FakawiTribe.com | TribalTalk

[KeLoLo]

[u][size=18][b]What to do on Saturday night?[/b][/size][/u]

Up north of Klang Valley, near Kundang, there’s a township by the name of Bandar Tasik Puteri. There live a bunch of velophiles who call themselves BTP Bicycle Brigade (BBB). They have been cycling here and there during day time. One fine day, they decided to try groping in the dark. A bunch of velophiles, 26 of em to be precise, decided to wreak havoc in a quiet palm estate on a Saturday night. This is their story…

I woke up on Sunday morning, with a rather strange feeling. Body felt heavy, muscle ached all over. Memory still vague, head groggy. Thought I had a dream last night. I dreamed of cycling in Ladang Tuan Mee with a bunch of crazy BBB riders who had nothing better to do on Saturday night. Half awake, I lazily walked downstairs. When I reached the last step, I turned around to look under the stair and I saw something that was not quite right..My bike - the black stallion, all dirty and muddy. Wait a minute... What I saw was like an electric shock that jolted me from my grogginess. A surge of excitement rushed in, switching on all my senses. I WASN'T DREAMING. I DID ride in Ladang Tuan Mee with BBB bunch of crazy fellas!!! And everything rushed back to my memory...Adrenaline rushed as the memory recalled last night's historical adventurous ride.

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Ever since it was announced, 05/05/07 was marked in my diary. Been excitedly looking forward to it. For me, it was my debut for off road nite ride and also a homecoming after leaving BTP for almost 5 months. The day arrived. I left home 1700 hrs to make sure of being there on time.

2100 hrs, BBB members started flocking Zul's stall. Final prep made, especially with the lighting gears, while Naza took the opportunity busying himself with the registration. Finally met those that I had only known by their forum nick - Ikan Bilis gave the impression of a petite small being turned out otherwise. Usop practically hooked a "generator" onto his bike. Chiko scurried around making sure everything was in order. Abang Ipin drew attention with his blinking vest which reminded me of Ultra Seven.

About 2130, all huddled up for pre-ride brief. Head count recorded 26 riders. A big turn up which also mean a big nightmare for Chiko and the marshals to keep an eye on everybody. A snappy brief of what to expect and ride rules by Chiko. A doa followed and we were off.

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Out from medan parking into tarmac. We turned right towards Block 6. Sky was gloomy and littered with cloud shrouding the 91% moon that night. The dark street decorated with lighting gears of all sort by the BBB "ultramans". Is in the lead, assisted by Abang Ipin. Gaplek would be watching the rear. Ding Muda entrusted to take care of the middle pack while Chiko would be running back and forth.

Hitting the junction, radio message came in from rear marshal, Usop got his chain snapped immediately after starting. Spent sometime fixing his chain. A quick fix by Labeb and Gaplek got us all moving again. Regrouped with the main body at the Block 6 junction. Ride resumed towards Maple. End of tarmac for the night when we took a right turn on the dirt road headed towards Block 3. 26 riders kicked up dust rolling thru the nite. I heard complaints coming from the rear party. Weather was clear. No wind blowing. A bit humid though. Moon looked translucent hidden behind thick cloud.

I was with the lead pack. Treading carefully not to overtake Is. A big taboo to overtake the lead pack. Exchange of radio transmission heard between marshals becoming like the soundtrack of the ride. All was smooth...

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Turned into block 3, which I initially thought was the turn towards the Indon kongsi. All was already quiet. An indication that the dwellers were already settled in. Approaching the trailhead, there were people still outside. The children noticed us. They yelled and scream in excitement upon seeing us. Convoy ground to a stop. An indication that we were at the trailhead.

Anticipation ran high. The darkness of Ladang Tuan Mee beckoning. Still palm trees with protruding leaves stood like huge giants ready to swallow us. Eerie feeling swept in. Scenes from Stephen King movies, Nang Nak, Zombie Kampung Pisang rolled fast in the head. Not now...not now...Chiko did his usual ritual of announcing our entrance, a loud bang with his firecracker...

Steep descent welcomed us. Chiko glided down as if his tires were glued to the trail. The rest...MTB (mari tolak beskal) down except for Labeb who displayed similar awesome skill like Chiko. Sheeeshhhh...When can we be as good as them.

Once Gaplek the rear marshal confirmed everybody descended, we had a quick head count and the torture began. A mild ascent followed. Good introduction to sweat it out. Nothing much you can see in the dark. Visibility limited to whatever the lighting gears can offer. The most was like 3 meter ahead. Took some while to get accustomed to the darkness. Other senses had to work extra to compensate for the lacking in vision. Good!!! Good? Yeah..Good!!! Because for the first time I could "feel" the terrain better. Legs, arms, body, buttocks could register all the humps and bumps of the trail because the eyes cannot do so fully. That what made nite ride more gratifying...I guess...

A moderate double track climb then we swung to the right with more moderate climb following. The end of the climb brought to small flat opening. There...alhamdulillah. Pit stop 1 to catch a breather. Everybody arrived safely. No untoward incident recorded. Only "Oohh..", "Ahhh..." and the now very common "Fuyohhhh..." heard breaking the silence and serenity of Ladang Tuan Mee. Sweat oozed out from the pores profusely. Testimony enough to the exhiliration of nite ride. Most took the fiver to light up including Labeb who chose to light up his mosquito coil! That was only the initial, more was yet to come as Chiko indicated.


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Journey continued as Is started to roll into the depth of Tuan Mee's darkness. Next on the menu cooked up by our crafty marshals was Bukit Kelawar. Named after Kelawar, one of the riders. What had he done to earn this fame? A 30 degree double track climb. Fortunately the surface was not so rough and bumpy. Muda echoed the call for granny. Must have missed his granny very much. My ride was a bit hampered because of the loud creaking sound coming from my drive train. It became the subject of Sam's ridicule. Chiko also commented in French "Gege besika demo deh, Abu". Crude translation meaning your bicycle is making a very sweet melodious sound. Something like that. Pardon my French. Lot of the riders expressed surprise for succeeding in conquering Bukit Kelawar. A feat that was impossible to some during day time. Maybe it's true then, what you can't see, can't hurt you.

The most arduous challenge was the steep descents before the Ikan Bilis bridge. A complete mixture of steep gradient and rutted surface. It claimed several casualties. Fortunately I was spared. Kelawar stood by the bridge cautioning everybody when crossing the narrow bridge. I was contemplating to just ride across, but a bit of persuasion from Kelawar made me decide otherwise. Only the view of lights from descending riders later made me realised how steep the slope was. Gaplek got a nice brotherly scolding from Kelawar for trying to ride across. Moral of the story - don't go against your big ( I really mean BIG) brother.

Next came Polygon hill followed by a tricky single track palm slalom. Labeb practically whizzed thru. I tried to follow suit only to realize that I was no match for Labeb. To add to that, cold chill ran down the spine when I realised that just a little wee bit to the right, a dark deep ravine awaited (OK, I exaggerated. It was just a big deep drain) for any false move. I decided to tread it with care.

I was behaving frivolously that night. Pumped up by all the excitement perhaps. Whizzing back and forth along the trail. There were few legs where I purposedly selected the uncommon difficult line, seeking more thrill that way. Sure was fun groping in the dark like that. Bumpy ride shook my bike, and the bells attached to it. So I was like the ice cream man jingling the whole night thru, breaking the silence of the night. Sam ordered ice cream from me...

Passed that, the faint view of bukit botak in sight. A cleared area due to re-planting. We took another break to enjoy the beautiful and breathtaking view of the night. From afar, illuminated view of lights coming from Puncak Alam on the west. To the east, lights came from Lim Goh Tong's castle of vice - Genting Highland. High up in the sky, the almost full moon was clearly visible albeit covered by clouds. Time was 0030 hrs 06/05/07.

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We camped for a while. Taking advantage of the crowd, Chiko briefed about the planned Cameronian de Epic ride. Bla..bla..bla..8 hours ride....bla...bla...gotta train for it...bla...bla...bla...expect 8 hours riding training. 8 hours? Gulp...I found difficulty to swallow my saliva.

From Bukit Botak, the smell of home grew stronger. A descent from Bukit Botak, across another almost flat trail. Then followed by a sweet double track downhill where Muda failed to resist the temptation. Zoomed he went savoring the last downhill for the night (morning?). I couldn't just watch Muda enjoying himself. So I followed suit gaining enough momentum to climb up the last slope for the ride. Is then turned left towards the exit near Block 29. End of off road trail. Another stop there for head count to ensure all the 26 was there. No more, no less...It was a mixed contradicting feeling of relief and also wanting to savor more...

The journey home...Casual pedalling from the exit cutting accross behind Block 26 and Block 16 heading back towards the junction at Block 6. From there straight to Jintan Manis. The leading pack was welcomed by tables reserved exclusively for BBB. Thank you Harun of Jintan Manis. It took long while before the second pack arrived. Oh...they were delayed by Muda's puncture. End of a journey, end of one heck of an adventure...A beginning of a new craze... I hope this insanity will continue and I am not ashame to admit that I AM CRAZY...Time was 0130 06/05/07.

All in all...I was skeptic before when it come to night riding. There were several invitations for a night ride, but non managed to convince me. But the brotherhood shown by BBB mellowed me in making me reconsider. A decision I'll not regret...Distance covered was approx 15km. Total time approx 5 hrs. Ride time about 3 hrs. Stop time about 2 hrs.

Trails were nice where you can choose the smoother lines or do the insane by selecting a rougher lines full of humps and bumps, and mud holes for extra kick.

For those who are still having second thoughts about nite ride, don't. You MUST feel it yourself. For those who had to miss it, you missed a lot. It'll be a long wait for another nite ride since, according to Chiko, this was the last nite ride for this year...Too bad!!! For the record, the journey was smooth. Marshals knew the way even though we were groping in the dark. This was made possible by proper homework done by the marshals. They had done several survey and recce rides to ensure that the rest would enjoy the ride. Safety was paramount. Togetherness was kept intact. Discipline was high. A big hearfelt congratulations and gratitude to Chiko, Iskandar Jin Jalis, Abang Ipin, Buding Muda, Gaplek, Labeb for organising it. Thank you Sam for immortalising and digitizing the moments. A big thank you also to all fellow riders for making it such a fun and adventurous events thus making me feel bad for moving out from BTP. The trouble to travel all the way from Gombak was well worth it!!! I arrived home at 0345…


See pics at [url=http://picasaweb.google.com/kelolo24/BBBNiteRide2]BBB Nite Ride Pics[/url]

Pictures courtesy of Sam and Pechiko of BBB

[dh]

Bro u the one which makes us felt scary .. not the nite ride .... u can even write so damn fine stories bout ur ride not only just stories its just like i'm riding along wit u guys ... That's really makes u scare the hell out of me .... SALUTE TO U !

[fishbrain]

kelolo, do you like to read books like David Eddings, Raymond E Feist and such???

[HYH]

Nice report. Why is it the last night ride for the year?
Might be a good idea for the BTP group to organise a night ride at Kiara.

[jimster]

[quote="HYH"]Nice report. Why is it the last night ride for the year?
Might be a good idea for the BTP group to organise a night ride at Kiara.[/quote]

26 of them going night ride at kiara? Whoa..! Can even scare the ghosts away..!

:smt119

[jasontan]

i say.. you ought to be appointed official fakawi scribe.. and do all the official fakawi ride & race reports.. some pretty sharp literary skills there!

[andrewawi]

Kelolo the ice-cream man---i totally cracked over that section...

More important---26 people went for the night ride, and 26 came back safely---the organizers did an outstanding job in making personal safety a paramount concern.

Excellent write-up, it even drew me away and got absorbed into your experience.

[fakawichief]

Great reading Kelolo!
I'hope you dont mind the added photos from your album..to tie in with your article.

superb stuff.

[rideDONTslide]

Good stuff kelolo...... this should motivate more faks for night rides.... :O:)O

[KeLoLo]

All,

Thanks for the flattery. I just wanna share the true excitement of nite riding which I was very skeptical before.

dh,
U scared? I don't think u even know what the word mean.

Chief,
Thanks for adding the photos. It adds more juice to the write-up.

Andrew,
Yeap, ever since I hook up the bell, I got lotsa ice-cream order. My quick reply was - strawberry, vanilla or chocolate?

Jasontan,
Official scribe? NOT!!!

JasonFish,
I used to read a lot. Since started working, not much any more. Fav genre was spy thriller - Clancy, Forsyth. Another fav was aviation action thrillers - Dale Brown and e few others I can't recall. I also read Grisham and...1 or 2 Mills and Boon. Really! Very handy when it come to picking up girls :)

Hey! Nice new rig BTW.

HYH,
BBB had already done Kiara nite ride in smaller group. The core of the hardcore during puasa month. Start very late around 11.00p.m. and finish by 1.00 or 2.00.

RDS,
Yeah..hope so too. So Chief, when's the next dash?