So, I went to my last mountain bike jamboree for this month last Sunday. Nothing has been planned for this coming weekend as yet although I am sure that our fellowship would not just let the precious week go without some sort of mountain biking activity being thrown into it. Even if there's none by the group, I will still have mine planned for me. Didn't I say that I always look forward to my day and to my biking? More so over my weekend.
How much should one cycle a week? Once, twice, thrice? Can one cycle once every day for seven straight days a week? Well, I suppose only you and your body can tell. They may recommend you a certain number of days per week that they believe is right for you. This is to prevent it from becoming counter-productive to your health instead. You need a day or two of rest for your body to recover and rebuild. Over- exercising they say, is bad for you. But then if it doesn't seem to hurt you and without a day of cycling life seems incomplete or even unbearable for some of you, who's to say no to you doing what you love to do most? So go ahead and cycle to your heart's content if that makes you one happy and healthy person. I will be with you.
So Sunday last the 13th of May 2012, I went to the Kuala Langat mountain bike jamboree as I had earlier planned. Rather than remembering and predicting the worst like some are wont to do for this most unfortunate day in the history of our country -- I was a young army cadet then when 13 May 69 happened and had the opportunity of passing through the city some days later and seeing the destruction it wreaked-- we decided to do something more rewarding to ourselves instead. As set out by the organizers, the objective of the jamboree was to promote the healthy habit of cycling and to bring all kinds of mountain bikers in our community together to share their common passion in the spirit of comradeship, goodwill and unity. I can't say the exact number of participants who were there to take on the challenge, but it was quite large; maybe close to five hundred participants or more were there judging by the crowd size. I was also aware of another mountain bike jamboree which was being organized on the same day somewhere not too far away from our venue and this could have affected the overall participation at the jamboree. Mountain bikers will go all over the country to join in the jamborees they like to participate in.
Since this jamboree was to take place somewhere close to to coast, I had the hunch that it would not be one roller-coaster up and down affair like the last jamboree that I participated in although the organizers could still chart a hilly course for us if they chose to. We could tell this from the little knowledge we have of the geography of the area. Still, it didn't matter too much to us but thought that if it was, it would be one easy ride for all of us. If it was not, it would not matter still. After all, it was the challenge we had all agreed to seek for ourselves or we would not have waken up in the early hours of the morning to be where we were and in good time so as not to miss the chance for an adventure over the weekend.
So, how do I rate the trail after the ride? Well, I guess we mountain bikers are still a lucky lot. We have choices and don't have to rely on tarmac or paved trails alone all the time doing what we love to do. Being mountain bikers, we can enjoy the best of both worlds -- on or off-road. Nowadays, there is always more than one jamboree going on at any one time each week and at different places that you could just choose where you think you would enjoy your ride most. You can thus choose the venue, the type of terrain and trails whether near or far that you wish to ride according to your liking and preference.
In the Putrajaya jamboree, I had a relatively easy and an almost level ride around the wetlands, a hard and challenging one with its unforgiving hills in Shah Alam, and a flat though far from drab ride in Kuala Langat. But what Kuala Langat might have lacked in intensity and challenge, it made it up well in distance and character. Flat as the course might have been, it was a fifty-one km plus ride recorded on my cyclometer ( the organizers claimed fifty-seven and I like to believe them) across country over some newly cultivated areas, oil palm plantations and population centres. The trail was a mix of paved and gravelled tracks as well as single paths travesing across country ending with a beautiful stretch of paved track by the sea side. It was to me a beautiful and most gratifying ride set in a completely different environment and style. Most of the trail in the oil palm plantations is of peat soil, soft and moist unlike the drier or hardpack kind that one usually finds in hilly oil palm areas. Peat soil also known as mire tends to bury and suck your wheels and get you mired down as you ride; more so if you happen to be a heavyweight. Because the area is close to the sea and low-lying, the soil is always damp requiring plenty of ditches -- which also form the obstacles to your ride -- for an efficient irrigation or drainage system to keep the soil cultivable.The damp soil becomes easily mushy and slithery after a few rides and can become challenging to some riders. However, good tyres would still keep their grip and the skilful rider steady while riding over it .
To me, Kuala Langat was a relatively forgiving trail with no reason for me to stop pedaling except by my own design which I did but only once at one of the check points for water and a banana. I had enough water with me not to stop at all the other check points. Only the obstacles and the actions of riders ahead of me would force me to stop and dismount which happened several times during the ride. I took it easy and all in my stride yet managed to push my heart to its maximum limit by virtue of my almost continuous pedaling until the end. I heard the same sort of remarks from others in the group stating that the trail was so flat that it kept them pedaling and going drawn by the momentum and challenge with no desire to stop until the end. The trail at Kuala Langat was certainly a new kind of experience for me.
So, it has been another satisfying and rewarding weekend for me. I believe it has been the same for the others who were there with me. Already I am thinking of what it's going to be next this coming weekend although the one following that has already been set well in advance where I will be away from terra firma -- and my bike -- for a few days and will be riding the not too high seas instead. You may know for what reason if you have been following me closely.
So see you then. Happy mountain biking.
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