It is a great pat on the shoulder for Simon and all the fantastic Sungai Long boys. Once again, they have so strongly shown us what co-operation and team spirit means. Especially to the three (3) front, middle and rear sweepers, what a great show of responsibilities and sacrifices they have given to us (38 riders to be exact!), to make sure that today's ride is enjoyed safely by everyone. Rather than cycling off and enjoying themselves, they have willingly devoted all the attention and their patience to wait and take care of all of us! A really BIG thank you to all three of you and all Sungai Long riders.

Today also saw a fantastic turn out of mountain bikers. All 38 of us were in full gear and ready to go first to the 'Love' trail followed by 'Busy Body'. It was a huge gathering of riders- we have the riders from Penang (KORT), from Kajang - the Hash riders and from the Klang valley: CycleFlexers and not forgetting the Sungai Long group. Not to mention the number of cars with bicycle racks on the rooftop. It was indeed a fantastic sight!

After a 'really' brief introduction of the three (3) humble sweepers, we were off. The 'ladies' (actually 3 guys) were the last to cycle off after wasting so much time getting geared up! They had laid off from mountain biking for much too long a time and now, even gearing up takes something like ages!

Hardly five (5) minutes after the start off, we already had the first casualty! No first prize for a good guess for who else can it be but none other than the same 'rider' who just love breaking bicycle parts! Once again, his chain had snapped and a good thing that one of us had a spare brand new chain for him. This guy must be really incredibly and powerfully strong to be breaking so many of his bicycle parts? I think from his record, ever since the first day he started to mountain bike; he has never stopped once breaking parts!

After crossing the river, it was a sharp left turn up towards the first trail: Love Triangle. It was quite a steep climb all the way but none of us complained, as we were all still very fresh and fully charged with the early morning energy in us. And here it was when I have to be stung by a hornet! And what a place to get that - my right butt! The pain was incredible initially as each time I push on the pedal, and when my right butt rubs on the saddle … Ouch! Slowly and painfully I soon got used to the pain! But even now, as I sit here in my nice air-conditioned room, my right butt is still 'sexily' swollen and hurts to touch - but not to kiss?? Smoooch! I think the stinger must have got pushed in deeper due to all the movement of my butt!

At long last, the end of the line and a very frustrating one! The agony of it - a dead end! Come to think of it, this trail must be renamed to be called, the 'Frustration' trail! A quick turn around, a long ride down the hill and soon we were back on the old trail, heading towards the housing estate.

Upon reaching the opening into this housing estate, we made another sharp left turn, which is a climb up - back into the jungle. This time, we were 'attacking' the Busy Body trail. This is a slow ascend uphill in this durian tree plantation. And this ride up is no easy task as we soon found out! No wonder they call it the Busy Body trail but then again, I think it should be rightfully named, the 'Long Winded' trail! It seemed an endless ride up and at certain point; even pushing our mountain bikes was no easy task as we gasp for every inch and ounce of fresh air! Most of the time, the air in the jungle is fresh but when you have certain riders in front of you, with a very strong body odour … you just want to quickly overtake him! Then again, your energy seemed to be lost at the same time so the only thing to do is to fall back!

Another startling discovery today: Shi Fun have become a very strong rider! Amongst us, her friends, I think we have finally got to admit that she has definitely made a remarkable improvement. And for her great achievement, we have decided that she is finally one of 'us'! What an embarrassment when at one point, here I was struggling and pushing my bike up hill and from the rear comes Shi Fun, peddling away and shouting to me, encouraging me to ride on my bike instead of pushing! I can still recall the days when I was doing the encouragement but now things have taken a big turn!

Finally at the 'Y-junction', I decided not to follow along up to the top of this 'Busy Body' hill. I had to turn back and head back to my car to get the ice and cold drinks ready for everyone to enjoy at the end of the day. With the rear sweeper and 4 other riders, we were all so glad to be charging downhill, back 'home'! And it was here that I had to have a crash! And a very strange timing too as it was when I was not even actually riding downhill yet! Maybe it was due to tiredness? Most of all, maybe I should start been more careful now as I seem to be crashing repeatly in every ride?

After a long hard and hot ride, we finally reached back to the cars. A quick change and freshen up, and a frantic search for ice, I was soon driving my car towards the 'kamikaze' drop zone point. With Coca-Cola drinks, Isomax and 100-Plus all ready and chilled in my cooler box, the fearful sight of this drop zone waits for the brave at heart! And to start off the daredevil stunt, we managed to coax Razif into taking his great leap!

And what a incredible guy he has proved himself to be when he not once but for five (5) times took to this 'Kamikaze' with no fear! The best jump must be his fourth (4th), when he incredibly did a slow nosedive down this treacherous drop zone. He really surprised everyone of us: a 'soft-core' rider doing this daredevil leap when the majority of us dare not!

Finally, everyone was here and the brave soul, sadly only a few, started doing their stunt. It was an incredible sight of bravery and courage. A real bravery indeed when one of the rider have to be coaxed into taking this leap only to crash just when he had reached the foot of the slope! And what a place to land - on top of a rusted can and a piece of rock! Maybe I am luckier to be having only a hornet stinger in me than our poor friend here who now ended up with plenty of bruises and a sore back!

Overall, today's ride must be one of Sungai Long's greatest achievement that is the biggest mountain biking group to ever gather here. But once again, it is only because of the great team effort and the fantastic sacrifices of Simon and his Sungai Long boys! After two (2) weeks of Sungai Long, I think next week, we will most probably be looking forward to a more easy and casual ride? FRIM anyone?