The Mud Fest Convoy?!

And so we have a few mud warriors have been dealing with severe mud hypes as we approach the weekend. That's a good sign and it's gonna be another round of big RBU gathering, just like we had at KL Marathon 2010. We are talking about Kings here, Clash of The Titans! but I heard that we might miss a few Queens as well. No worries, cause I also heard that these secret-mud-agents will be bringing back the muds for the abscentees. Correct?

I believe blogs will the bestest channel for RBU to be informed and interact, which brings us to this updates that Mr. Enaikay the Pirate King himself pretty much hoping that fellow RBU Trailblazers can go togeder-geder on that Sunday morning. Here's the plan:

Date : 31-October 2010 (Sunday)

Time to meet up, breakfast and solat : 5.30 a.m.

Place to meet up : Petronas Taman Melati, MRR2

(Got McDonald for breakfast with black coffee)

RBU Trailblazers are invited to meet up and convoy or carpool to Genting. Kasi gegar McD dulu pepagi tuh. The Mud War shall begin! From what I can gather, we have a big list of fellow RBUs. Correct me if I'm wrong with the list or miss anyone:

1.   Zack Yui Librarian turn Future Ultra Marathoner 2011

2.   Ziff the Snail Pacer on Two Wheels Merry

3.   Ian Corporate Athlete Macam Bagus Trail Champion

4.   Syah 20 Years Kingfisher Macam Bagus CA Sidekick

5.   Yimster Free and Wild Runner Picking up Pace Pooky

6.   Top Secret Partner

7.   Dett King Jelir from Pondok Tanduk regime

8.   Shuk King Poco-poco Pina British Team

9.   Che the Ziggman Leaving Your Own Track Squadron

10. Another Top Secret Partner CIA Class

11. Jaja the Dancing Ciken Pipi's Super Tri-Mom

12. Another CIA Ultra Top Secret

13. RayZeef Malaya The Rocktape Ambassador

14. Ijam The Friendly Clown Runner Eco-Challenger

15. Enaikay The Pirate King Southern Chapter

16. And me :)

Three Rounds And A Sound

Not quite a satisfying weekend actually but it's good enough rather than sit and eat and harbour the guilt. A few plans were laid but nothing fancy or confirmed until all domestic priorities are resolved. With next week is school final exam, I couldn't ask for more time be it on the saddle nor in the shoes. I couldn't afford to piao myself out during training and bust into slumber land the whole day.

Too many options flying around for Saturday. It was either Nuang with Ian or Bukit Aman LSD with the Camdeks or Peres with Ombak/Jaja. Scaling up those nasty terrain, even up to Kem Lolo will tax more time and effort. Though Genting Trailblazer is a week away, I had to be realistic with the goals. Time managing is crucial, especially when it's my Princess's Birthd Day!

Bukit Aman LSD was shelved when these guys prefer to spin those legs rather pounding it. So it was the usual Langat gang back into the kampung route. Half of us signed up for Malakoff Charity Ride so it was a just a handful of us slithering away until God knows where and when to turn around. Very the easy pace with some gimmick attacks along the way. The most gimmick was when we decided to ditch Peres attempt, turn around and replace that 9km climb around a plate of nasi lemak and ice Milo. Aiyo! My legs were not quite cooperating well also la. I dunno why but it was nothing satisfying. Post ride workout was washing the car porch and that made me pengsan just 30 minutes before Kumon's over. Phew!

Princess Kaklong decided to have nasi ayam Ayamas. Alamanda was the bestest choice since cursing oneself in Mid Valley traffic on Saturday afternoon was not a wise plan. Birthday present? Still no idea. Asking what she wants will be top of the world list. Eventually it was dad & mom's surprised last minute decision gift. She was happy with a personal audio player. Happy birthday Kaklong!

It was a late night preparation for Sunday brick. Fixed the aerobar, kasut lari, kasut kayuh, topi keledar, topi lari dll lagi sumbat into a Toyogo container. The menu was to either hantam the Putrajaya - LCCT route or Putrajaya - SKVE route followed with a run. Arriving at Precinct 6 pool, we were welcomed with drizzles. It was cold. Took out the bike but heavier rain forced us to keep it back into the car. It was a 30 minutes dilemma chatting before we decided to simply get into our trainers and run as far as we can. Yes. We ran in the rain and the view of Pullman and Putrajaya landscape was perfect for a rave run album. Yim managed to capture those. 40 minutes run and we were happy the rain subsided just in time to unload the bikes. Same thing happened but this time it was heavier! Aiyo!

The frustrations were spent with some small chats in the middle of the wet weather (since we were soaking already) about gadgets and stuff before the final verdict to save it all for the mamak. Shuk and Yim bailed out before reaching mamak. Us four peeps punished ourselves for the lesser volume workout with roti sardin & teh tarik. Ammah!

This pure clean energy was not well spent due to climate drastic change today. I was scratching my head upon reaching home with some plans up my sleeves. Domestic intervals followed. 3 reps. 15 minutes laundry with 10 minutes recovery Score A Bahasa Malaysia.  15 minutes spring cleaning shoe rack & old junks with 10 minutes recovery Score A Maths. 15 minutes drain scraping with 15 minutes float coke. Science bila nak buat Amir?

Trikidz Nite Adventure Race

OK guys, parents and guardians. I think it is time that we share the passion for running or whatever weekend warrior stuff with our loved ones. After PD Tri, here comes another episode to get those cute sporting figure of our kids all sweaty again. The time is just right for them to get crazy after school's final exam. Even better, it's Deepavali night! But please don't ask for maruku from the organiser.

It's gonna be an evening race when the sun almost set and the lights start to glow at the beautiful i-City Shah Alam. I've never been there but from googling, it sure looks nice. Check out the website http://www.trikidz.com.my/ and register your team of parents and kids. The best part is, we can still do weekend warrior stuff a.k.a. trainings / program letihan the next Saturday morning and definitely Sunday! See ya!

Oops! One more thing. If you want to be part of the volunteer team, I think you can always buzz them and ask. I'm sure they will need all the hands and skills and love from you super stars champions.

Blessed for Blast - Mizuno Wave Run 2010

For being ignorable of the run and being an al-cheapo for not rwanting to spend the fee, I was caught at the very last moment. Few days before the weekend, a roundup of the medal collections, the Mizuno 2009 metal brought me into nostalgic mood. That seized me to test my luck should registration still open. Det and Hailmi told me perhaps limited number available on Saturday morning. I went in the afternoon, I was shut with a big NO from PACM. A try was a try. Had to keep to the original plan - gate crash. Only wanted to do the 10K drill. 

The Perskindol Team - Hancik, Rayzeef, Deo and me
(photo from Yim)

6.30 a.m. Det and me rolled off from kampung to UPM 15 minutes ride in the cold morning - parking issues had us decided for motorbike option. 6.45 a.m. right in-front of the sport complex gate we parked on the kerb. Orange people started to flood the stadium. Short run means longer warmups. We decided to spend 15 minutes around the track. We met Rozaimi, Det's neighbour. He handed me Asharul's bib (my neighbour and his in-law) since Asharul was down with fever. Blessed? Tell me about it.

I straight away ran to PACM booth for safety pins and rushed to the starting line for not wanting to be late as I did last year. The strategy was to be at the front pack should we want to make it worth at targetting something. We jumped the barricade as the mens' open category was flagged-off. I was running on the road shoulder most of the time just to stay clear from the main crowd and for ease of overtaking. Hills after hills at the first 5km of the run and HR wass going rather beserk. I tried pushing my luck should there be any chance to stay at LT level for an hour.

A red Mizuno 10.10.10 flew by which attracted me with it's awesome design. A second look to the feet, that particular Vibram was not mistakenly belongs to the ultra-trail runner Yim! As usual Yim was with his camera in hand but still managed to squeeze in between the crowd. Moments later we were shoulder to shoulder for some quick chat and photo snap. Exiting into wider road, we got separated for our own destiny. Echeh!

I plunged into higher revolutions up longer climbs and onto flatter plains. At times a shadowy pain in the tummy deterred me from going stronger. Perhaps from the Kit Kat I had earlier. "4K to go! Lets go!" A marshal shouted as we crossed the main road into the hostels area. Judging from the route terrain, there's gonna be another 2 to 3 inclines awaiting at every corner. I was already desperate to finish the run but the inner me kept on reminding to just focus on maintaining pace and gait. I obliged.

The hill have eyes! Yes, the last one and the sun shines right infront.  The same climb from last year and it wasn't any easier. It was like the Hamburger Hill where too many soldiers struggled and some defeated. I was again desperately targetting for the best sub 60 minutes. 53 minutes at the top of the climb. Shoving into higher gears, I gave chase towards the sports complex. 54 minutes at the entrance gate. Aiyo! 37 seconds for another 150 meters on the track. Where's the A category lane?! 44 seconds I stepped on the timing mat. Unofficial time. Voila! There you go. Moments later I was feasting watermelons, chill Milos and camwhoring with Yim, Hancik, Deo, Rayzeef and lots more Chap Ayam Runners buddies.

Enough with the blessed and blast, I rushed home with more home chores intervals to settle. Before that, I dropped by Asharul's house to pass him the goodies bag and thanked him for the bib. Nice meeting you guys. It's the small races like this that really brings the running spirit together. Adios!

Breath Right enhancement, thus the fertilized composed smell from UPM farm had me high
(thanks for the photo Yim)

Results are out:

Name : Asharul Huzairi Mohd Mansor (me in disguise)

Category A : Men Open

Chip time : 56:09:62

Gun time : 55:37:49

Split 1 : 32:26:89

Position:

Category : 99 / 1580

Gender : 162 / 2123

Overall : 172 / 2906

Ain't no mountain high enough - K.O.M. Ipoh 2010

We have the mountains all around us. 9KM Genting Peres, 16KM Genting Sempah, 35KM Fraser's Hill, 40KM climb from Bentong back to Genting Sempah, but 54KM from Simpang Pulai up to Blue Valley, Cameron Highland lured me for mega endorphines (Genting Highland is considered other types of craziness - I only attempted up to Goh Tong before I went nuts).

The first news I got about KOM Ipoh, I straight away abandoned the lingering initial plan to attempt Nike City Run and 10.10.10 Hoo! Haa! Too many running races, rare cycling events lately. I had to try this one, plus the usual cycling peeps had already started chit chatting about it. Besides, it's history in the making. The day I scaled Cameron Highland on two wheels should be cool enough to share with my grandchildrens... echeh! OK la, it's actually the third time riding in Cameron. The first one was drive up from Tapah for a mountainbike ride through Jim Thompson's legendary trail.

Laif, Azmar, Jaja and me carpooled into Laif's pickup truck as early as 4.00 a.m. that Sunday morning. Since we have other priorities at bay, the idea of heading to Ipoh a day earlier was scraped. Besides, it was quite a descend distance to make it as a daytrip event and still not sacrifice Saturday. Met up with Alwin, Jejai, Komeng and buddy from Bukit Jelutong cycling peeps at R&R Rawang an hour later before stopping at Tapah for morning chores.

We arrived half an hour before flag-off but however it seemed that we were the last one to arrive. Mr. Emcee started announncing for the time and every shouts from him didn't quite help us with the preparation. Aiyah! Huru hara dibuatnya! Five minutes to 7.30 a.m. we squeezed ourselves behind the line and there was no time for doublechecking and what not. Laif, Azmar and me decided to let the peloton rolled by which left us the way to the Balai Bomba toilet. Phew! The pre-race fluid jitters were discharged with super relief.

Then it was time to play chase and catch. I believed they had advanced for 2km ahead of us by the time I started my stopwatch from the toilet door. We caught up with the peeps right before the starting of the super duper climb. They were cruising their legs wishing they will survive the endurance big momma gonna give.

Weather was generously perfect. Magnificent. Kind. All you can wish for a great ride and REACH FOR THE SKY! Not a single peek from the sun and that was minus one big tormenting factor. I was spinning at my own pace, didn't bother to stay behind with a few others, while some have already chasing their dreams to make a PB. Det decided to tag along awhile before reaching the 25th KM water station when I realised I was riding alone among strangers. We exchanged smiles and Hi! along the way.

Into the first half of Big Momma (Photo from James Phang)

Legs were pretty much happy with the cadence and pace. Tummy felt hungry pulak somewhere at KM30. Though I had fried rice back in Tapah R&R, perhaps the cold weather and burning engine really takes up most of the calories, fast - patut la susah nak gemuk! I took in a protein bar while slowing down my pace for recovery. Once in a while, the view of the majestic climb had me gulping. It was a magnificent view. Too bad I didn't take the chance to stop and take pictures since I only wanted to focus on the ride. I had major nose issues by the way that I need to satisfy. It was a left and right blow-ride all the way. Of course when no ones around la, else somebody's getting extra GU gels on their bikes. Lol!

Intermitently I was toggling with the Cateye meter between stopwatch, cadence and distance. Speed varied between 11kph at steeper sections while cranking up to 21kph at most of the gradual ones. Although I was tempted at times to rig in the big crank, I had to accord to the distance. Strength wont get me up there in time. Spin will. Maintain cadence at 80 above.

There was an accident involving a car somewhere in between. It just happened moments before I arrived at that particular corner. Broken glasses and car parts strewn all over the road. Lucky no cyclist was hurt la. Or else it would be a tragedy.

Upon reaching 40KM mark, the butt started giving in. Numbness have amplified to SUPER-NUMB. Linkin Park would've loved the idea for their second Numb album I guess. There was no recovery place for us to simply stop spinning and coast the bike, let alone stretch the legs. I had to squeeze in a few glute/butt stretch while pedal-standing. Temperature starts to drop, chill wind didn't quite help with the nose job. Bacin and Alwin caught up with me somewhere at KM42. Bacin flew away to the front dissappearing into the corners while Alwin decided to take it easy with his knees. The moment was too short before I started to ride alone again.

Geng Langat with "Jangan Kasi Pecch-ah" tagline.
L-R: Zakuan, Abang Halim, Bacin, Saiful, Deti & Azahari
(Photo by Shirat Azree)

KM50! There you go! 4KM to go and the distance marker started to appear on the roadside. It was rolling a bit, up and down. And weather turns cold drastically. I was in joy mood by now but it was pretty much a premature celebration. It was minutes away before 3 hour. The cut-off time is 5 hours. The last 2KM climb actually almost split me. By then the distance marker they painted on the roadside in yellow paint were placed at every 250 meters. The countdown in decimal points drove me crazy! Gilos! It went from 53.000, 53.250, 53.500, 53.750...54.000! Pergh! Almost die cranking up those last bit and chasing the sub-3 hour target - the target was only decided at the last few kilometers. Adhoc goal. Hehe. Too bad no more legs la and I had to compel to the 1 minute 37 seconds extra.

Anyway, I had a 45 minutes waiting for the rest of the peeps to concur their dream and the chilling temperature starts biting in. My initial plan was to take the ride in Laif's car back down - thanks to Azwan for driving it up as support crew. I had to give my seat to Zakuan who was in sorry state to ride back down. He had fever and leg issues. Only a few of us rode down through that wicked temperature. We zoomed like mad, only to slow down once in a while at sharp bends and when cross winds almost blew us aside. It was an hour of crazy stuff actually. We go slow, we suffer more to the cold. We go fast, risk of side winds and numb fingers bites in. It was no more cool breeze blowing in the face. All nose fluid like waterfall by now. I just stayed focus and arrived back at the Balai Bomba an hour 40 minutes later with whats remaining inside. Now I was starving like mad cow already. The plan to indulge Nasik Wanggey was ditched when I saw ikan keli sambal at the nearby stall. Coke and ikan keli sambal was the perfect marriage. Ammah!

Smiling in between stuffy nose, shivers and relief
(Photo by Shirat Azree)

Glimmering

I don't quite putting in some milage nowadays, but I do have runs - a running nose! Aiyak! Two days now and all I could think is abandoning my evening runs. It crossed my mind to just give it a shot but it was better to let it be and just relax. Putting loads on my body might just lengthen the recovery, especially there's an event this Sunday pulak. To make matters worse, I also have sore gum. Gulping saliva also painful. Why? Perhaps the recent weekend workout fiesta gave my body some Bang! And the weather pattern just induced more tolerance to health disaster. However, this should be a good time to check out some on-going projects:

Ipoh-Cameron KOM Project (10.10.10)

Eventually managed to substitute my run time yesterday evening washing the bike. Squeeky clean and ready to roll. I have yet to choose what to wear. My closest pick would be the one I wore last Sunday i.e. Subskin for base layer, a Diquigiovani jersey, Roadbike Review short, Shimano shoes with socks. The Subskin should protect me from those blazing UV during the climb and perhaps keep me warm during the descending. I pray weather won't turn ugly. Helmet, Jawbone and gloves are the must have items of course. I'll bring 2 gels and 2 Nuun tablets perhaps for fuel.

Mizuno Wave Run Project (17.10.10)

The plan is to pirate the run. I don't want the race vest nor the medal. I just want to run the race for training, considering a few other projects coming in as the list goes on. Since it's a 11km run, I might put in some effort for PB and blend in some intervals into it.

Genting Trailblazer Project (31.10.10)

How's your training buddy? I hope Nik is doing well but reading his training logs give me the chills and pressure. We haven't came up with the project itenary yet but the recent FRIM run was definitely useful. The gears I used during FRIM run would be cool. Recent "lambung" in Zack Yui's blog mentioned there's gonna be a Gunung Nuang attempt a week before Trailblazer. THAT will be truely awesome. Get those calves ready guys. This is the Big Momma of all Steroid Hill put together.

Projek Seri Manjung...emm alahai (14.11.10)

No brick done so far. I've been putting milage on the bike eversince Ramadhan. More time on the saddle. Read in Triathlete Magazine that we need to strengthen the cycling muscles so as not to use up the running muscles for the running leg later. True? Beats me but I've been enjoying cycling lately. I'll be throwing in more runs after KOM. Again the FRIM run did provide a descend launch platform for more LSDs to come.

Attire: So far I'm OK with the thin padded tri-short during cycling. I'll be using that. No more thick-heavy- when-wet-padded short during runs. I've purchased a cheap tri-top, I'll wear that as well. The Adidas cycling shoes will perform in Seri Manjung of course. Perhaps a pair of light weight running shoes might be handy. I've retired the Adizero CS and used it for domestic purposes only.

Temasek Marathon (5.12.10)

Literally the training should have covered a 21km LSD last Sunday. FRIM have covered most of it - again. The plan is not to make PB but to be a tourist on the run - me and Det of course. I'm squeezing in a family vacation as well. A camera could be useful but still I need to put in those milage la.

That's about it I guess. Perhaps I could throw in some shorter distance running races in between or upon closing the year. Approaching weekend, we have so many jitters flying around for most of us. It's a weekend with races all over. And it's history in the making since it's 10.10.10. There's TNF100 Duo, Nike City 10K Kuala Lumpur, Hoo! Haa! 10.10.10 and of course I'll be riding up Cameron. I supposed many of us will blog about it and next week blog entries will start flowing in like a rolling snow. To all you weekend warriors out there, all the best of luck.

The Mountain is the King

After a gruelling hunt for the blue calves in Avatar Land a day before, I click the FB button to accept the invitation for pre-KOM (King of the Mountain) ride. Legs still with a bit of soreness here and there from the bumpy and roller coaster ride in FRIM but still I need the endorphines to get me exhausted through the weekend in a satisfactory manner - no more fatigues from long hours driving through hari raya frenzy for me.

The recipe was to meet up with 11 other usual suspects at Batu 14, Dewan Serbaguna Hulu Langat, ride up 9km Genting Peres, zoom down 13km to the other side towards Titi, refuel and back up again and finish the assignment with the legendary 3km up Bukit Hantu. Ambitious? You tell me.

I cycled from home with my kampung mates Det & Doc Taufiq still with slightly less confidence whether I can nail this one or not. Whatever happen, I should give it a shot. Met the rest of the members and steadily we climbed Genting Peres at our own pace. Legs felt a bit sluggish though and but still I wanted to chase the clouds - at least reaching the peak is already one task. However, the sluggishness were also shared with most others and perhaps they were not on their top form today. By the time we reached the peak, there were almost three groups counting up to 20 people. It's getting crowded by the time as more cyclists arriving.

Det & Doc Taufiq stuck to their earlier plan - Peres and back. Laif and friend had a major discount card thrown in. And a few others didn't look quite convincing to play along with the mountain music. Only six zoomed down.

The ride down was pretty much like chasing each other since less of us left in the bunch. I tried hard not to think about every incline that I will defy on my way back up later. It's gruelling enough to even think about it. My few attempts were ages ago and it was not quite something that I can satisfy with. In fact every one of it was disturbing. Some cyclists even chose to complete the Broga loop rather than climbing back up this peak. OK, not that I wanted to discourage anyone of you from attempting it, but it's adviseable to come prepared. You don't want to be pushing bike or sitting on road shoulders with no phone coverage in the middle of nowhere between Selangor and Negeri Sembilan do you?

The road was pretty much getting more and more test drivers nowadays, and that's a risk for us cyclists. Yesterday was the heaviest. Perhaps raya mode still on with travellers between Langat and Jelebu - it's a shortcut through the mountain road. But I despised the pedal pusher. I meant the weekend-sportcar-driver wannabe. And some superbikes riders as well. They simply careless of us the tiny, slow granny pedal pusher, puffing cyclists. They swerved at corners with loud  revving engine and noisy exhaust. Lots of them in fact. They come in five, seven and some even ten...and you can imagine how disturbing it was for us to simply want to enjoy a peaceful healthy weekend. Can the local authorities mark this route as cycling friendly? And please get these guys to go and whack themselves at the Sepang.

We arrived at a stall in Titi and the lady welcomed us the familiar faces. She asked where's the rest? We waited for Saiful and Zakuan but minutes gone and still no sign of them. A message came in and they had to bail out as well. Now I was left with these super duper climbers and I will be the spice and gravy of todays main course. Ammah!

I dug a nasi lemak and a bowl of noodle soup with a can of soya bean, only to discover later that I didn't bring any cash! Aiyo malunya! In an easy and still-macho voice, I asked Alwin for the favor. Thanks buddy. It was somewhere between 10.00 and 11.00 and the ride back would be achieveable with still some cool morning weather left. Our anticipated 2.00 p.m. finisher can be shelved.

The climb back was nothing more than pure gritting one. Similar to Bukit Hantu but this one have about four or five of it. The view of the majestic asphalt snake was discouraging. It comes one after another. The slightest recovery was still a small incline. I almost wanted to stop and stood on my aching legs but the sight of Alwin still spinning those grannies seemed accommodating. The first half of it was clambering and clambering. We get dummy peak sometimes. It was frustrating just to find out around the corner as we peek, another mountain awaits. Aiyo!

Alwin and me shared some encouragements but it was unresponsive at times when we were almost half conscious of our reality. I stayed low within my shoulder, not wanting to even peek at the view in front. Shivering. I kept on pushing the pedal with whats left of the juice in me legs. The cranky rotations were no more synchronized but it was push and push and push. Even the wildlife music felt like teasing. Lol!

I can never ever forget the sight of the last corner. It gave me strength for the final push up that crazy peak back up to Peres. Yippy-ki-yay! We survived with outstanding satisfaction and the best part was, no cursing. Hahaha. Bacin and Abang Halim were nowhere to be seen at the peak. We rolled down back towards Langat only to find Bacin, but no Abang Halim. We decided to just ditch Bukit Hantu which seemed to be impractical. Was that an absolute reason?

The three of us cycled back to Bacin's place with whatever juice left within. Alwin offered me for a lift back home which I pleasantly obeyed. Fortunately weather was quite comforting or else we'll be baked like hash browns. Well at least I have the chutzpah now to get to the starting line on 10.10.10 in Simpang Pulai for that 54km up to Blue Valley, Cameron Highlands. Better still, after a back-to-back run-ride weekend, I'm full of anxiety to start running tomorrow!

Date : 3-October 2010

Route : Home - Batu 14 - Batu 18 - Genting Peres - Titi and back

Distance covered : 116.89km

Max alt : 510  meters

Riding time : 4:50:34

Avg spd : 24 kph

Max spd : 58.4 kph

Pounding the Steroid Hill

To combine a LSD and trail running together with a whole bunch of fellow RBUs is nothing more than awesomeness. I headily put my schedule to pieces just to ensure I won't miss this call. Ian's been having loads of PORs heading towards TNF100 and I had to miss most of them to family & of course aidilfitri priorities. FRIM, perhaps one of the oldest dipterocarps gathering in Klang Valley. It treasure the best canopy one can simply get mesmerised - Gosh! How could I forgot to capture the photos?

Supposed to be the Lambung Act but Deo crossed it & Ziff malu-malu kucing sebab new Asics

I was rushing like mad to reach FRIM in time and it is so far from Cheras. Loke Yew - Jalan Maharajalela - Jalan Kinabalu - Jalan Kuching - MRR2 - FRIM. Lucky me traffic was peaceful but upon reaching FRIM, the place started to get hectic from joggers driving in. Everyone was there and we greeted each other with warm welcome. I missed them a lot and definitely from most of the running events.

Shuk was in the cheerful mood sebab dah lama sangat tanya bila nak trail?

As planned by our host, Ian, he headed the stretching bit at a nearby court. It was a short one but I trust it should do us good for the 15km trail we'll be pounding later. And as usual, jokes flew around the court with Nik hopping around taking photos.

First hit was the Dream Trail. My last ride here was ages ago. I think it is a 1.6km trail, though too short for a mountainbiker to drool but it was a holy grail. Just for notes, the trail was designed by Pat Brunsdon and Joe Adnan built together with loads of other fellow mountainbikers. It's cool that it can be shared with trail runners as well. Just hope that we should be looking for each other and at the same time keep it clean.

 

Look at that gorgeous Asics! And Ziff felt so comfortable, he fell asleep!

Syah lead the way while Ian was the sweeper. Everyone chose their pack. The enthusiasts managed to keep up with Syah, while the ones wishing to enjoy the greenery and haling in deep breaths stayed behind with Ian. I stayed with the green bunch most of the time.



The trailhead into Dream Trail. It was like from Alice in Wonderland

This turbo thrust climb is demanding for mountainbikers and runners

Finally the Jeep Track pulak for pacat inspection and a breather

We escaped the single track and into a wider trail. Jeep Track if I'm not mistaken. We started to meet more joggers along the trail. The pack stayed with the same bunch. I stayed with Shuk, Deo and Ziff, catching up with lots of unshared stories. The chit chat was the key. Like most LSD, we kill boredom and miles chit chatting. I like.



Model Brooks in action

If we stayed for another minute, more creativities will start thrown in. Saper start dulu ni?

Eventually the celebrities rolled in to join the regrouping

View of nearby Taman Ehsan and KL

We headed out towards the gruelling Streroid Hill, so what they're called by mountainbikers. I presumed it is the climb and indeed it is. Everyone was being shy for a moment there for whom want to pave the way. Even Syah was shy to expose his avatar skill up that steep exposed incline. I had to be the bad guy and started plodding up and thumping those calves and heart.

Look at that Mama!

It was not long before Syah started to smoke me and later came Crushio. My HRM was going bezerk with the melody of reaching Zone 3.  The first climb was too demanding. Fortunately there was a recovery platform to ease out those burning muscles. The last push was merely 50 meters away and I almost walk charging up towards Shuk.

Men at work

The last push

Phew! Reward at this point with gorgeous view of green hills tapi ada kekecohan sebab seekor lipas

I didn't manage to saviour anymore photos after this point. I was rushing to finish the run and headed home for my kids' Kumon at 10.00. And it was already 10 minutes passed 9! Aiyo! I had to lead the way down catching up with the front runners. The descending was indeed technical with erosions and stuff but once you have those legs rolling, there's no stopping nor slowing in between cause it will only bring disaster.

A quick stop at a hut for regrouping and I decided to cangkuk Syah this time for a bit of turbo pace. The rest followed but we were too fast. I was fast simply to catch up with him though at some points I regretted. Lol! It was a fast one and admiring those avatar calves of him gave me strength! Eceh! No lah...I was gripping my heart from exploding there.

We departed at a juncture and I made my way back to the parking lot for a Vroom! back to Cheras. I had to miss the coney dogs, the cake and the cangkung birthday celebrations. Happy birthday Ian. Nice to be your friend. Overall, it was a splendid run and I really appreciate the hosting together with the running peeps. Nice to be able to catch up with you guys again.

p/s. I have four pacat bites and I'm scratching my legs while typing this! Aiyo! So gatal meh...