching everyone struggling to cycle up this Pertak trail, to the stage of dying and gasping for air that exciting? `Or is it the chance of been among the first few to arrive at the set destination?

During the first stage of the trail, a very pathetic sight greeted us when more land and trees were seen cleared from here. Judging from the amount of destruction, it will be soon that this trail will be no more but become a part of our mountain biking history! The building of a dam here in Kuala Khubu is going to change many lives and history. We can only hope that it will be for the betterment of mankind, Malaysians!

Today is another hot day and thanks to all the ‘still’ existing trees that provided us with all the much needed shade! With the river and the sound of the water flowing down on our left, I wondered what happened to my expected ‘chi’! Was it not that the sound of rushing water have always given me the ‘perk’ and the unknown source of energy during all my road rides uphill? Somehow, this up hill ride was no match for my inner-chi! But then again, ‘Ice-Cube’ and the others seemed not to have lost their ‘chi’! Or have they learnt the art of trapping it within their inner-selves? Hmmm …

The distance is short, only a mere 16km both way. But as always, in mountain biking, when such short distance is declared, is it not that we always end up with one really tough trail? Pertak is no different with almost 60 percent of the trail that can't be rode on! Only ten (10) percent of the initial trail could still be rode up the hill while the remaining thirty (30) percent is reserved for our return downhill dash.

I think the greatest performance must be from ‘Coke’ who was the only lady joining us for today’s gruesome trail. She did it in her own pace and never once complained … I think? In fact she had mentioned before how much she dreaded this trail, as it was her very second mountain biking nightmare when she was first here! But this time around, she has once again proved to us that she is one tough SYT (sweet young thing)!

Basically, the trail is very technical – make one mistake or blink your eye at the wrong time and you are down … as in crashed! ‘Ice-Cube’ says it so easily: “Concentrate on your straight line in front of you …” – it didn’t work for most of us!

The last 2km must be one of the worst nightmares. The hill was just impossible to ride up neither was it easy to come riding down from. And when we finally reached the end of the trail, without any hesitation, young Kevin and myself were soon soaking in the nice icy cold water. The packet of nasi lemak from Farizul tasted delicious after all the energy burnt! Spicy or not, I soon finished mine within 5 minutes of opening the packet!

One discovery here – socks can and do go missing right in front of your eyes as young Kevin discovered. Another lesson learnt here by Farizul is never to simply slap off any pesky insects from your neck or face. He found it out the painful way when he actually slapped on a honeybee! The stinger must have gone straight into his rear ear lobe as he frantically tried to remove it!

My biggest ‘boo-boo’ for the day must have be when I was easily and slowly coming down this steep rock faced hill slope. At the spur of a moment, I was curious and had looked down on my cycle-meter. It was hardly 2 seconds that I took my eyes off the front of my trail and before I realised it, there I was, with my front wheels already hanging at the edge of this very high drop! Like a bunny hopping away (at least I think I did tried to hop off my bike there and then!), my bike was thrown into the bush on my left while I landed down below on to my right side! No major damages (surprisingly!) but just another hard knock on my leg by my Shimano clip pedal. So it goes to prove, never ever take your eyes off your trail when you are tackling a deep and dangerous down-slope drop!

The agony of today’s ride must have been the fact that we took over an hour and a half to struggle up to the waterfalls. But the return journey down the hill took us only about 30 minutes! Talk of humiliation!

Finally, the journey back to ‘civilization’ – Kuala Lumpur! Once again, for the non-Muslim, it was a short detour into Hulu Yam Lama for a delicious ‘Loh Mee’ and fantastic finger licking ‘Spring Chicken’ late lunch. The food is definitely one of the best I have eaten so far and if you happened to be there – Restoran Hin Yap is the place. It sure is value for money.

Until next Sunday then … as Dave says: “Don’t go doing anything crazy as we live to Ride”!