The Wild Geeks Adventure Club

Cycling Carnival - February 2010 Edition

2010-01-31T20:06:00.006+08:00

Welcome to the February 1, 2010 edition of cycling carnival at wildgeeks adventure.

Learning

Jack presents

10 Reasons To Start BikeTrials posted at BikeTrials and a Fistful of Blisters.

Ok I am interested in BikeTrial. So how do I start? posted at BikeTrials and a Fistful of Blisters.

R.Pettinger presents

Best Size of Bike Tyres posted at Cycling Info, saying, "Learning to love an MTB"

Bikes

Surbhi Bhatia presents

Cycling: Freedom on Wheels posted at The Viewspaper » The Viewspaper.

mikegrahamfitness presents

Cycling Equipment "Basics" posted at mike graham's fitness blog.

DIY

Jordy Clements presents

Guerrilla Trail Crew: Tweets, Shovels, and Rides Again posted at Omaha.net - Local Writing from the Heartland, saying, "thanks!"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of cycling carnival at wildgeeks adventure using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: cycling carnival at wildgeeks adventure, blog carnival.

Singapore 09 National BikeTrial Championship - Round 3

2009-10-09T10:05:00.003+08:00

It has been a while since I updated this blog. I have not been going hashing with the geeks for a long time now. The main reason is that I have been concentrating on BikeTrial and training a lot.

Learning is slow and requires a lot of focus... LOL. Most of my blog updates are focused on BikeTrials and I keep track of my progress at the other blog... Heheh. Anyway, recently I went to Singapore for a BikeTrial competition and here is a brief report.

The Round 3 of the Singapore 2009 National BikeTrial Championship was held in Bukit Batok Town Park on Oct 4th. I was there to capture the event on photos and videos.

For this round, a couple of things stand out and affected the overall competition; the format and the sections layout.

View Photo Album here.

Results and Full report on BikeTrials and a Fistful of Blisters.

Elmina - 18 and 19 July Ride

2009-07-21T00:37:00.002+08:00

Geeks,

We have recently re-visited Elmina 3 times within last 2 months.
Seems like the place is "accessible" again. So far, has not been
chased off by Slime Darby. But we do avoid the main gantry where
estate manager stays.

Please ride in a large group (min 5) if you choose to go. We
encountered a few fellars (looked like gang members) during one
of the rides.

By avoiding the main gantry, the ride was fun too. But plenty of
hills climbs. I believe we did about 20KM.

Here is the best picture taken.

Type of Services

2009-07-14T10:49:00.001+08:00

Putrajaya Bike Park - 10 Jan 2009

2009-01-11T00:02:00.012+08:00

First of all, we just want to say, "Jack, you missed the fun. Hahahaha".

We tried to follow the same trail Andreas shown us in previous ride. It was not that hard to recognize those trail since mostly single track and end up somewhere tarmac road again. What we should have done differently in the next ride is to use tarmac to climb, and offroad downhill :)

We met Didi Schneider, the architect of the Putrajaya Park.

Didi is the one in Orange T-Shirt. Errr....... Correction. His is the one in front of me. Hehe.

Dont be fool by his beer belly. He can fly !!!!

Here are some action pics of Wild Geeks.

Thanks Andreas for introducing us the trial, and also to Didi.

Putrajaya Challenge Park Ride

2008-12-13T21:00:00.006+08:00

A group 11 of us went to Putrajaya Challenge Park for a ride in the morning. Lead by Andreas who has been there before, we completed 4 segments of the trails available there. The challenge park is a purpose-built park for extreme sports. We also saw heavy tractors which is used to build a MTB trail for riders like us!

The trails are short but very interesting and challenging at times. The terrain along the trail is all uphill and downhill with very little flat rides. Mostly made up of canopied single track which provides much needed shield from the sun. The canopy also bring up a beautiful trail in the forest.

Here is a trail of the ride

Putrajaya Challenge Park

More photos to come.

KL Downtown 2008 Urban Downhill

2008-10-18T11:54:00.008+08:00

Today, I took the kids to watch the practice run of the KL Downtown mountain bike urban downhill race held in Bukit Komanwel Park and Stadium. There were 100 plus riders from various parts of the world competing in the race. If I am not mistaken, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia riders outnumber the rest.

Although I did not managed to see them, the main attraction were of course Santa Cruz Syndicate's Steve Peat (7 years Reigning King of Red Bull Downtown Portugal), Josh Bryceland (2008 Junior World Champ) and Cedric Gracia of Commencal Oakley.

I did however managed to catch Aaron on his spanking new bike. Good luck Aaron! I hope you kick everyone's ass in the Men Junior category! I could not find one of the geeks participating in the race, Ian Foo. I heard one of his wheels gave out on him during the practice run.

Aaron on the left.

The categories of the race are:

1. Men Elite (Professional and Current National or State Rider)
2. Men Open (18 years old and above)
3. Women Open (18 years old and above)
4. Men Master (30 years old and above)
5. Men Junior (17 years old and below)

Also, there were a lot of very nice and cool bikes!!! These are favourtites...

All in all, the air at the race location were festive and my kids just loved it!

My kids at finish line section waiting for the riders to fly down the stairs!

Elmina - Saujana Trail Again!

2008-10-13T22:11:00.011+08:00

A group photo of the geeks at Elmina-Saujana trails just after the tunnel!
Standing from right to left : Jovey, Tan, Irwan, Vincent, Sean, Bobby, Paul, Eric, Frank, Terese, Karen, Eric, Kiat, Lam, Sean
Squatting from right to left : Ian, Jack, Henry, Joe, Naga, Ian's GF, Sarah
(click on the pic for a larger picture)

Jovey on his spanking brand new Santa Cruz.

Before the ride Joe was struggling to adjust the seat post.

Joe took the hammer to the seat post and it looked like the seat post won... LOL.

The geeks on the Elmina trails.

A glimpse of the trails in Elmina.

Some Photos:

Ian's Picasa Album

A Painful Milestone in Biketrial!

2008-09-23T00:03:00.000+08:00

I have been trying very hard to learn the elusive "pedal kick" for a while now. My balancing on the rear wheel hop is not exactly very consistent, which makes learning the "pedal kick" doubly hard.

My arm and back muscles are constantly being pushed to their limits, with hardly enough time for them to recuperate.

Today, those muscles felt well enough for me to start practicing and I went at it with a vengeance.

Check out the PAINFUL video here.

2008 Singapore BikeTrial Competition - Round 3

2008-09-13T17:53:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday on 7th September, I went down to Singapore with a friend to watch the 2008 Singapore BikeTrial Competition - Round 3. I met my friend in Melaka around 1:00am and we left for Singapore at around 2:00 am in morning and arrived at about 6:00 am.

More here

Riding the Elmina - Saujana Trail

2008-07-29T08:16:00.008+08:00

Elmina - Saujana Trail at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Geotagging

Overall, the Elmina - Saujana Trail is a fantastic cross-country trail with just the right mixture of uphills and downhills, and stretches of easy-riding lowlands. Generally, it is very ridable and the sceneries are fantastic... oil palm all around... :-)

There are still many routes that were not taken and it should be interesting to explore all of them. Thanks to Irwan and Shaq for showing us around... :-)

This trail just beg to be ridden.

More Information:

View tracks and photos: Elmina - Saujana Trail at EveryTrail
Check out the Videos here.
Check out the photos on Panoramio.

Today, Wildgeeks is 1 year Old

2008-07-23T10:17:00.006+08:00

Birthday greets from Micol, The Medic.

Yes, The Wildgeeks Adventure Club is one year old.

The number of geeks have grown since. The total number of geeks registered in the group currently stands at 39. Although some are not riding any more (one that I know was due to bike "breakdown" LOL...), I am sure their hearts are still into this. Poor Hulk still has his knee problem, which has put him out for more than 6 months now. Get well soon man!

The Best Ride with the Most geeks?

Best ever outing is the second hash to Batu Dam.

Which is the Most Scary and Frightening Ride?

This has just got to be the ride to Sofia Jane - A Cicak, An Incident and A Few Good Men. I for one was terrified for the not so hard Ironman... LOL.

George received eleven stitches for not wearing a helmet while swimming in the waterfall... LOL.

The Ride with the Most "Pokkai" or Falls?

Edwin the Tau Foo Fa, started off the whole falling business with others to follow later. It was also the day I forgot my shoes and had to ride with my slippers... LOL.

We have never had all the geeks together for an adventure. With everyone's tight schedules and responsibilities, it would be a wonder to get all the geeks together. Nevertheless, that would be something to hope for.

Maybe we can organise a Jamboree or something like that... LOL. Anyways, here is wishing every wild geeks who like adventuring, a Happy Birthday with more great fun coming their way!

The adventures continues!

Singapore BikeTrial National Championship

2008-07-06T18:21:00.001+08:00

On June 21st 2008, Syarul and I decided that we were going to go down to Singapore to watch the BikeTrial National Championship - Round 2, to be held on 22nd June (Sunday). The event was to take place in the Pasir Ris Town Park on the eastern part of the island.

We left my house in Bandar Bukit Mahkota at about 8:00pm and arrived in Johor Baru at around 11:30pm on Saturday night. We spent the next 2 and a half hours getting through the causeway... *sigh* and finally managed to reach Walton's shop, Attitute Bikes, at around 2:15am on Sunday morning.

More at:

Singapore BikeTrial National Championship at We Wang Wang

Solo trekking Saturday 21062008 - Klang Gates Dam

2008-06-21T13:48:00.012+08:00

Its been many years since I last been here. It felt so good making the comeback and to find that the nature are indeed very well preserved.

About the track... It used to be the Malaysian Marlboro Adventure Team training track. A geologist friend of mind told me that its the longest Lime stone ridge in Asia. If you are driving thru MRR2 heading towards Gombak from Sg Besi, look to the right when passing Tmn Melawati.. you'll see the range of limestone. The track actually started from the entrance to the Klang gate dam and all the way to near UIA Gombak toll... on the ridge all the way.

When walking on top of it, the beauty is that when you look to your right you see a beautiful nature and when you look to your left its stone developments... in a clear day you can see KLCC...

Didn't bring my camera. These are taken from my N82...

The vegetation on top here are also different. there many of this tree that smells like parafin. A good smell. Some of the herbal insect repellent smells like it. If you camp near these trees definitely no mozzies... :-)

All I can say this place is really beautiful. The entire track will take about 4 hours to complete. Its like a big round. After done we can take a dip here..... very nice and cool

.

On top here if you are lucky you'll bum into hollow rocks with crystals inside.

Hopefully one day we can all come here. Bring along a picnic basket he he he...
Will try to put in the map later.

Other pics taken are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/intai.intai/KlangGateSoloTracking

Cheers.

Misadventures on a Recce Trip to Rachado Lighthouse in Malacca

2008-05-13T09:07:00.005+08:00

Last month, George and I went on a recce trip to Port Dickson/Malacca and the Rachado Lighthouse to scout and plan out the routes and puzzles for a "treasure hunt" for a group of colleagues and friends.

Recce Trip To Rachado Lighthouse in Malacca

A number of mishaps happened along the way. First off, George was supposed to keep his GPS tracking on so that we could refer to it later. Also, he was happily taking geo-tagged photos with his HTC P330 throughout the recce, only to later find out that his GPS position was not acquired and thus all his photos were geo-duds... LOL...

Luckily, I was there to save the day by relying on my Dopod D810 (Pre-HTC model) to capture those much needed geo-tagged photos.

Entrance to the Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve.

On the way to the Rachado Lighthouse, we were saying that this could be the Wildgeeks' first hiking adventure and we were setting history. The hike started when we reached the Tanjung Tuan forest reserve. It only took us 10 minutes to reach the lighthouse. Not much of an adventure or hike for that matter... LOL

The steps leading up to the Rachado lighthouse.

Anyways, we took the necessary photos and clues for the hunt and decided to head back. Btw, the view from the lighthouse is just absolutely fantastico!!!! I could imagine how the sunset is going to look like... :)

It was about noon during that time. You can imagine the heat from the afternoon sun. Staying in the shades was the wise thing to do!

As we made our way back to the stairs next to the lighthouse leading back to the Tanjung Tuan entrance, George suggested that we take a shortcut back. (Earlier, we had noticed a map at the entrance indicating an alternative path to and fro the lighhouse.)

We saw a sign saying this way down to Pulau Intan. We had no idea where Pulau Intan was and had thought that the shortcut was along the same path. So we took the steep steps down. It was cooling in the shades and the smell of vegetation reminded me of my aunt's house in the remote part of Sibu in Sarawak.

Anyway, after about 10 minutes of descending the steps, I heard the sound of waves crashing on a beach, which got me thinking, "Wait a minute. I don't remember the entrance being near a beach." Sure enough, the steep steps lead us to a very nice beach below the lighthouse.

At that point, you could imagine the regrets going through George's mind... LOL.... and mine too... hahaha. In the end, we had no choice but to soak in the wonderful view, enjoy the cool and salty breeze on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Immediately after that, George (with an evil grin) was quick to point out that the treasure hunt would include coming down to the beach... LOL. I just had to agree with him... victims: KC and Julian... LOL.

The climb back up (yes, we had to, as there were no other way of getting back, short of swimming in the sea) was painful and slow. Since I am the one writing this blog, I have to say that the climb was no problem for me... Hahaha.... and that George was in bad shape from all those "makan" trips he had organised... LOL.

It took us a while, but we managed to make it up to the lighthouse in about 30 minutes or less. We went back down the steps to the "pondok" at the foot of the light house. From there, it was just 10 minutes walk to the entrance and some nice cold drinking water!!! We were dying of thirst... :-P

The trail entrance to the "real" shortcut.

About mid-way hike down the road, we came across a trail. There were signs saying that this was the alternative way back to the entrance. In a moment of weakness, I suggested that we take this "real" shortcut down and reprimanded George for his lack of directional sense... LOL.

We hiked down the gently descending path, listening to the calls of the birds, enjoying the serene forest landscape and learning the names of some of the trees from reading the name plate attached to the trunk of the trees.

After about 15-20 minutes, our not so brilliant minds managed to figure out that the trail was not a "shortcut" at all but a new trail leading to somewhere. It was confirmed when we heard the sound of sea waves crashing onto the beach for the second time that day!

By the beach, we saw a sign that says, "This way to the Footprint of Hang Tuah". Since we already made it that far, we thought that we might as well go see the legend's footprint.

We believed that this little depression in the rock was the "footprint" of Hang Tuah. All we know was that it was filled with mosquito larvaes.

Since this Well was found next to the rock with the footprint, we shall call this the Well next to the footprint of Hang Tuah... LOL.

George's good for nothing camera took this photo of me swinging on the Swing next to the footprint of Hang Tuah.

After our little adventure at the footprint of Hang Tuah, we contemplate whether to make our way back the way we came or to just walk along the coast and make it back somehow to the main road leading to the Tanjung Tuan entrance. After consulting George's GPS, we decided to follow the coastal path following some footprints also heading in the general directions.

Our trek lead us over rocky coastal terrains, streams and finally we ended up at a mangrove swamp that looked impossible to cross. There was a man with a sack and a stick beach combing the mangrove. I suspect he was looking for crabs. We tried to ask him for directions, but he just ignored us.

I spotted a uphill trail that could possibly be the way around the mangrove, but George was against any climbing and was quite adamant about it. So, with him leading the way, we climbed and ducked as we tried to crossed the mangrove. The mangrove was littered with rubbish washed up and caught in the web of the mangrove roots.

Noticed the mangrove roots! Solid as rocks!

Those mangrove roots were solid and hard as rock, as my 80kg did nothing to bend them as I climbed and stepped over them. I spotted a path along the edge of the mangrove and we headed towards it. We were so happy when we finally made it as we were really thirsty. The path took us to a field in the Ilham Resort. Quickly, we found a mini-mart in the resort and bought icy cold water to quench our thirst. Only then did we laughed and joked about our little mishaps.

We promised to ourselves that during the "treasure hunt", the hunters will not be spared! LOL.

By the time, we got back to the car and were on our way back, it was about 2:50pm. All in all, it was quite an adventure. We had fun and learned some valuable lessons with regards to taking shortcuts... LOL.

Batu Dam Yet Again!

2008-05-07T12:11:00.008+08:00

The Wild Geeks Communities

2008-05-06T14:26:00.008+08:00

In another month or so, The Wild Geeks Adventure Club will be a year old. Since that time, the geeks have been on many adventures, be it cycling, hiking, camping or even eating, 2008 promises more.

There have never been one time that all the geeks could get to go out adventuring together. Understandably due to different interest, work, available time or differing taste, it has been difficult to get all together to participate in an adventure at the same time. Should that be 2008's goal? Hahaha... I don't know, but if all are willing, maybe it is possible.

Some of you might have noticed that the Wild Geeks' logo is changed. This is in part due to the growth of Wild Geeks as a community. What started out as just The Wild Geeks Adventure Club, has now spawned new geek communities.

The other reasons for the change in the logo are that the original logo is too colorful and is expensive to reproduce for T-Shirts. Also, it is too complicated for embroidery work for caps or T-shirt. The new logo is designed to solve these problems and most importantly to reflect the geek spirit for adventures and their cheeky ideals... ahem!

1. The Third Eye (http://thethirdeye.wildgeeks.org) - This is a community of geeks who are interested in photography and all the related tools of the trade. If you own a camera or phone camera, you should take a look at this community.

2. Makan Trip (http://makantrip.com) - This long time food blog has now grown into a community of geeks that are interested in going on food hunting trips anywhere and everywhere. Their proud slogan is "Makan (Eat) First, Think Later." In fact they are going on their second Peninsular Malaysia food trip next week to the East coast.

3. BikeTrial Malaysia (http://biketrial.wildgeeks.org) - This is a very niche and specialized community with interest in the very technical nature of biketrial cycling. Still very new to Malaysia, Biketrial Malaysia hope to make BikeTrials or Observed trials a mainstream cycling sport in Malaysia for all to enjoy.

These communities are open to all whom have interests and want to share and discuss their interests with other geeks.

So... Be Wild! Be Geeks!

FRIM to Sungai Buloh Nurseries

2008-04-22T23:49:00.005+08:00

FRIM to the Sungai Buloh Nurseries - Widget powered by: EveryTrail

Last Saturday, we went on an easy and relaxing ride from FRIM to the nurseries in Sungai Buloh. We found out that if you enter the trails from FRIM, you have to pay a buck per person. But if you enter FRIM from Sungai Buloh, you save that buck. Heck, I think we will all pay... I am not going to drive all the way to Sungai Buloh just to avoid paying a buck... LOL.

Jerangkang Camping Trip

2008-04-01T22:19:00.006+08:00

Some of the geeks decided to go on a camping trip this year and I suggested Hutan Lipur Jerangkang which is located near Maran in Pahang. Since its a virgin camping trip for most of the geeks, we decided to do a bbq outing cum camping like trip.

Jerangkang is the perfect place for the trip as it offers 2 camping spot, 1 is next to the river with toilet facilities (no water though) and some pondok (hut) plus seating area is available too. The other is about 10 minutes walk on a trail up hill next to the waterfall.

We decided to leave wee early morning with the plan of meeting up at 5am just before the Gombak toll into the Karak highway. It took me longer than I thought to load up all the food stuff and utensils into my truck, then I off to pick up Medic who is in charge of sourcing for camping equipments. After loading all the equipments she had (e.g. canopy, tents, gas stove, etc.) into my truck, we realised that perhaps, we had packed too much... hahaha... so anyhow, we are behind time and decided to move on to get Sky and 10.60 along the way.

By the time we reached the rendezvous point, its almost 5.45am, we meet up the others, showed them our over equipped truck and distributed some weights. Taking a quick breakfast, we move on with our journey at about 6.15am. As the sunrise and more light appears, the dark surrounding of the highway especially after Karak turned into nice scenic morning view. Parts of the highway are covered with mist, winding the window and feeling that morning breeze is just wonderful.

Within 2 hours plus, we are have arrived at Sri Jaya in Maran where we packed our lunch and meet up with the guy whom is supposed to transfers some of the guys into Jerangkang. Well, you see from the main road to Jerangkang, you need to go through about 16km of reasonable offroad double trail and only my truck and Smokie's Kembara can make it,. Therefore Tau Foo Far and Cher's passengers had to get the services of a local uncle whom charge RM35 per pax for a 2 way transfer on his older Ford Ranger which he sped through the offroad trail like a highway.
This is Smokie's first offroad experience and I didn't want to stress up my truck too much too, we were going slowly trying hard to catch up with the uncle.

After 16km of offroad, some tiny river crossing (which looks like tiny longkang or pot holes in the video) we finally arrived at the base camp. We hurried to setup, identifying our camping grounds, then transferring all the stuff to the campsite. Many of us then had our first chance of setting up our own tent while boy scouts Lohti and 10.60 are busy chopping and gathering woods while Sky is busy setting up our campfire pit. The rest then tried to figured out how in the world does the canopy works, hehe...

After sweating out like crazy and burning ourselves in the sun, we decided it was time for a nice cool dip at the inviting waterfall. So we got everyone and hike up the 10 mins trail to the waterfall. We were rewarded with a green crystal pool of clear, cooling water. It was fantastic, the pool is big enough to swim around the water is cooling with shades of trees surrounding it and a little sand pile in the middle where you can sit and just enjoy the scenery as the water flows by you. We then did another 15 mins hike up a small trail through the secondary jungle next to the waterfall to another few levels of waterfall higher for another cool dip before calling it a day.

We got a rude shock when we got back to the camp, tents are intact but our rubbish bag got rampaged, we believed that some animals have gone through the rubbish for food, a lesson in camping, hang those rubbish high up! Later we discovered its actually 2 stray dogs living nearby. Anyhow, worried that it might rain, we quickly got the fire started and move on to our evening's bbq.

We spend the night star gazing, Micol claimed she saw 5 shooting stars and I finally managed to see 1 before calling it a night. Oh ya, the uncle whom provided the transport did came by that night to invite Lohti to hunt for foxes, but its was pretty late but somehow he managed to get a few trial shots of the rifle ;), lucky no one got hurt, hehe...

Next morning, we got up early to cook breakfast before doing a final dip at the river next to the campsite for our last chance to enjoy the inviting Jerangkang falls. We got to a nice flow on the river where we can sit 4 in a row and enjoy the spa like experience of nice massages on our back ;).

We then packed up and made sure we take all of our rubbish along with us out of Jerangkang and stopped for lunch and some nice special tarts in Sri Jaya before heading home. For most of the first timer and amateur like myself, this is a great place for camping or like how we term ours as an introduction for city slicker's to nature! Best part is we had great company, all 15 of us, whom really did not mind helping out and everyone seems to be finding work to do. So, what more can we asked for, great waterfall, great company, it was a great camping experience for us few geeks ;).

My Bike Trial Progress: Hopping for Joy!

2008-03-26T22:03:00.004+08:00

Today, after 3 days of rest from training trials, I have managed to improve my rear wheel hopping significantly. This is a very important milestone for me. When I first started to learn the rear wheel hop, my target was to be able to reach 10 hops by June this year. And today, I have achieved 9 hops!

View the videos at: We Wang Wang: My Bike Trial Progress: Hopping for Joy!

New Milestones in Bike Trials

2008-03-11T11:31:00.007+08:00

Today is the day I actually got to try out a real trial bike! A beautiful Adamant 20" with Magura brakes and Monty parts. That thing weighs like... nothing!

An update of my bike trial quest at: We Wang Wang: New Milestone in Bike Trials.

The Wettest Ride - Batu Dam

2008-03-01T21:02:00.017+08:00

29 Feb 2008 Time : 11.30 pm

Shoot it started to rain already. This really dampen my spirit as tomorrow morning there is supposed to be a hash with the designer wildgeeks in Batu Dam. If it rains tonight sure the trail will be wet and soggy one in the morning. But never mind lah at least it rain tonight and should stop raining by tomorrow morning. At 12 midnight I went straight to bed and kept thinking about the scenic view in Batu Dam. Ahh…! What a sight I am about to see ..zzzzzz!!!!

1 March 2008 - early morning

Yes the alarm rang right at 7.00 am. Waking up refresh and looking forward for another great MTB hash. But wait… what’s that sound?... don’t tell me….wtf *@#!.... . As I looked out of the window, the road is wet and it’s drizzling. Sigh…! Quickly SMS Henry and Sean to confirm whether Hash on or not. Sean confirm it’s still on as the rain just drizzling. So ok la ... worse case scenario just some mud only right?

So at around 7.45 am drove my car and met up with Henry and he followed my car from behind. As he near Kepong area what become a drizzle became quite a heavy rain. My heart is cursing #@*!! and quickly call Sean. Since we are already near the venue Sean suggest we have breakfast first and decide later and see whether the rain will stop or not. So good idea and me and Henry met up with Pheh, a seasoned mountain biker (he is definitely the fittest rider here) in Batu Caves and had our breakfast first while we wait for Sean’s confirmation.

To cut story short, Sean decide to continue with our plan to hash in Batu Dam and all set we met up at the Batu Dam gate. At that time it’s still raining moderately. Sean arrive minutes later together with his designer gang, Karen , Therese and 2 new faces Paul and Ben. Paul had been road biking before while Ben is 1st time in off road MTB. Hmm… Ben will make a good sacrificial MTB virgin in our Batu Dam River crossing induction. Heh…heh…heh…!

We plan to ride in reverse being we ride along the off road lake side until the river crossing as it’s easier and then probably U-turn back so that we can avoid that killer uphill…SMART right…heh…heh…. ! So I be the hare while as usual Henry will become the sweeper.

The first 1-2 KM was easy ride, though it rained but the thick tree canopy shaded us a bit from the rain. Trail is slightly slippery but very rideble until we reach our first hurdle … a 20 meter or so red soft muddy dirt road. I already expected this so some of us push our bikes while some brave one managed to ride through.

But after 2km or so from our ride we begin to see bigger obstacle in form of flooded trail. We are talking about 10-30 meter long flooded trail as deep as 0.5 meter. Apparently the bank of the lake has overflowed and flooded the trail.

Flooded trail. What a sight

Some of us managed to cycle through but most have to push after attempted to cycle halfway. It was not easy cycling in water as some of the geeks may have experience in the river crossing. The problem is always not able to see what’s below the water and sometimes there might be a steep hole underneath the water and one wrong move will cause you off balance and worse when you tried to put your feet down on the ground , your feet could end up in another unseen hole beneath the water and you will end up falling from your bike and into the water. Well it happened to me …so I am speaking from experience and got my pants wet and so happen my car keys are the and it really spoilt the remote control. Luckily I did not put my handphone in my pocket.

Some have to push

And some just ride through it

After a few flooded trail crossings, we managed to cross the first river crossing. The water current is much stronger now compared to the last time the wildgeeks last crossing there, due to the rainfall upstream. You can practically feel the river current pushing your bike towards downstream. But all of us managed to crossed through.

We went the wrong way when we tried to find the 2nd river crossing and ended up crossing the wrong river. We only realized this after crossing it and did not find the trail after crossing it. Apparently I have overshot and there is a fork before that. So we make a u-turn and return to the fork and did the 2nd river crossing and have a short snack courtesy of Karen who brought some bun and chocolates . Yummy.. choc actually taste better after a long ride.

The final river crossing

After a 20 minutes or so break we decided to make a u-turn back as we want to avoid the killer uphill climb. Not that we are chicken out but the trails condition may not merit us to take such risk. Also have to give a break for the newbies mah… so that they will hash with us again. So it’s the repeat of 2 river crossing and a few flooded trails and ended up with the mud trail which causes everyones bike to get dirty at the end of the journey.

Since there were no bike wash he we treated the dam like our own grandfathers dam and we all wash our bikes neat the floodgates of the dam. Kinda reminds me of the kampung folks washing their clothes by the river bank but instead we are washing our bikes

Washing our bikes by the dam edge of the dam

After this all you KL folks will taste our mud in your water :-p

Overall, this must be my craziest and wettest hash ever. Usually I would just call off the hash if there is a slight hint of raining but with Sean and Gang determination to carry on with the hash, I really have to salute you guys for the determination. Bear in mind most of them are newbies one is a virgin to MTB. Keep up this good MTB spirit guys. Now we all here can boast that :-WE RODE BATU DAM WHEN IT FLOODED! Well worth all the leeches and mud.

We had a good lunch of Porridge, Fried Mee Mamak, steamed fish in a Chinese shop in Batu Caves. Quite nice but this is another story. :-p

Learning Bike Trial Basics

2008-02-26T23:26:00.005+08:00

After months of practicing, I am still at it! So so so tiring... LOL... but so much fun... :)

An update of my bike trial quest at: We Wang Wang: Learning Bike Trial Basics.

Wildgeeks goes Eel Fishing

2008-02-16T01:54:00.005+08:00

Been a while since I blog in wildgeeks, well, the geeks are not just about mountain biking, but basically, an adventure club I would call it. So couple of weeks back, we decided to follow my dad to go eel fishing since we have not done it before.

Jack, KC and myself followed my dad to Sekinchan to search for eels in the paddy fields. Not known to many and I got reminded about this when I visit the paddy museum in Kedah that paddy fields is actually a habitat to various kind of fishes, birds and also eels in this case.

The local eels or belut in Malay basically lives in the paddy fields especially on the drain like water irrigation along the fields. The best time to fish for them during harvesting season at the fields where the water level is lowered.

The trick is simple, walk along these water irrigation drains, then look for hole in the mud under the swallow water and most likely there's an eel in it. These eels are trapped and with low water, they have less food and therefore are hungry and easy catch in someway. We were actually 1-2 weeks late for the season as most fields have started to seed or some are spraying pesticides, therefore it was quite difficult for us to find dry drains to fish.

Anyhow, we got some sotong and squid for the task, just put them on the hook (we are just using a bamboo stick with a string tied with a fishing hook which the end have been flatten) and aim the hook into the hole. Move it around the hole and soon you will see a snake like head coming out to check it out. Its not as easy we thought, the first few bites, the eel managed to get away with our bait!!!

But finally I caught one, that's when KC got a bit soar, hehehe... then I caught a second one... you can imagine him complaining... hahahaha... but soon KC got his own eel, now you imagine Jack's face... hahahaha... determined, Jack kept on searching and trying... sadly, it's really not his day or maybe like KC said, no skill... muhahaha!

Anyhow, its pretty excited, especially when you can see the eel's head and trying to put the bait next to it and getting ready to pull, but if you pull too hard, the eel will let go or the hook will run through the eel's mouth (its very soft) and it will get away. So we hard to pull just at the right time. According to my dad's friends whom have done it many times, if we go at the right season, every drop of the bait you get an eel and could get buckets of them in a day!

We didn't catch that many that day but it was really a fun experience for me, will probably do it again say in May-June during the next harvest season. Jack, stop searching with the binocular, your search continues in May and please, catch something this time... hahahaha :P

More eel fishing pix here http://picasaweb.google.com/kctang/20080128EelFishing

Another Trip to Sg. Pening-Pening

2008-01-09T13:39:00.000+08:00

Location: Sg. Pening Pening, Kajang

Map:

Description:
Quite an interesting trip this time around. Everyone assembled in a mamak coffee shop close to the Giant Superstore in Kajang at about 9:00am.

First off, we get to see Joe with his newly acquired Proton T-Bolt. Unfortunately or fortunately, while testing the bike, the joint holding the derailleur to the frame broke. So the Rooster and the Tracker tried to help out by trying to shorten the chain to at least enable Joe to ride his bike, albeit at a constant single speed. But the thought of cycling Sg. Pening-Pening on a single speed is daunting. However, I must say that I have to tapek (salute) Joe for being able to make it all the way, minus the bitching... LOL.

As soon as we made it to the abandoned Kajang Firing Range, I had a puncture on my front tire, which was quickly fixed. After that we reached the section after the farm shed to prepared for a long push uphill. This was when the bitching started.... hahahaha...

With the exception of Henry, Naga, Edwin and me, the rest had never been on this trail before. All in all, everyone made it to the top and beyond. After speaking to some rubber tappers, we were thinking of cycling all the way in and into the Nirvana trail and from there take the main road to loop back to Kajang Giant.

Unfortunately, some of us have an appointment and we all decided to turn back and head back out. The return leg was, of course, downhill all the way! It was exhilarating and adrenalin pumping good! There were a few non-serious downhill falls, with the most notable being Sean jumping over his bike as it slid and twisted on the front tire. The front brake cable snapped and he had to depend on his rear brake the rest of the way. I guess it is at this point that Sean earned his nick, the Twister! LOL!!!

All in all, I think everyone enjoyed themselves albeit some comments about the trail being too pushy and not enough cycling... LOL. For me, I felt that it was an excellent ride! We shall make it all the way to Nirvana the next round... :-)

Some videos and photos from the geeks:

The Pening-Pening Geeks:

5k Naga
Tracker Henry
Iron Man George
Edwin Tau Foo Fa
Sean the Twister
Oracle Joe
Rooster John
Gunner Jack

Previous Blog Post:

http://blog.wildgeeks.org/2007/10/sg-pening-pening.html

Thank You:

We want to extend our thanks to Uni Bike Shop (N03 00.550, E101 48.284 - located a couple of doors down from the mamak coffee shop) for being so helpful. They helped Joe fixed the chain (RM15) on this bike and Sean's front brake cable (FOC).

Bukit Mahkota Trail in Kajang

2007-12-23T11:32:00.000+08:00

Bukit Mahkota Trail in Kajang at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

Basically a nice non-technical Oil Palm Estate trail with minor climbs and nice long downhills! There are several natural jump points that can be improved. But since this is a private estate, not a good idea to start modifying. Very strange, there were hardly any mosquitoes! LOL.

Trip Stats:

Duration: 1 hour, 43 minutes
Length: 6.9 km
Vertical up: 436.9 m
Vertical down: 429.2 m
Average speed: 4 km/h

Photos:

Naga's Album

The Geeks:

Sri Naga
Joe
Jack

What I learned about jumping in Kiara

2007-12-10T17:15:00.000+08:00

When I got up there... looking at the tracks and ramps what popped in to my mind was "not today! I am not fit enough, my bike not suitable and all...

After a while... after sitting and mingling with a few guys there. And also jack telling about his jump and all.. i said to myself ".....what the heck just go down the trails and see what happens..."

So I went down I skipped the 1st ramp. Its wooden made. looks like a half-done bridge... and the landing also doesn't look good to me. I then picked up speed come to the next ramp. This one actually leading to another trail which I don't know where to. Skipped it. Then the next ramp... without thinking I just jump! Dunno if it was a good land but i can feel I was in the air for a moment. Quite high I think. It felt good. Damn! I did the same for the next few. I was really close to orgasm (symbolic only)... I wanted to go on but no more ramps.

I decided to go back up for another round or so. Jack and Naga is still up there. Dunno where rest were...maybe they have gone down. I just thought maybe this time can jump higher and faster. On the way up I overheard these other guys. I supposed seniors of Kiara, advising some other newbies "engkau kena tarik sikit.. bila dah naik tu jgn lean forward and bla...bla..bla" without realizing it actually lingers in my head. Which after that happened to be poison to my jumps. I fell! I don't wanna care about the pain and wounds yet. Just not yet. I must go again. I just went back up and tried again and fell again. "Hmmmm.... nevermind. Try again" At that time I can feel my neck starting to get stiffed...and painful.

I wanted to try again but I suddenly realized that I still have my handle bar-end fixed and its pointing upwards... "O man... that was a very damn stupid and silly of me!! its so dangerous. I could get serious injury from it poking into my face or chest!!" So I called it a day. On the way down I kept thnking what was wrong with the 2nd and 3rd attempt.... I then realized that in the 2nd and 3rd atempt I was not natural.. not going with the flow. I was trying to think and trying to remember and do what those seniors were advising the newbies.

So I guess with this lesson learned I should be able to jump successfully next round!! (without the bar-end la..)

I Did It! I Jumped The Jumps in Bukit Kiara!!!

2007-12-08T22:38:00.000+08:00

After watching the videos from Naga's album, it scared the shit out of me! LOL!!!

I think Joe The Oracle will be posting the trail tracks and information later. In the meantime, see Naga's photo album or you can read my blog post, I Did It! I Jumped The Jumps in Bukit Kiara!!!

These are the 3 videos I took at Bukit Kiara.

Wildgeeks Does Kiara

2007-12-01T22:55:00.000+08:00

Map of Kiara Trails

It’s a fine day to bike. Yes another weekend another ride. This time only 2 geeks can make it for the ride, Seri Naga and Henry. We decide to do Kiara this time and meet up at the TTDI guard house entrance.

Our ride started at 9.30am, all the way up to the water pump house and tried part of the 4K trail. After reaching the cross road we decided to explore another trail which later we found out to be part of the 2K trail. A good downhill ride with a lot of switchback. We did not do the entire loop and come back to the cross road again and we met up with 2 downhill riders Wan and Rizal. Wan is the dude who build the Great Wall of Kiara and Rizal is one of the top 5 Downhill riders in Malaysia.

Wan-this dude built the Great Wall of Kiara

Rizal-Damm he is fast!

Check out Rizal’s video : http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvlj7O7u-uI

We joined Wan and Rizal on the ascend to the Twin Towers trail. This is where the downhill dudes do their jumping and all sorts of stunts. Rizal showed us how he tackle some cool jumps and also demonstrate how to jump on a ramp. Man he is real fast. We spend nearly 30 minutes watching Rizal did jump after jump. Apparently this is how they practice and perfected their jumps.

Rizal attempting a jump

Rizal jumping off the wooden ramp

After watching how the downhill dudes do their thingie, we headed back. The downhill ride on the Twin Peaks trail is superb with heaps of jumping ramps. After reaching back to the cross road, we met up with another rider Kah Foo. He took us to the complete 2K trail. Another superb downhill ride all the way with a lot of switchback. We also did the Carnival trail on the way back with Kah Foo and ended our ride in the TTDI park at the bike wash area.

Henry after falling somewhere at The Carnival trail

The downhill ride here is much longer than Bukit Cermin. Overall there are more stuff to explore here compared to Bukit Cermin and you also have more riders here which can be helpful when asking for directions or in case you get lost in the middle of the trail. I have been riding in Kiara at least 7 times already and still haven’t explored 70% of the trail here.

Overall a must for every geek to at least try out Kiara once in their riding lifetime. It’s also a good training ground to increase one’s stamina and riding skills.

Seri Naga's Photos

Very Satisfied Geeks:

Seri Naga
Henry

2nd Bukit Cermin Hash - 24 Nov 2007

2007-11-26T16:41:00.000+08:00

Bukit Cermin Downhill Trails at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

It was a perfect day for cycling. The sky was cloudy, which was not bad considering it provided shades from the blazing sun. The fact that it did not rain the day before also heightened our anticipation that the trail was gonna be in good condition. Yes, it was indeed a perfect day for a good ride.

Almost all the geeks arrived at the foothill of Bukit Cermin by 8:00 am. Bukit Cermin veteran (2nd time) John aka Rooster and George aka Iron Man leads the way. The first kilometer was uphill all the way until we reached the 2nd tower (DIGI) located near an Indian Temple. Overall, the uphill ride (or push) was tolerable because the trail was in good condition and that some part of it cement/tar trail.

It was uphill all the way in beginning.

I must admit, initially I was kinda disappointed with the trail as it did not look scenic at the beginning, and I personally do not like to ride on a cement trail. No kick! However, after we passed by the DIGI tower, things began to look more optimistic. Immediately after the DIGI tower, we were greeted by a 6-7 feet downhill slope. Now this was more of my kinda liking. The trail now consisted of off-road trail surrounded by rubber trees.

The first deep slope attempted by John.

There were a few forks and turns, and we all decided to explore the trail but all leading to dead ends. The trails here kinda reminded me of the Bukit Kiara trails. Heaps of single tracks and all surrounded by rubber trees. Even the smell was like Bukit Kiara with the stinking latex smell. But of course we were lucky as it didn't rained the day before and so no mozzies sucking out our precious blood. So we all decided to turn and follow back the trail which Iron Man and Rooster went on their first hash about a month ago.

The trail here looked like Kiara and even smells like Kiara.

On our way back, we managed to bumped into 2 fellow riders. One of them was Hisham, the person who created most of the downhill trails here in Bukit Cermin. It was at this point that Hisham showed us the way to the downhill trails.... Sweet!

Hisham - This dude was the one who created the trails here. RESPECT!

Hisham took us through the remaining of the trails consisting of a lot of steep downhill rides, which can be a bit technical for newbies like us. However, Hisham's effortless decent down these trails gave some of us a boost of confidence to tackle these steep downhill ride. There have been a few accidents or near-accidents during this ride. One was Iron Man's near-fall but he saved himself by hugging on to a tree (Hindustan film style). See video below.

Iron Man - A romantic moment with the Rubber Tree.

There was also a wooden ramp made by Hisham and his friends. Seri Naga aka 5K decided to give it a try at jumping off the ramp. After summoning all his courage, he made 3 attempts but …. CHICKENED OUT each time when he was about to reach the ramp. Heh… heh…!

Seri Naga - Chickened out in the last minute.

After the ramp, we all come across a wooden bridge. Looked easy enough to cross and Rooster was the first geek to try to cross it. Unlike Iron Man, who was lucky enough to be saved by hugging on to a rubber tree, our dear John (Rooster) was not so lucky and fell almost 7-10 feet down the gorge. Luckily he was unhurt. Apparently he tried to cling on to a tree when he fell but could not reach it. This incident made the other geeks more cautious when crossing the bridge and we all decided to push our bikes instead of riding over it.

John - After the fall.

After the bridge, there was some cool downhill rides all the way until the end when we caught up with the 2 downhill dudes. One of them was Apai and he was kind enough to demonstrate to us on how to jump a steep slope. His first attempt was successful but Apai was not satisfied and decided to go for a 2nd attempt. This time he went too fast and lost control of his bike and crashed into a tree. The crash was quite hard and it knocked Apai out for a few seconds. Luckily no serious injuries (that was what we all thought) and he was back on his feet after 10-15 minutes or so.

Apai first jump attempt.

Apai almost knock out after hitting the tree.

Apai - Almost knocked out after a head-on collision with a tree.

While Apai was catching his breath he let us try out his downhill bike (at least RM10K). Seri Naga gave it a try (3 tries to be exact) and it was totally awesome. Jumping from a downhill bike definitely felt a lot more different and you get more control on the bike due to its weight and handle bar size.

Overall, Bukit cermin was a great ride. The uphill was not that hard and ridable for a fit rider. The downhills were a bit steep and it is advisable, to be handled by a relatively experience rider. This trail was an alternative to Kiara, which may be too technical and crowded on the weekends. Bukit Cermin is a must for downhill enthusiast!

Videos and Photos

Here are some statistics:

Duration: 2 hours, 48 minutes

Length: 3.8 km

Vertical up: 413.4 m

Vertical down: 423.9 m

Average speed: 1.4 km/h

The Uninjured Geeks who survived this ride:

George
Weng Hoe
John
Edwin
Henry
Seri Naga

Air Keroh Bike Hash

2007-11-15T07:00:00.000+08:00

Melaka Hash at Air Keroh at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Travel Community

Wanting to explore a bike hash location adjacent to Puteri Resort Air Keroh, our journey begins at 7.00am from Kuala Lumpur. We arrive at Melaka town at about 9.00am for a quick breakfast before reaching our bike hash location at 9.30am.

All set to go in speedy 10 mins preparation before we discover a puncture in George's bike back wheel. Luckily we have our Gunner Jack who has most experience in changing the tubes to the rescue (he's changed many times on his bike...) . Entering the hash site requires us to pass through some undeveloped bungalow land plots and a small opening among the rubber trees brings us to a mozzie war zone!

We hope to take some pictures during our hash but the mozzies were the king of the territory there. Mostly the trail is very ridable with challenging mud puddles, uphills and downhills along the way. Being adventurous, we tried to wander to discover some of the uncharted waters which brings us to a discovery of an alternative entrance.

Overall a great and enjoyable ride and view where the terrain is not too extreme and well suited for a bike hash.

Videos and Photos

Here are some statistics:

Duration: 2 hours, 18 minutes, 25 seconds

Length: 11.8 km

Vertical up: 530.2 m

Vertical down: 521 m

Average speed: 5.1 km/h

Top speed: 41.1 km/h

The Satisfied Geeks!

Joe

George

Jack

Bukit Cermin in Putra Heights

2007-11-09T22:24:00.000+08:00

Summary:

Mountain Biking in Bukit Cermin, Putra Heights at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS, Photos & Geotagging!

This is the geeks' first trip to Bukit Cermin. Recommended by a bike shop owner, we decided to explore the trails there. The Bukit Cermin trails are along palm oil/rubber estate roads and some single track downhills.

Mosquito repellent is a MUST there! These mozzies attack in swarms!!!! You can literally see the swarm chasing after you.

In spite of the mosquitoes, it is definitely worth many revisits! But I dun think I will do it during a rainy day again unless you are into mud pies... LOL.

Videos and Photos:

Duration:
1 hours, 42 minutes

Length:
6.8 km

Vertical up:
479.7 m

Vertical down:
485 m

Average speed:
4 km/h

Top Speed:
41.9 km/h

The rain soaked geeks:

George
John
Jack

Return to Batu Dam

2007-11-05T23:59:00.000+08:00

Summary:

This time the hash was made in reverse and it really made the ride pleasant and enjoyable! Everyone had a good work out and I had a nice puncture... :-)

Videos and Photos:

Length:
18.6 km

Top Speed:
53.4 km/h

The Stoned Geeks:

George
Azril
Izani
Henry
Naga
Micol
Ken Wei
John
Jack
Edwin

Raya @ Ranger's House

2007-11-04T21:01:00.001+08:00

The geeks were invited to Ranger's house for a Raya makan after our hash on 27th Oct 2007. We did a light hash as there were only 4 of us as most people are either busy, outstation or ffk at the last minute. Henry, Ironman, Medic and Smokie are the only one whom made it that morning. Btw, Medic, where are the hash pix you took?

After the usual FRIM's Steriod Hills ride, we proceeded to Ampang for makan at Ranger's house. Delicious Kedah Laksa, Lemang, Rendang Chicken, Fried Kerepek, etc. was waiting for us there! Its was truly delicious and good plus generous Ranger keep feeding us with more stuff even after our meal as we are sitting down to chit chat.

Here are some fantastic and drooling photos of the yummies that the rest of you missed!

Thanks Ranger for inviting again!

Pangkor Round Island Road Ride

2007-10-23T14:57:00.000+08:00

Pangkor Round Island Road Ride at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS, Photos & Geotagging!

During an R & D Meeting in Pangkor, the geeks took time out to do a round island road ride to explore the island.

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Duration:
2 hours, 31 minutes, 19 seconds

Length:
17.7 km

Vertical up:
1166.1 m

Vertical down:
1173.3 m

Average speed:
7 km/h

The Road Riding Geeks:

Joe
George
Jack
KC
Viji

Hari Raya Ride to KL

2007-10-17T09:46:00.000+08:00

View the Hari Raya Ride to KL Trail at EveryTrail.com

Map created by EveryTrail: GPS, Photos & Geotagging!

On the 3rd day of Hari Raya. Some of the Wild Geeks took an easy ride to KL from Sri Petaling. We started off at 7:00am on Monday and finished almost 3 hours later. Of course, we had to stop by the famous Foochow Fishball Noodle place near Jalan Pasar for breakfast and teh tarik in Brickfields... :-)

We took the new elevated KL-Putrajaya highway. The highway is not opened to the public yet as it is still under construction. All in all, a most exciting and fun ride!

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Duration:
2 hours, 51 minutes, 25 seconds

Length:
25 km

Vertical up:
815.7 m

Vertical down:
824.8 m

Average speed:
8.8 km/h

The Early Bird Geeks:

Joe
George
Jack

Sg. Pening Pening - Dizzy River?

2007-10-16T23:44:00.000+08:00

Location:
Sg. Pening Pening, Kajang.

Map:

Summary:
A really fantastic ride in Sg. Pening Pening with many climbs and long extensive downhills. Definitely must return there!

Ouch! Henry displaying his injuries after he crashed and landed on his chest and arms. That's gonna take at least a week to recover!

Total Distance Traveled:
15.12 km

Top Speed:
44.5 km/h

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

The "Pening" Geeks:

Henry
Sri Naga
Edwin
Jack

MTB Trail Seekers

2007-09-18T22:44:00.001+08:00

"Where to this Saturday?" This is what everyone asked every week. Well, last week, I thought of doing something different. I looked through the maps provided by Malsingmaps (thank you MalsingMaps... :-) to look for MTB tracks, hash or bash.

I identified a few from the maps, that I thought we should explore to see if these trails were in cycle-able conditions or not. They were:

Bukit Cahaya (Not the one everyone referred to in Taman Pertanian Malaysia)
Puncak Perdana
Empangan Subang
Ijok
Bkt Langong (Rawang)

I printed a copy of each of the maps and showed it to the geeks on Saturday, the day of our hash. We met up at the Rumah Ku restaurant, but it was closed during the Puasa month. So we adjourned to one of the coffee shop in Jalan Bahagia, we called "London Fried Rice" coffee shop. During breakfast, we unanimously decided to go to the Bukit Cahaya trails next to Kayangan Heights.

Malsingmaps' map of the Bukit Cahaya Trail.

When we reached Bukit Cahaya, we were disappointed. The trails as indicated in the maps had given way to housing developments. So we decided to move on to the next trail, the Puncak Perdana Trail.

Driving along the Puncak Alam road, we could not locate the start of the trail as indicated in the map. So we decided to move on to the next one on the list, the Empangan Subang trails.

Malsingmaps' map of the Empangan Subang Trail.

After driving along Jalan Seri Jaya, we could not locate the trail either. Joe the Oracle managed to consult his GPS device and we managed to locate what was an entrance to a house as the start of the trail. We believed that the trails were long gone and that the maps needed updating... LOL.

After spending the better part of the morning searching for trails, we decided to give up on our search and to head for the Rubber Research Institute for some cycling time!

On our way out, we managed to spot the entrance to the Puncak Perdana trails... or so we thought... :-) So we doubled back and parked in the car park next to UiTM.

At that point we were just dying to get out and ride.... LOL.

Malsingmaps's map of the Puncak Perdana Trail.

We set out from the UiTM car park and rode to the "entrance" of the trail, which lead to a steep hill with loose rocks making it a difficult climb.

Overall, the Puncak Perdana trail was littered with land slide covering parts of the trail. The trail had turned into a cow herding trail with cow dung deposits along it. At certain parts, there were blue coloured spent shotgun shells. Also, we discovered that half of the land area designated as Puncak Perdana had been converted into a residential development project.

Google Maps' satellite view of Puncak Perdana.

As Iron Man George kept pointing out, Daniel the Bull's housing estate had cannibalised more than half of Puncak Perdana! It so happens, Daniel bought a double storey house there... LOL...

Further along the way, we encountered dead ends upon dead ends. We tried to cut through the brushes and undergrowths unsuccessfully using tree branches as "hatchet". The undergrowths were thick and has completely covered and hidden the trail. The trail was a "botak" trail. We were cycling directly under the hot sun. The ride took a lot out of us and after unsuccessfully trying to find any ridable trail, we decided that we had enough and decided to head back.

I don't think we will ever head back to the Puncak Perdana trail again... LOL. As for the Bukit Langong trail in Rawang and the Ijok Trail, we will explore them another time. The next time, we will bring along several hatchets... LOL...

Total Distance Traveled:
6.01 km

Top Speed:
0.0 km/h

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Panoramio Photo Albums
Video (Damn! Lost those videos.)

Sun burnt Geeks:

George
Ken Wei
Joe
Sri Naga
Jack

Lubuk Tedung - Kuala Sleh Ride

2007-09-13T19:40:00.000+08:00

Location:
Lubuk Tedung – Kuala Sleh

Summary:
A call to one mountain biker acquaintance, Mr Zaidi (aka Mr Beskal) and what do you know me and Henry got an invitation to cycle to Lubuk Tedung / Kuala Sleh. I have no idea where this place is but Zaidi told us to wait at Zoo Negara entrance at 8pm. Apparently there is this forum ‘Jom Kayuh’ and someone is organizing a ride there.

We arrived at the Zoo Negara entrance around 8 am and met up with Rahmat who will be the hare for today’s ride. We were joined by another 10 riders later and we started cycling around 8.45am toward Kampung Kemensah.

To summarize the intensity of the ride, I would rate this the toughest trail I have ever encountered. The beginning of the trail consist of a lot of steep climbs and the trail condition is full of gutters and muddy pits. So one must expect to come of out this trail with mud stuck on the wheels. I would say at least 35% of the ride consist of pushing due to the trail conditions. One fellow rider, Ong from Fakawi Tribe teach me and Henry some trail maintenance by digging a drain to drain out water from the mud puddle. Not that fun riding with too much water splashing your eyes :-)

However the ride was worth it considering the scenic jungle scene with tall forest canopy providing the cooling shade. On the middle of the trail we rest at a place with a big tree (N 03°15.109’ , E 101°47.749’).

The other half of the ride is much easier with some good down hills which some can be quite technical. We have a few fall and it was probably in one of this fall Henry lost his speedometer. There are at least 3 stream crossing that we have to make before we reach a river which I think is call Sg Sleh. A very scenic river , deep enough to dive into and the surrounding area is suitable for camping.

After a good rest in the scenic river, we try to check out an old railway track but the trail leading there has been overgrown and not accessible by bikes so we turned back and rode all the way back from where we started.

Overall I would rate this the best and hardest trail I have ever been to. We started our ride around 8.45am and only reach back to civilization around 3 pm. This is also my longest ride so far. This trail is well worth the effort but I won’t recommend this trail for newbie as it’s very tough. To rate it in terms of difficulty, I would say it’s like riding Steriod hill in FRIM 3 times.

Total Distance Traveled:
Unknown but estimate to be around 15-20km back and forth.
(Henry lost his odometer while my GPS can’t receive the signal in the thick forest canopy)

Top Speed:
Unknown

Two very worn out wildgeeks:

Henry
Seri Naga
and 10 other riders from Jom Kayuh forum

Return to Rubber Research Institute (RRI) to Donate Blood

2007-08-27T22:29:00.000+08:00

Location:
Rubber Research Institute, Sungai Buloh

Map:

Summary:

It must have been because of the Ghost Festival. Otherwise, it would not have been just Henry, me and buzzing vampires on this hash.

In fact, it was supposed to be a joy ride to Serendah, inevitably Iron Man had to "fong fei kei (ffk)" (a Cantonese slang referring to an action of not being able to fulfill what one said or promised), which started a chain reaction of "ffk".

To top it off, the morning started off raining and it seemed to promise more rain for the rest of the day. We breakfasted in Rumah Ku at Kelana Square waiting for those who were supposed to go for the hash to turn up. After we received the "ffk" SMS replies, we headed out for RRI.

Thankfully, it did not rain as promised... :-) We headed out and hit the trails going nice and easy. The trails in RRI were wide and all dirt and rocks. Essentially, it was a very easy going ride. Basically, we took the opportunity to explore almost all the trails and forks.

For me, the high point was a very nice downhill that just felt too short, even though it was about 2km long. We like it so much that we went another round.

By then we had done about 20km and donated about a pint of blood to the vampires of RRI. We decided to explore the other side of RRI (across the road from where we parked), where the RRI staff quarters were. Personally, I was looking for a nice place to have a drink and talk cock after a terrific ride.

All in all it was a fantastic ride. RRI is the perfect place for MTB newbies. The next time I am headed there, I will make sure that I bring PLENTY of mosquitoes repellent!!!

Total Distance Traveled:
21.74 km

Top Speed:
38.7 km/h

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Video and Photo Albums - Click on "View Map" and then select "Satellite" to view the photos and their respective locations.
Slideshow

Blood sucked in RRI:

Henry
Jack

A Festival of Ghost and Mountain Bikers in Klang Gates

2007-08-19T09:26:00.000+08:00

Location:
Klang Gates Dam, Kg. Kemensah , Ulu Gombak

Map:

Summary:
According to ancient Chinese belief, in this Chinese lunar month, the hell gates are opened and ghosts are permitted a month of freedom on the realm of the mortals.

In one way or another, everyone is a little superstitious. But sometimes a series of circumstances and incidents will feed those superstitions... LOL.

On the morning of the hash, I woke up late. Then, when I got out to the highway, I realized that I was wearing my slippers instead of my shoes. It was definitely not a good idea to go mountain bike hashing on the trails with just my pair of "power" slippers. Against better judgment, I decided do exactly just that.

Next, on the highway, there was a big accident with a "Gen 2" turtled (btw, this is the second time in a month that I came across a turtled Gen 2, coincidence? Hmm... faulty design or driver error?) Anyway, the Gen 2 reminded me of that tragic bus accident last week. I remembered my colleagues telling me, "The accident happened on the first day of the Ghost Festival. The ghosts are out and have already claimed 21 lives!"

I had already forgotten about the Gen 2 accident by the time I arrived at the meeting point behind Zoo Negara. All the Wild Geeks were ready and we set off to find a parking place to get ready to start our hash.

Since 5K has been to Klang Gates Dam before, he lead everyone into the trails, providing everyone with useful tips and directions.

Also, on this hash, we had two new members joining the Wild Geeks, Weng Hoe and Edwin Yap. Edwin quickly made a reputation for himself 1.2km into the trails. He demonstrated to all the graceful art of falling down from a brand new Trek 4300 Disc on a rocky downhill. Lucky for him, his Trek helmet and Trek gloves prevented serious injuries... LOL He suffered minor injuries on his right leg and some minor cuts on his arms.

Edwin was up and ready to roll when Iron Man called for Micol the designated medic, to come and have a look at Edwin. Things turned for the worse when Edwin felt faint and had to lie down. He certainly looked as pale as a ghost... LOL. We had to raise his legs to make the blood circulate back to his upper body and head. After about 15 minutes, the Fall Guy got up and we went on out way.

During that incident, I could not help it but to think about the ghost festival. I did not want to bring it up with the geeks, as I do not want to alarm anyone with superstitious thoughts... LOL.

Before I forget, I should mentioned that while Micol was treating Edwin, we all thought that with utmost care, Ken Wei was kind enough to use a piece of cloth to fan Edwin, thereby ensuring that Edwin gets enough air to recover from his dizzy spell. Upon closer examination, we noticed that Ken Wei was actually fanning himself... LOL... which earned him the nick, Fan Boy!!!

As we continued, little did we know that the Fall Guy's fall was certainly not the last... LOL.

The trails on this hash were totally not wet and non treacherous. The ride consisted of mainly minor uphills and perhaps one challenging uphill. As usual, the sceneries were fantastic. In general, I would classify this hash as a level 3 on a scale of 1 to 10, with level 10 being impossible to cycle.

Having said that, we had geeks falling off their bikes left and right... LOL, with the Iron Man leading the pack in the number of falls, reinforcing the validity of his nick, the "Iron Man" LOL. Lets put it this way, my camera was always ready whenever I knew Iron Man was coming downhill. Thankfully, my eager anticipation was disappointed.

Needless to say, I rolled on the grass a few times over as well... :-) Henry and John had their fair share of slip sliding and "pok kai-ing" respectively.

I had been to every hashing of the Wild Geeks and never had I seen so many geeks falling off their bikes, so much so that I wanted to sing the song, "London Bridge is falling down..." Reminded of the Gen 2 incident that morning, I cannot but concluded that the ghosts were really out there creating havoc and mischief on the geeks... LOL.

Thankfully no one were seriously injured on this "ghostly" ride, and all ended well. All the same I think we should let the next hash be after the Ghost Festival month.

Total Distance Traveled:
8.04 km

Top Speed:
30.5 km/h (Anyone else recorded better than Seri Naga on this for this trip?)

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Iron Man's Photos and Video
Video and Photo Albums - Click on "View Map" and then select "Satellite" to view the photos and their respective locations.
Slideshow

Pumped with Steriods :

Edwin (Tau Foo Fa aka Fall Guy)
George (Iron Man)
Henry
Jack (Scribe)
John (Rooster)
Ken Wei (Fan Boy)
Micol (Scrub)
Sri Naga (5K)
Weng Hoe

FRIM - The Rover and The Steriod

2007-08-11T19:34:00.000+08:00

Location:
Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Kepong.

Map:

Summary:
With Sri Naga's past experience in FRIM, this hash was more organised... meaning we knew where to go, supposedly... LOL.

This time around, we had Sri Naga, Daniel, Chris, Kevin, Joe and myself. Also, there were no tire puncture and no Astronomy 101 lessons... LOL..

Chris and Kevin were totally newbies to off-road hashing on mountain bikes.... so this was their first time getting a pounding on their ass... :-D As Kevin was a rally driver, he was no stranger to off-road racing and physically more fit. Chris was out of shape and will need a few more hashes like this to get him into gear... LOL...

The hash was made up of some very memorable uphills and downhills. The initial long uphill stretch in the Rover Trail was a surprise for a number of us. We had to push part of the way up, as the pace was not set correctly.

The second uphill, noted as the Steroid climb, was much more steeper but not as long as the uphill in the beginning of the trails. With proper pacing, one can easily take the uphill without any problem.

I wished my bike had full suspension during the downhill... LOL.. The downhill trail was rocky with hardened clay making my bike bounced all over the place... HAhaha... I could not go full speed without losing control of my bike... LOL...

All in all, it was an excellent ride without any injury or breakdown. And as usual, right after a good ride, you are left wanting more... right or not Naga? LOL...

Total Distance Traveled:
13.7 km

Top Speed:
45.0 km/h (Anyone else recorded better than this for this trip?)

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Video and Photo Albums - Click on "View Map" and then select "Satellite" to view the photos and their respective locations.
Slideshow

Pumped with Steriods :

Chris
Daniel (The Bull)
Jack (The Scribe)
Joe (The Oracle)
Kevin
Sri Naga (5K)

A Cicak, An Incident and A Few Good Men

2007-08-05T23:58:00.000+08:00

Location:
Sofia Jane, Kg. Kemensah

Map:

Summary:
On this Sofia Jane hash, we had invited Peng Nam the Cicak to joined us. This was his first time going on an MTB hash. Actually, Cicak was "tricked" into going on this hash... LOL.

He had thought that we were going jungle trekking, that is, until he saw my mountain bike at the back of my pickup... LOL... I met up with Cicak and George at Joe's house to borrow Joe's bike for Cicak the King Scout to use on the hash... :-)

We took off from Joe's house at about 8:00am and left for the rendezvous point in front of Zoo Negara.

That morning in the rush, George had forgotten to bring along his helmet. It's always like that... the thing that you really needed the most that day, you forget to bring... LOL

We met up with Azril and Izaini in front of the Zoo and drove up together to meet Henry and Sri Naga further up on the way to Kemensah Heights.

The hash was only 4.5km long with minor hill climbs and downhills. As usual, potholes and crevices on the trail, made the climb and the downhill difficult and slow.

Overall the trail was wet and muddy. We won't have it any other way... :-)

Our objective was to reach the Sofia Jane Waterfall. The reason the trail and waterfall was called Sofia Jane, was because she shot a film there. At least that was what the local said. Anyway, Henry and Sri Naga had cycled along this trail before and they were quite familar with the condition of the trail.

Cicak the King Scout was severely out of shape... LOL. We had to make several stops to let him catch his breaths as we made our way up the trail. At one point, it was just him and me, with the rest of the guys way ahead... LOL... Heck, we never left anyone behind and we were not going to start... :)

Before long, we reached a clearing with a fork in the trail. One leading to the waterfall and the other to Ulu Langat. Sri Naga and Henry warned us that it was better if we left our bikes and trekked down to the falls, which was only about 1 km away. But the warning came a tad late as Azril the Ranger and Izaini the Hulk had left and cycled down to the waterfall... ouch!!!

The trail leading to the waterfall was really bad. There was no way to cycle all the way down. In any case, we reached the waterfalls and some of the guys decided to take a dip in the icy cold stream.

One thing lead to another, Cicak slipped and fell while holding on to Iron Man's camera to take a photo of something. Next thing you know, Iron Man got up from his dip in the stream to go help Cicak (or to save his camera... LOL). He contemplated whether to crawl or walk over to Cicak. He decided the latter and paid for it in BLOOD!!!

I had not been paying attention to what was going on. I had been trying to get a GPS fix on my phone to take some geotagged photos. Next thing I knew, I heard the guys calling me and I looked up to see George holding one hand to the back of his head with blood trickling down the side of his head down his neck.

I went over and took a look at the 1 and a half inch gash at the back of Iron Man's head. The bleeding was pretty bad. The first thing I thought of was to stop the bleeding. I struggled to open my backpack to look for the first aid kit, and found only some spare tires and a spanner. (I had thought that John had passed me everything we bought for just such an emergency during the Lata Kijang hash.) Meanwhile, Henry had brought out his first aid kit and Cicak helped to dispense the bandages. I cleaned the wound as best I could and Henry then poured a powdery substance, which Henry said was some Chinese medicine that will stop bleeding. I held the hair away from the wound so that Henry could apply the powder.

After applying the powder, I placed the bandages on top of the wound and we used Henry's bandanna to tie around Iron Man's head. Just then Azril the ranger came up from below the waterfalls and was shocked to find us surrounding George.

Very quickly, Azril took out his wonder drug, the cigarette... LOL, and applied it to George's wound and George to hold on to it until the bleeding stopped. As soon as the bleeding stopped, we tied the bandanna tightly around George's head again. Btw, he looked really cool!!! Like Rambo only... LOL...

True to his nick, the Iron Man felt better and we left the waterfall to trek out. The downhill back along the trail was totally amazing. Common sense dictated that we slowed down, foolhardiness prevailed and it was an adrenaline filled downhill for me... LOL.

The Iron Man was the first out of the trail. He was already ready with his camera taking picture of all the geeks coming out.

We then adjourned to our cars, packed up and went to a place for rojak and cendol... LOL...

After the postmortem, I took George and Peng Nam to look for a clinic... we went through 3 clinics in the Ampang area (all of which were either closed or the doctors were taking a "siesta" and unavailable ) before deciding to go to a clinic in front of Bukit Bintang Plaza on top of KFC. Turns out to be an excellent choice.

The treatment of George the Iron Man is well documented in several videos. Some of you squeamish type might want to avoid watching those videos... LOL.

Have you ever heard an Iron Man scream before?

Total Distance Traveled:
4.5 km

Top Speed:
29.2 km/h (Anyone else recorded better than this for this trip?)

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Video and Photo Albums - Click on "View Map" and then select "Satellite" to view the photos and their respective locations.
Slideshow
Pix from George's camera

A Few Good Men and A Cicak:

Azril (The Ranger)
George (The Iron Man)
Henry
Izaini (The Hulk)
Jack (The Scribe)
Sri Naga
Peng Nam (The Cicak)

Lata Kijang and the Eleven Wild Geeks

2007-08-01T11:54:00.000+08:00

Location:
Lata Kijang, Negri Sembilan

Map:

Summary:
This hash was relatively easy with some minor climbs and downhills. More than half of the trail was on tarmac than off-road. The primary objective of the hash was to reach the campsite, and for those who wanted to, could take the rest of the way to the Lata Kijang falls.

Overall, I find the trail not particularly challenging and left most of us wanting more... :-) This trail is excellent for first timers though. In any case, if you love cycling, you should give this trail a try.

Btw, the scenery was beautiful and the "orang kampung" very friendly. If not for the lorries and 4WD using the road, the place was extremely quiet and pristine.

Total Distance Traveled:
24.1 km

Top Speed:
49.2 km (Anyone else recorded better than this for this trip?)

Trail Information:
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=3495

Videos and GPS Embedded Photos:

Video and Photo Albums - Click on "View Map" and then select "Satellite" to view the photos and their respective locations.
Slideshow

The Eleven Geeks who went Wild:

Azril (The Ranger)
Daniel (The Bull)
George (The Iron Man)
Henry
Jack (The Scribe)
Jason
Joe (The Oracle)
John (The Rooster)
Ken Wei
Micol
Sri Naga

FRIM - Part 3 - The Rubber Tube, The Stars and A Birthday

2007-07-22T16:17:00.000+08:00

With a tire puncture, I could not cycle out of the "range rover" trail. Azril and Joe were kind enough to walked out with me. I told them that if we can fix the bike, we will go back in again... as I was reluctant to finish the day like that.

However, Azril the Ranger said that normally in a forest, if something like this happens, it could mean that something was telling us not to continue on the trip any more... LOL. Man... I wish he hadn't said that. Pantang!!! Now no one wants to go back to the trail...even if we can fix the puncture... LOL

After walking for about 1.5 km, we came back to the FRIM entrance. I asked the guard if he knew where I could fix a puncture. He told us to turn right pointing to the nearest junction, that there was a motorbike repair shop. We thank him and continued about 100 meters out to the junction.

We searched for quite a bit before finding the repair shop on the main street next to the stalls where we had breakfast in the morning. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here. You will not believe what happened next.

What was supposed to be a simple fix for a puncture turned out to be an education in Astronomy.... LOL.

As it turn out, Mr. Pang of Pang Motor, is the current president of the Star Finder Astronomical Society. What started out as a simple question of, "Who built that Hubble Telescope model hanging in front of his shop?" turns out to be a lecture in Astronomy... LOL.

Mr. Pang, who owns 3 huge telescopes, was eager to explain to us, the uninitiated, the ins and the outs of star gazing with a telescope and reading the star charts. He would also like to extend an invitation to all who are interested in Astronomy to visit their society website and all are welcomed to join as members.

Between fixing my puncture and tending to his other customers, he explained about the alignment of the planets and how long we have to wait to view some of the stellar phenomenon.

He also had an interest to build and fire water powered rockets, which he and his friends made.

We had an opportunity to try out the telescope.

Mr. Pang fixing the puncture using sanding, patch and glue.

Mr Pang also wrote for an Astronomy Magazine... now tell me you all expected this all along... that we would meet up with an Astronomer while fixing a puncture... HAhahah... Even Joe the Oracle could not have foretold this... LOL...

Finally, the hole in the rubber tube was patched and ready to be inserted back into the tire.

Another look at the telescope showing the hollow inside the telescope body.

I told Mr. Pang that I will be putting all these videos I took on the Wide Geeks's blog. He requested that I took some photo and video of his shop front with a banner promoting the society, of which I gladly obliged... :-)

Azril told us that he will not be joining us when we get back to FRIM for a second hash. Since this was his birthday and the time was just after noon, he had to spend some quality time with the wife and family. Joe and I completely agreed but just before we could leave, Mr, Pang took out some stereoscopic photos to show to us... :-) I could see that Azril was in a hurry, but he politely stayed to view the photos... LOL. The photos were cool!

After Azril had left, Joe and I decided that we would cycle on the tarmac roads, due to the "pantang" of the land rover trails... LOL.

When we headed into FRIM the second time, seems all the cyclist are leaving. Check out that Kancil with the bike racks lah... cool or not??? LOL...

We continued down the road and practically cycled to all the available tarmac roads. We came upon some nice places and FRIM staff quarters. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

More tarmacs... :-)

At this point we climbed a slope and ended up somewhere around the Malaysia Nature Society. There was no more tarmac road ahead. So, I took a chance and cycled to a dirt path next to some camp ground while Joe consulted the GPS.

Joe came up and we decided to risk the "pantang" and go in search of a trail heading to Sungai Buloh... throwing caution to the wind... LOL. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

We rode along the trail among the lush greeneries. The feeling of excitement was back. Riding into the unknown... LOL... We came across a nice waterfall cutting below the trail into the ravine next to us.

Easy ride as we moved along...

It was a easy ride... until we reached this stretch, which was downhill and the trail was filled with crevices made by water gushing down during a heavy rain.

Continuing along the downhill, we came across some caretakers of the forest cutting and trimming the grass and vegetation along the side of the trail.

Further up the trail, we met up with Henry and Jason. I asked them for direction to get an idea of where we were. Also, I told them that we were newbies to MTB and invited them to join us in our next hashing trip if they were interested. We exchanged contacts and I promised to email them the information to the next Wild Geeks hashing adventure. COol!

We continued cycling and were surprised to find a fantastic view of FRIM, some lakes in a park and the surrounding residential area. We cycled for a short while and found the clearing that Henry had told us about. If we take the right, we will be heading towards Sungai Buloh and if we turn left, it was supposed to take us back to the main road, which we passed by that morning on our way to FRIM in my pick-up.

So we turned left and found out that the road lead to some construction site. While Joe consulted his GPS, I rode up the slope to get a better view. When I reached the top, I could see the lakes, and the road seemed to be leading down to them. Unless I rode down, I could not see if the road was actually connected to the lakes were or not.

So I rode back down and told Joe about what I saw. Meanwhile, Joe had consulted the GPS and discovered that we had passed the turning to the lakes earlier. So we doubled back until we found the small tiny trail leading steeply downhill to the lakes!!! And from the lakes to the main road!!! Wah liao eh! Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

We made it safely down that steep slope. Phew! To a certain extent, it was more treacherous than the ones in Batu Dam. Imagine there are trees in the middle of the path??? Hehehe... and I was pumping my brakes and trying to sit as far back in the seat as possible, but my child seat kept getting in the way... LOL. I could not take any video nor photo of that stretch as I was too excited to be thinking about it. In any case, my pants was torn and we all arrive safely. Maybe Joe can comment on his part of the ride here later... LOL.

After circumventing the lake we got back out on the main road leading back to the main entrance of FRIM. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

This marked the end of our FRIM hashing. It is definitely a place to revisit.

Bike Review - Malaysia's very own hybrid 3 seaters

2007-07-22T13:43:00.000+08:00

We have heard of tandem bikes and its problem, but a Malaysian inventor have just came out with a hybrid 3 seater bike! This bike only requires 1 person to pedal and control the bike while the rest (one in front and one at the back) are purely passenger.

To make riding easy, its designed to be a single speed bike, plus an additional modern design carriage basket in front. It features 2 saddles for comfort riding will the third seat is a smart 2-in-1 concept seat, meaning it can be used as a seat, as well as additional storage.

As the bike is meant for 3 passengers, it is not expected to travel at high speed, therefore no disc brakes are required and this will definitely help make the bike available to family of all levels in world. Wheel size have also been reduced to make it more economical to replace and maintain.

The head of R&D, Mr.Tang tells us that this bike model will be marketed as J3000 and will be available sometime next year as the prototype are still being tested at its R&D facilities in an undisclosed location somewhere in Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur.

Below is a pix of the current prototype and we can't wait to see it on the road.

FRIM - Part 2 - The Rubber Tube, The Stars and A Birthday

2007-07-22T01:00:00.001+08:00

Saturday 21st of July 2007, the alarm woke me up at 6:15am to tell me that it was time for great a hashing day. The early morning air was crisp and fresh after a heavy downpour the night before. I had spent the night updating the Wild Geeks blog on our last trip to Batu Dam. Man... Google video needs some major usability upgrade! In the admin screen, a simple thumbnail of the video would be nice.

Anyway, the day started off with me forgetting to bring my brand new helmet, which I was really anticipating to wear on this FRIM hash. The next thing I forgot was my speedometer cum odometer, which was a bummer as I needed it to keep to keep track of our distance cycled. Luckily I did not forget to pick up Joe or all hell would break loose... LOL...

And so I picked up Joe from Sri Petaling and we arrived at FRIM at about 8:25am via Jalan Kuching. There were plenty of parking spaces in a chinese temple across the street from the road turning into the FRIM emtrance gate. There we met up with Azril and we all had "roti chanai" for breakfast. Btw, we had never been to FRIM before so we did not know where the trails were and had no idea where to start. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

As soon as Joe paid for entrance fee of RM 1.00 each (if you drive your car in, it will cost you RM 5.00), we rode through the gate with Azril leading the way, Joe capturing our trails using his GPS and as usual, I was shooting video and taking GPS embedded photos to mark our location in Google Earth later... LOL...

Since none of us had ever been to FRIM, we needed to find out where the trails were.

From these videos, you can see that there were a lot of traffic going in and out of the road leading into the institute.

After cycling for a short while, Azril spotted an information map and decided to refer to it for directions. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

With much analysis and consultation with the stars, we had a direction... LOL. We decided to go find the "land rover trail".

When we finally found the trail, it turned out to be a hiking trail, but we went for it anyway. After a stretch, with Joe fending the mosquitoes, the trails ended abruptly. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

Azril proposed that we started climbing. He believed that the land rover trail was just up the climb! And he was right at that... except for the fact that it was another hiking trail... LOL.

The land rover trail seemed elusive! After Joe's battle with some mosquitoes we took off again.

The surface of this trail was "rooted" with slippery and damp tree roots criss-crossing the route, which makes a smooth ride impossible. There was no grip when the tires went over the uneven root, causing the tires to slide along the exposed roots. I was quite concern about damaging the roots with the pedal of my bike, so I walked by bike through.

You can see that walking the bike through the trail with one hand holding my Dopod shooting video was not exactly a breeze... :-) So pardon me for the shaky video footage... LOL...

The videos also showed the trees growing straight upwards. The wet and damp leaves should had been a paradise for leeches. Surprisingly, there were none that I could find. Believe me, I was on a look out for leeches... :-)

After a short while, we came crossed a bridge spanning across a steep gorge. On the other side, we could either turn left or right. This time, the decision was made for us... we could only turn left as there were some people cutting trees on the other side.

Our friend Joe was too busy fending off mosquitoes again. After Joe and Azril's comparison of their "smoking" bodies, we went on our quest for the land rover trails again. This trail was uphill and hardly visible as a trail. There was a big fallen branch blocking the way and we had to go round it. Before we knew it... we had to carry our bikes and climbed a steep slope to a road, which we hoped was the elusive land rover trail.

Success at last. It is the land rover trail. Another decision time, left or right? After Joe's consultation with the stars, we decided to head right.

It was pretty easy from here on as the trail was a dirt road used by land rovers... LOL... What's better than a nice downhill to ward off mosquitoes and cool ourselves? LOL... I could think of a dozen reasons... HAhAHA...

And then all of s sudden, we ended up on a tarmac road. It seemed we had found the beginning of the land rover trail... LOL. There was a nice tarmac road leading up to this "elusive" trail... LOL. So, after a discussion and consultation with Joe the Oracle, we decided to ride back into the land rover trail.

With Azril leading the way, the geeks followed. Before long, we came to another fork in the trail. Joe the Oracle was consulted again to determine the location. He brought out his divination machina and the decision was made.... LOL. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

After the decision of which fork to take was made, the Oracle demanded a price for his professional services... the fee was to ensure that he was fully protected from mosquitoes. So Azril the Ranger had no choice but to perform a sacred ritual, the Baptism of Tobacco, on Joe the Oracle.

As we were ready to head out on the right fork of the land rover trail, I discovered that the stars alignment was not favourable to me... I had a puncture on my front tire. What a blow! As none of us have any equipment to fix a tire puncture, we had to turn back and forget the hash... it was indeed a sad day... :-(

To be continued in:
FRIM - Part 3 - The Rubber Tube, The Stars and A Birthday

FRIM - Part 1 - The Rubber Tube, The Stars and A Birthday

2007-07-22T00:11:00.000+08:00

Location:
Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) near Kepong and Batu Caves.

Map:

Compliments of Joe

Total Distance Traveled:
11.1 km

Cycling Time:
01:07 hours

Stop Time:
02:01 hours

Trail Information:
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=3295

GPS Embedded Photos on Google Earth: http://www.panoramio.com/user/595543/tags/FRIM
(Unfortunately the satellite images provided by Google Earth is not very good.)

Batu Dam - Part 4 - Leeches, Bikers and a Cold Hard Trail

2007-07-21T22:03:00.001+08:00

Further into the trail, Azril and I arrived at a beautiful bamboo grove. The others had gone way ahead. We had to stop to take some photos and to record the GPS location. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

Finally, we got on our way and caught up with the others. The trail after the bamboo grove was a long steep uphill and at certain parts not ridable at all. As we continued, Azril's bike's rear wheel came off alignment and we needed to stop to fix the alignment.

We continued uphill and was rewarded with a nice downhill. Then we came upon some make-shift log bridge and decided to stop. But someone was missing... we were quite concern... not about the person... but more concern about the expensive bike... LOL...

After John and the rest caught up, we continued along the trail. The next incident was caused by a loose gear shifter on George's bike.

After fixing George's gear shifter problem, we continued downhill. The downhill was fast and furious... hard on the brakes and we had to really work the bike to make sure we made it through in one piece. But it was difficult as the path was full of crevices and rocks.

It was exhilarating! The trail opened up to a sandy road. But there was a VERY steep turn to reach the road. And that was where George lost control and plunged into the bushes... LOL. I am sorry... but it was hilarious! I think George deserve the name, "Iron Man" from here on... he is a "made" man... LOL... Luckily, George wore a helmet... in fact he was the only one that wore a helmet...

In any case, it served to remind us to get a helmet before our next hashing trip... LOL... After George recovered from the fall, he found himself bleeding... not because of the fall but because of leeches... :-)

After getting our bearings, we continued towards the northern tip of the dam. Just before reaching the main road, we came across a resort called Riverstone Eco Resort. Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

We chatted with some of the workers at the resort and decided to take a break.

After about 30 minutes break, we got onto the main road and rode along the highway circumventing the dam lake. We were now at three quarter way around the lake.

Riding on the road was no fun and rather dangerous with all the traffics!

Azril anc Daniel... cool only!

The interviews...

The gate to the dam, our final destination! The last guy have to close the gate... LOL... and it wasn't me... LOL...

Check out the view. Breathtaking!

Azril and Izaini taking photos of the fantastic view. Peace bro!

Our goal! Finally, we rode on top of the dam! What a sight to behold!

Finally, we made a circle around Batu Dam!!!! It was a great feeling... until... John was attacked by an Octopus!!!!

Everyone getting ready to pack up and go home... but not me... I had to check out some kampung chickens... LOL..

The final thing left to be done was to pack up and to make sure that nothing was left behind... not even a scrap of paper... :-) As you can see, packing three bikes in the back of George's pickup was no easy task... :-)

I believe all of us felt that the Batu Dam hash we just did, was extremely fun and enormously satisfying. We were and are still very new to Mountain Biking, and we have a lot of lessons to learn, especially about safety and first aids. We must give thanks that no one was injured or harmed in this trip.

Since this Batu Dam hash, a few of us have bought helmets and the club will be arranging for first aid kits. If nothing else, our next trip will be more prepared in terms of safety.

Batu Dam - Part 3 - Leeches, Bikers and a Cold Hard Trail

2007-07-20T22:18:00.000+08:00

After riding through the Cempedak and Rambutan orchard, Azril and I caught up with the rest of the geeks.

We caught them frolicking in the sun along the "river".... LOL. Ok... ok... it was not exactly a river but one of the many mountain streams feeding the dam. In any case, we shall refer to it as the "river" for effect sake... :-) Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

The river was our second obstacle which would require any half ass mountain bikers worth their grain in salt to at least attempt to ride across. We were worth... less... hahahaha. It was kind of pathetic but this "river" crossing was a first for almost all of us newbies... LOL. And of course, that spelt FUN!!!

What we did next was quite remarkable. We had to plan and decide how we were going to shoot videos of the crossing instead of planning on how we wanted to overcome the crossing... LOL. In the end, we just did it!!!!

And what a sight to behold!!! You have to check out the next video to appreciate our ingenuity... LOL.

After everyone had crossed over, Azril, in the true spirit of mountain biking, decided to tackle the "river" again... Did he make it this time around? LOL...

While everyone was checking on their bike, there was something about the bamboo trees surrounding us that reminded us of someone... :-)

When we finally went on our way again, it was a grueling uphill ride through some house and orchards.

I had to stop to catch my breath, as well as to shoot some videos and take some GPS photos to document this part if the journey. What better place to stop than in an orchard surrounded by "cempedak" and durian trees.

As George arrived and while waiting for him to catch his breath, I showed him the "fruits" of my labour... LOL...

Our next stop was at a trail fork. We had to decide whether to take the left or the right trails. After referring to the GPS, we decided to take the right trails. (Later we found out that if we had taken the left trail, our journey would have been much more difficult and longer.)

This next segment of the trail was hilly, muddy and narrow. The surface of the trail was "groovy", as in lined with "longkang"... LOL. If you were to take a cross-section of the trail you will get multiple letters of "W". Looked like someone went through the trail with a dirt bike digging deep into the surface... :-)

In the end we were rewarded with a beautiful icy cold stream to wash our bike and chill out!

It was very tempting to stay on by the stream, but we had to move on. In this next video, we can see how strong man George carried his bike across and up the other side of the stream.. show off... hahaha...:-)

The third obstacle we came across was a tree that had fallen over and across the trail. It was no biggie, as we all made it through without any incident. That is if your mind don;t get carry away... :-)

By now we had climbed up quite a bit into the hilly part of the trail. We started to see leeches and giant ants... :-)

To be continued in:
Leeches, Bikers and a Cold Hard Trail - Part 4

Batu Dam - Part 2 - Leeches, Bikers and a Cold Hard Trail

2007-07-18T22:32:00.000+08:00

Batu Dam Trail, it was really an excellent trail for hiking and/or mountain biking. The trail was very scenic, beautiful and serene. So many times along our journey we had to stop and enjoy the view.... and of course to catch our breaths... LOL

Anyway, there were in total 7 of us; Azril, Izaini, George, Daniel, John, Ken Wei and me.

Aside from Azril and Izaini, the rest of us are all newbies to mountain biking. Well... George, Daniel and I have had some experience... if you can call it that... at the Rubber Research Institute... LOL Ok, ok... I am stretching it.

Everyone was very excited as this was our first visit to Batu Dam. The only information we had on Batu Dam was from reading the articles and viewing photos on the Internet.

As soon as everyone's bike was ready, we set off to climb the very first slope leading to the dam. Man... what a slope it was... Check out the location on Google Earth and photo here.

Since I was a self-designated video camera man, I had to do my duty by cycling ahead so as to be able to capture the geeks as they rode pass just like on Discovery Channel... LOL.

It was a pretty gentle climb that stretched on and on... at least that's what I felt. Finally we made it to the top. Lo and behold! The dam was really beautiful and calm.

Not quite getting over the sight of the dam, we continued and headed along the trail still beholding the view... LOL.

Then came the first obstacle... a puddle of muddy water... which made us realized that this ain't no sightseeing tour... there were obstacles to over come.... LOL. Anyway, this was a piece of cake for everyone to cross. Check out the location on Google Earth and the photo.

More Discovery Channel footage of the riders... Hahaha...

Around the next corner, I just had to stop to take in the sight and sound. Everyone was ahead of me. But what the heck man... it was serene!

Then I caught up with Azril. He had stopped to take some photographs. Man... I wish I had brought a better camera rather than depending on my Dopod D810. But I needed the GPS photos more, just so we can later refer to Google Earth for our locations through those GPS embedded photos.

Anyway, Azril the naturalist was showing me what a "Jambu Mewah" was. A non-edible fragrant fruit... LOL. Check out the location on Google Earth and a photo of "Jambu Mewah" here. Also, check out the panorama photo that Azril took! Magnificent!!!

As Azril and I continued down the trail, we came across some "cempedak" and "rambutan" trees. Seems there were some people planting a mini orchard.

To be continued in:
Leeches, Bikers and a Cold Hard Trail - Part 3

Batu Dam - The Leechitimization of George and John

2007-07-15T00:14:00.000+08:00

What's a cycling adventure without some casualties? George and John was "leeched" and did not know it.

George felt an itch around his crotch and on his thigh. When he scratched, he felt something rubbery and slimy, then he started bleeding.... LOL. Check out George's video:

John, on the other had, did not know about the "leechitization" until we were all back at our vehicles getting ready to pack up.

Check out John's video... :-)

Batu Dam - Part 1 - Leeches, Bikers and a Cold Hard Trail

2007-07-14T20:07:00.001+08:00

Location:
Batu Dam near Kampong Sungai Tua Baharu.

Map:
(George to put map here... :-)

George: Map as required below, sorry didn't keep my GPS on all the time, so no actual trail, just my estimates:

Top Speed:
41.4 km/h

Total Distance Traveled:
13.5 km up, down and around the lake.

GPS Embedded Photos on Google Earth: http://www.panoramio.com/user/595543/tags/Batu%20Dam
(Unfortunately the satellite images provided by Google Earth is not very good.)

More Photos From Daniel:
http://picasaweb.google.com/danielchoo/BatuDam

More Photos from Azril:
http://picasaweb.google.com/azril1971/BatuDam?authkey=FQCLSRsp-zo

Bicycle Helmet - Necessary?

2007-07-05T23:49:00.000+08:00

I remember the time first when I wore my bicycle helmet and cycle to a friend's house, the first reaction was laughter thinking how ridiculous I looked or sor chai in our terms. Then tonight when I tried to convince a cycling buddy to buy a helmet, he took it as a fashion statement and said "the helmet so small, protect what?"

Then I realiased that all this happening because there lack of bicycle safety education in Malaysia! We have laws that required everyone to wear motorcycle helmets and so so often we witnessed motorcyclist in our neighbourhood disregarding them. Even the security guard patrolling the streets in my neighbourhood ignore the helmet, breaking the law to enforce the law? What is wrong with Malaysians or are their lives just that cheap? If you have noticed the latest wear a helmet advertisements on the media, it mentioned that most accidents involving motorcyclist happened near their home.

In 2005, there are 1,679 accidents involving bicycles, that's 3.57% of the total statistics, bear in mind these are reported accidents, usually involving police report, meaning heavy casualties or death. I remembered when I was on a bicycle got knock down by a van when I was a kid, there were no report made cause I was ok, imagine how many of these is not included?

So back to bicycle helmet, do we really need it. From what I have read so far, no, a bicycle helmet does not give you the type of protection you from a motorcycle helmet, if a car runs over your head with the helmet, it will still becomes crushed watermelon. But I look at it from this angle, it may not give me 100% protection, but it increase my chances of survival. The inner foam is designed to cushion the impact on the brain while the outer plastic is to make it skid so it does not jerk your neck! Just make sure your strap is on otherwise don't bother wearing one.

Here's a good link I found on bicycle helmet http://www.helmets.org/

In many countries like Australia, part of US, its already a law for bicycle helmets and I am very sure they are not doing because they have nothing better to do. Its sad that the mentality of Malaysian is no helmet is ok. Education should start young, if a kid does not learn the importance of a bicycle helmet, I think they wouldn't think motorcycle helmet is important too when they grow up. This is sadly what we have no experience when we are a kid, a bicycle helmet, never even seen one when I was cycling as a kid!!! First chance we got when riding the motorcycle in kampung, we take the damn helmet off! Nothing beats the wind through the hair, but we forgot how fragile a human is to falling :P

Based on Jack's request, here's my helmet and bike, so if you see a fei chai wearing a red helmet on a red bike in KK-Rimau, that's me!

Crouching Mosquitoes and Hidden Trails - Part 3

2007-06-24T23:40:00.000+08:00

Here are some more videos and photos I took of the geeks.

George on his happening "ass hurting" bike... :-)

Daniel on his brand new mountain bike.

Me and Mr Sub.

First stop, while George gets our position via his GPS.

First pix I took with GPS coordinated embedded in the photo.

If you are a "spatial" thinking person that MUST really know where things are located in this world... worry no more... go to - http://www.panoramio.com/user/595543 and view some of these photos and where they are located on Google Maps... Where 2.0 :-)

I rode ahead so that I could take these pixs of Daniel and George as they ride up... as you can see George is taking his own sweet time... :-)

This video shows how difficult it is to shoot and ride at the same time.

A rubber tree nursery.

A Mr Nice guy who was all too keen to give us directions after George's GPS failed the reliability test... LOL. But the directions he gave seems exaggerated and gave the impression that we are really far from civilisation, when we are actually just two steps away... LOL.

Here is what Mr Nice Guy had to say... :-) Btw, George and Daniel ah... do you remember why we were all laughing at the end of the video?

Again, me way ahead of the guys just so I could take photos and video of them as they appear in the horizon.

Here is the video that is suppose to show Daniel and George coming up on the horizon after a hard climb on a steep slope... :-)

Finally, the geeks arrive... LOL

Cycling or Sex?

2007-06-24T21:13:00.001+08:00

Found this article, interesting to read, any comments?

http://www.cars-suck.org/research/wilting.html

Crouching Mosquitoes and Hidden Trails - Part 2

2007-06-24T16:45:00.001+08:00

Rookies... that's what I consider ourselves as... not sure about Jack, he is probably the only veteran among us, by previous MTB-ing experience as well as his age... hehehe :P. Anyway, since this is the first adventure, we decided to go to RRI in Sg. Buloh (see GPS attached), may not be the real hashing trails but good enough for a start ;)

Armed with a road standard mtb with a cute basket, I joined Jack's Exitway (Hard Tail) and Daniel's new Zero (Full Suspension) on this rookie's virgin MTB adventure. We went into RRI through the Jalan Sg. Buloh entrance and 4 minutes down the road... we are lost... hahaha... someone need to update the GPS map, the trail marked require you to carry your bike down a riverside sloop, cross a medium size deep river and try to climb up the river bank again!

Anyhow we managed to find our workaround cycle into the trails which are surrounded by rubber estates as well as orchards and nursery. Most of the trails are shaded but that also means its filled with mosquitoes, the mosquitoes are so hungry that they actually bite you as you cycle by!

The trails looks easy from pictures and first look at it, but when you are actually there, a small but long sloop is actually quite tough and you get a lot of those here. Basically you will suffer uphill climb but be rewarded with downhill zoom then suffer more uphill climb again and we are already choosing the easy route. Since this is the first time here and I don't have a mount for the GPS, we have to stop on a regular basis to make sure we don't go in circles or stray too far from the our truck.

I will leave the talking to the photos, but overall, this is a good place to start, getting to know your bike and give beginner a good idea what a real hash will be demanding from you. It may not be your jungle trail but the air is good and you actually don't feel tired at the end but relaxed and good :).

Credits: Photos by Daniel with Canon G7

Just for sharing we decided to test each other's bike to feel the difference in these trails, conclusion are:

Lerun Maverick, no suspension, metal frame, on-road tyres, cute basket, 18 speed - the moment we start I can feel the bike is much slower as the tyres eat into the sand, giving me not enough traction. Most of the journey I am on 1 or 2 gear, meaning I have to cycle more than the rest especially going uphill, its super slow, had to push for certain parts *pai-sehhhh*. When going downhill, the rest of the guys just zoom down but I will be braking like mad because its too bouncy. Conclusion is keep this bike to cycling with my dog to the shops.

Sub Exitway (i think), front suspension, alloy frame, double rim with thick tyres (26x2.00) - the first thing I felt different is the saddle, after enduring pain for the whole trail, I felt less pressure on the b*lls and the ride is comfortable. Going downhill with this is good, less bump and you can confidently go faster and can go on higher gear. Overall this bike is quite good for its price, if only it have quick release for easy transport, but heck our friend don't need it :P.

Polygon Zero, this is so far the most expensive bike in the group but not for long, we know there will be one KHS coming soon :P. Full suspension, alloy frame, double rim, 26x2.00 tyres, shimano STEF 29, 24 speed. Surprisingly, the saddle is not as comfortable as the Exitway and I don't feel too much difference in suspension, maybe I didn't cycle long enough but hill climb was relatively easy with this one. I noticed this from the numbers of time Daniel overtook me and rubbing it into me "so easy to go uphill la" *beh tar han*.

Conclusion, I think for a rookie, we don't need a power bike yet but should at least try to get one with front suspension, thick tyres for offroad, good brakes (v or disc), speed doesn't matter too much for now, light alloy body and quick release (easy to carry and transport). Btw, insects repellent saves lives, get plenty of them before going in!

Crouching Mosquitoes and Hidden Trails - Part 1

2007-06-24T00:45:00.000+08:00

This was it... the first real adventure of The Wild Geeks Adventure Club. I will leave all the writing to George and Daniel, and merely post what I documented in pictures and video.

First of all, a little background on where we were at. The cycling trail was located at the Rubber Research Institute (RRI), somewhere in between Subang and Sungai Buloh. Apparently RRI is a very famous and well-known place for cyclist.

Video - RRI - Start of the Trail

Video - RRI - George "Hiau"

Video - RRI - Rough Riding in the Pocket

Video - RRI - Out of the Pocket and into the Sun

Video - RRI - Bearings and Directions

- Continue in Part 2

Targeted Trails

2007-01-01T13:54:00.000+08:00

The following are The Wild Geeks targeted trails:

Bukit Dinding (Setia Wangsa)

Estimated 5km. But notice that it is called a "Bukit" so expect terror climbs!

Kg Lalang (Pinggir Putrajaya close to Dengkil)

Estimated 12.5km.

Sg Pening-Pening (Kajang)

Estimated 9km.