Weekend Dragon Slaying!

Saturday morning. Once again no sleeping in. Today's mission - Slay the Dragon at Batu Arang! I was a bit late, when I reached there, Wan Giant (my paintball buddy) had already introduced himself to the group. Today's Dragon Slayers consists of Terence 'LiquidUlar', Helmi 'Lampre', Kuota KAaron, Paul 'Rabbit', Lionel Colnago, Wan 'Giant' and Kuota KAri who was late. Tpday was also the day to officiate my new Ultegra 6700 11-28 Cogset and the Euskaltel Euskadi Team jersey set. Kah Lyn was also around to see us off. He didn't ride cos he had a birthday party to attend at 10am!!

LiquidUlar and Giant

Aaron thinking this might be better than cycling

The Dragon Slayers

We started out at about 8am. We hit the 1st climb towards Batu Arang. Not as bad as the last time I was here. Maybe my engine is better or maybe its cos this time I am on a Roadbike. Anyway after a small climb it was downhill towards the base of the dragon. There were quite a few MTB groups this morning and for the 1st time I noticed that there were quite a number of offroad trails... We waited at the base of the Dragon until all arrived and off we went...

Paul "The Rabbit" led the way followed closely by Helmi. With the 28 cassette it was so much easier going up the climb. Even managed to overtake Aaron on 1 of the climbs. I am so happy I bought them. Money well spent!! As I got up the 2nd climb and looked ahead.. Paul was already on the 3rd climb damn far away... Oh Man... That was fast!!

Slayed The Dragon

Wan being not accustomed to climbs was the last to reach the bottom. I told him, there were many more rides like this to come... hahaha... we then headed to the nearby mamak for a drink while some had whole hearty breakfast.

Breakfast of Champions

After replenishing drinks and filling our stomachs, it was time to head off again but this time instead of going back up the dragon, we headed towards Saujana Utama and came out to Sg Buloh not far from the Sg Buloh prison. From there we headed back up the Guthrie Highway and headed back to Bukit Jelutong.

On the Guthrie Highway, suddenly my tendon started to hurt... it was not so painful as the last time but still it was very worrying. So I had to slow down to a brisk cycling pace together with Wan. Wan had his own problems... his cleats lost 2 screws and was now very loose. At the R&R he took a tumble cos the cleats couldn't unclip, but it was just a small matter.

This time around the Dragon Hill didn't look as menacing as it was compared to the 1st time. But unfortunately due to my injury, couldn't manage to keep up with Paul and Helmi... it was frustrating but it was still a fun ride.

And WELCOME to WAN GIANT... The PAIN starts NOW!!