MACHAP REVISTED – UNDER HOT SUN

Our weekend ride for today (28th February 2010) was to follow the Machap trail. This trail was used for the Fun Ride 2009 which was organized by our club. Six strong riders participated for today ride. Amat, Rosdy, Ham, Amri, Cikgu Ali and senior rider brother Eddy. This is the first time bro Eddy rides with the gang.
Our ride took off from Taman Intan around 0750am. We headed straight to Kampung Rahmat which is around 10km from Taman Intan. When we got there, we meet with brother Zaini who was raiding an off road bike (scrambler). Zaini who is actually a friend of Cikgu Ali accompanied us until we reached Tasik Machap. It was already 0815.

We had been to Tasik Machap a number of occasions before. We always stop by to enjoy the view it offers. But this time we were surprised to see the water level of the lake had dropped. Well, considering that Kluang had not been rain for almost 2 months, it is no surprised this good looking lake will dry up soon. And Kluang has already started water rationing since last month.

We continued riding. Instead of going to Machap’s town, we decided to try our luck by exploring a new trail to Kampung Pisang. Our guide was the telecommunication tower station. We managed to find the trail and climbed up the hill until the front gate of the tower’s station. We took a break and enjoy the view from top of the hill. What a refreshing scene!!!

We continued with the down hill. When we reached the base of the hill, we realized that we had left Amri and Zaini behind. We waited for 5 minutes before they finally showed up.

Continued our ride..and as we went further, we realized that the trail we were taking would not lead us to Kampung Pisang. A local told us that this trail will take us to Sri Lalang…..Booooom….we got the wrong trail!!!

No choice…the ride must go on….So we hesitantly decided to continue our ride to Sri Lalang as it was already 1000am. The sun was already shining on us and we were really being tested. There was no tree for us to shade from the hot sun. We were so exhausted that we had to push our bikes a number of time even when climbing small hills. We had to use our drinking water wisely as the sun really hot on us. After about one hour ride under the hot sun, we finally found tress along the road. We rested for a while feeling tired hungry and of course thirsty.

We continued again and finally arrived at Taman Ria Sri Lalang. We went straight to the nearby store to get a fresh and cold drink!!!

Some of us really think that was the hardest weekend ride so far….and I said, you asked for it…….

2nd Assault on Kampung Tanah Runtuh

We failed to find the Kg Tanah Runtuh’s trail on our first attempt. We were hoping that this second assault will find us that secret trail.

As usual we meet up at Ayie’s burger stall at Taman Fajar around 0700am and start pedaling to Kg Tanah Runtuh. For today ride, we were joined by Amat, Aie, Apek, Amri, Rosdie and Haizal. Physically fit and mentally strong, these riders should be able to find that trail.

As we climbed towards the first hill, Apek had his rear tire puncture. After replacing with a new tube, we continued the climb and reached the top with less energy used. The view was spectacular. Well that’s the beauty of doing mountain biking. You got the chance to enjoy the nature. We took a few pictures and continued our downhill to another two hills top which are the location of telecommunication towers.

We continued our ride and this time right after the last hill, we got into an oil palm plantation estate. We were tested again this time when Rosdie’s front and rear tires get punctured. Fortunately, we still got two last spares of tube.

After replacing with new tubes, we decided to call it off due to worried of punctured tires. Maybe 3rd time will be our lucky day!!!

Jun Chong's Trail + G Lambak's Trail = Sweat + Satisfaction

Yes, that is the right equation if we want to describe the combination of those two trails.

We did not ride during the weekend (13-14th Feb), due to many of our members had others commitments.  It was on the 16th, just two days after the Chinese New Year Calibration that we decided it was time to sweat.  We decided to marry those two trails to find out if we could handle both of them in one ride.

Fadli, Fairuz, Ahmad, Rosdie, Ham, Kadir and Amri were the raiders to try this married trail.

No need to write again about those two trails but if you missed it, check out this two links....The Complete Trail of Jun Chong and Going Downhill at Gunung Lambak.

Did not take a lot of pictures, but just want to share one video where Ahmd were maneuvering one of the steep slops of Jun Chong. 

By end of the ride, everybody was tired but that did not dampen their spirit to do it next time.

Bukit Keretapi - We Saw, We Conquered

Just as plan, we rode to Bukit Benut Estate to explore another challenging trail the estate has to offer.  We knew Bukit Benut has a hidden trail that has never been ridden before.  And our target today was to find and enjoy that trail.  All we knew is that, the highest peak is Bukit Keretapi....and that the place we want to park our bike today!!!!!

Kluang MTB welcomes Cikgu Ali, Ham and Suratmin joining our weekend ride.  As usual, Rosdie, Ahmad, Ayie, Arie, Haizal and Kadir made up the group today. 

We took off from Bandar T6 around 0730.  After a few snaps, we headed straight to the estate.  It is a four kilometer ride.

It was an effortless ride for us in the beginning.  But we knew, we had to save all our energy if we dare to conquer Bukit Keretapi.  After asking for direction a number of time, we finally saw the peak of Bukit Keretapi.....Wow!!!!

From the distance, yes it is high enough for bikers like us to handle.  But none of us wanted to go home without taming Bukit Keretapi.

Slowly we paddled to the top.  With no more palm oil trees to shade us from the hot sun, the climb was long and tiring.  The hill was too steep, and sometime it was almost impossible to control the front tire.

We finally made to the top of Bukit Keretapi.  The view from the top, made us forgot how tired we were.....

The Jun Chong's Trail Got It All

I have been missing the weekend ride with the guys for the last 3 weeks. That is really sucks. Every time I called them, they said I missed the new trail they discovered over a month ago that they described as "Got Everything", "A complete set", "The best so far" and so on.

They called it The Jun Chong trail caused the off rad starts next to Jun Chong's factory. This trail is actually laid inside the Kluang Oil Plantation estate.

So last weekend, no more excuses for me. With Ayie, Rosdie and his son, we tamed that famous trail at around 5pm. The weather was excellent and we knew we will soak with sweat today!!!!

We took off from a Shell petrol station at Jalan Kota Tinggi. In just 5 minutes we were already entering the entrance of the trail. By just looking at it from the main road, I was quiet impressed with the contour and landscape of the trail.

The first few kilometers were raiding in open space. The oil palm tress had been chopped down but that was not an excused not to enjoy this trail. Wow....it was either climbing uphill or going downhill....after you got tired of that, than only the trail offers you a flat off road for you to take a breather.

The trademark of this trail is climbing the peak and going downhill from there. We did not really bother how high is the climb....but I can tell you it was a long and tiring climb!!! There is a sign board along the trail cautioning not to overtake and use low gear!!!! Yes...that's right...just like climbing Genting.

After we successfully conquered that last climbed, it was all downhill...and believe me, it was loooong and ride able all the way to the main road.

We finally arrived at our meeting point half an hour past six. The total kilometer recorded was 15 kilometers. No complaint from me. it is a short trail but is is good enough for our weekend ride. And I agreed it got everything. I would rate it as the best trail so far in Kluang.

Thanks to Rosdie, Ayie, Ahmad and Apek for finding this trail!!!

Exploring The Secret Trail of Kampung Tanah Runtuh

Yes, that was what we did last weekend. Finding a new trail and making it as one of our weekend's ride. We were told by Ayie that it is possible to ride off-road all the way from Kampung Tanah Runtuh to Taman Seri Impian.

The only information we had was that it will take around one hour to get to Taman Seri Impian if you ride by off-road motor crossed. And on our way, we should be passing the Kampung Orang Asli settlement. We figured out we could reach there in two or two and half hours after taking account the markings we have to do.

So we headed to Kampung Tanah Rutuh hoping to find the 'secret' trail around 0730. The early morning drizzles did not dent our excitement of exploring the new trail. It was just six of us but that was good enough.

The early ride was relaxing as it was a tarmac road and there was not a single climb. As expected, we arrived at the Kampung Orang Asli but no one was around along the road for us to ask for direction. So, it was all up to us to find the trail.

We left the Kampung area, and headed to the oil palm estate. Yes, we now started riding off road and marking the route. The only "not-so-enjoying" about finding a new trail is that your ride will always be interrupted by either marking the route or making the decision with road to follow.

A couple of time we had to go back or make a u-turn after reaching a dead end. And in one case, we had to climbed quiet a steep hill only to find out that is the only trail heading to the peak. Well, nobody made any fuss about it, caused they all love the downhill.

We also had to lift and carried up our bikes. Not to forget, the number of times we had to push the bikes caused it was too hard to ride and we were just plain exhausted.

After one and half hour riding, we still could not find the route to Taman Seri Impian. We did ask about the direction from people we meet, but all of them seem surprised if that route exists.

So, we finally decided to call off exploring this new trail, instead we adjusted our target to conquer the highest peak of Kampung Tanah Runtuh that is the telecommunication’s tower.

After some pushing, lifting and tough riding, we finally managed to reach the tower and decided to ride home. The speed and acceleration of the downhill surely made up all the disappointment of not finding the "Secret trail of Kampung Tanah Runtuh".

But we are not giving up yet. Next Sunday, will be another day for us to find this trail.

GO DOWNHILL AT GUNUNG LAMBAK

You'll just love it going downhill at Gunung Lambak. That's the only thing on our mind when climbing this though off road. That's what motivates us to reach the 2nd stage of Gunung Lambak.

My post last month was about conquering gunung lambak riding via the road that leads to the microwave tower. That route is tough and difficult, but it's a tarmac road. It's basically a test of endurance.

But this time around, we climbed through the trail made by trekker that visited this great place almost every day. Some portion of the trail is a single track. It's a tactical trail caused you got to maneuver your bike through steep slops, big tress's root crossing the trail, small trees along the trail, and bumpy and uneven surface. And it was a long climb starting from the moment we crossed the Gunung Lambak's Eco Resort's entrance. And not only that, right after we left the resort area, we had to lift up our bikes for a couple of meters, caused that portion is not ride able. Well, it was all right, considering all this while we ride our bikes!!!!

I've been dreaming to ride at this trail a couple of months back when I took my family doing jungle trekking here. I knew, it's possible to ride but some how, they did not believe me until today.

We planned to check out the other trail that also leads to Gunung Lambak soon. If we able to find and ride at that trail wow...we have a complete loop or trail for Gunung Lambak. I am so excited about it caused we can claim and mark it as our club's trail.

The pictures here are not so sharp and clear...but that's the best I could share with....