Lost...

Imagine you're cycling on a well beaten path. Around you nothing else but rubber trees, undergrowth, and little mozzies all over your ears. You figure, "ok... just keep going... this oughta lead somewhere surely!". After all, you've just passed two tiny wooden huts (what the hell were tiny huts doing in the middle of nowhere?..) and been chased by a dog, surely you cannot get lost in a tiny forest!? ..hmm.. After 30 mins of cycling the path suddenly leads down a steep steep and muddy slope, and then disappears altogether. You half fall down, get off the bike and decide that perhaps its abit too steep and without a path before you, kinda dangerous, especially when roots start sticking out of the ground, endo-ing you almost! Then all of a sudden, the way clears and you're staring out at a 30-40 foot drop! You get on your butt, bike on top of you, in a desperate attempt to stop sliding downhill! Where on earth am I?
Well.. waddaya know...I'm smack in the middle of a "tiny" forest in Kiara!
For the veterans of this place; Dont laugh!
For the newbies... Watch out! You gotta respect this place and bring a damn GPS! No, not the kind you use in your car... but a real proper GPS that'll work in thick forests. I have one, but of course, Kiara is a "tiny" jungle... what would Patrick be needing a GPS in here for huh????
Trust me, such arrogance will cost you, umm... let's see, numerous cuts, bruised bottom, mozzie bites, bike-on-you-head (that's what endo-ing does) and not forgetting the tree you smash with your shoulders!
Plus point? (there always a plus point or points!)
You get to find NEW paths. You realise the importance of all that you know you should have brought and didnt. You appreciate life a little more.
In short... dont ever think ANY forest or jungle is "tiny" because, believe me... you're tinier! WAAAY tinier!

Ride with the KL Mountain Bike hash - Sg Buaya

Take the Rawang toll exit; drive into Rawang town and up towards the north. Until a turn off on the left about 5km from Rawang town. That's about all I remember about how to get to this place. All I know is that it was near some loji pembersihan air.
The ride began about 9.30am, with about 200 people; Guests and members of the KLMTB hash. I was a guest of Thomas and gang, all ready and equipped with my Garmin GPS to capture the trail so I can come back in the future and not get lost in this forest.
It was a cool morning, and in spite of the 200 people, the group quickly were dispersed due to different riding speeds and fitness. We were probably somewhere near the middle; not fast, not slow.
Not much to say about the scenery. Mostly single trail in the middle of a forest, nothing to look at except trees, trees, and more trees.
The actual hash was made up of 2 loops: easy and not so easy. After 10km on the easy, I decided that I was not fit enough to cover the 2nd 10km of not-so-easy, so I called it a day.
By the way... Thomas, lost his Garmin at some point near a river at the 2nd loop. Anyone find it.. please return to me.
Overall, nice easy ride and I'll definitely go there again.

Cobra while biking!

Today I almost got "patuk-ed" by a cobra like the one you see here! But instead it hit my front tyre.
I was cycling in the forest between Sri Hartamas and Kiara; a single trail. Thankfully it was a slight downhill, and although quite full of roots which slowed me down, nonetheless, downhill speed was there.
Suddenly, as I passed between some rubber trees, this cobra out of nowhere literally jumped from my right and towards my front tyre. I didnt even have time to react other than get a very rude shock!
I automatically lifted up both my feet off the pedal and just continued on! After about 5meters, I stopped the bike, turned and looked for it, but it was gone.

There were occasions I am told by my friend that he too encountered cobras before while jogging in the forest trails of Kiara. But this was a first for me.
I've seen boars, monitor lizards and various other insects, but none of them give me more fear than the Cobra I saw today!

For revenge over my shock, perhaps I should have some snake soup?
hmmm...

Jogging the Kiara Trail

Came out of the car and lo and behold... my back tyre was flat. Bike that is.
And here I was at the foot of kiara, eager to start my weekend trail search. Alas, got out my jogging shoes and ended up jogging the trail up at Kiara. The rain-all-night-before didn't help either.
Jogging up the hill seemed a lot harder than cycling, although joggers would think otherwise.
As it turned out, after the 800m jog up, I was well warmed up and ready for the forest trail and up the rocky path to the "balcony".
Wow, I hadn't perspired as much as that in a long time. Drenched from head to toe. THing about MTB-ing is that we get wind in your face on the downhills, but not jogging. No no no... Jogging is sweat going up and sweat going down.
And now, back home... my whole body is aching! (must be the enormous amount of "vibrating" my "extras" were doing.

Sg Sendat ride..

This is a late entry of a ride we did at Sg Sendat; a little forest area after the town of Rawang, sometime in September 09. Total distance was about 22km.
For some reason the rides around here, like Antara Gapi are nice and hilly. The climbing section of this ride was not extreme, but it was LONG !!
This ride was especially memorable because we had a puncture, we got lost, I got stung, and I finally figured why I needed a Garmin 60Csx! (still looking for a cheap one tho).
The trail itself, like most malaysian terrain was filled with earth, gravel, mud, streams and some dangerous corroded downhills, forcing us to get off our bikes and push.
Again, while all terrains are seemingly similar geographically, and hard to record on a blog... I still must say that EACH ride is different and enjoyable. The freedom, the air (or mud) in your face... nice... so nice.

Kiara NEW found trail...

Last week, unfortunately, my gang all had last minute stuff; however, suffice to say, I went to kiara and found a "new" trail.

After the crossroads (rest point at 2k loop junction) if keep going straight downhill, then a left at the bottom T-junction, about 50m down, the trail starts on the right side and goes around the circumference of the walking tarmac road. I kept going ... and in the end turned up at the foot of the "rocky" climb up to our rest place over looking the science centre (lets call that the "balcony").
It was a nice single trail.
I took a break at the balcony... then went back down the same way... only to discover when i reached to 2k loop that i'd left my helmet UP at the balcony!
Wah lao,... i did the rocky climb again!
Total covered about 15km.
If you're wondering how come I can ride and not know that i'm NOT wearing my helmet?
Good question.
You see, I have a 'good morning' towel tightly wound round my head to absorb sweat... hence... the helmet sits on top of that, making me unaware that it's even on. Other than the "tuala"... I am "tua-lah"!

:-)

Downhill in Kiara, Twin Peaks

Taken with the VholdR Contour HD helmet Cam, no editing.
Coming down the from Twin Peaks.