UPSI X-treme Rainforest MTB Jamboree 2012
Last Sunday I took part in the last mountain bike jamboree for 2012. It's my closing jamboree for the year. In December alone, I had participated in three mountain bike jamborees missing only one on one of the weekends owing to some important matter that I had to attend to. Last Sunday's jamboree tagged as the 'UPSI X-treme Rainforest MTB Jamboree 2012' was held in Tanjung Malim, Perak. It was organized by a mountain biking group from the same locality. So by midnight last Sunday night, December 2012 ended as another active and prolific month, mountain biking-wise, for me.
Chamang Jamboree
Putrajaya Jamboree
There were two other jamborees that I went to before the one last Sunday. One was the Chamang MTB Challenge in Bentung, Pahang and the other the Putrajaya Jamboree which were held on the 9th and 16th of December respectively. I particularly love and enjoyed the Chamang Jamboree for the natural surrounding the ride offered. I enjoyed the jamboree in Putrajaya too although the organizers had failed to meet some of what I believe to be my fair expectations of the event. Still, the jamboree turned out to be one enjoyable and physically satisfying and rewarding experience for me.
So how many times by day did I manage to cycle in 2012? Well, I can't remember how many but I would say almost every day. The times I did not were few and far between. There were some days when I even went out cycling twice a day -- once in the morning and the second time in the afternoon. There were some night rides too. How many jamborees then did I manage to attend? I can't right away remember but there would be at least one if not two every month except during Ramadan. There was even a month I remember where I had participated in jamborees every week. I will need to review my participation more closely though to know exactly how many jamborees I had actually gone to last year.
As I have noticed it ever since I started mountain biking, the sport still remains very much a pursuit for the young. Situation on the ground indicates to me that so is the case for if it isn't, I should be seeing more 50 somethings or 60 somethings doing it just like the many younger ones are doing. But I don't. 50 somethings mountain biking are few while 60 somethings doing so are rare ; anything above that is almost non-existent, at least here, in this country. While I could still see quite a number of 50 somethings involved with mountain biking, their number too seems to get smaller as the age gets higher. For those in their 60's and beyond, their number is even much smaller or almost non-existent. Whatever number that exists, we could probably count them on the fingers of one hand.
But this is not surprising. Like many other physically demanding sports such as football or hockey or some other sporting activities, the involvement of those past middle age or more becomes less. Perhaps, these people feel that mountain biking is too rough a sport for them to get involved with more so when mountain biking is seen to be more dangerous than either football or hockey and where chances of them sustaining falls or collision leading to serious injuries are greater and more likely. Furthermore, mountain biking is still a relatively new sport in this country compared to its older cousin road biking or ordinary cycling such as the kind that health advocates recommend for health and physical vitality. Being a relatively new sport, it probably requires some time before it becomes more established and capable of attracting increased interest across all generations in the country. However, it will be a pity though if one of the other reasons for the more elderly not to get involved with it is because they think that at such an age it's time for them to relax and take things easy and getting involved with such a sport as mountain biking should be avoided completely.
Now that I am quite involved with the activity and loving it, I personally see no reason why those in their 50's or 60's or more and who are in reasonably good health can't get involved with mountain biking. Many who are informed in the field of gerontology and geriatrics see no reason why those in their 50's, 60's or more can't continue to remain athletic. There are seniors in this world pushing 80 today who are still actively involved with mountain biking and I am aware of at least one who does so and doing it with the wife to boot! I am sure there are many more such people in this world if not in this country. I believe the wife can't be too much younger than the husband though I could be wrong. But if my guess about her age is true, she certainly appears stronger than her real age. I am quite sure that it is her mountain biking activity that has been responsible for contributing to her present good health and excellent physical ability.
So are you the type who can be convinced that you can be biologically 40 when you are chronologically 60? Do you believe that a best preserved 65-year old may outperform a sedentary 25-year old? I am convinced of the wisdom that there are ways to realise our quest for making not only 60 the new 40 but for 60 and above to be the absolute best times in our lives the way we choose. Health-wise, I could achieve this by choosing the right lifestyle and the right balance in my physical life. We can take steps to remain healthy and strong until the last days of our lives. I remember reading about the famous fitness guru the late Jack La Lanne who at the age of 60, swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco hand cuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000 lb boat. At the age of 70, in the same way, he towed 70 boats carrying 70 people a mile and a half through Long Beach Harbour. Nowadays, we also get to hear about some nonagenarians or centenarians somewhere who still live the healthy life and competing in some sporting events or performing some physical feats many would think unlikely or impossible.
So, if you happen to be in your 50's or 60's or more and in good state of health and love the nature of the sport and the kind of lifestyle it offers but uncertain you could or should, give it a try. I started mountain biking when I was almost sixty. Of course there has to be a beginning to everything we do before we become adept at it. You do need to learn about the sport and develop some basic skills before starting. But, as they say, slowly does it. Soon, you'll become familiar with the activity and feel so fit that one of those things that you will start to think about will be which hill will it be next for you to subdue. And if I could motivate you further, let me do so by saying that even at my age, I could now pedal up Fraser's Hill from foot to peak non-stop and do the same with Cameron Highland too. And I have done both. If only they allowed me to climb Genting Highland -- for which I have been made to understand we aren't -- I would try that one too just to find out how far I could go. I am certain that twenty or even thirty years ago and with the level of fitness I then possessed, I would not be able to do what I now can and this I am certain even though I was a relatively fit young person then. This is based on my own obervation of relatively fit young or middle age bikers that I bike with during jamborees. I must say that I have never felt fitter than I do now compared to what I was 20 or even 30 years ago. That's what mountain biking has done to me. My ambient heart rate has dropped substantially and so has my resting heart rate. The less the heart has to contract to do its work for you, the better it is for you; so I hope. I am certain that if I were to enter into some kind of contest during a mountain bike jamboree, I would not be the person to receive the booby prize at the end of it if one were arranged.
But all this has to begin with those who believe that living an active life and keeping fit is important to them and who also share the love for the same kind of pursuit. Of course mountain biking is not the only way for one to do it but, it is without doubt, one highly effective means for achieving physical fitness, good health, strong heart, high endurance and hopefully, the ability to remain physically independent long into the golden years of their lives if not up until the day they leave this world..
I never thought that I could be bitten by the mountain biking bug the way I have and become dizzy with it until I decided to give it a try. So, if you happen to be one of those who have been thinking about wanting to do it, give it a go. Nevertheless, in essence, it's all about the importance of exercising whatever its form may be, one that suits you most. In my case, it's mountain biking. Exercise is so important that it is said that for all the lifestyle changes with multiple benefits that one could adopt, none could be more so than exercise. It is also said that if governments wanted to to do just one thing that would have a major impact on obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stress, high blood pressure and dementia including even cancer seen to be common health disorders presently afflicting today's societies, getting everyone on an effective exercise programme would probably be the fastest and most cost-effective way to do it. Mountain biking is certainly one of those ways.
So, if you are one of those who love the sport and have been toying with the idea about giving it a try as a way of keeping yourself fit and healthy and your free and adventurous spirit alive, give it a go then. There's all the chance that you might just get hooked.
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