11.03.2012 - Offroad FRIM X-PPP Reunion Ride 2012

riders (L-R): Hairul from Kota Damansara, Gjoe from Changlun, Tuan Yusoff from Kuantan and the author from Masai

Gjoe tagged me in Hairul's photo a couple of months ago and long story short, we set the date 11th March to ride together in FRIM, Kepong. It turned out that there are actually a few of mountain bikers from our A-Level/NCUK batch. Most of them in Klang Valley, and a few others scattered elsewhere including myself of course.

Gjoe was excited and he's really enthusiastic about riding in KL his first time ever; also his first riding trip with the family tagging along. Hairul took it further and set an event on facebook to have a reunion/gathering for others who do not ride. Spouses of the riders are from our college as well; so, in order not to leave them behind when travelling during the school holiday... well...

:)

We learnt that Azam could not ride along, so I took charge as the trail guide. I had a few rides before this, and I know some trails including two that should not be missed by any mountain biker riding in FRIM - Dream Trail and Steroid Hill (Bukit Hari).

So we set out from the entrance gate and went up Bujang Trail then continued the course on Balau Trail to get to Dream. Alhamdulillah, the weather that day was very nice. It's the first time I went down Dream so dry with leaves rustling while going up Balau Trail. I led to a wrong turn just before the Dream trailhead which is a considerable climb. Hehe... so much of a trail leader, me. Anyway, we made a retreat and was at the trailhead in no time. As usual, there were sections in Dream that forced me to go on foot, especially the switchbacks. It's quite amazing to watch Tuan clearing them up with ease, though. Envious.

We took a short break (after numerous breaks in Dream itself) when we exited Dream at Rover Trail and continued to conquer Steroid. Initially I planned to go up the tarmac hill towards Pacat Trail trailhead, but scrapped the plan judging from the fitness of the others. Anyway, I'm also unsure if  I could make it with Trance. Quite a job to hike up the bike on the earth stairs. Perhaps next time. So we went off and headed towards Steroid. Gaining momentum from the small descend, I found that I was questioning myself if I could do it this time. It was quite easy last November with BC Kelolo's lightweight Kelolopoint, but this time it's Trance. Believing in myself and Maestro, I pedaled on uphill little by little. To my surprise, I scaled it with ease, but not as easy as with a lighter bike. So did Gjoe, and we waited for Hairul and Tuan at the top, at Tongkat Ali Trail.

The reward of climbing Steroid is two-fold. One is being victorious with the claim for brag rights, the other is the speedy descend back to the loop starting point. We tracked back the trail that we took and went down the trail towards Taman Botani. The ride ended as we approached the parking lot at the school. We rode on the tarmac towards the picnic area to set up for the gathering soon after that.

It was quite unfortunate that a few of the riders were unable to join the ride due to circumstances arising, and lots of people also didn't turn up for the reunion due to personal matters. Anyway, it was a nice mini gathering and an enjoyable ride. At least for me, and I know that Gjoe's trip all the way from Changlun and Tuan's travel (together with unfortunate incident of bent roof rack) was well worth it. Perhaps another ride together, but different place next time. PCP? I'm in, insyaAllah.

Thanks, guys!

Ride safe, and thanks for coming over.

Some photos in here.

GPS Tracking by Tuan Yusoff

Reference by BC Kelolo on Dream Trail