May Senn Briefing.We were all at the Bangi RV by 0700 hrs, ready to rollout by 0730 hrs. It was a nice Saturday morning and I was feeling fine with a promise to keep. There were about 13 of us in the group, doubled the last train. May Senn was the pack leader again and, as a given, I was to bring up the rear. I do not recall most of the new riders, except for Julie who caught my attention because of her new iphone. Not that I have not seen an iphone before, but Julie was taking movies instead of normal pictures. I tried my best to look cool and pocketed my anxiety knowing that I have to cycle back this time. No excuse. No way out.
The ride out was good and I improved on my timings for the first leg to the Sepang town Shell station, being only insignificantly behind. I had learnt my lessons well, drank up two bottles of water before the stop, and had them refilled at the Shell station. Viola, no cramp threats this time. I was fit as a fiddle.
Lets go.Whilst at the Shell station, everybody had water, small bites and Power bars. I introduced my local Power Bar and shared it with everybody. The ladies loved it and were delighted with my substitute Power Bars. The ingredients in the biscuit kacang Pipang was as good as any sports food. It was not only satisfying, but also filling. It was kacang,caramel,eggs,flour and sugar. Just drink water after eating the sweetened biscuits.
I took the lead and rode out for the second and final leg from Sepang to Lukut, only to be the lead rider for seven minutes or so, before the pack caught up and zoomed past. All had the usual question as they overtook me. “ You OK uncle?”. Sure I’ll be Ok. Better when I was going down hill.
I arrived Lukut last as usual and we stopped at the local warong for nasi lemak and teh tarik. I was also delighted to meet an old friend, whom I had not seen for more than 10 years. We chatted about old times and ate together.
After the lunch break we decided to ride back as soon as possible to beat the soaring heat that was building up. Taking the initial lead and loosing it minutes later became routine. This time I lasted a good 20 minutes as this leg was quite undulating and rolling. After stopping briefly at Sepang town for refill again, we pushed on.
I had not realized that the hill at Hotel DePalma was quite long and challenging. It was not noticeable earlier in the morning on the ride out. I could not make it to the top and had to push my bike for about 200 meters to reach the top. I saw May Senn and Max waiting for me. We were told by a motorist passing by that a new rider was also not making it and was lying beside the road, possibly with cramps. The main pack was well ahead as they wanted to finish early.
I continued to ride back on my own, as May Senn and Max went to rescue the casualty. I rode steadily on my own kilometer over kilometer in the very hot sun and arrived safely at the RV. I did not even noticed that Max had swiftly over taken me and was out again in his car to bring back the casualty, who had incidentally recovered and had managed to ride all the way back. Good man.
Thank goodness, Max and May Senn had displayed good leadership and responsibility qualities and everybody came home safe. I had more than fulfilled my promise, I had actually enjoyed the ride. I’ll ride Lukut / PD again anytime.
Julie had written about this trip in her blogsite. She had also documented it well in a two part video using her new iphone. See it here.
http://missjewelz.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/3rd-raya-ride-to-lukut-pt-1/
and here
http://missjewelz.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/3rd-raya-ride-to-lukut-pt-2/
Thanks Julie. I have cropped some pictures from your video for this post. It was a pleasure to have rode with you. Will do it again anytime.
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