SAVE PALESTINE CHARITY RIDE, PARIT YAANI

It has been more than two months since my last post on 1st January although there hasn't been any lull in my biking activities during that period. Just like last year and the years before that since I started mountain biking, the activity has continued to remain until now, a major part of my daily physical activities. Other workouts that I do include some basic weight bearing, core strength and a bit of balance exercises. These I believe, are sufficient workouts for me to keep my cardiovascular health and overall physical fitness and strength in reasonably good order. I touched 65 by early December last year.

How do I feel about going mountain biking at this age? Well, I feel okay I must say; really okay. There's the heart monitor to help me gauge how I fare while biking. Besides, I always listen to my body; whether I should stop or whether I could continue. That's more important than relying totally on my monitor. Since the start of 2013, I have, on the average, been cycling almost daily. Like I said before, the times that I did not, continue to remain few and far between. Other than feeling good about it all and enjoying what I do , I also strongly believe that the workouts that I do are an important part of my daily life. They are necessary if I wish to keep fit, physically and mentally strong and healthy all through the golden years of my life; insya Allah.

So naturally, when 2013 came, I was looking forward to my first jamboree of the year. But I didn't get the chance to ride one in the first month though. Although there were some jamborees organized in January, I was however, unable to fit in my time into the events' schedule.The only organized ride about akin to a mountain bike jamboree that I could participate in was in the form of a fun ride held on 3rd February 2013 in Batu Caves, Selangor. The ride was twenty-five kilometres long and ridden wholly on tarmac. Still, it proved to be quite an enjoyable ride and a physically challenging one too. Although the ride was done wholly on sealed surface, there were hills long and steep enough sufficient to push our hearts up to and beyond their maximal limits if we tried.

                                  Fun Ride, Batu Caves, Selangor

Mountain biking is an activity that I simply love and like doing and one I feel, that fits in my life quite naturally. I do not view it as some kind of a physical investment that I feel forced to make to reap its benefits although it's an activity that not only takes away your time but also your energy. And now, after almost five years of carrying on with the activity, it seems to have become almost a habit and a part of me which I hope will stay with me for a lifetime though it may later take a different form than what it is today.

                                   Save Plestine Charity Ride

                                    Saad and Azman: two of the three Etees at Parit Yaani...
                                                 
The chance for my first jamboree came on 17 February 2013. It was in the form of a charity ride dubbed the 'Save Palestine Charity Ride' held in Parit Yaani, Johor. Besides organizing it as a mountain bike jamboree, it was also aimed at raising funds in support of  the Palestinian cause. Part of the fees paid by the bikers participating in the jamboree plus donations and contributions received by the organizers would be used to assist Palestinians in their struggle.

The charity ride turned out to be a well organized mountain bike jamboree which saw participation of 700 bikers from all over the country. Three bikers from E.T.Riders were there at the gathering. Nevertheless, the fun and enjoyment they had were never any less. We were still excited about the ride and were looking forward to the 35-kilometre trail the organizers promised. And as we hated but yet loved it, the ride turned out to be more than 35 kilometres long. There was a bonus of five extra kilometres (as I noted it on my cyclometer) when we finally hit the finish line.Swearing and cursing as we did while cranking the extra five, we said nothing nor griped about it on conclusion of the ride.

                                                       

                                    It was wet and slippery in Parit Yaani....

As we expected, we had all that we wanted from a good jamboree at Parit Yaani: a well organized ride over a trail which was a mix of tarmac, offroad single and double tracks, flats and hills -- not too arduous though even by my standards but challenging enough for me and for many, I believe -- oil palm, rubber, some orchards and secondary vegetation for its greenery including runs through some thinly populated areas and kampongs.The trail was far from dry as we had earlier expected. We thought that since we were already well into the dry and warm period of the year, we would be riding over some dry hardpack soil. We were wrong. Except for some relatively dry and tacky stretches good for rides, large sections of the offroad trail were wet and slippery such that yours truly had the unfortunate experience of tumbling over while negotiating over one of the many puddles peppering the track that had me ending myself up in a nearby clinic with three stitches on the elbow (right one, that is). The injury however, did not stop me from riding. With some quick bandaging procedure carried out on the wound at one of the check points, I managed to complete the ride till the end. Apparently, it had been raining in the townlet of Parit Yaani and the area surrounding it for the last one week just before the jamboree -- the unpredictable weather nowadays resulting from global warming or some other climatic changes the world is now experiencing..

Riding through rubber...

                                     A puddly section of the trail at Parit Yaani...

                                ....and some durian orchards along the way...

So, I am still at it and enjoying it and looking forward to it; either for any possible jamboree that I could participate in or some organized rides with friends over the week including those of my own. My passion for biking hasn't seemed to ebb but instead, has now overgrown itself into another kind of biking that seems to be equally tempting and exciting i.e. that of touring.

Since about a month ago, I have been thinking hard about bicycle touring. Although I had never given it more than just a passing thought previously -- because of what appeared to me to be too easygoing or too laid- back a style of riding for me not realizing the true challenge it could actually pose -- this time, however, the urge to find out more about it and to try it has been growing stronger with each passing day. With a touring bike that I managed to get hold of recently, I am now ready for another kind of cycling adventure. After some trial rides  that I did with the tourer, I now realize  there's a whole new world of another different kind of biking out there waiting to be tried and enjoyed by me.

I cannot really pinpoint the exact reason as to why there's this sudden urge in me to try bicycle touring. All this while, I was more into mountain biking over hills and rough terrain and still am. But then the more I got myself into the subject of bicycle touring, the more I realized that this is one type of biking that allows me not only the chance to go the distances, but to spend time seeing places longer and more closely. It also allows me the opportunity to spend time outdoors more and get close to nature. The thought about wild camping while on bicycle touring (less the couch surfing though) and the opportunity to see places longer and more closely are just too attractive a possibility for me to ignore.

As I said earlier, I am now ready and looking forward to bicycle touring.

Maybe I can write something about it in my future entries.