1st of August 09

Sorry to dissapoint some of you, I was not at the ISA March in KL but save and sound in Pearl of the Island. Enough of being chased after by the FRU and Police some time ago.

So, what is all this,its about a bunch of middle aged male being finding some adrenaline rush. You may call us crazy, out of our minds or plain middle age crisis blokes yet I like to call us as serious bikers. Let me tell the whole story. I got up as usual at 6.30am like any other Saturdays’ the one day that we look forward to and saw few SMS from Arthur about our ride today may be postponed as it rained earlier in the morning. I was not in the mood to postpone my ride today but decided to ride alone despite rain or shine. Arthur sends me another sms saying that the rest of the team also wanted to ride immaterial of the rain. I set out with clouds looking gloomy and ready to pour out its frustration after a week long hot week. I rode alone towards our meeting place and saw Sufian waiting there and slowly one by one members joined us, Afendi, Zaidi ( I think), Arthur the GREAT, Yazid, KB,KL and Zul(who got his visa approved today).
While discussing where to ride either to Karpet or to Blue House,Yazid mentioned "lets ride and we'll decide at the midpoint". So we set cycling towards the midpoint and upon reaching midpoint we rested and it started to pour dogs and cats. We were contemplating to turn back, but everyone decided to head towards Karpet after the rain slowed down. After the rain receded we rode towards karpet on the slippery road with rain water running down the path which made the trail more difficult. Even our wheel skipped and skidded while going uphill. After the usual puffing and grasping for breath we managed to reach the peak. It was a splendid view along the trail with mist enveloping the hills. We stopped and took pictures which happen to be our routine. It was breath taking view and we stopped from time to time to click our camera. I managed to ride towards karpet without pushing the bike today but with some stop overs though..he.he.he but no pushing ok. Some of the team members were thinking of abandoning me as I did not join them to push the bike today. We reached Karpet and some other riders joined us there. It rained heavily again and we found some shelter to keep ourselves dry not that we need one as our bodies were already drenched with rain water and covered with mud.
Idris,Suri and their friend from MAS who was riding KONA ( sorry kawan lupanama)joined us. Some suggested to go down to Balik Pulau from Karpet some decided otherwise as they have limited visa approval from their respective home ministry's. I was up for any challenge today and Arthur said if I go he'll go to Balik Pulau too. Affendi, Zaidi & KB decided to head back and 8 of us decided to go towards Balik Pulau. The path was wet and slippery after the downpour and we need to go down slowly but that did not stop some of the team members to be downhill heroes. After a while we reached Balik Pulau and had our usual breakfast. It started to rain heavily again and we waited till the rain stopped. Again we were contemplating which path to follow either the Pondok Upeh tar road or hill trail. Idris decided to take the hills and it was a big mistake for some of us, I shall not mention their names here. The bike pusher gang lived up to our rapport again and started pushing our bikes and after some distance we tried to cycle on the wet uphill path which was really difficult. We pushed and cycled until the peak and the wet downhill ride did not allow us to go on our usual fast ride but slowly holding on our breaks or our dear lives. While descending downhill one of our bikers tyre punctured and Suri is our handyman as he had all the necessary tools to mend the puncture. I respect this soft spoken guy as he comes with plenty of technical skills with no air about himself. Thanks kawan. Another member of ours had muscle spasm( cramp) and needed medical attention from time to time so Idris, Yazid and I rode with him for moral support or an excuse to slow down and push the bike if necessary under the pretext of helping..he.he.he!
We had another mishap with one of our member falling down while going downhill and we rushed to his assistance. I helped him to his feet and he said he was okay and we continued with our ride after Idris fixed his bike as the fall forced the gear inwards touching the spokes. we reached the main road going uphill and the downhill ride was fun until we took a right turn going into Bukit Dato which was another uphill ride...sigh. The downhill ride was great with the usual heroes were nowhere in sight namely Arthur, Suri, Suffian,and Mr.MAS. By the way the Zul who was with us all the while raced downhill with all enthusiasm leaving Idris, Yazid and myself behind! We reached the foothill around 12.30 pm. It was our longest ride ever which was a real test of endurance and mental strength yet all fun as usual. Call us crazy bunch who were willing to take risks by riding in the rain on slippery trails getting wet and muddy, falling down, skidding off the track, getting cramps but it didn't stop us from managing a successful ride. Will we do it again, definitely a a big YES and we'll do it again next week for another cheap fun adventure ride!