Ride, Climb, Eat and Ride again...

Dreams of these could drive a man to go places. I got to know about it as I was surfing in JomKayuh

With those dreams I coaxed CH and Lei to come over to Bangi and join me for a ride last Sunday. Destination : Lenggeng. Reason : Breakfast with nasi kukus with sambal ikan keli. Distance : 74km. Ranking of ride : MUST DO!!

0600hrs I could hardly sleep the night before. Make arrangement with CH to meet at 7am. Woke up early for prayers and proceeded to cook my pre-race meal, three piece of (my version of) 'french toast'.

0630hrs Suddenly, a familiar sound was heard. The sound of water hitting the roof awning. 'Alamak, takkan hujan plak', which to my horror, it actually starts to rain. I decided that as the RV is some distance away from where I live, it might not rain there. A SMS from CH, 'wei hujan la...', confirms the bad news. Lei messaged me. He just woke up. Dont think he could make it in time.

0700hrs Waits for CH at Petronas. Its not like him to be late. Suddenly he calls, and asks 'Fren, ada ride ke? Bukan hujan ke?'. 'Kita pergi je dulu, kalau takde ride kita pergi la Putrajaya', I reasoned with him. He says he will be there in a jiffy. I felt each seconds of waiting is excruciating, especially when I know that the ride will roll out at sharp 0730hrs. And the RV point is easily some 20 minutes away.

0715hrs Finally CH arrives. Lets go! Raced to the RV point as I don't want to miss this ride. Each seconds flies, and my heart racing as I drive towards UKM.

0735hrs Reached the RV, and I catch a glimpse of a few cyclist getting ready to ride. Parked my car and greeted them. Abang Man CIOCC, Daoh Darko, Bro Mi, and two young (and fast) riders, Hafiz and Acap(?). Abang Man graciously offers to wait while we set-up our bikes. Thank you so much :)

0750hrs After a short introduction to everyone, we rolled out in a double line towards Bangi Lama. Took the opportunity to chat up with the rest of the crew. We avoid the big hill after the Semenyih exit by taking the route to Bangi Komuter and proceeded to Rincing Hulu where we took the scenic route. Abang Man shares anecdotes and gems such as which road goes to where etc...hehehe.

After going through the kampongs, we popped out somewhere after Jalan 6 Kaki, and cycled towards Seremban old road going thru Staffield, KTJ all the way to Mantin, maintaining 23-25kmh. Not far after Mantin we took an exit towards our destination, Lenggeng. Abg Man warned us that the next 2km will be switchbacks going up all the way. Hmmm, confirm kena focus, focus nih...

It was like going up Sempah (which plan to do soon) but only much, much shorter. Going up the climb, not without some photo ops of course. At the middle of the climb, we stop at a small waterfall(?), if you can call it that, for a breather and one of us took the opportunity to create water-falls of his own. Unbeknownst to him, we capture him in action. Ooopps!!

Daoh was entrusted with the camera so he was up and down the climb snapping pictures of us all the way to the top. Going down was fun, especially negotiating the switchbacks, refraining from using the brakes where possible and going as fast as we can. Abg Man tries to took a picture of us negotiate the corners. Can't wait to see them..

0945hrs We finally arrived at Lenggeng after almost two hours of riding. Luckily, the much feted nasi kukus is still available, even if just barely as only a few bungkus is still available. Nasib baik cepat sikit, kalau tak... melepas!! We help ourselves to the nasi kukus and Abg Man ordered the last plate of pulut available, going around. CH even had two of the nasi kukus. Its either he haven't had his breakfast OR that nasi kukus (below) is as good as it is said to be :) BURP!!!

1030hrs After a good breakfast and borak2 session, we make our way back. Someone asked whether we are taking the same way back (thinking of the big hills and the chasing/barking dogs) etc, which to our delight Abg Man confirms we will be taking the flatter route. Phew. We continues chugging along on a totally different route, taking the small roads along palm oils plantation, a few kampongs and along the perimeter of Camp Millenium. Wrong timing. No female PLKN trainee in sight.

The route we took are littered with cow dung which we maneuvered deftly, hehehe. Before long we are nearing Bangi Lama when we decided to go (and attack) the hill along Semenyih road, just beforeBangi Lama town. The boys, Hafiz and Acap decided to attack, standing all the way to the top. Daoh follows suit. Tak boleh jadi ni, kena ikut jugak. I followed, and at the top of the hill, I was only behind Acap and we managed to leave everybody behind.

We continues toward UKM, and surely, Hafiz sprints away followed by Acap shortly after. Just after the Salak Tinggi exit, I decided to press and chased the two. Upped my tempo slowly to the big chainring, all the way to 52x13, hitting high 40s (max 48kmh). Managed to catch Acap, then konon-konon working together trying to reel in Hafiz but we were thwarted by a traffic light and a couple of cars. Nasib baik, sikit je lagi nak tangkap...as if la!

Maintained 30kmh towards our RV and am the third to reach it. Hafiz was smiling from ear to ear. Hehehe, youthful exuberance. Not long after, the rest of the gang came in and we are basking in the sense of accomplished ride. What more could I asked for. Going on a ride with a friend, meeting new friends, good food, nice scenery and being in the company of fellow cyclist.

A big thank you to Abg Man CIOCC, Daoh Darko, Bro Mi (if I got it right), the two kaki rempit, Hafiz and Acap and of course, CH. We'll do this again next time, eh? Maybe to Kuala Klawang perhaps?

Some more witnesses account of that ride here