BUKIT DINDING: A REFLECTION IN RAMADAN

The month of Ramadan gives me an opportunity to reflect on many things. Amongst them ...well, you guessed it, my biking of course.

That brings me to the subject of a hill, 300 metres high, located in our neighbourhood that serves as a constant feature in my pursuit for a healthy, balanced life -- the humble and unpretentious Bukit Dinding.

It's just a hill; a plain one I would say, with nothing really attractive to offer except for some overaged rubber trees as its vegetation and a pair of telecommunicationns towers atop its peak as its landmark. Coincidentally, some E.T. friends and I happened to cycle up that hill night before last. Since strenuous workouts during the day are not recommended during the fasting month, we opted for a night ride instead and Bukit Dinding provided the means for us to do so..

When was the first time I got associated with Bukit Dinding? I really can't recall the exact day it happened. I wish I had noted it somewhere  in some sort of record or diary. If only I had done so, things could be much easier for me to remember or  refer to whenever there's a need for doing so as in this case right now. That way, I suppose I could be more specific and perhaps, more convincing.

The one thing that I can remember quite clearly about Bukit Dinding the first time I tried to get close to it was during the course of my search for new trails to ride. And I didn't like what I saw.

Maybe it was sometime in early or middle of 2009 when I started to give the hill a closer look. I had by then been passing by that hill numerous times in the course of my daily rides but never gave it more than just a passing glance or thought. I was already well into biking then and enjoying what I was doing and realized  the many benefits it brought me. I felt fit and wanted something more physically challenging. I thought the hill was now worth a peek to find out what could be up there for me that I could use to improve my fitness and enhance my biking pleasure. 

I had by then, more or less, settled down with all the surrounding hills that I could find around my area. Cycling up those hills had ceased to be a challenge to my fitness and stamina. They could not push my heart to the level I desired and I noticed that I had a few more beats to spare that I thought I could use for more strenuous rides to bolster my heart health further.

Outside of the neighbourhood, there's the much-talked about Steroid Hill in FRIM where I used to ride regularly over the weekends and still sometimes do. Trying to get up Steroid the first time did not prove to be so much a challenge to me. My only problem was my lack of stamina which prevented me from riding the hill in one go where I was forced to take a pause in order to enable me to continue. Still, I managed to ride up that hill the second time I tried.

But it was different with Bukit Dinding. Its starting slope really gave me the scare the first time I took a close look at it. I thought there was no problem with its first 100 metres but it was its next 100 that erased the idea about trying to ride it out of my mind. I thought the gradient was so stiff that there was no way I could ride over it without risking a wheelie and a  backward fall that could end up in some kind of injury either to my head or my body.

Still, I made the attempt despite the uncertainty and ended up with a wheelie on approaching the second 100 metres as I had expected. My second attempt some days later ended up with the same result. I can't recall what I did following the two failed attempts, whether I pushed the bike after that to continue with the ride or stopped the attempt completely. But I did realize later that the steep gradient would only last for 250 meters after which the track would level out to an almost even ride. I wasn't sure what the trail was like ahead of that but decided to ride it all the same, either then or later, to find out. As it turned out, the rest of the trail proved to be a relatively easy ride, though an ascending one, but all manageable for the next 2.0 kilometers or so until the top.

It was during my third attempt that I finally succeeded in taming the dreadful slope.There were not many cyclists riding Bukit Dinding back then but there was one young one that I used to bump into quite regularly either while on my way up or coming down the hill. I was about to approach the dreaded second 100 meters during my third attempt when this young cyclist, suddenly appearing from behind me, overtook me at quite a pace. He was pedalling his bike standing with his body leaning low forward and taking the slope in what appeared to be slow steady strides. I still considered myself a neophyte cyclist then having taken up cycling only sometime in 2008. Taking it as a cue, I instantly copied what he did, albeit quite clumsily and without the ease and finesse he seemed to demonstrate.

Thanks to him, I finally managed to beat that dreadful slope on that day. However, trying to beat that awful (or awesome, depending) stretch continues to give me that uneasy anxious feeling that is certain to race my heart a few beats faster in advance everytime I cycle up the hill. 

Now that I had finally suceeded in overcoming the dreadful slope, my subsequent goal was to try to beat the hill's initial 250 metres and its overall trail in the shortest time possible. I rememember setting the limit of under 3 mins for the hill's first 250-metre stretch  and less than 25 for the overall 2.6 km trail. I managed to achieve both these objectives. On 5 December 2009 (I have this on record, somehow), a day before my birthday, I succeeded in completing the 250- metre starting climb in 2 mins 57 secs and the whole trail in 22 mins 50 secs. My best time for the whole trail, however, stands at 21 mins 21 secs which was set much later when I was tempted to keep up with a much younger rider who happened to ride the same hill with me one particular day. Nowadays, however, I just pedal up the hill enough to exercise my heart and lungs to the level recommended for my age

I am happy and thankful that at my age, I can still cycle up Bukit Dinding and doing it in one continuous ride without the need to pause. However, the hill's awful and awesome second 100 metres still continues to haunt and intimidate me even until today.

Wonder when I will ever get over that feeling. Or, will I?

RED BERET CHALLENGE 2012

So, after what felt like quite a long lay off, I finally managed to participate in another mountain bike jamboree, the Red Beret Challenge 2012, in Paroi, Negeri Sembilan just a week before Ramadan. It was a challenge-cum-jamboree. This would be my last jamboree until sometime late September after the end of Shawal when there will be a chance for another two jamborees each in Rawang and Serdang, respectively.

The Red Beret Challenge 2012 was organized by mountain biking enthusiasts from Unit 7th of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) of the Royal Malaysia Police, a component within the police force responsible for the task of maintaining public order and security. Being what they are and with the resources available to them, a high standard was expected of them in their organizing and running of the event. They too, I believe, would not expect any less than what we all hoped for.

A total of three hundred and fifty mountain bikers were there at the jamboree. I have been made to understand that more could have participated but the organizers had chosen to limit the participation to ensure a smooth and orderly running of the jamboree. Eight bikers from our group, E.T. Riders, were there to participate in the event. These are the regular bikers that you can expect to see at almost every jamboree unless for some reasons, they are unable to be there.

The Red Beret trail was thirty-eight kilometres long, a balanced mix of sealed and and offroad tracks that included some stretches of oil palm tracks and single trails running along the foot of a range of forest-clad hills that overlooks part of the trail area. Although there were not many hills waiting to challenge the bikers during the ride like in some previous jamborees, there were two relatively stern ones that we had to contend with. For me, these two were enough to get my heart pumping well above its maximum rate and which had finally caused me to dismount and forced me to push the bike instead to get over them. The trail, however, was not totally alien to me though since I had the opportunity of riding a part of it in a previous jamboree I attended  early last year. That trail was much harder and much more demanding than the Red Beret Challenge's. Nevertheless, the Red Beret trail was still an interesting trail to ride. It is, after all, a trail that I don't get a chance to ride often.

So, how did it go? Well, I guess those men in blue with the red berets did it. That's by my personal reckoning since no complaints nor protests were heard related to the jamboree; not at least from members of my own group. They had only good words to say. It was a smooth jamboree and a well organized one that went well without hiccups. The trail was well thought out and the administrative and logistic arrangements satisfactory. There was enough water to keep the bikers hydrated and plenty of bananas to keep them re-energised while riding. Of course, the marshalling and the traffic control were laudable to say the least. That was to be expected. The ride started on time and there was no delay in waiting for some top brass or some bigwigs to arrive to flag off the event or listening to some long speeches before the ride like in some previous jamborees we attended. Long speeches and anxious bikers at the start line all ready and raring to go make for poor combination at jamborees.

How did we fare and how did we take it? Not too bad, I reckon. Although we were there just for the ride and not the challenge and doing it at our own pace, we still did not do too badly. All except one completed the ride. We were there only to challenge ourselves and enjoy the ride. We are happy to note that we did and got the enjoyment we all sought for.The one who did not was only because of some mechanical hitch beyond his control which prevented him from completing the ride.

Now that the holy and blessed month of Ramadan has set in, the question about exercising during this month of self denial begs some consideration. Reading from somewhere, it is stressed that exercising during Ramadan is important in order to maintain balance. Balance is achieved when our spiritual, mental and physical life is maintained. The physical self is kept strong through a light workout.

You need not lay off your bike during this fasting month. You can still do some light cycling or whatever other workout that suits you in order to maintain your balance. So see you cycling somewhere sometime this Ramadan.

TILL THE NEXT JAMBOREE

It has been more than eight weeks since my last post in May. Although I have not posted any biking activities in this blog since then, that does not mean that I have forgotten about my biking during the eight weeks or so. For someone who tends to subscribe to the saying that a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work, I just could not help it. With the kind of fishing waiting to be explored and the kind of fish waiting to be caught, I just could not give the opportunity for such a prospect a slip. No, not me; one, who has found that fishing is not only good as a way of spending time outdoors, but also for a chance of escaping from the stress and strain of everyday life and for some relaxation. So, I had been away fishing, twice, in between those weeks and had somehow been so carried away by it, before and after, that I failed to find time for some posting in this blog.

Like mountain biking, I feel there are also the physical, psychological and spiritual benefits that I could gain from fishing and the company I am with. Does the catch matter? Well, it does and it does not. Sure, it's good to catch some, and more so, a lot of fish although there were more times that I ended up catching very little than a lot of fish. But that has not deterred me from continuing to pursue this number one favourite hobby of mine whenever such an opportunity exists. Fishing happens to be one pursuit that I got hooked on well before I got dragged into biking even though fishing in our waters, be it salt or fresh, isn't such a prolific affair anymore. You could still catch some fish though if you tried hard enough. Overfishing and lack of awareness on the need to preserve are some of the reasons that  have contributed to the depleted state of this valuable resource.

As I said, I did not forget about my biking completely during those eight weeks or so and in fact thought quite a bit about it even while fishing. Once the fishing over and I was back on terra firma, it was back to my bike again. A day after the first fishing trip, I was out mountain biking with friends the whole morning over a trail nearby which happens to be just a stone's throw away from where I live. I am fortunate because I have a trail close to home where I could be on it in under five minutes and spend half a day or more mountain biking over it whenever I wish. The trail has all the challenges a mountain biker needs more than I could take. Welcome to Kemensah, one of the favourite trails among mountain bikers residing in or around Kuala Lumpur.

The Kemensah trail referred to is that part of the trail which includes the paved and offroad tracks and paths located immediately north of Zoo Negara. The paved trail, per se, is the sealed road extending from the zoo northwards which also serves as a public road  for the local population residing in and around Kemensah. The offroad trails which are located in the cultivated and the deeper forest-clad areas of Kemensah and which form part of the overall Kemensah trail network, are not exclusive to mountain bikers but shared by other outdoor enthusiasts such as trekkers and campers. The trails are also used by ATVs and scramblers. The paved trail is a narrow meandering up and down dead- end tarred track about four kilometres long which can be expected to link up with other roads soon as a result of the relatively rapid development in housing taking place in the nearby areas. Half way up the trail, it branches off left for about five hundred metres towards another dead end and where these two trails end or thereabouts, the offroad trails begin . There are a number of offroad trails in Kemensah that you could choose for your rides.

So, how long has it been since my last jamboree until now? Feels like quite some while ago and I am already antsy for another one. So, until then, it has been Kemensah and some other trails and hills nearby, almost daily, for my rides these last few weeks. Bicycle it seems, has become a part of me.

The next mountain bike jamboree that I will be participating in will be the 'Red Beret Chllenge 2012' in Paroi, Negri Sembilan (NS) this Saturday. The last time I participated in a mountain bike jamboree in NS was sometime in April last year. It was a well organized jamboree that turned out to be quite a challenge as well as an experience for me since I was the only biker from our group participating in the jamboree. I hope this coming jamboree will be just as good if not better than the one I went to last year. I should not be expecting any less since this jamboree is organized, I believe, by some mountain biking practitioners from the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) of the Royal Malaysia Police in Paroi, NS. I understand some bikers from E.T. Riders will be there to participate in the jamboree and I hope to have some good words to say about it when it's over.

So, see you in Paroi this Saturday. Until then, keep biking!

Regards.



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