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Pic 2: All still smiling after 150Km, turning the convinient store into a resting place
Monday Vesak day ride was a relatively slow ride with ~15 riders turn up and couple more joined in between. Some have not recovered from the previous day ride hence chose short cut route back to the starting point.
At 12pm, we reached a small kampung (which is ~20KM from Sg Koyan). It was so hot that consumed a few bottles of 1.5L 100Plus, and we took the chance to clean our bikes. At 2:20pm, we reached Sg Koyan. We ate lunch... cooling Ice Kacang with some kuih. We still have 50KM+ to go, and the temperature was high!!! We continued our journey under the hot sun and most riders were tired and it took us close to 3 hours to complete the last 50KM+.
The hotel room at Raub was nice, and our GREAT dinner was paid for by a local friend. Not forget to mention... it was Bok Sim's 30th birthday and he has set a record for himself for riding 173KM on MTB in one day thru such a challenging terrain!!!
We spent sometime during dinner to discuss the route for Day 2 as many believed that they can't make it back to Kg Raja using the same route. After much considerations, we have decided that we would ride from Raub thru the foothill of Fraser then Kuala Kubu Bharu and end at Tapah; estimated distance was ~170KM. We ended the day with good sleep... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Day 2 (May 3): We met for breakfast at a nearby roti canai restaurant at 7am. Everyone were doing their "carbo" loading as there was a ~30KM climb coming up. We left Raub town at 7:50am. When we were riding up the hill, we noticed some signs indicating that the road was closed. One uncle on motorbike actually came to me informing that the road was broken as we would have to turn back... just few KMs before reaching the foothill of Fraser, we reached the part of the broken road... it was muddy but we could cross it. Our hero Choon Seng took off his shoes and carried all the bikes over the mud, and rest of the riders walked thru a small tree branch. A few were not able to balance and stepped into mud! Ha Ha Ha!!! The workers were laughing at us. 
At 10:20am, we reached the Fraser foothill, and it was Kodak moment again. The next 35KM was nice downhill to Kuala Kubu Bharu.
We had simple lunch at a small stall at Kuala Kubu Bharu... some cound not eat and some ate/drink a lot! We continued our journey at 12pm when we met the super heavy rain shower for about 15-20mins. It was truly a great noon shower!!! All riders were so freshed and energized after the "bath" that they could ride together for the next 35KM non-stop (averaging 30KM/h) to Slim River. Danny and I were pulling all the time. Of course Danny was pulling at slightly higher speed (slightly over 30KM/h) and when my turn came, I pulled at ~28KM/h. At Slim River, after the assessment of the riders' fitness level, we decided that we would end the ride Ipoh instead... breaking the 200KM mark on MTB in a day!!! The next two stops were Bidor and Kampar where we met Tommy and his friend on their car. At this point, we could see some riders showing the signs of going over their limits... since we were less than 30KM to go, we quickly jumped back on our saddles to continue the journey. With few KMs to Simpang Pulai, our bike computers shown that we have hit the 200KM mark. Most riders were excited again and picked the pace to complete the last 8KM!!! They were riding at over 30KM/hr... the pain on their backside, legs, hands, etc... were all behind their minds :). At 6:30pm, we reached our destination. We rode from Raub to Ipoh!!! One rider came to me saying that I kept extending the distance as we go along... he he he... this must be the first time that he joined our ride :)
Some interesting facts about the ride:
- 5 riders have not ridden more than 90KM in a day before the ride... and they rode a total of ~383KM on MTB over two days with some difficult climbs.
- Only 1 rider has ridden more than 200KM on MTB in a day before.
- 4 riders have ridden more than 200KM on road bike before.
- 1 rider is only 15years old. He joined the Day 2 ride and completed the 210KM without much problem.
- 1 rider has stopped riding since the 2004 PCC Interstate ride... and he started to ride again about 2 months ago, and the longest ride he has done in the 2 months was from Kg Raja to Hotel EQ. He completed both days with some mild complains only.
- Apart from 1 incident, only two small failures on our bikes... one RD screw fell on the road but it was found and re-installed, one tire puncture at Kampar and we got the tube replaced.
If you want to test your limit again... Danny is talking about 300KM on MTB in a day the next time!
Hear what the riders have to say about the ride...
Bok Sim: “This is my first time complete 383KM (173KM+210KM) ride on MTB in 2 days. The longest ride I have did on MTB before this event was 85KM round Island. I will say is fantastic ride with the rest of the MTB riders along the journey; total test out my body strain, endurance also bike reliabilities. Special Thanks to Peng Soon, Danny all riders from Penang and Cameron.”
David Rogers: "What a great 2-day ride! Riding 388km from Cameron to Raub to Ipoh is definitely the road riding highlight of my stay in Malaysia. The ride presented the right mix of personal challenges to make it daunting: an unknown route, climbs, a semi-technical descent, and back-to-back record distances on a MTB. It also had the right mix of interesting items to make it fun: great riding companions who rode together as a group, tasty food, and new places and scenery enjoyed at a cycling pace. The recovery day in Cameron visiting the Yew family farms was icing on the cake. I learned a lot about my abilities, my fellow riders, and Malaysia in the process. Thanks Peng Soon and everyone else involved in making this such a memorable experience!
Highlights:
The 20-minute rain shower leaving Kuala Kubu Baru that re-energized the group and made completing the remaining distance on day 2 possible.
Long gravel road plus new no-traffic road descent from Cameron to the east side of the peninsula.
Crossing the mud-slide just before Frasier Hill followed by a much-needed long, winding descent.
Exceeding 200km on the 2nd day!
Lowlights:
Bike accident early on the first day."
