Sunday, August 27, 2006

Sunday always been a special day! Epic ride!

Sunday is my favorite day, nobody robs my Sunday and put some crappy schedule in my list. Sunday always been my mountain biking days. Today me and my biking buddies went to a place for away from city that is between BAKAM and SIBUTI district where the place is full of forests and remote country side.
At 2.30pm i load my bikes including my cycling partner bike into my sub compact hatch back car which can fit up to 3 mountain bikes at one time. Few minutes we're off to BAKAM district which takes us another 45 minutes to get there. We arrived at the location and unload our bikes and greet a dozen mountain biker who will be joining us into the forest for epic adventure, oh, there's one female on our group and she's very strong biker. At 3.30pm were depart and went inside the forest and speed down the forest canopy/trees, steer our bikes through tight trails, branches, roots and damp soil. Its was really fast, our bike suspension system (MANITOU + FOX + ROCK SHOX) works well under this terrains. Up and down, tight switchbacks turn, steep dual slalom style downhill and high speed chase through dense bushes and trees beside the river bank. During one of the downhills location one of our cycling buddies didn't succesfully steer the bike on steep 'S' turn downhill...he hit the a tree stump and one of his legs hit a sharp wood object and pierce through his left leg above the ankel and got a deep pinch on the flesh. We take 5 minutes to give him aid and then he was good to go and strong enough to pedals for another few kilometers in to the woods. We started pedal up the hills and down into green bushes with background of beautiful far horizon of hills and valley. The sky was blue and moderate hot, We keep on pedal down at full speed, I was on the 2nd place chasing my friend who own a bicycle shop rides on MERIDA TEAM full suspension who was infront of me. He was to fast tp catch up until i can't see him for another 50 meters...previously he trained on roadbikes. Few minutes later i jump out from the thick bushes and landed on logging trails deep in the forest. We gather around and counting heads to see if anyone missing in action. Joe from Canada rides on SPECIALIZED STUMPJUMPER bike was really pushing hard to keep the pace behind me. He got problem going down the steep hill but he's ok. Sometimes i have to ride as fast as i can because when we ride we compete each other to see who can make it to the finishing spot. So i pedal super fast super furious and push my body weight almost behind the seat to keep the bike load balance and less steering error on the front wheels. The trails have to many soft damp soil, holes, big roots and falling trees on our left and right especially at unexpected corner hidden away from our views. As we rides throughout the trails we can see few animals roaming, turkeys, monkeys, snakes, low flying eagles and weird plants like venus fly trap. Sometimes as we travel deep into the center of the wood the climate changes into very breezy and cold tempreature as we going inside tunnel like trails because the roof heavily sprouted with green fresh leaves, thick tree branches and bamboo which prevent sunlights reaching the ground surface. We spent hours of high speed rides around the forest, at the end of the ride we use the exit trails that lead towards local villages that have access to tarmac road. It was deep and winding road with local wooden and well built house situated beside the small road with dark forest in the background. It took us almost 30 minutes to exit and reach the main road which lead back to the place where we park our cars. Finally we reach our parked cars at final destination, its already almost 7.00pm. Mr Ching pull out a big box of case filled with cold canned drinks (100 PLUS Isotonic drinks). I took 2 cans and glup one go. Refreshing! Cold! I can feel the sweet liquid sugar from Isotonic canned drinks flows into my muscles and neutralized acid lactics that causes sore and tiredness on my body. Immediately i feel recovered from exhaustion. Everyone manage to get back safe on time, we gathered around for a good chat and laugh on stories about our current adventure. I chat with one of the bike shop owner about parts replacement on my bikes and tryout new equipment on peoples bike to test out how it perform. Some of us even like to show off some cool cuts, wounds, flesh bumps and scratches around our body, those forest trees, plants, bugs and rough grounds and savage unforgiven terrains sure put our human body a torture test. Luckily i have none because i know how to manouver my bike around the dangerous trails, accident free..hee..hee...pro riders.By 7.45pm we disassemble our bike and load back into our cars and ready to head back home. Joe mention he'll be going back to Singapore to meet his daughter for a week and another week in MULU districts for team exploration, so i bid farewell and hope to see him next ride next month and race again side by side in the forest next time. Ride on buddy!

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