MUSING ABOUT JAMBOREES

It has been quite a while since I last posted an entry on this blog.  That has been more than a year!

Have I stopped biking and haven't had much to tell?

Or, did I suffer from some sort of a blogger's block and so stopped blogging?

                                           ....at one of several jamborees
                                                I participated in last year...
The answer is no.

No, I have not given up biking nor have I stopped blogging though I wish I could blog more. I still bike my favorite hills too and participate in mountain bike jamborees regularly.

                                        ...at a recent mountain bike jamboree --
                                                  Melawati Jamboree 2015                                                        

                       .... and on a 108-km road ride to Kuala Selangor and back 
                                            with friends just last Sunday...

And that includes the pace at which I am doing it which until now, I believe, has remained the same: a pace just right for my age -- and comfortable for my heart.

After all, the aim was never to race nor to compete right from the start. 

Moreover, I thought it would have been a little too late too for me to do that then. At the age when I decided to do it, I was only thinking about wanting to enjoy what I had decided to do and that, for as long as I could. 

Sure I have gotten older by a year and a little more since that last entry I posted on this blog but biking by itself, hasn't got me yet; no, not as yet. In fact, it is still very much with me which may be the cause for my long absence from this blog.                                   

So, here I am -- and with no signs of easing up yet.

And situations aren't much different too from what they were before since that day I decided to give mountain biking a try. As I said, I still bike my favorite hills -- almost daily that is -- and join rides long and short with friends regularly.

I still participate in jamborees too. I have participated in not less than fifty of these gatherings so far since that first one I went to back in 2010. That's averaging about ten jamborees a year and I am looking forward to more.

Mountain bike jamborees are now organized almost weekly usually over weekends. You can now find more than one going on on a Saturday or Sunday and at different venues. The only time mountain bike jamborees aren't organized nowadays is in the holy month of Ramadan!

But it's amazing and most gratifying to see hundreds of Malaysians young and not so young gathered together raring to go mountain biking with their bikes on early Saturday or Sunday morning. I see this as a positive trend towards an active and a healthy lifestyle.

                                  Melawati Jamboree 2015  --
                                  more than thirteen hundred mountain bikers were there......

As for the last jamboree that I went to three weeks ago, it was a ride over a trail close to home and one that I am quite familiar with. But then knowing the trail as I do, I also knew that it wasn't going to be an easy ride for me..

                                 Melawati MTB Jamboree 2015

That's what happened at the 2015 Melawati Jamboree; the first ever mountain bike jamboree to be held in around my own neighborhood.

And the trail has all!.....

                                                   

                                                  rocks...

                                                                 

                                                             roots

                                                  ruts......some real deep...

                                                         

                                                  rivulets(?)......

                                        .....and sharp spiky rattan........

other than ...
                                                             

                                                                      

                                                                   

                                         hills..... and plenty of them...                                                         

                                           and vegetation relatively sparse...                                                                                            

z

                                                                                                     

                                       and not so sparse and some real thick....

plus...

                                          bamboos aplenty
and

                                                             

                                                vines.....for good measure.

--- just all the elements you need to turn mountain biking into an exciting and an awesome pursuit..... and a favorite pastime!

And as for the number of bikers who were there at the jamboree, more than thirteen hundred of them were there. Coincidentally, it was the first mountain bike jamboree for me this year. Two other jamborees I wanted to go to before this somehow failed to work out according to plans.

But no worries though. There are several more jamborees for me to go to before 2015 comes to an end, in shaa Allah.

                                       
So how has it been going for me?

So far so good I would say though age has certainly caught up with me since and my MHR is now lesser by a few more beats. But I can still manage those 30-40 kilometer rides (sometimes more) they organize during jamborees and so see no reason to stop participating. Moreover, mountain bike jamborees provide me with the opportunity to ride different trails at different places and that helps keep me and my passion for biking going.

I am certain there are nonagenarians and even centenarians in this world today who are still cycling though they may not be doing it actively. But those in their sixties and seventies doing so and still actively ripping hills so to speak, are aplenty. Certainly biking isn't only meant for the young though many would insist that it is so or should be so.

I do not subscribe to all the styles mountain bikers go about enjoying what I believe to be quite an addictive pursuit. But, I do know of one of the the ways I could go about doing and enjoying it: and that is by participating in mountain bike jamborees.

I am referring to these weekly gatherings of mountain bikers from various parts of the country early on a Saturday or Sunday morning at some known or even little known locations or some parts of some small townships somewhere for an organized ride on a pre-planned trail a substantial part of which is off-road or across country befitting the activity.  For some fee you will need to pay to get these jamborees going, you get to ride a 30 to 40 km trail or more plus given some goodies you could use for the activity. Arrangements usually include meals after and sometimes, before the ride..

But I am only referring to the recreational form of mountain biking the kind my friends and I and many others do during these jamborees and not to the extreme or the competitive type professionals and some non-professionals do. I am nearing 70 and prefer to stay away from such forms of mountain biking. I ride at my own pace and at my own time and the way I choose. I believe it's still mountain biking that I can enjoy.

Most of my mountain biking friends are either the weekend-warrior types or plain recreational bikers looking for some fun or adventure during weekends or their off days. Most of us do it out of our love for the sport and for the health and fitness benefits it brings more than for any other reasons. But that doesn't stop us from competing whenever we wish to for that bit of challenge we sometimes need, or, for finding out how far we could go; if it is not against other bikers, against our own selves. It is still mountain biking that we can enjoy and one that can still be as challenging as only we make it to be. And if you wish to compete and do so against others, there are hundreds if not a thousand or more bikers around at these jamborees for you to do so.

So mountain bike jamborees are now a weekly affair organized all year round. No other sporting activity, I believe, is as actively pursued each week by its enthusiasts as mountain biking is; whether for the purpose of competing or just as fun-filled or adventurous activities. But many may not be aware though how actively pursued the sport is.

You only need to take a look at the local cycling calendars to notice how actively pursued the sport is. Unlike in some countries where biking can only be seasonal at best dictated to an extent by the weather, one can expect to mountain bike here in this country all year round. Sure you could get wet during those rainy months but still it would not be too wet or too cold for you to ride.

And that is to say nothing of night mountain biking that one could also do during jamborees; another form of mountain bike jamboree that is slowly gaining popularity among pursuers of the activity.

Night mountain bike jamboree

I believe no other sport is so hugely and actively pursued each week as mountain biking is, not to mention the many other mountain bike events and activities organized by individuals or groups sharing the same passion with you over the same activity.

The sport of mountain biking is gaining increasing popularity and that I think, is healthy.

MY FIRST MOUNTAIN BIKE JAMBOREE

There will be a few more mountain bike jamborees before 2013 comes to a close. I hope to participate in at least one or two more before the year ends.

In September, I managed to participate in a jamboree, the 'Hypertrax Rampage MTB Jamboree', in Dengkil, Selangor. Dengkil is a small town 41 kms south of Kuala Lumpur. And just last Saturday, I participated in another one, the 'Otai MTB Challenge Round 2', in Sungai Buaya also in Selangor. 'Otai' is short for old-timers or oldsters and the jamboree was specially organized to cater for bikers aged 40 and above. I wonder if it was actually a misnomer or otherwise to name the event such. After all, it's still moot whether being fortyish means being old. As some would want to believe, middle age occurs between the ages of 41 and 60 while others  feel that it actually only begins at 50 or slightly after. Middle age is defined as the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. This is a matter quite relative as well as subjective in nature I suppose, and one could go on debating about it without the benefit of a conclusive end.

Now that 2013 is coming to an end, it reminds me about ageing and of my very own age itself when I first started  biking and participating in jamborees.

When did I actually start mountain biking and when was the first time I participated in a mountain bike jamboree?

I wrote something about how I got myself involved with (hooked would be better word) mountain biking in one of my earlier posts and I don't intend to touch on it again. I started mountain biking sometime in late 2008 when I was advised by an orthopaedist  to do so in order to bring my left leg back to size and strength  after it went through  some surgery for some tear of my meniscus I suffered during a golf game. I have never looked back since getting involved with the activity.

As for my participation in jamborees, the first time I did was almost three years ago -- on the 5th of December 2010 to be exact.  It was in Bernam Jaya, a small township 85 kms north of Kuala Lumpur.

E.T.Riders at the Bernam Jaya Jamboree 2010 (BJJ10)

How old was I then when I participated in that first jamboree? 

I was just a day short of my 62nd birthday. How nice and how apt it was for me to welcome my 62nd birthday by mountain biking in a jamboree! I didn't even realize it until later. I don't celebrate my birthday much but I would have gladly celebrated it this way if I knew!

What was it like for someone my age going mountain biking in a jamboree on a trail 45 kms long 80 percent of which was going to be off-road?

I did realize it wasn't going to be all easy or all flat for.for me. I knew that I would have to pedal over uneven terrain and up and down hills on a trail that would be strewn with all kinds of impediments one would usually  find while mountain biking.

Other E.T.Riders at BJJ10

Somehow, it didn't really bother me much I would say. I was quite  fit then having started biking sometime in late 2008. By the time I decided to participate in the jamboree, I had already managed to tame the much dreaded -- by those less fit -- Steroid Hill of FRIM known for its notorious 250- metre heart- beating climb and the popular Bukit Dinding in our neighbourhood for its lung-busting 200- metre almost- 40-degree starting climb.  At my age then -- and now --, these two hills could easily push my heart to its maximal limit and my lungs close to the point of hyperventilation. There were times during the early stages of taming these two hills when my heart rate shot up beyond its maximum limit. But fortunately by then, my heart could already take a few more beats without causing me to hyperventilate or gasp for breath. I could still pass the conversation test, a way of determining whether my heart and lungs could take the beating beyond the limit or that I should immediately stop to avoid any possible complications. Thanks to the consistent biking I did which I believe was responsible for the extra heart beats and extra air in my lungs I had which I could use whenever I needed.

BJJ10 was a good and well organized jamboree. Not only did I find the trail challenging, it was also a joy to ride though I failed to record some impressions of it caused perhaps, by my new- found excitement and enthusiasm.

I was satisfied and happy with what I managed to achieve. To be able to mountain bike for the first time in a jamboree at my age as I did for 45 kms with very brief stops at only some of the check-points along the way was something to be thankful of. The fact that I had never at any one moment felt threatened by the trail nor the ride was itself another blessing. I was also happy that I did not end up as the last participant to arrive the finish line which also told me something about the state of my physical and mental wellness in relation to other bikers at the jamboree all of whom were younger than I was. Thanks to the almost daily cycling I did. I still do.

After the first jamboree, other jamborees came easy although some were much harder and tougher than the first . But the harder the rides, the more I wanted to challenge myself to know how far I could go. I guess the same spirit still remains in me albeit with the realization that I do need to take the ageing process into consideration. It's there no matter what you do or how hard you try to slow it down. Sooner ar later, it's bound to get at you. But then for me, biking is something that I just simply love to do and a way for me to keep myself fit and  healthy for as long as I can, God willing. While I do acknowledge that ageing does take a toll on performance, I would prefer to 'wear out' than simply 'rust out' out of disuse as some would choose to put it.

I am looking forward to my next jamboree this middle of December and perhaps one final one towards the end of the same month. One or two more from now and in between the two would be very welcome, if I could somehow manage. God willing, I will be there with you.

And about the old-timers jamboree and the one that I went to in September, I will have to leave that for later when I may decide to post another entry on this blog.

In the meantime, keep biking.

Regards.