Gopeng Peanut Search (GPS)

For the past few weeks, very wet weather sat over our Peninsular, bringing rains, vicious thunders and high winds.  Many states were flooded and my heart goes out to the families with property and plantation damage.  On Sunday morning, I decided to wander around Gua Tempurung (after race ‘de-registration’ … will talk about it later) and captured some images of this rather bleak and dreary time.  As my eyes began to wander, I was amazed at how much beauty there was just waiting to be seen. As you know by now, I love taking photos of the morning mist and we have plenty of those nowadays. Thanks to the rain that cools and moistens the air near the surface until these fog forms.

I even called up wifey who was still sound asleep at the inn near the Lost World of Tambun  to witness the great morning ‘show’ over the limestone cliffs of Tambun near our inn, only to find out that she wasn’t too well.  Since I was already on the way to EarthCamp in Gua Tempurung for the Gopeng Peanut Search (GPS) mountainbike race, I decided to proceed to the race village to meet few friends whom I had promised to meet that morning. Once I reached there, I went straight to the registration counter to de-register my participation in the race. I wanted to be with my family that morning. I need to look after my munchkin and her very active cousins at the waterpark since wifey was unwell to take care of them. Here are some pics taken at the event scene.

Gopeng Peanut Search (GPS)

Great news! Nomad Adventure is kind enough to extend the early bird entry fee of RM40/pax to Corporate Athletes. Just indicate “Corp Athletes” at the top of your entry form for their ref. Hope to see you there!

 

Gopeng Peanut Search (GPS) is a unique bike orienteering event around the amazing surroundings of Gopeng, Perak.

Each participant will be issued a race passport and a map for orienteering. The challenge is to visit as many checkpoints possible within the 5 hour period. Each checkpoint will have a specific orienteering puncher for participant to mark on their passport. Participant need to affix stamp in the correct numbered box on their passport.

There will be about 20-30 checkpoints around the race course. Points for each checkpoint will vary depending on the difficulty level involved in reaching it (10-20-30). Penalties will also be issued for lateness.

Winner is determined based on the points collected. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined based on the following:

• the competitor(s) that has visited the most high scoring checkpoints (and returned within the time limit)
• the competitor(s) that has visited the most checkpoints (and returned within the time limit)

Participants who returned within the time limit and achieved the minimum score will be eligible for the lucky draw. This is to ensure that all participants’ safety is accounted for and that sponsored items are fairly allocated out.

Although the registration deadline for  GPS is now over, you are still welcomed to join the fun. Just call my dear friend, Wye Yim @ 012-233 4717 to register, or visit Nomad Adventure’s website at  http://www.nomadadventure.com for more info. Their office phone is 03-7958 5152.

Please find below some important information for your reference.

Event Schedule (15 November)
Time              Activity
07.30 am    Registration begins & distribution of course map
08.30 am    Event Briefing
09.00 am    Event Begins
02.00 pm    Cut-off time for event. Penalties will be issued thereafter
Lunch
03.00 pm    Announcement of results. Lucky draw begins.
04.00 pm    Event ends.

Numbers & Goodie Bags Collection
Participants can collect their Numbers & Goodie Bags at the following venues:
a)    Friday 13th Nov
Corezone in SS2, PJ
2.00pm-8.30pm

b)    Sat 14th Nov
Earth Camp in Gopeng, Perak
2.00pm-6.00pm

BikeTrial Demo & Clinic by Syarul @ The Race Boy on 14 Nov
Nomad Adventure is proud to host Syarul @ The Race Boy who will be running special BikeTrial Demo & Clinic during event weekend. Details as follow:-

Date – 14 Nov (Sat)
Time – 2.00pm to 6.00pm
Venue – Earth Camp, Gopeng

Directions to Base Camp
The event base camp is at Earth Camp @ Kg Cholek, Perak. Report here for goodie bag collection and also for the race start & finish.
GPS Coordinates:
N04° 25’50.0”  E101° 10’51.9”

Hope to see you guys there!

If I Were a Photographer … (a biker’s dilemma)

If I were a photographer, I would have taken loads of snapshots throughout the recent MTB jamboree in Taiping, Perak, but the thing is I’m not, I’m a biker…… so, I rode through the picturesque landscape instead …. It was the most scenic mtb ride that I’ve ever done in my life ….

It was a promising Sunday morning when we were flagged off with 600+ mtb bikers from different states, including few Singaporeans. This time around, my regular cycling buddy AAA and his brother (also another triple A …. …) and Chermiche joined me at the starting line. Unfortunately, luck was not on Cheramiche side, as he had to face some pedal malfunction right at the start. Not wanting to leave him behind, we waited for the rest of pack to pass us, while Cheramiche tried to tend his bike. Trying not to be left too far behind from the group, we decided to ask Cheramiche to give it a try for few kms, but soon after, we lost him amidst the bikers. I only managed to spot him pushing his bicycle back to his car after completing the loop of the Taiping Lake Garden (oh ya, did I tell you that this Lake Garden is the most beautiful one in Malaysia). He gave us a thumb-down for his bike was then beyond repair. Poor Cheramiche for putting so much effort in making all his way to Taiping for its very first mtb jamboree, only to discover that he was not in it (Never mind Cheramiche, once your bike is fixed, we can hit the same trail again – somehow, I made the effort to memorise it … hehhehe).

For the rest of us, we cycled on-road towards Kamunting for a good 7-8 kms. Once we entered the off-road sections, mining pools, duck ponds, rivers with water flowing from the mountains, were part of our ‘off-road menu’. I just love this route. I couldn’t resist to stop at few points for some photoshoots (which I rarely do whenever I’m in ’sweat’). The rest of the trail brought us through rubber plantations, villages, and oh ya, the Bukit Merah Lake. Just imagine, a narrow road with lakewater surfacing close enough to the edges of the road …… ahhh, priceless …. (sorry guys, no photos to prove!). This was also the place that we stopped for tonnes of bananas (really hungry by then) and drown ourselves in mineral water. 

It was a fun ride altogether, not much of hills to ‘die’ for … mostly rolling terrains with easy-climbs. I could go faster but I did not want to. I wanted to savour bountiful of cow droppings that the trail got to offer …. This is nature at its very best, and I was glad to be a part of it. 

Five hours later (and 70 kilometers later), Cheramiche greeted us at the finishing point, and we had lunch together. Nothing could beat the heavenly experience of luxuriating up our appetite with Corn Rice (more like nasi minyak) & Ayam Masak Merah just meters away from the finishing line. Job well done to the organiser.   

Photos : ‘Courtesy’ of Taiping MTB Club (sorry, didn’t even ask for your permission to copy ’em ). Anyway, tqvm for for the experience. Go Taiping!

I Survived the Sahara Ride – Part II

-continuation -

Shifting our centre of gravity as far back as possible, we confidently cruised down some of the finest downhill rides at full speed. Although ‘cabbie’ (my ’sentimental-value’ MTB…hehehhe) did a stable job downhilling , cabbie was still not fast enough as compared to some of its standard friends around … must be the old bearings that my Cabbie was still wearing. There was once prelim effort done to give Cabbie a facelift, but the surgery carried a price tag of RM1500 – had to forget it altogether as the owner was truly an al-cheapo and/or thinks that he might just get his Cabbie replaced. Did I tell you that cabbie is a sentimental-value to me? So, Cabbie, you are pretty safe for the time being….:).

The rest of the ride, at least from CP2 to CP5, was pretty much fun, enjoyable & rideable. After about 4hrs (I think) of ’suicidal’ turns and downhills, we finally checked in at CP5. At CP5, riders were given options to ‘chicken-out’ from the Sahara heat or ‘head-on’ with more challenges. To ‘chicken-out’ , the riders would use the fastest and easiest route back to the race village at A’Famosa Resort (mostly on tarmac road), and still entitled for the Lucky Draw at dinner party later. Those who wished to ‘head-on’ with the Sahara heat, there were 3 more CPs awaiting with even suicidal obstacles. Being Gung-ho riders like AAA and me, we decided to expose our fragile-self all the way through – hoping to toughen up a little bit in braving through this crazy world (yikes, that’s too deep man…). Not long after CP5, we bumped into the killer hill known as Bukit Botak (Bald Hill). Just imagine having to hike (with a bike) up to a mountain like kinabalu at sahara desert…..(well, it’s abit over-exaggerated…hehehhe).  Ahead of us, we could see a platoon of riders pushing their bikes semi-consciously and ‘nil-heartedly’ throughout the trail leading to the peak.  As the name of Bukit Botak implies, there were practically no trees at all … instead lalang as tall as one meter became the riders only spot to provide shade from the intense heat of the afternoon sun. Everytime we thought the slope was over, only to discover another torturous upclimb behind the corner. In fact, I took several good shots of this part but …….. (shucks, see note below)…

Finally, when we thought that the climb was over, another obstacle hit us. The downhill was so steep that it was almost impossible to be on the bike… and the ground was so loose that it was almost impossible to even plant your feet well….. darn! Both Cabbie and I slided down for a good 100m. At times, i just let Cabbie slided down all by itself. I am okay if I had to push the bike all the way up provided that I could get ‘even’ by biking downhill …. but this is  !$#%&&!W#*^&^ :)

Mannnn, that was the worst part of the Sahara ride. By going thru the worst, the rest were labelled as bearable to us. We completed all the CPs without hardly any complaints, plus a tiny little secret that both AAA and I kept to maintain our ‘greatness’ …. (AAA, you know what I mean…CP9? Tarmac? remember?….hehhehehhe). This was one super ride and hope that it has provided enough doses of adrenaline for us to shy away from biking until the year end. We went home with broad smiles, coupled with super-aching butts (or probably buns of steel) and super-tired forearms (from having to control Cabbie on rocky downhill).

Congrats to Environmental Cycling Club for a job well done. We will definitely see you guys again next year.  

p/s – Sorry for the photoless entry, I just realised that all the photos taken during the MTB ride were deleted accidentally by who else? - Just a simple click to delete all….darn!!!! Geez, technology can really simplify things…

I Survived The Sahara Ride – Part 1

Yes indeed, MacamBagus survived the Sahara Ride – a 60km mountainbike (MTB) ‘mayhem’. Now it makes sense why the MTB jamboree was named ‘The Sahara Ride’ - 80% of the ride was shadeless, under the scorching sun with basically no trees …. … by the time we reached at the finishing point 7 hrs after, we were all ’medium-rare’ly grilled to perfection. OOuch.

My buddy, AAA, and I, left quite late from his family home in Ayer Keroh for the briefing on that Saturday night. By the time we reached at the Cowboy town of A’Farmosa Resort (the venue), the briefing was already third quarter through. The atmosphere didn’t prove that more than 600 bikers already signed up (and paid) for the jamboree since only a quarter turned up.

I only got to witness the full riders turnout at the starting line the following morning. Most of them looked so much younger than us … dressed in super cool biking outfits, accesorised in gears that I can only dream off … darn!. Definitely an ’envious’ sight to behold - allowing me to ‘window-shop’ the latest gadgets in town from the comfort of my own bike …. hehehhe.

Not wanting to be in the last batch of bikers, we comfortably positioned ourselves in the middle of the pack at the starting point. This way, we were capable to at least overtake some of the slower ones infront of us (…macammmm bagggusss..hehhehe). Once you are off-roading, your position basically will be stagnant throughout – mind you, it is not that easy to overtake that many bikers while MTBing ….. especially once you hit the woods.

We were on-road for the first 10km. With the rolling terrain around Simpang Ampat area, we managed to eat ‘ala pac-man’ a good bunch of bikers … almost 50 altogether. Having AAA around was definitely a plus – he was quite a good uphill biker as well. Once we passed CP1, we were practically in the first quarter of the bikers. 

At around 15th km, we came to few obstacles. First, the bolt of AAA’s seat gave way – geez, how could that happen. We quickly fix it using whatever tools we had, and frankly, we don’t have any… sigh! We only had this bright orangy rope from my underwater bag, and used it to tie the remaining seat to its post. Deep down, we knew that It would not last long. Worst still, if the seat slipped-off, AAA could be sitting ‘in’ the shaft for the remaining 45km? — — double ouch & yikes …

AAA could not ride well after the incident. He took the oppportunity to scout around for any bikes that were left unattended at villages that we passed through. In a desperate mode, AAA spotted two kiddie bikes under the barn-shade, and planted his first move by approching the rubber tapper sitting next to his targets. The tapper sensed our desperateness, and decided to offer us whatever parts that deemed beneficial to fix AAA’a bike. We dismantled the seat from the kiddie bike and took a long bolt and nut instead. Everything fell perfectly in its own place -the bolt size was perfect, the opening fit nicely, the bolt length couldn’t be better. We fixed it in no time and later AAA handed over RM10 to the villager but he refused to accept it. Wish that Malaysia is occupied with good sincere samaritans like him.

We were back to dirt road after the fix, cruising through rubber plantations, and basically enjoyed the shade of the tree canopy. Not long after that, we bumped into the first killer ascent – a steep hill with an almost 80 deg. slope. To make it worst, the cover was mix of loose sand and gravel. That made it even tougher for us to carry our bikes. It was during that hike that someone ahead of me yelled about a falling rock. In split second, I felt a hard knock at my tibia (lower leg bone) from sideway. Seconds later, I felt the complete pain but had to ignore it until I reached at the top to examine it. Suprisingly, it didn’t cause any tear to my tights, but my human skin could not survive the hard impact. It caused a deep cut, almost an inch long. Damage could have been worst if I didn’t wear my thick Nike adventure long-tights.  Not wanting to slow down, I pushed myself  to proceed.

More ‘pains’ in the next blog entry – Part 2. Do check them out.

“Survive the Sahara” – an evironmental ride

Macam Bagus Team, despite of lacking in another two members (hope it is still not too late for that) has signed up for a Malacca-Heritage cycle hunt (a short & fun hunt) & an environmental MTB ride, over the long Deepavali weekend next week. Preserving energy for the latter, the ride consists of approximately 10km on-road (well, they say it is a warm-up session) and a 50km off-road. Below is the full trail route of The Environment Ride (with the GPS coordinate for A’Famosa resort for the start and end ride
N2 26.787 E102 12.541)

Based on the route, there will be a variety of terrain that bikers need to go through …. rolling, plantation, flatland, longkang - should be interesting . But mannnn, having 620 riders on these route ain’t gonna be easy ….. hope it will not rain the day before or worst still, on the that day itself – suicidal !. 

See you at the ‘Sahara’ and at the Dinner.

Not so silent afterall

With not having any races to compete this month, I made a point to checkout the websites that i’ve not visited for quite sometime. To my surprise, there will be a 7km run – McDonald’s Olympic Day Run which will be held on the 29th of June at Dataran Merdeka. With only RM10 for the registration, you will be getting a Special Edition Cap and a T-shirt, plus some other goodies as well … not bad huh for a RM10 fee. Another event happening on that day will be a 45-km mountain bike hash known as The Epic KLMBH Hash which will be held at Ulu Tamu (not sure where this place is but should be within the Selangor state). p/s – I think I will opt for bikehash instead as this will be one of the ‘grandeur’ hashes ever organised by the KLMBH. Credits should go to hashers Scott TDF Roberts, Brian Wearing and Yin How.

Bash Report for December 2007

Well, what a great bash it turned out to be. Sg. Merab, the first time ever being explored by bike hashers was a superb intro especially for those who had not been biking for quite sometime. The direction to the put-in point provided by the hashers was too well to be misled. The bash report below courtesy of Bernard. November ‘07 Bash #159 – Putrajaya, Sg Merab Hares: Adil, Adlee, Jazlan, Ying How, Ai Ling

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OK this is my first ride report. At the best of times I struggle to navigate my way round a Bash ride and avoid crashing, let alone have enough concentration to make mental notes of the ride – so here goes… The briefing started at about 9:30 with Phil thanking the committee for their outstanding contributions to the success of the KLMBH this year – again well done to everyone who volunteered time and effort – without you guys there would be no bash! Phil and Ying How did the briefing at 09:30 and shortly after we set off down tarmac road past an Orang Asli settlement. The early signs were that it was going to be a warm day out – which it was but thankfully not really hot. We were onto the first check (near some barbed wire) quite quickly. Most people hung around for someone else to break the trail (everyone conserving energy in case it was hot and very hilly) and after 10 minutes or so we headed back out and along the river on our right for a couple of kilometres. After the river, the trail headed back into plantation and wound around some dirt roads and past some chicken coops. So far so good – reasonably shady and quite flat. The next section was a combination of fast double track and a few sections of secondary road to link up the off road sections. There was a short uphill climb on the road just before we reached the split between the long and scenic rides. The sign for the long was right at the turn – if you blinked you would have missed it (of course I did along with a couple of others). A short sharp hill off to the right – to let us know more fitness work is required (apart from Pat who went cycling past as I wheezed my up). On the other side of the hill we arrived at a 3 way junction and the 2nd check. 3 people went out to check whilst others caught up / had a drink. The check was straight ahead – broken by Pat and we headed up a nice undulating section, only to finish off with a nice long climb. We exited onto some secondary road and had another short climb where we were greeted by the hares on a steep uphill. "Enjoy the downhill section" they said – I should’ve guessed something was wrong…… A nice bit of downhill on double track and then we veered off to the right for a rough downhill section which then started to head back up the hill up some recently cleared logging track – damn!! it looked like we were heading back onto the doubletrack – after feeling quite pleased with myself for catching up I emerged back onto the double track to see about 10 riders go whizzing by – 10 minutes of slogging uphill for nothing! Nice one guys! The trail emerged near a pylon on top of a hill and the next check was called. The on call was 50m or so backwards and down the hill and led us down into a large open area where the paper just ran out. No false trail, no check! Hmmm. The first few front riders fanned out and checked in all directions, but after about 10 minutes the trail still hadn’t been found. The hare duly arrived and started to re-lay paper (which had been blown / rained away) and pointed everyone in the right direction. The trail went off to the left from where we emerged at the bottom of the hill. The trail stayed on some very muddy dirt roads with really some nice fast downhill sections punctuated by a couple of short sharp hills which got the blood pumping. After another 15-20 minutes or so we reached the top of a hill with a spectacular view of KL. The air was really clear and we could see all the way to KL and could see the Twin Towers quite clearly – Phil Bee was at the top enjoying the view as I went by. After a steep descent there were some really nice fast downhill sections. Mud in the eyes at high speed a couple of times and more ambition than skill resulted in a few "close moments". Sunglasses would have been really useful as there was loads of mud flying up. I heard someone complain that he had nearly crashed as some mud had flown up his nose – not sure what to recommend in this case…. We came out on disused tarmac road, and could see the Kajang Exit 500m sign we passed on the drive to ride site – most people now knew that the end of the trail was near. A nice little hill just to let you know that you were still alive followed and then a shortish steep and fast descent back down to the cars. First rider was in around 11:25 (I think) and most riders started coming in after 12:00 or thereabouts. I can’t recall which specific sections were really muddy, but I arrived back with a silly grin and absolutely covered in mud – the bike was also plastered in mud and was clay colour instead of it’s usual black. A really nice, fast ride with a good mix of terrain, punctuated with some short sharp hills. Well done to the hares on an excellent ride. Well done to Yow Hing (#3 this year), Adil, Adlee, Jazlan and Ai Ling on another great ride A big hand to introduce the new Bash Committee for 2008: Basher-in-Chief: Ying How Bash Cash: Tony Soelistyo Bash Drinks: Chen Jang Shien Bash Web: Bernard Emby Hare Raiser: Haris ‘Kelolo’ Bash News: Jazlan Yatim