A weekend to remember!
There was much excitement in the air as we gathered at 6am, Thursday at Uncle Eric's pad in Newton. Our precious cargo was all packed by 6.30am but we were missing something, Alvin Very Late Gano (as he is now known) arrived in his taxi, extremely apologetic, but 45 mins late!
A short run to the causeway, a trudge through customs (bikes and all) and a quick change of coach and we were finally on our way. The journey, whilst long, went smoothly, I think there were 84 :-) toilet stops on the way but, 'when you've got to go, you've got to go!. The movies on the way were an eclectic mix of the inspiring, Lance Armstrong and his 7 Tour de France wins, The Dark Knight, Kung Fu Panda and Bruce Lee!!
As the bus toiled up Fraser Hill we had our first opportunity to see what lay ahead - the scenery was stunning, such a vivid contrast to Singapore. The road twisted and turned 30km uphill through unspoilt jungle and past the huge Selangor dam until we reached The Gap, the gated one way system, odd hours allow traffic to go up and even hours allow you come down. I think we arrived at 4pm so we had an hour to wait. We all elected to leave the coach and walk up the hill allowing the bus to pick us up along the way. Dr SiOng, however, decided to don his running gear and show us all up by jogging to the top!!
We finally arrived in Bukit Fraser later in the evening dropping half the gang off at the Shahzan Inn and the others continuing just another 100m up the hill to Eric's bungalow which used to house the British Governor! Rooms were allocated through the tried and tested, whoever gets there first method and those that had prior knowledge of snoring ability came off best! (Sorry Johnson)
The food at Eric's was wonderful, many thanks to Eric and his team, but, apparently, those at the Shahzan didn't fare quite so well!
Friday morning saw us all up for a 5am breakfast and back in the bus for the journey back down Fraser Hill to Kuala Kubu Baru where our bikes were unpacked. A quick photo later - as you know, Joyce is never separated from her camera, and we were away at a furious pace, 42kmh but looking like a real team in our identical Joyriders jerseys!!
Soon we were at the foot of Genting itself. Mika and I had both misunderstood the route as we thought that we had a 50km ride to the foot of Genting, when it turns out that the total ride was 50km, including Genting. Therefore, the gradient after just 20km was starting to worry me - it was steep already and if this wasn't Genting, what had we let ourselves in for? After a while, we both realised that it was Genting after all - it didn't make the cycling any easier though!
The route twisted and turned up and up, seemingly forever. Genting Neo, Dr SiOng, Jonathan, Matthew and Larry were now way ahead and I remember Madeline and Martin coming past me with Madeline cheekily calling out 'nice bike' as she sailed past me. Martin added a 'she can be so cruel', which made me smile. Some of the ANZA crew zipped past at a pretty good speed, I remember Patrick overtaking me with a 'how are you Rocky?', 'tired' I gasped, 'you're only half way up!' he shouted - that didn't help!!
Soon after, Mika and Stacy overtook me, I tried to hang on but quickly caved in and settled back to my own, steadier pace. For an Ang Mo like myself the heat and humidity was tough, I was worried about running out of water and my energy bars and electrolyte drinks (2 bottles) were only making me feel thirstier - next time I will store more in my back pockets.
The gradient was a killer, some of the sections were simply too much and although I resisted for as long as possible I had to get off and walk twice for about 200m each time. When I saw others were doing the same I didn't feel quite so bad but next year there is no way I'm walking! Even walking was tough (not to mention getting started again afterwards), the gradient, heat, exhaustion, cleats, all made it a real trial.
Two corners from the top and I was greeted by Madeline, off the bike, changed and clicking away with her camera and shouting encouragement, I knew the end was close. I came around the last corner and saw the gang that had finished already together with those that had opted for the bus rather than the bike, all shouting me on to the finish. I'm sure I didn't smile as exhaustion had the better of me but I was so, so relieved to finish - I threw my bike down by the bus lay on the floor as my body started to recover from the shock. I'd ticked the Genting box, not in the most stylish fashion, but I'd done it and at the time, that's all that mattered.
Once the rest of the gang had joined us, it was off to see the Tour De Langkawi stage finish at the summit. Our Joyriders jerseys attracting attention as we found a great vantage point right at the finish. The stage winner was the Colombian Jose Serpa who gladly accepted our request for a Joyriders team photo and even presented Dr SiOng with his drinks bottle. Mixing with the teams and riders after the stage was another highlight. I asked two of the Garmin Chipotle riders about the climb and how they found it, 'Man, that was the toughest f*****g climb I've ever done in the world' was the passionate rely! (That made me feel a lot better).
The evening back at Bukit Fraser saw a full team interrogation from Queen Joyce and Peter - what was you best experience, worst experience, what gears were you using - a great evening and total respect to Genting Neo who completed the ride almost an hour ahead of me!
Saturday saw us regrouping at the hotel and fixing Valentine hearts to our bikes in exchange for Valentines hugs with Joyce before zooming 8km down the Gap (awesome - but tight) with some opting to go left and others opting to go right. Both were long down hill sections, drinks at the bottom and then the return climb back up. I opted to go right together with Eric, Peter and Don. The long sweeping 30km route was fantastic, I tried to forget about the fact that I had to retrace my steps back uphill a few minutes later. Those that opted to go 'right' (most of us) all convened for a quick 100+ at the bottom before heading back up the hill.
The ANZA gang were in action again today, it was good to swap stories about the climb yesterday as we toiled onwards and upwards. The climb up was fantastic, clearly not as steep as Genting but a challenge all the same. I'm not sure how long it took me as I didn't have my Polar but I'm guessing it was around 2hrs. Each one of us was met at the top by Joyce who shouted out to each of us as we finished, 'wanna kiss?', as she cheekily handed out the Hershey Kisses!
A few minutes after arriving back at the top I elected to race back down to the bottom again - I was joined by Baby Larry (puncture on the way down), Bergtor (awesome downhill speed) and Pascal who had all opted to go left for the first ride. The ride back up for the second time was not so pretty for me though. Lack of energy, stomach cramps, little water and worries about missing the 3pm slot to climb The Gap, overtook my original enthusiasm so when a truck driven by two Indian workers pulled up slowly along side me about half way up and said cheekily, 'do you want a lift?' I gratefully accepted. Much to the merriment of Pascal and Bergtor who we overtook on route and the bunch who were assembled at the gap waiting for the 3pm ascent!
Back at Fraser, incredibly Mika and Dr SiOng went out for a run (I had a beer instead!!), Don played golf and Martin and Madeline went for hike to see the waterfall. 'How was the waterfall?' I asked Martin, 'um, err, well, it was a waterfall!' he said, shrugging his shoulders! Before dinner it was time for an impromptu drinks party at Eric's bungalow and later in the evening we all met up at the small hawker up by the mosque in Bukit Fraser. No alcohol being allowed it was a hot Horlicks for me - Horlicks on a Saturday night!!! Don, Eric and I made up for it with a few whiskies back at the hotel though - normality resumed. A great finish to a great weekend of riding.
The journey back on Sunday was relaxing, more movies (another eclectic mix - 300, Ratatouille, The Heartbreak Kid), another 84 toilet stops and some interesting (and definitely not Ang Mo) food at Fatty Long's, Bak Kut Teh restaurant just outside KL.
One final stop just before the border for KFC and Durian (!) and we were back on familiar soil.
An awesome weekend - I can't wait to get back on my bike!
Special thanks to Peter and Eric for all the planning and thanks to all who came along and made the weekend so special.
See you on the road.
Rocky
