Today's trail was specially arranged, a very special dedicated ride and an unforgettable ride for him, our fellow rider Grant who sadly, is leaving for home come the 25th of this month end. Better known as 'The Flying Dutch Man' by the Knight Of the Round Table  (KORT) folks of Penang or 'Guay-Loh' as I enjoy calling out to him every now and then! Because of this, we also had to discourage any newbies or slow riders from joining us this morning! Sorry to you guys and gals ... apologies here.

Away from our usual gathering place at Joo Ngan Bicycle centre, we met in Bangsar this time round. Car park was aplenty as it was still in the wee hours of the morning when we gathered in front of the Devi's corner coffee shop. But my conscious would not leave me in peace and so I had to take a drive back to Joo Ngan Bicycle Centre in Damansara Utama just to make sure no other riders were waiting there!

The drive to Sungei Long took us less than 30 minutes. Parking our cars in front of the shop lots, we were met by the other riders here in Sungei Long. Together we made a total of 17 riders for the day. The clouds were already threatening to pour out its wrath upon us even before we started cycling off into the woods. Despite the threat above, we were so glad for the overcast sky. It helped cool us down all the way.

From the start, we were already served with so much adventure and exciting thrills! The initial ride was already uphill and though it didn't seem like it, it was really steep! The trail was wet with occasional water pool from yesterday's heavy downpour. When the first downhill came, no one dared ride on the bike! This is because it was a single trail and leaving not much of a room for any mistake that would bring us down straight into the deep bushy landing below! To make it more threatening, the ground was also very slippery and covered with tree roots just when you least expect them!

In the end, all of us started pushing our 'machine' down slowly. Suddenly, we could hear Kiat shouting and screaming away! Someone in the front had smashed through a big low lying red ant nest (better known as the karangga) and we at the rear, not knowing anything about it, also went straight in and pass this nest above our head. Hundred and hundreds of this little fierce creature landed on all of us and started biting very painfully! Amazingly, this pesky creature knows how to crawl through our hair to bite at the head!

At almost 5km, we were already panting away as we arrived at the first hilltop. Here, we were dared to take the challenge - a dash down this steep rock hill followed by a steep 80 degrees drop! As we tried coaxing one another to take the lead, the younger riders were already at it!

Amazingly, Casse, Sany and Kor Yong took the risk and actually flew over and down this drop-off! What a sight especially Casse when she was obviously shaken by the neat experience! Another round would she dare?

From here on, it was another nice ride into the woods again. The rain started falling hard on us and while Kor Yong fixed his two (2) tire puncture, Henri, Eddie, Kiat and myself took shelter under our make shift zinc roof! We had wanted to wait but decided otherwise since we were already all wet and dirty. So, into the woods we continued.

Soon after, we were served with another surprise - the muddy trail! Kor Yong and Sany had already warned us about this area but contrary to their warning, we were spared the knee-deep mud! Instead, the mud was just slightly above our ankles! Just before crossing the river, a good bike wash and soon it was back into the woods again.

Next came the eerie leeches! I have never seen such long leeches before so it was quite an awful sight to see them today. Sany even swore that they were great acrobatic creatures as one actually jumped on to his arm from another rider's hand! Maybe this little creature escaped from the mini Melaka zoo which happened to be quite nearby?

The trail overall was very good and can be considered the best of the many best as Grant said. We had so much adventure of red ants, mud, leeches and even 'grass-urchin' which got stuck on to my cycling shorts, socks and shoes! Than we also had many fallen branches to climb over, carrying our bike like real mountain bikers should and would. And in the rain, it was cold all the way! Overall, I would say that all of us would love coming back here again and soon.

Today's casualty head count: Kiat broke his chain. And if that is not bad enough, he went on to break his rear derailleur! Another two young riders broke their chain too! No serious crashes despite the rain and the wet slippery ground. Plenty of leech bites but surprisingly, I was spared from any!

As I close today's weekly ride chapter, on behalf of all CycleFlex MTB riders as well as fellow MTB riders and friends of Grant, we wish him all the very best. Most of all, we will surely miss him in our rides!