FRASER'S HILL CLIMB part 2

..as Patrick and I rode past the guard house, we were greeted by a single lane road, with trees on all sides, the canopy was thick, weather was cold and the REAL CLIMB started!! All 9km of it!!

It was switch back after switch back, and with each one was an even steeper climb... The gel kicked in 5minutes and I left Patrick behind... trying to make the most out of the gel, I pushed on eagerly... I kept remembering what Adam and Danny said, "The 1st 3km is the killer.. after that it is easy!!" I looked at my cyclo-com and it was 4km already... and it was not getting any easier!! At the 5km mark, Jo-Ann sped drove alongside me asking "OK?" All I could reply was with a weak show of 'thumbs up'... 20metres further I dismounted and started to push for a bit and then Steven Loh drove up beside me "Ok mou? Want to pull you up?" I was so tempted but decided against it and showed another weak show of 'thumbs up' and gestured him to go on.

1 minute later, I regretted not taking up his offer... I soldiered on and was way past my limit cos I knew I had hit a wall already. Legs were heavy and no strength left. I met a lorry just 3km from the peak and asked "Boleh tolong hantar naik ka?" "Sorry boss, kena kerja sini"... head hung low I pedalled on... The last 2.5km was a real nerve wrecker for me... it was so close yet felt so far away... I reseted the com and all I could do was concentrate on my cyclo-com showing 0.1, 0.2, 0.3...1.0....1.2 *CRAMPED* shit!! My calf was on the verge of cramping!! 1.4...1.5.... come on Terence!! You can do it!! I told myself.. 2.0...2.1.....2.2..... and FINALLY I saw the gate!! (not the pearly white gates)...

A sense of relief washed over me as I cycled past the guard house

and looked for the gang... Finally saw them past the ClockTower!! WOOHOOOO!! I MADE IT UP!!

Adam passed me a 100plus to drink and then I cramped.. LOL!!

Everyone was taking a breather, relaxing, phototaking and stuff... Steven Loh was there with his family and he brought some drinks and food for us

as the "American Breakfast" stall had moved further in... Apple was the next to reach

followed by Ian (apparently the drop in speed earlier on was because his saddle height was too low from offroad previously),

Patrick and finally Ari!!

Allan had a puncture on the way up and was pushing his bike up!!

We took a group photo at the Clock Tower

and then decsended! This was my most scary part for me. Helmi lead the way and was soon out of my sight. Kah Lyn and Adam zoomed past me shouting "LET GO OFF THE BRAKES la!!" I turned a deaf ear and then the rest sped past me and soon I was the last one behind. I took my time down and then came accross Kah Lyn who was pulling branches out of his Bike. He had a puncture and crashed. Further in front was another crash.. it was Adam!! It was then that I slowed down 1 more notch!!

Within a matter of minutes, they road past me again... and then I came upon Khoo who had a puncture. Yong and Danny were helping him out and I stopped to borrow my leg pump.. and chatted with Danny.. and the quote of the day came as I told him..

"My Uphill Top Speed is Higher Than My Downhill Speed"

He stared at me with blank expression...

The rest of the way a slow and easy ride for me until I was nearly runned over at a hairpin left turn. A waja was coming at me head on and somehow I managed to avoid him... it was then that it dawned to me... it was past 10am... traffic was coming up... Apple, Ari and I pushed the last 1km down to the Gap where the others were waiting at the mamak for lunch.

Then we fully saw how bad Adam & Kah Lyn's injury were...

I thought to myself... I need better brake pads!! After lunch and waiting for Jo-Ann to drive down, we continued our deccent to KKB. The sun was up already and it was getting hotter and hotter.

Finally back at the KKB town at 2pm. I was the 2nd last one to reach as usual... and sat down and drank 2 bowls of Ais Kacang... while the rest had Asam Laksa too... We chit chatted for a while and then it was time to say good bye... to go home and rejuvenate and wait for the next climb!!

NEXT WEEK... ULU YAM CLIMB!!

FRASER'S HILL CLIMB part 1

"BROKEN YOUTH by Nico Touches The Wall" was blaring out of my Blackberry alarm... it was 4am on a Saturday morning!! Time to get up.. As I got out of the room, so did Kah Lyn from accross the upstairs hall.. (yes.. I was staying over at Kah Lyn's house). Went downstairs and we ate the heated up pasta he made the night before.. I gobbled it down together with 2 more buns I bought from BreadStory.. then it was off to do Business No 2!!

We were out of the house by 5am. Bikes were already loaded into his Exora last night. We headed down Guthrie to the Rawang toll to wait for the other RFCs - who were meeting at the Restoran Jejantas Sg Buloh - to come. They were slightly late cos apparently, Allan was on the opposite side of the highway.. LOL!! By 5:40am they finally made it.. we all got down from our vehicles and chit chatted as we waited for Helmi (who was last!!). While inspecting each other's bikes, we noticed that Allan's (Howard's actually) Scott MTB had a puncture in the rear tire and to make things worst, he didn't have a spare tube!! Thankfully Ian had one and loaned it to him. Just as we wanted to help him change tube, Lampre Helmi came and we decided to make a move 1st.

Passing thru Rawang town, we made our way to Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB). We reached the town at about 6:30am. Everyone unloaded their bikes, checked tire pressures, ate PowerBars and relieved themselves at the nearby toilet. By 6:45am everyone was ready. Time for a group photo.

From Left : Lionel, Allan, LiquidUlar, Paul, Ian, KahLyn, Apple, Helmi, Danny, WengKhong, Khoo, Yong, K-Ari, Adam, Patrick

Photo was taken by Jo-Ann How, Ari's wife cum Support Car Driver cum Medic cum Photographer. Everyone was all smiles and spirits were high!! We were ready to tackle Fraser's Hill and after a short briefing by Captain Danny Contador on safety we were off at 7am. We had 2 hours to reach the Gap!!

The weather was awesome as we headed out past curious onlookers who were probably thinking "Siao Lang, got car dun wan drive"... the group was split into 2 as the ones with the white color jerseys sped out in front. The 2nd group consisting of the more season riders (except Ian and I)were in the 2nd group just 50m behind... about 15mins later, the road opened up to a huge highway (2 lanes on each side). This signalled the start of the climb. Right in front of us was the Dam. It was a spectacular sight. As we continued to climb, the 2nd group started to break away from Ian and I and eventually overtook the 1st group as was to be expected... those guys were crazy climbers!!

As we hit the top of the climb at the Dam, Ian suddenly slowed down and dropped back...

I continued on and caught up with Allan in front..

we took our time a bit and finally caught up with Ari (or better known now as Kuota-K'Ari) on his brand new White Kuota Kharma.

For a 1st timer on the roadbike he was doing very good. So we decided to draft in behind him until suddenly he said "This bike is awesome, I think I can push somemore" and suddenly he was off - WHITE RABBIT ON THE LOOSE!! It tooks us a few minutes before we caught up again and then I decided to make a go for it and left the 2 behind..

I was cycling by myself for quite a while. The temperature started to drop and the scenery was amazing.. and just as I turned a corner, I saw Apple!!

I tried to catch up to her but I think she saw me and tried to keep distance.. after about 15minutes, I finally managed to catch up and after a few chit chats, I took off again... I pushed as hard as I could as there was only 30 minutes left before 9am and then I saw something I was not used to seeing... Patrick Lau was just in front of me!! This was the 1st time in so long that I managed to catch up with him... Aparently he had cramped and did not have breakfast... No wonder la... I then took off again and just as my Cyclo-com showed 30km, I saw grafitty on the road.. "Welcome Riders" "You made it" "Congratulations" and I knew I had finally reached the Gap. It was 9:10am. Not bad... average speed was 17kmh... the rest were nowhere to be seen so they must have already started the main climb

Looking at the gate towards the clocktower, I took out a PowerGel and downed it!! Just then Patrick reached and asked "Are we going up?" "Yeah.. we are here anyway and we got time".. and so both of us cycled past the guard and up we went... (cont..)

Saturday's Super Plan

Friday after work, went home to pack my road bike and equipments and headed over to Kah Lyn's house to spend the night (FYI Kah Lyn is a guy and not a girl), cos Saturday morning car pooling with him to Kuala Kubu Bharu for a climb up Fraser's Hill with the RFCs (2009 & 2010) and we needed to start cycling at 6:45am in order to reach the Gap at 9am. I wasn't about to wake up bloody early and drive my (no air-cond) car to Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB).

The plan on Saturday :
1. Meet up at the Sg Buloh Jejantas at 5:15am
2. Reach KKB at 6:30am
3. Unload the bikes and ride off at 6:45am.
- It was to be a 30km climb all the way to the Gap. The Gap's gate will only open at 9am (or every odd hour) to allow traffic up. From the Gap, it is 9km of gruelling climb to the top of Fraser's Hill where the famous Clock Tower is.
4. Reach Fraser's Hill Clock Tower at 10am
5. Eat "American Breakfast" at Fraser's Hill
6. Chilak and rest
7. Ride down at 1pm to KKB
8. Reach KKB car park at 3pm
9. Eat Asam Laksa and Drink Cendol
10. Go home
- Wash baju, wash bike, bathe etc etc etc
11. Go to Rendezvous Steak House for dinner
- Watch Manchester United vs Chelsea game

Well this was the plan so we will see if the schedule is kept or not... now time to sleep as I gotta wake up at 4am!!

The Climb - by Miley Cyrus

I was listening to my playlist last night and came across this song. Being a cyclist now and thinking about this coming Saturday's Fraser's Hill Ride, this song brings a whole lot of meaning to me now. Thus I embeded the song into this blog for your listening pleasure.

I can almost see it

That dream I am dreaming

But there's a voice inside my head saying

"You'll never make it"

Every step I'm taking

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep tring

Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be a uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing

The chances I'm taking

Sometimes might knock me down

But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it

But there are the moments that

I'm gonna remember most, yeah

Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong

Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting in the other side

It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing

Keeo the faith

It's all about, it's all about the climb