That's the only way to describe the last week.
Five days straight of partying like a rockstar.
Absolutely zero training. No swim, no bike, no run.
A week of killing my brain cells and letting my muscles atrophy,
I'm sooooo going to die at Powerman.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The 3km Ride to Port Dickson
That's right. What was to be a 120km ride, my first long ride since Raya, was cut short to 3km. Or 2.71km to be precise.
The day started out good enough. Was up at 5.45am, and left the house by 6.30. Packed 3 bottles of water (2 Powerbar Endurance, 1 plain water) for what I thought would be a fairly long ride, as well as Tuptim (the Cervelo) so I can feel what it's like going long on that bike.
Got to MTDC in Bangi at 7.15am with plenty of time to set up. Present for today's ride was ride leader Adzim, Laif, Fadzil, Jaja and Andrea. At about 7.40, we pushed off.
Barely 10 minutes into the ride, I felt my front wheel hit something. Followed by the familiar flop-flop-sound of a flat. Pulled out of the paceline and stopped to change the tube. Not a big deal, or so I thought.
Tube changed, I proceeded to inflate it using CO2. But for some reason, the inflator sisn't want to pucture the canister to let the gas out. While fiddling with it to get it inflated, I inadvertantly snapped the head of the valve stem off. No matter. Sometimes these things happen and it'll steel keep the wheel inflated.
Thinking my inflator was busted, I borrowed Laif's inflator. This time the canister did puncture, and my tyre was being inflated. Oh joy!
Bu the joy was shortlived. Air was soon rushing out of the broken valve.
And because I was using my Zipp wheels, I couldn't borrow another tube from Laif. I needed tubes with an 80mm valve stem to fit the deep dish wheels and I didn't bring any valve extenders.
End of ride.
I was about to make the 3km walk back to MTDC when Laif volunteered to ride back and pick up the car. I guess he figured the rest of the group was a long way off, and riding solo to catch up would be a waste of effort. So off he went.
So that was it. The ride I had been so anticipating since before Raya ended with a pfftttt. And I still had three full bottles of water!
Lesson learned. The Zipps are meant to be race wheels and should be used just for races. Next time take the Ksyriums for training rides, less complications.
Was supposed to run tomorrow but since I didn't get to ride today, I'll join PCC and do their chicken loop. And I will be bringing Angel (the Trek), complete with Ksyriums, instead.
I have to apologise to Laif and thank him as well for sacrificing his ride to help me out. I owe you big time, dude.
The day started out good enough. Was up at 5.45am, and left the house by 6.30. Packed 3 bottles of water (2 Powerbar Endurance, 1 plain water) for what I thought would be a fairly long ride, as well as Tuptim (the Cervelo) so I can feel what it's like going long on that bike.
Got to MTDC in Bangi at 7.15am with plenty of time to set up. Present for today's ride was ride leader Adzim, Laif, Fadzil, Jaja and Andrea. At about 7.40, we pushed off.
Barely 10 minutes into the ride, I felt my front wheel hit something. Followed by the familiar flop-flop-sound of a flat. Pulled out of the paceline and stopped to change the tube. Not a big deal, or so I thought.
Tube changed, I proceeded to inflate it using CO2. But for some reason, the inflator sisn't want to pucture the canister to let the gas out. While fiddling with it to get it inflated, I inadvertantly snapped the head of the valve stem off. No matter. Sometimes these things happen and it'll steel keep the wheel inflated.
Thinking my inflator was busted, I borrowed Laif's inflator. This time the canister did puncture, and my tyre was being inflated. Oh joy!
Bu the joy was shortlived. Air was soon rushing out of the broken valve.
And because I was using my Zipp wheels, I couldn't borrow another tube from Laif. I needed tubes with an 80mm valve stem to fit the deep dish wheels and I didn't bring any valve extenders.
End of ride.
I was about to make the 3km walk back to MTDC when Laif volunteered to ride back and pick up the car. I guess he figured the rest of the group was a long way off, and riding solo to catch up would be a waste of effort. So off he went.
So that was it. The ride I had been so anticipating since before Raya ended with a pfftttt. And I still had three full bottles of water!
Lesson learned. The Zipps are meant to be race wheels and should be used just for races. Next time take the Ksyriums for training rides, less complications.
Was supposed to run tomorrow but since I didn't get to ride today, I'll join PCC and do their chicken loop. And I will be bringing Angel (the Trek), complete with Ksyriums, instead.
I have to apologise to Laif and thank him as well for sacrificing his ride to help me out. I owe you big time, dude.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Night of the Nutters Part 2
(At Adzim's request, I've finally got round to writing the ride report from the Genting ride)
Saturday, 29 September, 2007, 10pm.
Having run up Genting the week before, this week it was biking up. It was a very small group this time, only Zabil, Azmar, Puzi and me. Most notably, the Chief nutter himself, Steve, was absent. Among the four, I was the only one with a road bike. Whatever advantage I had in weight, I lost in lack of gearing Believe me, to climb Genting comfortably, you need mountain bike gearing.
Anyway, off we went. McDonald's hill was first. Normally after a long ride, this hill would be a killer, but with fresh legs, it wasn't that hard. I watch the others spin up the hill, envious of their lower gearing. They were doing at least 90 RPM while I was already grinding my lowest gear at about 70 RPM.
After McDonald's hill, the gradient didn't let up. Imagine doing Mccdonald's hill 5 times over. That's what it was like. Fortunately, at about 5.7km, the road started going downhill. And it continued like that, with a couple of short inclines, all the way to Gohtong. Arrived in Gohtong in 47 minutes. That was the easy part. The haard part was yet to come.
After a quick refill of the bottles, we were soon off again. The first two kilometres were not too bad, it's after you get past Awana that the road gets steeper. So you slog it out at around 9km/h, turning the pedals at 45 RPM. 45 RPM! And I was on my lowest gear. The last time I did this climb I swore I would switch out to a 27t low gear when I attempted it again. But alas I didn't, and now I have to pay for it.
As I approached the dreaded 4.4km to go mark (how appropriate "die.die") my legs were already burning. The switchback here is killer. Take the inside line and you may end up on your back. That's how steep it is. Coming up to the switchback, I took a quick look behind me, saw Puzi trying to slow any approaching cars, then I took a wide line into the corner. With a primal scream, I stood up and just hammered throught the switchback. My legs screaming to stop, my heart saying "Shut the f**k up! Harden the f**k up!" After I got through the switchback, the gradient didn't let up. It just kept going up and up and up. My legs so desperately wanted to stop, but I coaxed it to go on, just a bit more, just a bit more, I urged.
I continued, watching Puzi fly by me and disappearing into the distance. By now, i was doing 100m per minute. I wasn't riding the bike anymore, I was just balancing it, while inching it forward slowly.
Just when you think it couldn't get worse, it does. The last kilometre was even steeper than before. But that could have been my imagination. I got out of the saddle, I sat down, stood up, sat down, counting the kilometre markers as i went along. 0.5km, 0.4km, 0.3km, 0.2km, 0.1km, 0.0km. Finally I was there. I felt like throwing my arms in the air, like a ProTour rider celebrating a mountain stage win in le Tour de France. But I was just so beat, and was going way too slowly to even think of taking my hands of the bar. Instead I just slumped over the bars and rolled the bike to a halt near the taxi stand. Puzi was alredy there, drying his jersey off and putting on a sweater. Total time from Gortong for that 9 kilometres was 1 hour 5 minutes. Total ride time so far, 1 hour 52 minutes.
After a short rest, it suddenly got cold. I put on the windbreaker Senn lent me but it didn't help much. I was shivering. The ride down is going to be miserable.
If the ride up was tough on the legs, the ride down was tough on the hands, having to constantly feather the brakes to scrub off speed down the steep descent and sharp switchbacks. It was scary. Zabil and Puzi, with their mountain bikes and wider tyres, just flew down the road while I was going down as slowly as possible. You know it's a steep descent when the smell of brake dust from the cars lingers in the air.
Just before coming in to Gohtong, I came across an accident. A head-on collision between two cars. It looked like the guy going up was trying to do a fast and furious tokyo drift when he drifted too wide and smashed into the oncoming car coming down. Both cars were damaged beyond repair. I saw one of the drivers sitting at the side of the road, moaning. Not sure whether he was moaning from his injuries or moaning from looking at the damage on his car.
Anyway, the rest of the ride went on without incident. We finally got back to Genting Sempah at 2am. Total ride time was 2h35m. After close to two hours ascending, we only spent about 45 minutes descending! Total ascent was 1210 metres in 19.6 kilometres.
That looks like the last of the nutters' adventures this Ramadhan. The chief nutter will be in Singapore this weekend, doing a 5k swim race and the rest of us will probably be riding Putrajaya or something. Although, the possibility of doing Genting again, whether on bike or on foot, is still possible. Stay tuned.
Saturday, 29 September, 2007, 10pm.
Having run up Genting the week before, this week it was biking up. It was a very small group this time, only Zabil, Azmar, Puzi and me. Most notably, the Chief nutter himself, Steve, was absent. Among the four, I was the only one with a road bike. Whatever advantage I had in weight, I lost in lack of gearing Believe me, to climb Genting comfortably, you need mountain bike gearing.
Anyway, off we went. McDonald's hill was first. Normally after a long ride, this hill would be a killer, but with fresh legs, it wasn't that hard. I watch the others spin up the hill, envious of their lower gearing. They were doing at least 90 RPM while I was already grinding my lowest gear at about 70 RPM.
After McDonald's hill, the gradient didn't let up. Imagine doing Mccdonald's hill 5 times over. That's what it was like. Fortunately, at about 5.7km, the road started going downhill. And it continued like that, with a couple of short inclines, all the way to Gohtong. Arrived in Gohtong in 47 minutes. That was the easy part. The haard part was yet to come.
After a quick refill of the bottles, we were soon off again. The first two kilometres were not too bad, it's after you get past Awana that the road gets steeper. So you slog it out at around 9km/h, turning the pedals at 45 RPM. 45 RPM! And I was on my lowest gear. The last time I did this climb I swore I would switch out to a 27t low gear when I attempted it again. But alas I didn't, and now I have to pay for it.
As I approached the dreaded 4.4km to go mark (how appropriate "die.die") my legs were already burning. The switchback here is killer. Take the inside line and you may end up on your back. That's how steep it is. Coming up to the switchback, I took a quick look behind me, saw Puzi trying to slow any approaching cars, then I took a wide line into the corner. With a primal scream, I stood up and just hammered throught the switchback. My legs screaming to stop, my heart saying "Shut the f**k up! Harden the f**k up!" After I got through the switchback, the gradient didn't let up. It just kept going up and up and up. My legs so desperately wanted to stop, but I coaxed it to go on, just a bit more, just a bit more, I urged.
I continued, watching Puzi fly by me and disappearing into the distance. By now, i was doing 100m per minute. I wasn't riding the bike anymore, I was just balancing it, while inching it forward slowly.
Just when you think it couldn't get worse, it does. The last kilometre was even steeper than before. But that could have been my imagination. I got out of the saddle, I sat down, stood up, sat down, counting the kilometre markers as i went along. 0.5km, 0.4km, 0.3km, 0.2km, 0.1km, 0.0km. Finally I was there. I felt like throwing my arms in the air, like a ProTour rider celebrating a mountain stage win in le Tour de France. But I was just so beat, and was going way too slowly to even think of taking my hands of the bar. Instead I just slumped over the bars and rolled the bike to a halt near the taxi stand. Puzi was alredy there, drying his jersey off and putting on a sweater. Total time from Gortong for that 9 kilometres was 1 hour 5 minutes. Total ride time so far, 1 hour 52 minutes.
After a short rest, it suddenly got cold. I put on the windbreaker Senn lent me but it didn't help much. I was shivering. The ride down is going to be miserable.
If the ride up was tough on the legs, the ride down was tough on the hands, having to constantly feather the brakes to scrub off speed down the steep descent and sharp switchbacks. It was scary. Zabil and Puzi, with their mountain bikes and wider tyres, just flew down the road while I was going down as slowly as possible. You know it's a steep descent when the smell of brake dust from the cars lingers in the air.
Just before coming in to Gohtong, I came across an accident. A head-on collision between two cars. It looked like the guy going up was trying to do a fast and furious tokyo drift when he drifted too wide and smashed into the oncoming car coming down. Both cars were damaged beyond repair. I saw one of the drivers sitting at the side of the road, moaning. Not sure whether he was moaning from his injuries or moaning from looking at the damage on his car.
Anyway, the rest of the ride went on without incident. We finally got back to Genting Sempah at 2am. Total ride time was 2h35m. After close to two hours ascending, we only spent about 45 minutes descending! Total ascent was 1210 metres in 19.6 kilometres.
That looks like the last of the nutters' adventures this Ramadhan. The chief nutter will be in Singapore this weekend, doing a 5k swim race and the rest of us will probably be riding Putrajaya or something. Although, the possibility of doing Genting again, whether on bike or on foot, is still possible. Stay tuned.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Night of the Nutters
Friday, 21 September 2007, Genting Highlands.
Once upon a time, Chief Nutter, Steve, decided it was a good idea to run up to the top of Genting Highlands from Genting Sempah.
That's right, run.
So during the fasting month of 2006, they gathered at the McDonald's at Genting Sempah and began running. And ran they did all the way to the top. Since then, they've decided to make it an annual Ramadhan affair. I missed last year's run, but having heard all the stories from last year, I vowed to experience it this year.
It was quite an experience. A painful one.
The weather was nice and cool as we gathered at McDonald's around 10pm. By the time we got ourselves sorted out, we began actually running around 10:40pm. Almost immediately, we were faced with the daunting McDonald's hill. We ran in total darkness with no streetlights at all. The only source of light was the blinking red lights us runners had attached to our clothes.
Before long, the rest of the group had gone, so fast was their pace. I hadn't run since Desaru and my legs kept reminding me of that. So i took it easy and accompanied Senn.
About 5km from Gohtong Jaya, the road went downwards. As it went down, we were greeted by a beautiful sight, Genting Highlands in all its splendor, brightly lit against a dark sky. I tried taking a picture but it didn't coume out so nice. I only had a camera phone.
At this point, we caught up with Shazly who was accompanying his friend on hid first run. His freind was about to give up and get into the support car. After some gentle persuasion from Senn, he decided to continue. It was, after all, downhill all the way to Gohtong from here.
And because it was downhill, I picked up the pace a little bit. It was a bit of a lonely run, which gave me the incentive topick up the speed even more. By this time, the legs felt better having already run about 8km. Finished the 11km to Gohtong in 1h41m.
This is where the fun starts. Approximately 9km and twice as steep as the roads before. After a brief regroup, we headed out again. I got as far as Awana, about 2km from Gohtong when my legs gave up. So I started walking. Forunately, I had Kam for company, his legs entering the early stages of cramping. When the road wasn't so steep, we ran. When it got a bit steeper, we walked. Then at one point (I think it was at the really steep switchback. It was so steep if you were to put your hands on the road, you'd still be upright), we just stopped running altogether.
After that, it was just a matter of coming around the bend and seeing the top. Problem is there are so many bends and they all look the same. You round one bend hoping to see the end but all you see is another bend ahead. We just kept walking and walking round the corners, occasionally seeing the Tokyo Drift wannabes speeding up the road.
Finally, I saw the 700m to go sign. Bouyed by this, I decided to start running again. So off I went, but it didn't last long. I soon felt the onset of cramps. But i was determined to not finish walking, so i pushed some more, adjusting my stride a bit to avoid cramps. Slowly but surely, the numbers on the road markers dwindled: 0.7km, 0.6km, 0.5km, 0.4km, 0.3km, 0.2km, 0.1km, 0.0km.
I made it!
But i wasn't at the end yet. Our regrouping point was the Starbucks at the lobby of the First World Hotel, another 500m away. Luckily it was all downhill from here so it wasn't so bad. I arrived at Starbucks a little after 3am, almost two and a half hours after leaving Gohtong.
It was quite an expereince. Painful, yes but at the same time, fun. I guess what eases the pain is the people. Doing crazy things with like-minded people, knowing you're not the only one out there suffering helps make it a lot less painful. And these nutters are genuinely good company: Steve, Azmar, Karoline, Puzi, Doc, Kam, Ngae, Lee Nya, Ishsal, Senn, Alex, Shazly and his two friends, Rahim and a few others. If you ever feel the need to do something crazy like this, you gotta make sure these guys are around.
And the nutters will be at it again this Friday, if you're interested.
Once upon a time, Chief Nutter, Steve, decided it was a good idea to run up to the top of Genting Highlands from Genting Sempah.
That's right, run.
So during the fasting month of 2006, they gathered at the McDonald's at Genting Sempah and began running. And ran they did all the way to the top. Since then, they've decided to make it an annual Ramadhan affair. I missed last year's run, but having heard all the stories from last year, I vowed to experience it this year.
It was quite an experience. A painful one.
The weather was nice and cool as we gathered at McDonald's around 10pm. By the time we got ourselves sorted out, we began actually running around 10:40pm. Almost immediately, we were faced with the daunting McDonald's hill. We ran in total darkness with no streetlights at all. The only source of light was the blinking red lights us runners had attached to our clothes.
Before long, the rest of the group had gone, so fast was their pace. I hadn't run since Desaru and my legs kept reminding me of that. So i took it easy and accompanied Senn.
About 5km from Gohtong Jaya, the road went downwards. As it went down, we were greeted by a beautiful sight, Genting Highlands in all its splendor, brightly lit against a dark sky. I tried taking a picture but it didn't coume out so nice. I only had a camera phone.
At this point, we caught up with Shazly who was accompanying his friend on hid first run. His freind was about to give up and get into the support car. After some gentle persuasion from Senn, he decided to continue. It was, after all, downhill all the way to Gohtong from here.
And because it was downhill, I picked up the pace a little bit. It was a bit of a lonely run, which gave me the incentive topick up the speed even more. By this time, the legs felt better having already run about 8km. Finished the 11km to Gohtong in 1h41m.
This is where the fun starts. Approximately 9km and twice as steep as the roads before. After a brief regroup, we headed out again. I got as far as Awana, about 2km from Gohtong when my legs gave up. So I started walking. Forunately, I had Kam for company, his legs entering the early stages of cramping. When the road wasn't so steep, we ran. When it got a bit steeper, we walked. Then at one point (I think it was at the really steep switchback. It was so steep if you were to put your hands on the road, you'd still be upright), we just stopped running altogether.
After that, it was just a matter of coming around the bend and seeing the top. Problem is there are so many bends and they all look the same. You round one bend hoping to see the end but all you see is another bend ahead. We just kept walking and walking round the corners, occasionally seeing the Tokyo Drift wannabes speeding up the road.
Finally, I saw the 700m to go sign. Bouyed by this, I decided to start running again. So off I went, but it didn't last long. I soon felt the onset of cramps. But i was determined to not finish walking, so i pushed some more, adjusting my stride a bit to avoid cramps. Slowly but surely, the numbers on the road markers dwindled: 0.7km, 0.6km, 0.5km, 0.4km, 0.3km, 0.2km, 0.1km, 0.0km.
I made it!
But i wasn't at the end yet. Our regrouping point was the Starbucks at the lobby of the First World Hotel, another 500m away. Luckily it was all downhill from here so it wasn't so bad. I arrived at Starbucks a little after 3am, almost two and a half hours after leaving Gohtong.
It was quite an expereince. Painful, yes but at the same time, fun. I guess what eases the pain is the people. Doing crazy things with like-minded people, knowing you're not the only one out there suffering helps make it a lot less painful. And these nutters are genuinely good company: Steve, Azmar, Karoline, Puzi, Doc, Kam, Ngae, Lee Nya, Ishsal, Senn, Alex, Shazly and his two friends, Rahim and a few others. If you ever feel the need to do something crazy like this, you gotta make sure these guys are around.
And the nutters will be at it again this Friday, if you're interested.
Friday, September 21, 2007
That dude is dope
I mean he's a real dope for taking dope.
In case you didn't know, 2006 Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis, was found guilty for using synthetic testosterone to boost his Stage 17 comeback in le Tour last year.
He is now officially the first ever cyclist to have his Tour de France title stripped from him. He is now officially a doper and a dumbass.
And here I was thinking his Stage 17 victory was heroic.
In case you didn't know, 2006 Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis, was found guilty for using synthetic testosterone to boost his Stage 17 comeback in le Tour last year.
He is now officially the first ever cyclist to have his Tour de France title stripped from him. He is now officially a doper and a dumbass.
And here I was thinking his Stage 17 victory was heroic.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Saturday Night Live!
What do you do when it's fasting month but you still want to get a decent ride in?
You do it at night. And you do the KKB-Gap route.
So it was that five of us gathered in front of the 7-11 in Kuala Kubu Baharu to begin this journey into darkness. Present were me, Senn, Steve Azmar and Zabil. Senn and I were the only ones on road bikes while the rest were on their mounties. Azmar was on his touring bike.
We started at 10:30pm and made our way up to the dam. Zabil pushed the pace a bit and I was barely hanging on. Looked back to see the other three had dropped off. So we backed off a bit and made sure everyone stayed in a group.
This is one ride where it's important to stay together because once across the bridge, it was total darkness. Now, this is one place you wouldn't want to be alone at, it is seriously scary.
Anyway, we rode at a leisurely pace of about 15km/h, chit-chatting all the way to the top. It was a very nice and easy ride, and the conversations helped the kilometres go by a lot quicker.
We hit the Gap at about 12.30am and had a little picnic there. Steve took out a wedge of watermelon, Zabil brought some sandwiches. Our tummies filled, it was time to head back.
This was the part I was dreading. Gap during the day is nice and cool. At night, it was freezing. I put on a spare long-sleeved jersey and stuffed newspapers down my chest to help keep me warm. No good. I was still shivering. Need to get me a windbreaker.
The pace going down was cautious, rarely going more than 30km/h with Azmar leading the way. I dunno how he does it: we had benefit the taillight blinkers of the bikes in front to follow, he had total darkness. Still, he led us down confidently. But unlike on the way up, we rode in total silence, each of us concentrating on the road ahead.
When you descend in these conditions, it's very easy to let your mind wander. The red blinking lights in front of you can be hypnotic, causing you to lose concentration. Your mind starts to wander and you start wondering why you can't feel your right hand. I realised that my hand had gone numb. So my concentration went there, clenching my fist to get the blood flowing again.
When the feeling came back, I looked up and saw darkness. No one in sight. Not one single blinking red light.
Panic.
It was scary. I know all the hantus are supposed to be tied up during the month of Ramadhan but still, being all alone in complete darkness, your heartrate goes up a few beats.
Had to pick up the pace a bit. Cranked it up, went through a few of the corners faster than i would have dared, then I saw it. First one, then another, then another. Blinking red lights! I'm saved.
Caught up with the rest of the pack and stuck to them for dear life all the way down. My right hand went numb again, but I ignored it this time. No way am I going to get dropped again.
We picked up the pace a bit when we got to the dam and continued all the way back to KKB. Except for my hitting a pothole and dropping my waterbottle as a result, the rest of the way was pretty uneventful.
We reached KKB around 2:30am, loaded up the bikes and went to the mamak shop nearby for some sahur.
A late-night ride to Frasers may seem extreme but it's really great fun if you have the right company, people who are as insane as you. This weekend, the plan is to run from Genting Sempah to Genting peak on Friday night and ride the same route on Saturday.
I seriously recommend these type of rides. It's different, it's unexpected and it's a lot of fun. Midnight train to Broga anyone?
You do it at night. And you do the KKB-Gap route.
So it was that five of us gathered in front of the 7-11 in Kuala Kubu Baharu to begin this journey into darkness. Present were me, Senn, Steve Azmar and Zabil. Senn and I were the only ones on road bikes while the rest were on their mounties. Azmar was on his touring bike.
We started at 10:30pm and made our way up to the dam. Zabil pushed the pace a bit and I was barely hanging on. Looked back to see the other three had dropped off. So we backed off a bit and made sure everyone stayed in a group.
This is one ride where it's important to stay together because once across the bridge, it was total darkness. Now, this is one place you wouldn't want to be alone at, it is seriously scary.
Anyway, we rode at a leisurely pace of about 15km/h, chit-chatting all the way to the top. It was a very nice and easy ride, and the conversations helped the kilometres go by a lot quicker.
We hit the Gap at about 12.30am and had a little picnic there. Steve took out a wedge of watermelon, Zabil brought some sandwiches. Our tummies filled, it was time to head back.
This was the part I was dreading. Gap during the day is nice and cool. At night, it was freezing. I put on a spare long-sleeved jersey and stuffed newspapers down my chest to help keep me warm. No good. I was still shivering. Need to get me a windbreaker.
The pace going down was cautious, rarely going more than 30km/h with Azmar leading the way. I dunno how he does it: we had benefit the taillight blinkers of the bikes in front to follow, he had total darkness. Still, he led us down confidently. But unlike on the way up, we rode in total silence, each of us concentrating on the road ahead.
When you descend in these conditions, it's very easy to let your mind wander. The red blinking lights in front of you can be hypnotic, causing you to lose concentration. Your mind starts to wander and you start wondering why you can't feel your right hand. I realised that my hand had gone numb. So my concentration went there, clenching my fist to get the blood flowing again.
When the feeling came back, I looked up and saw darkness. No one in sight. Not one single blinking red light.
Panic.
It was scary. I know all the hantus are supposed to be tied up during the month of Ramadhan but still, being all alone in complete darkness, your heartrate goes up a few beats.
Had to pick up the pace a bit. Cranked it up, went through a few of the corners faster than i would have dared, then I saw it. First one, then another, then another. Blinking red lights! I'm saved.
Caught up with the rest of the pack and stuck to them for dear life all the way down. My right hand went numb again, but I ignored it this time. No way am I going to get dropped again.
We picked up the pace a bit when we got to the dam and continued all the way back to KKB. Except for my hitting a pothole and dropping my waterbottle as a result, the rest of the way was pretty uneventful.
We reached KKB around 2:30am, loaded up the bikes and went to the mamak shop nearby for some sahur.
A late-night ride to Frasers may seem extreme but it's really great fun if you have the right company, people who are as insane as you. This weekend, the plan is to run from Genting Sempah to Genting peak on Friday night and ride the same route on Saturday.
I seriously recommend these type of rides. It's different, it's unexpected and it's a lot of fun. Midnight train to Broga anyone?
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