Broga - The Dawn of Ramadhan

Genting Peres

My third attempt. And it always gives me the chills even at the very last moment to roll off. A week of deep thoughts and waiting. The state of being conscious. My last two attempts was a suffering-not-so-pleasure one. With only 64km milage under my belt last week, I was planning for this one to give me a turnaround point. To make it as an achievement. To come back smiling with satisfactions. Did I?

This would the last epic ride and perhaps the last epic entry before Ramdhan, and I will nail this hard to the hard drive. Will render to the tiniest details about this handsome triumph which resulted us craving for more. Ramadhan will be double the effort juggling between fasting, tarawih and kawasan yang sewaktu denganNya.

Eight of us rendezvoused at Sungai Tekala picnic area as early as 7.15 a.m. It was still dark when I left home, driving through the deserted Ulu Langat road which I decided to wait up for Bahri and Saiful at Batu 14 town. The drive up the winding road of Bukit Sungai Tekali is a no-no for me at this wee hour though it was merely minutes away from sunrise. I saw too many wildlife carcass during my previous rides here.

There was Bacin, Saiful, Bahri, Azahari, Hanchik, Adeline, Zakuan, Jeff and me. First attempt for a few of us and the uncoolness look was camo from chit and chats and flying jokes. We rolled of while some stall operators were busy preparing for Sunday picnickers. Our first regrouping would be the peak of Genting Peres. The key word was RESERVE. My plan was to keep glycogen usage at minimal at this early stage. The 9km climb was casual with us separated into two groups - of course I was at the back chatting away with Saiful, Azahari and Adeline. The front pack was racing for King of the Mountain first checkpoint. Zakuan and Jeff were scattered between no man's land.

We came across another group who were training for their French tour. Their menu was to go down to Titi and climb back up again - 2 sets!!! I hope they stayed true to the plan. There were almost 20 of us up the peak at one time and slowly we dispersed down towards Titi single filed. Weather was still cold as we descended but it was refreshing. The 13km nerve wrecking descend was fast, tapping the 58kph on the meter. I tapped the brake once in a while - remember my love ones. Hehe. At some rolling stretch, the usual back riders never failed to throw in more jokes.

Another quick 30 seconds regrouping at the bottom before rolling into Kuala Klawang Petronas station another 22km. Average 32kph tagging behind Bacin as the train engineer. So far so good. Legs still looks and felt good. None of those creeping nibbling pain up the thighs yet. A 20 minutes pit stop for refuelling hydrations and a quick snack from my breakfast bar. Kuala Klawang was a bit busy that morning from a festival at the town square. Sighting of cyclists basking around the petrol station on weekends is perhaps a norm among the locals. Even a pakcik courteously stopped his car to allow us to cross the busy town road.

Point of no return - Kuala Klawang

Then we rolled off into Jelebu peaceful trunk road which was a bit narrow at some part. The air was rich with splendouring kampung essence. We have mixtures of durian smell from roadside stalls, smell of nasi minyak for the afternoon wedding reception, smell from freshly burned leaves and I thought passing through a quick sharp snap on the nose from the local fresh manure. It was a rolling feat where everyone stayed in pack cruising nothing more than 30kph. Azahari was leading the pack and everybody just sat back and enjoyed the cruise.

Well, the luxury didn't last long into the 14th kilometer when the gigantic greyish geological proof stood right in front of us challenging the inner weaklings. Bukit Tangga. A 3km Cat 3 climb where the best sight is only to look down at the stem. I was not planning to recall the agony of my previous blow, so I swigged down a gel moments before the ascend. Well wishes were thrown among us and still we can joke about the torment that we are about to get. Our last words before strunging the line were "Selamat hari raya. Maaf zahir batin. Jumpa kat atas ye".

The pacing was kept at personal. No one bothered to race to the top cause it will only make oneself hit the wall early. I was keeping the crank spinning at a momentous cadence. The pushing and pulling up the barren terrestrial sculpture went on promisingly as compared to my former attempts. It was nothing panoramic but it was definitely majestic. We have huge surface area of tarmac from the four lane carriageway, a bland sight of the concrete drain and a vast area of green started to look up at us as the escalation continues. Since the morning was still raw and the sun casted a friendly spark on Jelebu, the climb was sweet. With a few seeps of CamelBak Elixir from the bottle, the greeting effort was kept at optimum. We blatantly celebrated the feat at the peak with of course more jokes.

Bukit Tangga - Route 86 (Jelebu - Seremban); somebody's singing the blues away

Of course, what goes up must come down la right. The descending was again a fast one...55kph? I guess so. I kept my distance from thinking the unnecessary and pledged to only enjoy the biting cool breeze. The rest of them dissappeared into those bends continuing on with the jubilation from the second climb.

Right exactly at the bottom, a hard right awaiting for the road to Lenggeng. Should one wishes to proceed with Route 86 into Seremban, that covers another 20km. I know the next ascend will be just around the curve and it will be taxing. Though only stretched out for a click, the legs will have to work harder after logging in almost 80km now. Just as we were about to get strung out again, Azahari's chain snapped!

We took awhile to gather ourselves and even longer to gather our thoughts for the next cause of action - perhaps it was unexpected. First we walked around looking for the chain pin which we thought could've blown away from the stressing pull. A quick check at the chain, the pin was still attached to the link. Phew! But the link was bent and had to be removed. In fact two links were removed to make ends meet...was that an idiom? The tricky part was getting the chain back into the rear derailleur and around those pulleys. I turned myself into a greasemonkey helping out the dirty job figuring the correct way. We even had Bahri's bike for sample. Haha. The rest of us took turn landing a hand at the next unpinning and pinning process. Thanks to Adeline who was the only lady and chain tool supplier. That's what happend when none of us had the experience attending to this kind of mechanical problem but problem solved eventually...30 minutes later. Azahari flew away flawlessly up Bukit Lenggeng.

7km into the small humid town of Lenggeng. We passed by Hutan Lipur Lenggeng and of course Kampung Mandum. Nothing special about it but kinda like the name. Mandum. My definition of "mandom" would be "long-faced" expression. Maggi from the mamak serves the best meal for these bitten souls. However, the waiting took infinity. What was this mamak doing la? Aiyo! A 2 minute noodle lasted for more than 20 minutes. We took turn putting the pressure and going in and out the restaurant fridge for more drinks. By the time maggi was served, it looked like lasagna already. Ammah! Most of the kuah gone and the noodle turned fat. The feeding frenzie was anti climax. A by product of late maggi, we have 12 soya bean cans, 5 cokes and 4 glasses of tea on the table. Were we camels or what?!

We left Lenggeng at somewhere around 1.00 p.m. and started to feel the heat. The ride through Broga towards Semenyih will cover another 20km and it started to bite. The camaraderie turned discreet at most of the time. I decided to accompany Azahari while nursing what's already in these legs. The rest charged away with Bacin at the lead again. We passed by the famous Broga Hill entrance, just the opposite of a rabbit farm. Now I know where's the Broga Hill trailhead.

Another regrouping at Semenyih Petronas and the day have started to turn chaotic. Traffic, fumes, dust and heatwave are the common disaster. We can't wait long basking in the pollutants so we hurried away into Jalan Sungai Lalang heading towards Sungai Tekala for the final 16km stretch. I was so ambitious to generously doing the work up front for a click or two before giving way to fellow buddies continuing the task back to the carpark.

Done. 115km and that's about it. Clocked riding time almost like my first marathon 4:51 and that was one awesome ride. Soon my black beauty steed will undergo some servicing for more milage to come. But now it is time to replenish the soul through Ramadhan with more exciting camaraderie between me and Allah.

May all fellow weekend warriors, RBUs, GKLs, FMVs and friends have a blessing Ramadhan and blasting training for Seri Manjung...emmm alahai! :)