GCE Classic...so they called la

Sometimes it feels good to smell the burning asphalt in the late morning under the tightening rays of sun. Finally, I get to ride my road bike again though some thoughts were made to consider selling it off due to under usage.

We managed to push aside our priorities for this get together ride considering a few had a small window over the weekend from study break. A short ride with full of chicken loop options were tabled out and eventually we chose Guthrie Corridor Expressway. And to mind everyone, finally we get to wear our customised group jersey after postponing it since last December.

Six of us of course, just about to climb out of our cycling hibernation and the best way to ease it all is to throw in a beautiful post ride menu for commitments.

We planned up to the end of GCE and turn back covering 48 km, just about nice to have the tingling of pain in the quads and calves and the heavy pumping of our hearts scaling Bukit Subang incline.

The celebration was of course venturing into best local  cuisine hyped by fellow mamak lovers. We dished out at Asia Cafe in SS15, Subang for the famous Seeni Mee Sotong from Jalan Mackallister, Penang,

Despite the splendid taste and the generous sotong in sambal, the price per plate was ridiculously kept at only RM5!!! That is way much cheaper than any normal mamak fried mee. Definitely a revisit a must but, we had to go home to celebrate our successful perfect getaway ride today. Alhamdulillah.

Hill Tour

I've been busy for the last 3 months actually. Though not riding, I managed weekend warrior stuffs with family and friends from the neighbourhood. Not the extreme ones but rather some light exercise in the rhythm of my falling stamina as age crept in.

We trekked a lot actually, well actually four times at four different places to be precise. I kind of fond of the exercise since it fits the time table and the commitments just about nice. It can be done not so early in the morning so I can still perform Fajr solat at the surau. Though the trekking starts at 8.30 a.m. and ends almost noon, we still have the shades of tree canopies. Best of it all, everyone are free to bring along their family and kids.

The first one was Bukit Broga.  Of course the first one should be the shortest and the most doable for almost everyone. It was great to have kids around with their buddies, racing to the top. It builds stamina, strength, endurance and abundance of confidence for them. And the fathers can slowly walk behind creaking our backs as we watched them hurdling up like Barry Allen.

The sweat and glory became complete with a nice breakfast of lempeng and sambal tumis at Semenyih with the family of trekkers. You guys should try it. The lempeng I meant, after the hike it taste awesome.

With the adrenaline still lingering, we planned for the next trail. Bukit Apek or Bukit Segar as the place is named by its frequenters. So close to our place, we started a bit late to let the weekend crowd dispersed. Crowded trail is not awesome especially when humidity is high and the trail is inclining most of the initial time.

Bukit Apek was a revisit for some of us but that was few years back. The sudden rise of ground gave a very morphological result to our body, trying to catch our breath and at the same time synchronizing our climbing legs to the task. And, do not forget those young climbing legs whom races to the top, allowing fathers to yell out to them once in a while with our snoring voice. It was not pretty I tell you.

Then we scale up Bukit Gasing. I've been longing to be here but I don't have the slightest idea how does it feels to climb a hill in the center of PJ busy town. This majestic green only can admired every time I used the NPE.

OK this green is perfect for PJ folks and it's nearby population whom find it too far to travel to a more vast greenery like Hulu Langat. It got the proper built path, a small stream which at times hardly seen flowing under fallen trees and shrubs, and it has those short and bursting climbs ending at view towers.

The final leg of our hill tour is a long trek to Kem Lolo. After assessing our gathered stamina from previous so called 'training' which was merely reasons to whack nasi kandar post activity, we are confident to hurdle deeper into Hulu Langat Reserve for more adventure. And of course, we do brought our kids along to share the experience.

Broga Hill with younglings from Al-Ansar

Bukit Apek @ Bukit Segar, 5km from our homes

The subdued moment above PJ greenery

Overlooking PJ State, NPE & Klang Lama

Gateway to Mount Nuang, Hulu Langat

Dip-pool at Kem Lolo after an hour hike

Old abandoned local dam

Last kopek before heads home

Sungai Long Trail

After 3 months hiatus from having a good exercise, I pulled my guts to be back on the bike last Sunday. Yes, that was also after I experience accumulation of sleeping disorder from the jet lag and continued on to become a lazy bum. I was lucky my bike still works fine, which only require some air in the tyres. Should they charge GST for the air, don't blame me for not exercising. Muahaha!

The chosen trail was nearby, called after by local cyclists as the Sungai Long trail. Hence, I kept in mind a short leisurely ride but due to the long leave, I equipped myself with a solid 2 litre hydration and some other mountain biking essentials and a small pack of mini Chipsmore, just in case. 

I joined some new cycling friends from a nearby neighbourhood. The trail was magnificent with super cranking climbs that had my calves and thighs screaming in pain and my butt squeezing and my sweat factory churning out litres of them.

The initial parts were mostly climbs and stages of climbs, and due to the lack of warm ups, we were panting like buffaloes after each ingress. Most are ex-logging tracks and unmaintained plantation roads but the sceneries were exquisite. It is a good training trail considering the distance from our homes. Perhaps next time we could consider cycle to the trail head. that should take around 20 minutes of warm up.

We had to cut short our ride and was unable to complete the loop due to time limitations and the tougher part of the trail which is not advisable to be spent in mid-noon. We did enjoy the rest of the trail that continued on with more secondary forest, rubber trees and even logging area. And we had a rest at a river but the siltation level was beyond acceptance, which definitely was due to over logging and removal of excessive top soil. It could have been a nice place years before.

The ride back from the chicken loop to our cars was a different kind of pain which was mainly soldiering the sizzling hot day on the tarmac for 10 kilometres. The ultra rays were coming from all angles and the worse was from top and bottom, plus zero wind. You can hear the screeching sound of an eagle in a distance like the cowboy movies, waiting this cyclist to be their next meal. Am I exaggerating? Too long under the sun I guess.

It was painful, but nothing is easy for a start to be back as a weekend warrior. Hey! I am looking forward for the next ride. One step at a time, as long as it is a workout.

Diket not in the middle. Lama tak jumpa naaa...

Attempting to pick up my thoughts back after a hideous climb

All smiles after a rest by the silted river

Our new 'hutan' backyard playground

The initials 'bumps' were inevitable