Intriguing trail... for newbies, the Mt Erskine trail on 15 February 2010

I felt a little lazy to pen this ride as the Chinese New Year mood took a heavy toll from me. The only thing in my mind was to ride my bike and increase the mileage for me and my Scott. With enthusiastic encouragements from friends who read my blogs felt that I should continue writing, or to be more appropriate, typing on my laptop the stories which I encountered during my rides. So, for my friends and readers out there, here goes lazy me...

Second day of Chinese New Year seemed to be a perfect lazy day for me, woke up late and ate late breakfast. Unfortunately there was no breakfast in bed for me. To live like a ‘king’, one must possess the ability to hire a cook and an Amah. Gone were the days when the “Tai Siu Yeh” was treated like a prince in his own home. For me, I had to prepare my own - rolled oats soaked in hot Kopi O in a large Hokkien Mee bowl – my daily morning chow awaited me after my morning business. To speak of morning business among family or friends is disgusting but one has to move them every day. What goes in must come out; food taken must either burned up as fuel or through clearing of the bowels. Argh....!

It was napping time again after morning chow and another bowl of delicious “thong soey” made especially by Mom for guests. It’s heavenly when I started to shut my eyes. Seconds later, pictures came to my mind like a DVD being played on screen, of round island rides with Stingray, Baby Husky (formerly known as lazyrider), Daniel Lee and Susumu San, my solo rides to Teluk Bahang, Batu Ferringhi and Teluk Kumbar and Internet downloads of Mountain Bikes... Ah! Cannondales, Konas, Scotts, Giants, Treks, Santa Cruzes, Schwinns, etc. Things were beginning to heat up and I was getting very excited having to own each and every bike. You name it, I have it; one each for different terrain. My inherited money was extravagantly invested on these bikes as I collected them like how I collected my stamps and First Day covers. I began cleaning the bikes one by one thoroughly and polished them to showroom condition. I was proud of my finishing works as they were in immaculate condition from frame right down to the chains and derailleurs. It was for exhibition when friends visited my mansion. However, there were too many to clean and polish within such a short time. The weather was extreme with winds constantly blowing hot air which could raise a hot air balloon. I was perspiring and my vest was very wet. Gosh! It was like sauna in my room... 34.4 Celsius!

Dang! I woke up with a jolt and my T-shirt was all wet. The wooden floor had a wet imprint of my back as the bed was too hot to lie on. It was supposed to be a catnap but turned out to be a long one. Raymond, aka Stingray called to inform me that he would be driving to Mt Erskine and reached there by 4:30pm. Ray added that Nightrider and one Mr Ooi will be joining us. Ray offered me to follow him but I turned down as I am hooked to riding. Furthermore, I knew that there would be traffic jams along the way. I thanked Ray for his hospitality.

Zig-zagging in the long traffic jam, I cruised at 25kph when Ray honked me. He was driving at twice my speed. At every few seconds, he had to stop to follow the queue in the jam. I had an advantage as a cyclist – narrow, speedy and manoeuvrable - and cycled passed him three times. By the time I reached our rendezvous point, Ray was yet to be seen. Only five minutes later, he arrived with his hardly-ridden Scott Scale 40. Nightrider, aka Jason, was there earlier went for a short ride around the housing estate as a warm up. Another few minutes later, Mr Ooi arrived in his van, carrying his “noble steed”, the Scott Aspect 35. Great Scott! Three Scotts in this ride.

We started off slowly but surely and Raymond was quick enough to give some important pointers when going up the slope. Up we went, with our gears pre-shifted to the lowest according to our suitability prior to the arduous climb. We passed by many humps along the way up, some have indicators in the form of children’s coloured helmets or yellow construction hard hats to denote the ramps with trenches in the middle of them. Some were marked with used 1.5L mineral water bottles to denote normal ramps. “Do not use these ramps, please. They are very dangerous for you guys.” remarked Raymond. He meant it for our own safety as Jason and I were newbies on this trail. “Mm... ok!” I answered while panting all the way. It was the only simple reply I could give which sounded like an almost-dead-man’s voice except a little clearer. I also gave a nod to Ray to signify I understood what he was saying. That was only 500m away from our starting point. It shows the level of fitness I was having. I put on my thinking cap through my helmet, the mind-over-matter game. “I know I can finish this course. I know I can!”

We passed by quite rough terrain as we pursued on steadily and cautiously with many stones and pebbles along the way. We made sure that every pedal that we made were precise and not to take any risk that might have ourselves injured. We were also blessed by what Mother Nature provided us, trees that gave us shade from the searing heat of the sun. The air was cool and fresh. Very distinctive sounds of Murai Batus’ (a common local jungle bird with long tail) chirpings and frenzied callings filled the quietness of the surrounding jungle as if warning others on the four spandex clothed human trespassers with queer machines with black rollers in the front and rear. Each of the humans could be heard panting their lungs out, especially the second last rider who panted and gasped loudest. His mouth was opening like a goldfish taking in water every second of the moment. His exhaling could be heard meters away. Should a mosquito or any insect were to fly past by his face, they would drop dead. The heat that came out from his mouth would have “burned” them. And, if it did not, the stench of his breath would due to the fermentation of his saliva from the inhaling and exhaling through the mouth.  My, what a pong! Hey readers, I am describing myself. Yes, poor old me! Every pedal I made produced lactic acids all over my 43year old gluteus, quadriceps, hamstrings and chest muscles. The acid caused unbearable soreness to each and every muscle and the lacked of oxygen in the muscles often caused this soreness. What suffering did I bore to myself instead of lying in bed in an air conditioned room? I told myself I wanted to improve on my hill climbs! Kayuh Lasak came into my mind. I needed to train for it.

As we passed each man-made ramp, Raymond would remind us like an old gramophone player. We came by to a few steep slopes which I had to push my 11.1kg bike up. No way could I ride up that kind of slope, yet! Unlike Ray, Ooi and Jason, they were seasoned peddlers and tackle the slope with little challenge. It was not easy to go up a slope even with light equipment. The soil was slippery not from wetness but the small pebbles scattered around. There was one particular slope which gradient exceeded 30degrees. Some could pedal over. By the time it came to my turn, Ray was already up there waiting for me to tackle it. “If you dare not try to ride up, don’t risk it. Push your bike” warned Raymond as it’s dangerous for a newbie like me. I decided to push without hesitation and overcame the slope. A word of relief came from Ray that the ending was very nearby as we continued cycling the seemed-to-be-never-ending trail. There was a gentle breeze that gave us all some comfort and cooled off our overheated bodies. Cicadas were heard rubbing their wings to keep warm from the cool breeze that was blowing by. Couple of minutes later, we finally reached the end at level 23 with delight and sighed with gladness that the torture was over. We took the opportunity to rest and recover from the strain at the plateau, enjoying the gentle breeze and sipped water from our bottles and backpacks. Frankly, this place offered us a good trail to train for off-road uphill rides. We travelled approximately 2.7km uphill, about 40minutes. Not bad for me. I will come again in the very near future to tackle it better.  

Down the hill we went. I took it very seriously as I still had the phobia of falling from my bike since the Oct 25^th, 2009 Ride With CM Round Island chapter. With front shocks released I manoeuvred carefully through the trails with brakes ready to hit upon reaching a downhill slope. I felt my wrists, arms and shoulders began to sore from controlling the handle bars along the way. Palms and fingers started to feel numb as I continued to apply the brakes while letting the gravity did its work. It was fast! Loud screeches could be heard from my unseasoned brakes. Carefully with each turn, I manoeuvred through with light braking. Then we came to some uneven stones in our paths. I had to get down and pushed over the pieces. Ray tried to ride over it and like a pro he controlled his Scott carefully and was on his way down again. Ah...! that nasty 30degree slope again. Ray let his bike roll down with ease but I did not take the challenge. I rather hike down with my bike until the foot of the slope to avoid unnecessary incident later. The last obstacle conquered, the rest was easy and took us only 15minutes to reach the foot of Mt Erskine.

As the Terminator said to the policeman, “I’ll be back...”

*Be sure to stay tuned for my next episode, the Ngor Hean-Balik Pulau ride via Ayer Itam Dam.