FRIM MINI JAMBOREE - Team RFC!!

The Route

The Elevation

Sunday 6th June 2010 - Team RFC (Captain Allan Chiew, Chief Trainer Adam Ng, Smoke Em' Ian Lim, ORBEA Jerry and myself) joined the FRIM Mini Jamboree 2010. I hitched a ride from Ian and we were there at the meeting point just outside of FRIM a few minutes before the rest came. It was around 7:45am. According to Cap'n Allan, the race was at 10am and we can collect the goodie bags at 9am. Plenty of time still. We offloaded our bikes and gears and headed for a Chinese Coffee shop nearby for breakfast.

Adam's Blur not yet wake up face

Jerry admiring Allan's sucking

At the shop there was a table of elderly aunties and uncles in running attire. One of them asked Allan, "You all can go in arr? They closed FRIM for some race! They won't let us in! We have been sitting here since 6am!" Allan coolly replied, "We are joining the race!". They went on complaining that FRIM should have put up a sign telling people that today the park was to be closed till 2pm. Anyway we ordered our food and ate heartily.

After having our fill, we cycled in only to be blocked by the security at the main entrance. He said, the park is closed for a Race. "But we are entering the race!!" said Allan all puzzled!! I had a bad feeling already. The guard let us in and as we cycled towards the starting area, suddenly there were riders coming out of the trail on the left and went into another trail on the right and they looked tired... we started to PANIC even more now and cycled faster to the starting point.

Upon reaching, we were greeted by curious looking marshalls. Apparantly the race started at 8am sharp and we were already 50mins late!! Allan continued to argue with the official there as the rest of us put on our racing number on the bike and we were off in a hurry at 9:15am. 1 hour and 15 minutes late. The start of the trail was more cross country and then we hit the 1st climb on tar road and entered the DREAM TRAIL. It was then that we came up to the 1st other racers. In our hearts we were happy cos we are NO LONGER LAST!! By this time also Ian was no where to be seen behind already. He was still sick after all.

The DREAM TRAIL was awesome. Single lane tracks with some downhill and uphill adventures. I crashed at one crossing over the pipes and hit my inner thigh on the top tube!! FUCKING PAINFULL!! After a short rest, I continued on with other racers. Allan, Jerry and Adam were far ahead already. Pushing and riding along the trail, finally I came to a clearing and onto a tar road again. Then suddenly the marshall in front pointed to a super steep climb up the tar road!! I pushed 50% of the way with other cyclist who at the time was dreaming about a nice cold beer!! At the peak was the next check point and the gang was waiting for me there. After collecting the sticker we were off!!

We were now on ROVER TRAIL and suddenly came upon a super steep off road climb. There was cement slabs making a funny slippery stairs up and there was a rope railing on the right side. We had to support the bike on the left hand and with the right hand, hoist ourselves up!! The gang made it up there 1st while I took a long breather below. After about 5 minutes, I climbed!! It was so bloody difficult cos the bike was so heavy and it was slippery!! Finally managed to get up there after 2 stops halfway. And a while later, Ian poped up out of nowhere.. LOL!!

I made it up the stupid climb!!
FUCK U Stupid Climb!!

Next up was PACAT TRAIL!! This is the entrance to PACAT TRAIL as you can see from the picture below. It looked damn impossible to ride down cos it was steep and the ground was all super soft mud!! We decided to take a rest 1st before taking the leap of faith.

Pacat Trail Entrance - Mak Cik throwing bike

Pacat Trail

By this time more people arrived and we had a chit chat on how to tackle the trail. Then came this old timer with a big belly. He told us about the trail and how to conquer it and stuff and then suddenly he looked at me... "EH NI MACAM KENAL JE" - BLOODY HELL!! It was Moon from Team Paintball CMX!! LOL!! What a small world to meet another paintballer in a jungle... after that he went 1st. He made it look easy and then one by one we went. I pushed and rode halfway a long the trail...

Strategy Meeting before tackling Pacat Trail

Pacat Trail - MUDD TRAIL!!

It was like the longest ride ever!! The mud was so thick and soft and slippery. Sometimes the bike would slide in front while my feet was stuck in the mud. Sometimes I would slide down but the bike is still behind. There was no FUCKING WAY.. that anyone could actually ride down this trail. It was more like Ice Skating than cycling this trail. The bikes were covered in mud. The mud build up on the forks and crank and brakes were mad!!

What happens to all bikes in Pacat Trail

Offroad tire now super mudd slick tire

Bike cleaning and rest before Steroid Hill!!

Finally I saw sunlight. I was out of the nightmare. It was a nice downhill ride as you can see from the below picture. The rest of the RFCs had already reached the bottom. As I rode down the slope, it was bumpy as hell and then suddenly "PAAAAARRRRKKKK!!". The sound was loud and sharp. Other riders asked me whats up and I looked at my saddle and saw that the seatpost had cracked!! WTF!! I lowered the seatpost further to avoid it being cracked all the way but it was too low to do any climbs!! FUCK!!

The Downhill that broke my SeatPost

With the broken seat post there was no way I could continue on to the next trail which was the hardest of all... the infamous STEROID HILL!! With a seat so low, climbing up this hill would have killed both my knees so I decided not to ride it. I waited for the rest at the bottom. It was like 30mins or so before I saw anybody. Jerry was the 1st to come out and he sped thru. Finally much much later, came Adam and Allan... Ian apparently had cramped on the way up so we decided to continue ourselves.

We were now back on ROVER TRAIL and the small climbs were torturing for me. Had to stand most of the way which was a killer on the stamina. At last tar road!! The marshall shouted, "masuk sini selepas itu masuk kiri... tak jauh lagi... 20m saja"... I was so happy to hear that and I cycled happily thru the forrest trail alone and then joined the AROMATICA TRAIL.. this was more than 20m already. More like 1km it seemed. AROMATICA TRAIL was a nice single track trail. It was an awesome ride and FINALLY I WAS OUT and on the tar road heading back to the starting point.

Can you ride down here?

Crazy climb

Awesome View from top of Rover Trail

At the finishing line, Jerry, Adam and Allan were already relaxing there. They had collected the goodie bag, lunch and T-shirt from the organizer. We lepaked with the Tat Seng group and ate lunch. A while later Ian finally made it. We sat on the car park floor and ate our lunches while a lucky draw was on going. Then I heard my number being called "173" "173" I just jumped up and picked up my bike and road it to the officials tent and claimed my prize. It was a 3 tier cooking utensil.. AWESOME!! just what I needed for the house.

Still in One Piece


Me, My Bike, My Hydration Bag and My Lucky Draw Prize



Cloud 9 aka Vasakthi Ride PowerBar

Packing up and time to head home

After resting somemore, it was time to pack up and head on home. It was a fun and exciting ride. If we had started on time, we could have made it to the top 100 or even top 50 and gotten a medal for it. Instead all we had was bruises, cuts, mud, sweat, blood, a happy heart and a big smile on our tired weary faces. It was a good ride and will definately be back for more!!

TEAM RFC!!

L to R : LiquidUlar, Jerry, Allan (sitting), Adam and Ian

A Weary Month Of May

I know I have been neglecting my blog for the past 2 weeks or so. I don't know whats come over me. It just feels so weary and tiring these last 2 weeks. There's actually so many things to write about but just couldn't bring the strength to do it. And now I don't even know where to begin. Oh Hell, I'll just write what comes 1st to mind.

Work sucks as always. Maybe being posted in Cyberjaya Office this month just made it worst. On top of my team's leng lui and sifu Cheu Bee Teng leaving in end June, my team lead pops me on the office messenger saying that he is leaving as well. He IJP (Internal Job Posting) to the Delivery Department in charge of the SIBS1 project. Leaving mid July. WTF!! 2 Visa Sifu leaving just before the big Visa October Compliance. I am totally fucked!! Besides this, a few enhancement tanks and there seems to be no solution for it. Fucked again!! Sigh!! Endless night supports, early morning support... sure the money's good but then sometimes it just ain't worth it. Maybe its time to follow in the footsteps of my seniors and bail!! Oh yeah 1 more thing, have a new woman team lead.. guess what? yeah you got it... AGAIN!!

On to lighter news, my LCL (Lateral Collateral Ligament) - which is the tendon/ligament on the outer knee is feeling much better now with the Phiten products. Did some light riding and then on the 23rd morning I joined the RFC for a ride from Sri Petaling to Bandar Puteri Klang. More like joined halfway. I woke up late cos my BB hanged .. *&^^$#%#!@#!! So I cycled from my house to Summit in hopes of meeting them there as they passed but no luck. So I pushed on further till a petrol station and decided to call Yong. He picked up and said that they just reached Proton Showroom and was waiting for Lionel so I pedaled on and voila, it was just 100m in front and the guys were shocked to see me cos they thought I had ridden from Sri Petaling!! LOL!! and Lionel had not even reached yet... after Lionel came, we cycled on to Pulau Indah but turned back halfway to Pulau Indah cos Danny had to go off... on the way back, my LCL started acting up again and I slowed down to a 23-25 average speed. I turned off at the Summit turn off to collect my car at the in-laws and meet the rest later at Ajimal for breakfast and then to Tat Seng for poisoning!! Hahaha

Thursday night 27th May, what month would be complete without snow beer... after work I picked up Teh to Snow beer. Chin was there and so was an unexpected guest - Lennon. We ate and drank and ate and drank and ate some more till 2am++ We had 2 big plates of Salted Meat, 1 Yin Yang Kai Lan and 1 Snow Mountain Flying Wu (Shuit San Fei Wu) hahaha. A very good night indeed. Took my mind off a lot of things.

My house ELCB also started acting up. It kept tripping and then found the cause. The wall sockets in the masterbedroom... what a bummer... called the electrician who did the house wiring to come and check it out and he said that the Earth Wiring is damn high... solution was to either try out a temp fix (he removed the earth wire from the socket) or install another earth wire (which would require hacking) WTF!!!

Oh last but not least, I have started downloading not just anime but movies as well from flmsdown.net. Not a bad site actually. I even signed up for hotfile.com for 1 year to download unlimited and at a faster speed. Cos RM150 a year - so it was like 15 DVDs.... downloaded more than that already so money well spent. Since I don't know when only can I go back to the Cinema... wouldn't want to be one of those inconsiderate parents who brings their wailing child in and spoils everyones movie!! FUCK THOSE PPL!!

I guess that about sums up the last 2 weeks of the month of May - more or less.... oh attended a wedding dinner on 30th. Was "Heng Tai" also... hahaha but that will be a blog by itself.... coming soon...

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!!

A Hurtful Week

This week is not a good week. Its only Thursday and I am so hating it already.

After more than a week of no cycling, I decided to cycle on Tuesday nite with the Tat Seng gang. The RFCs were not free so I was alone. The ride started out fine... was drafting behind a few MTBs who were drafting behing Kevin Ng... all were doing 30++kmh... On the ride towards Summit it was easy peasy... but after the U-turn, suddenly my right knee tendon started to hurt. OH SHIT!! Instead of pushing down on the pedal I started to pull on the pedal but the pain was still there... managed to finish the whole ride but my avg speed dropped to 28kmh.

After cooling down back at the LRT station, I headed home and as I stepped out of the car, my right knee gave way again... the pain was sharp!! It was my tendon for sure... sigh!! Went into the house and put on the ice pack and rubbed the anti-inflamatory cream onto the knee. The next day the pain was still there.. FUCK... looks like I have to opt out of this Friday's night ride in Putrajaya... and I was so looking forward to it!!

Thursday morning, woke up feeling a bit sore on the lower back right side... thought it was nothing... dropped off Ryan at the baby sitter's house and proceeded to fetch darling to the LRT station... on the way, suddenly any small movement - even a deep breathe - and my lower back was screaming!! This was the same pain I had a few weeks back.. oh DAMN!! After dropping darling at the LRT I headed to the Clinic in Bandar Puteri but couldn't get out of the car. Was waiting in the car for about 10mins before I managed to pull myself out... in the clinic I didn't sit down as I was more comfortable standing up and then the doc asked me to lie down so that he could administer the injection. It took me quite a while to get onto the bed and after the jab, I just let my body weight slide me off the bed... LOL

Went back home and took the prescribed painkillers and KO on the bed... couldn't move as the pain was still unbearable... only after waking up at 2pm was the pain gone but felt sore all over and numb... Sigh... What a Fucked Up week!!

Finally...30km/h Average!!

6pm - The usual Tuesday night ride was on. MEX highway and Kesas Loop. But due to my injury, I will be skipping the MEX highway ride as it would have put too much of a strain on my knee. Ian confirmed he was coming as well and before we left the office he said "If I don't smoke you tonight, I will change to a Road Bike"... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!

9:30pm - Reached the Sri Petaling LRT just in time as the gang road off. Ian pushed from the start and was way ahead. I was last as usual, taking my time as I road into the bike lane and then *CRASH*... someone just ahead of me had crashed! It was Thomas... I stopped to ask the famous question "ARE YOU OK?"...

He had some cut and bruises on his right side but his bike was in worst condition. The shifters were out of alignment. The brakes were not working. The alignment between the handle bar and wheel was out. "I am going back... can't continue" he said. And after telling him how to go back to the mamak, he was off and then I realised as I looked at the road ahead.. "DAMN!! I am alone again!!"

I pushed myself as hard as I could. Just enough so as to not aggrivate the tendon but managed to maintain a 30++ average speed. The suck part about riding alone in Kesas Highway at night is having to go thru the tunnels alone!! Nearing the last toll along Kesas, I finally came up upon 3 MTBs from the Tat Seng group and overtook them and met with the others at the Bus Stop on the opposite side of the highway.

Now it was time for the ride back. I had barely 5mins to take my breath and we were off. Ian was leading in front. I drop 1 gear at a time and overtook Paul and then drafted behind Ian for a short while and then decided to go for it... Picked up to 45kmh and SMOOOKED him... hahaha... without looking back, I pushed on as far as I could but finally about after 500m, I tired out and then 1 by 1, Paul, Yong, Danny and Adam overtook me and started to leave me further and further behind.

Even so I pushed on... constantly looking at the cyclo meter... everytime it dropped below 30kmh, I would push and pull the pedal to bring it back up... and finally I reached the end of the ride. Immediately as I stopped, I took a look at the meter... AVG SPEED = 30kmh!! WOHOOOO!!!! MY TARGET HAS BEEN ACHIEVED!!!!

Looking back at the 1st time I road Kesas Highway, the avg speed was barely 20kmh, then it slowly picked up with each training.. 22, 24, 27 and now finally 30!!

Ian reached a few minutes later and I would not let him forget what he said to me early in the evening.. now lets hope he keeps to his word and gets his TREK MADONE 4.5

Later at the mamak, a stupid couple knocked Danny and Yong's bike causing it to fall slightly and had the nerve not to say sorry... but said that we should have parked the bike there... Bastards!! Thank god for them, it was crowded there at the mamak... if not...

GROUNDED FOR 2 WEEKS!!

It all started during the Fraser's Hill trip. During the downhill portion on the way back, the outside of my right knee started to hurt. The slight pain and discomfort lasted for 2 days, so I shrugged it off thinking it was just cos the muscle was tired.

1 week later, during the night ride on MEX & Kesas Highway, the pain came back. It was more painful now but still bearable and managed to complete the ride and somehow keep up a bit with the rest of the guys. After getting home, the pain was sharper and stronger. Couldn't walk properly for 2 days but after seeing the local GP and being prescribe Glucosamine, the pain went away. So once again I thought it was all good until....

Saturday - Yesterday... the Gombak-Ulu Yam-Batang Kali-Gotong Jaya-Gombak ride... after 2 big climbs at the start of Ulu Yam dam and the Batang Kali stretch, my knee gave way. The pain was super unbearable! Even after a short rest at the 'warong', I couldn't kick start without wincing in pain! *FUCK!!* So I loaded up the bike on to the support car and sat in it the rest of the journey.

After the whole ride had ended, I went to see the Sports Injury Clinic in Subang Jaya SS15. They were closing but I managed to get an appointment for this morning 9am.

9am - day of reckoning... went for my appointment at the clinic and after the doc examined the knee, did some X-ray and Ultrasound... it was my tendon!! It was inflamed and had a minor tear (Grade 1 Tear). I was to be off cycling or putting pressure on my knee for the next 2 weeks... Basically I was GROUNDED!! BUMMER!!

...and next week is the Hulu Langgat trip that I was looking forward for... SIGH!!!

Ulu Yam - Batang Kali - Gotong Jaya Ride

I am late!! As I stared at the clock. It was 4:30am. Thank God I stayed over at Taman Melawati. Rushed to eat my Meat Ball Pasta and was out of the house at 5:15am. Reached the meeting point - Petronas @ Batu Caves - at 5:30am. Adam, Yong, Apple, Kah Lyn, Aaron, Patrick and Fren were already there. The only one missing was Ari and Jo-Ann. If she wasn't coming, I wasn't riding as I was still a bit sick and needed the assurance of a support car. Allan had food poisoning and Helmi's daughter was sick so they couldn't make it.

At last, Ari & Jo-Ann reached and we parked our car at a nearby mamak stall and we were off! It was just 6am. It was totally pitch black dark as we made out way to Sungai Tua / Batu Dam. Just as we turned into the road to Batu Dam, what greeted us was a huge climb!! Super Steep!! And in the darkness we pushed and pushed all the way. It was damn tiring. Already on the lightest gear setting, I tried to free wheel a bit but just as I stopped pedaling, the wheel stopped too!! HOLY SHIT!! It was push all the way!!

For what seemed like forever, finally reached the peak and it was downhill for now. Adam stopped by the side of the road giving directions to go on ahead. Apple and Ari were still climbing. The rest had already sped far away so I was (as always) alone - in the darkness - again! The downhill was fun and scary at the same time cos there were no more cars and the only sounds that can be heard were of birds and animals and just then *WHOA!!* *SWERVE!!* there was this crazy homeless dude by the side of the road and I nearly banged into him.. BASTARD!!



We finally came to our 1st stop just as the sun light started peeking thru the clouds. It was a small rest area with a small waterfall. We took a breather, drank up, ate Powerbar and went to the loo. My knee started to hurt a little at this point and rubbed some deep heat onto it. Took a few pictures and we were off once again.

The climb was quite ok. We passed by some people parked by the side of the road collecting water from pipes that were coming out of the side of the hill... Then it was downhill again... The road was quite big and didn't have many cars... It was nice being able to go downhill without having to brake for dear life... but i still did once I hit 60kmh... the rest went up to 70++.

Ulu Yam town. Finally we were here and everyone went to the 7-11 to stock up. The town people having breakfast there looked at us funny. After stocking up, we headed to for "The Warong" which was the last stop before the major "CLIMB TO HELL"...




The climb towards the warong was HELL!! We stopped so many times after 200m riding. We were begining to think that the warong didn't exsit and that it was just a dangled carrot to keep our mind of the major climb... after what seemed like forever, my knee gave way and sadly had to load up my bike into the support car.. 100m away, was the warong.. LOL..

We had our fill and after a 15min rest, it was time to continue on. I unloaded my bike and Jo-Ann went on ahead 1st. Just as I kicked start, a sharp pain jolted my right knee and I nearly fell over... I knew this was it... I wasn't going to be able to continue.. FUCK!! Jo-Ann came back to get me and I road in the car the rest of the way.

The next 8km or so was really a CLIMB TO HELL... I have not seen Kah Lyn nor Aaron walk and push their bike so much... Ari and Apple practically stopped every 100m... Looking from inside the car, I felt relieved but at the same time dissappointed that I was not able to endure the HELL with my fellow comrades!! It was then, these tiny little riders, a few guys and a few girls in Selangor Jerseys, smoked each and everyone of them going up. They made it look easy and there were even some on MTB with offroad tires... HOLY SHIT!!










After what seemed like ages.. we finally reached the police checkpoint. Adam, Yong, Patrick and Fren had reached already. It was then that the quote of the day came "I DON'T NEED DOWNHILL... JUST GIVE ME A FLAT ROAD!!" ... Adam & Yong reached 45mins earlier and didn't even stop at all!! AMAZING!! After taking photos and resting abit, they continued on towards Gotong Jaya. We passed by the Genting Cable car and went to a nearby Mamak for lunch. The air was cool and nice and after lunch... it was downhill mayhem all the way to Gombak.

I tried to ride again but the pain was just too much to bear... so once again I hopped into the car and Apple hopped in later as well and we followed the rest of the guys downhill... they were super fast!! Adam as always was leading the way...

We finally reached back to the mamak at Gombak around 2 to 3pm... WOOHOOO!! They had survived and I will return to settle some unfinished business... but for now it was off to the Sports Clinic to have a look at the knee!!