Hares: Kapten Zainol and Yaafur Cycling Club
Depending on who you are, you would have had an opinion about the Sun after the hash yesterday. If you are Clark Kent, the Sun was great obviously, because that’s where you get your super power from. For the kwai loh, brighter is better and hey! You get a lovely tan. For the majority of Malaysians, blue skies and the star shining brightly in all his glory is appreciated and maybe revered but let’s all hide in the shade. Luckily, Kapten Zainol and his team had prepared a lovely soup of trails for the hash. A veritable mix of plantation, secondary roads and an excursion around old Batu Arang.
We started on road and riding towards the main road of BTP before turning left onto palm. Here we met the FRBs who were having some difficulty resolving the first check. I had an idea where the Hares had to take us and took the correct way down and soon heard the FRBs calling the on on. There was still some confusion as to the correct way but we just followed the herd and crossed a muddy section and rode further down the trail eventually finding paper before a ditch. There was no extra paper to be found to close the check. However, most of the riders just followed the herd and I hope no one was left behind.
The next section was a short climb on wet grass and many were pushing. Well, obviously not the FRBs as they are all strong and fit and they quickly sprinted ahead. However, a few of the scenic riders decided to give up and started pushing here. No problem. You get a nice view and blue intense skies. Lovely! Let’s push the bikes and have a chat. At the crest, a Hare was stationed at the entrance to a small palm plantation. Kiddies go straight and the rest to turn right and right again onto a short single track. The trail here was a bit slippery and wet and in one section, a soupy blend of mud and cow dung. Now, this may sound gross, but the smell of cow dung is synonymous with riding in a palm plantation and at a certain level, it gives the ride a certain flavour. Moving on….
We soon exited from palm and passed a cemetery where my fellow Chinese brethren were cleaning the graves of their ancestors and burning incense to celebrate Cheng Beng(Qingming). For the uninitiated, this is when Chinese people visit the graves or burial grounds of their ancestors. We clean the graves, offer food to our ancestors and then pray for more health, wealth and success. For more information, you can Wiki it. About a kilometre after that, another hare was stationed with bright yellow signs indicating right turn for Long and straight on for the Scenic. We continued straight on and soon arrived at the town centre where many riders were buying drinks from various stalls. After replenishing our supplies, we continued on road, passed the Chapel of St. Michael before starting a slight climb. We then had to do a short hike-a- bike where the hares had laid a nice downhill trail. Lots of fun but you had to watch the loose gravel.
We eventually exited back onto road where Long had to continue right into palm and the scenic riders turned left and then right at a substation also into a small palm section. We rode for a while in palm before going into an open area along-side huge pipes and back onto road. Here, the Long riders re-joined and a few were going hard as they sensed that this was the home stretch. It’s funny how horses and cows do the same thing. They all speed up from a walk into a trot and finally, a run as they get closer to home. Perhaps, we are all not so different after all. And perhaps humanity should stop raping the environment and causing all kinds of destruction…whoops, better stop the rant before I expose my greenie roots.
Today is a special day for me. It is the first time since setting the bash at Gerachi, KKB last year that I had the use of the roof racks on the Subaru. It’s taken that long to get the replacement racks and I have to say, thank you Mr Thule for roof racks as I am tired of packing bikes into the boot of a car. Lesson learnt from last year; always look out for hanging power cables when conducting a driven recce through a village. The cables are black, they hang low and are nearly invisible against the backdrop of a forest.
It was lots of fun at the bash and I especially enjoyed it as my son deigned to join his parents for the bash. Many thanks Kapten Zainol and Yaafur Cycling Club, Kelolo and the KLMBH for another great day in the sun.
HYH
Long Ride by Laurent Ane
- View it on Garmin Connect
- Download the .gpx file
Short Ride
- View it on Garmin Connect
- Download the .gpx file
Kiddie Ride
- View it on Garmin Connect
- Download the .gpx file
Date: 31 March 2013
Venue: Bandar Tasik Puteri
Hares: Kapten Zainol and the Yaafur Cycling Club
Start Time: Briefing at 09:15, On On at 09:30 sharp
GPS Coordinates: N3 17.328 E101 27.937
Description From The Hares
The Bash returns to Bandar Tasik Puteri. This time brought to you by Kapt Zainol and the Yaa’fur Cycling Club (YCC), a third cycling group emerging from this township after BTP Bicycle Brigade (BBB) and ARB.
The Long Ride
Distance for the long ride will be around 28km to 30km. Some refinement is still being done as this is written. That’s why we can’t confirm the actual distance. The trail is a mixture of dirt double track passing plots of vegie farm, rolling hills, asphalt (bitumen or tarmac - call it what you like) passing through the sleepy hollow town of Batu Arang. Palm is common vegetation here where we will work our quads climbing up the Bukit Dua Beradik (Hills of Two Brothers).
The Short Ride
The Short Ride trail profile will be similar but with a shorter distance of 16km. Highly recommended for newbies wanting to get acquainted with mountain biking.
[Edited:] The Kiddie Loop
Since 16km is a wee long(uish), the awesome Hares - yes, they are, have thrown in a kiddie loop of 10-12km! Bring on the little monsters!
Directions
- Find your way to the Rawang toll. You may come from PLUS highway (E1), GCE (E35) or LATAR (E25)
- Reset your tripmeter
- 0.3km At traffic light, turn left onto Jalan Batu Arang
- 5.4km Turn left onto Jalan Tasik Puteri
- 11.7km Turn right onto Jalan Lembah Hijau
- 12.1km Take the 2nd left onto Pinggiran Lembah Hijau 2
- 12.4km Turn left onto Pinggiran Lembah Hijau 1
- 12.4km Arriving at destination, N3 17.328 E101 27.937
- Park along the road indicated with yellow line in the picture below
On On !
<edit>
Bring the kids along! In addition to the Long & Short Ride, there will be a Kiddie Ride, thanks to the awesome job from the Hares. And the additional paper they had to lay… See below the ride description.
</edit>
Date: 24th Feb. 2013
Venue: Alam Budiman, Shah Alam
Hares: Huang Ying How, Mike Kwan, Nazari, Azizan and Albert Chuah
Start Time: briefing at 08:45, start at 09:00
GPS coordinates: N 3 08.674 E 101 28.806 / +3° 8’ 40.46”, +101° 28’ 48.46”
Description From The Hares
We feel honored to be with all KLMBH Hashers. We believe that all aiming for one common goals - the friendships, health, environment and surely we all love our mountain bikes.
This month it will be at Alam Budiman. Usually, the riders will be climbing and squatting at the peak of Bukit Ramlee to enjoy the scenery and famous Wak Ramlee’s pineapple juice. But for KLMBH bash, we are organizing a ride surrounding the Subang Dam for both Scenic & Long Ride.
The Long Ride
The Long Ride will be 31km for the back of the pack and around 35-km for the front riders. It’s truly all rideable, the trail is (fast) rolling through palm oil estates, Kampong roads and secondary forest. There is one major hill (err…4x) to challenge the riders and really not suitable for newbies or uphill haters… Don’t tell us we didn’t warn you!
The Short Ride
The Short Ride will be about 16km in length. The trail is part of the famous ‘CSI’ murder site. (Ermm… no need to mention who!). It’s honestly all rideable but still not suitable for kids because of a high traffic road section.
<edit>
The Kiddie Ride
The Kiddie Ride will follow the Short Ride for about 2km before peeling of to the
rightleft (who cares anyway, we love keeping you confused). It’s 11km long and is a mixture of village roads and palm estate. It’s generally flat with the occasional undulation and the return leg is shared with the Short Ride. Adult supervision is still required as there is a road to cross.
</edit>
Important
Keep sufficient water (at least 3 liters for the Long Ride), light snacks and some loose change. Personal safety gears are not to be compromised. There are sections that are in the open (not shaded), please slap on some sunblock and mozzie repellent.
And most importantly - stay on paper!
If you’re not on paper, backtrack to where you last saw paper and try to find the paper trail from there.
Do not follow other riders, follow the paper trail instead!
Directions to the rendez-vous point from NKVE
- Exit Shah Alam Toll
- 2km - Take slip road left for E35 Lebuhraya Koridor Guthrie toward Bkt. Jelutong
- 0.5km - At Exit 3506, take slip road left toward Batu Arang / Kg. Subang
- 0.5km - Turn right onto Persiaran Gerbang Utama and then immediately turn left onto Jalan Sungai Buloh
- 1.3km - Turn left onto Jalan Batu Arang
- 6km - Arrive at Alam Budiman, Shah Alam, Restaurant ‘Aroma Kayu Api’
N 3 08.674 E 101 28.806 / +3° 8’ 40.46”, +101° 28’ 48.46”
On On !
Riding the ridge @ Bukit Cerakah by Phil Bee
Date: 24th Feb. 2013
Venue: Alam Budiman, Shah Alam
Hares: Huang Ying How, Mike Kwan, Nazari, Azizan and Albert Chuah
Start Time: briefing at 08:45, start at 09:00
GPS coordinates: N 3 08.674 E 101 28.806 / +3° 8’ 40.46”, +101° 28’ 48.46”
Description From The Hares
We feel honored to be with all KLMBH Hashers. We believe that all aiming for one common goals - the friendships, health, environment and surely we all love our mountain bikes.
This month it will be at Alam Budiman. Usually, the riders will be climbing and squatting at the peak of Bukit Ramlee to enjoy the scenery and famous Wak Ramlee’s pineapple juice. But for KLMBH bash, we are organizing a ride surrounding the Subang Dam for both Scenic & Long Ride.
The Long Ride
The Long Ride will be 31km for the back of the pack and around 35-km for the front riders. It’s truly all rideable, the trail is (fast) rolling through palm oil estates, Kampong roads and secondary forest. There is one major hill (err…4x) to challenge the riders and really not suitable for newbies or uphill haters… Don’t tell us we didn’t warn you!
The Short Ride
The Short Ride will be about 16km in length. The trail is part of the famous ‘CSI’ murder site. (Ermm… no need to mention who!). It’s honestly all rideable but still not suitable for kids because of a high traffic road section.
Important
Keep sufficient water (at least 3 liters for the Long Ride), light snacks and some loose change. Personal safety gears are not to be compromised. There are sections that are in the open (not shaded), please slap on some sunblock and mozzie repellent.
And most importantly - stay on paper!
If you’re not on paper, backtrack to where you last saw paper and try to find the paper trail from there.
Do not follow other riders, follow the paper trail instead!
Directions to the rendez-vous point from NKVE
- Exit Shah Alam Toll
- 2km - Take slip road left for E35 Lebuhraya Koridor Guthrie toward Bkt. Jelutong
- 0.5km - At Exit 3506, take slip road left toward Batu Arang / Kg. Subang
- 0.5km - Turn right onto Persiaran Gerbang Utama and then immediately turn left onto Jalan Sungai Buloh
- 1.3km - Turn left onto Jalan Batu Arang
- 6km - Arrive at Alam Budiman, Shah Alam, Restaurant ‘Aroma Kayu Api’
N 3 08.674 E 101 28.806 / +3° 8’ 40.46”, +101° 28’ 48.46”
On On !
During the KLMBH #220 @ Bukit Kiara, a few good blokes helped a friend who had a really bad fall from her horse. Her name is Genevieve and she ended up in a back brace which she’ll have to wear for 6 weeks.
She wants to find out who the guys were that helped her so she can say thanks as they were really great to her.
Come on, step forward guys ! Send me a quick word that I’ll forward to her.
Big kudos to these fellow Bashers !
- View it on Garmin Connect
- View it on Strava
- View it on EveryTrail
- Download the .gpx file
- Download the Google Earth file
By Lloyd Laughlin
I awoke excited (shut up Stan!!!) though I couldn’t pinpoint the reason, was it because I was going to ride my first hash since October or was it because I was going to hand over the bashpiss duties to Chris and Laurent?? I was soon to realise it was the latter.
Arriving early at the Bash site gave me a chance to decide on whether I would do the short or the long, though having Stan mention something about him sweeping the short, and women off their feet, the decision was made for me – anyone who hasn’t seen our Supreme King (SK) sweep women off their feet has truly missed one of the world’s greatest wonders! (his success rate stands at 1 yes, 1000 no’s – thankfully JiLian said yes!!)
After a short time amusing myself with Stan’s hit rate, others started arriving. After helping Winston unpack his ute (yes, there will be Aussie slang in this write up – Ed) Oli and I started arranging the registration tables – had no one told me I was no longer on the committee? Soon, Laurent arrived with the drinks and I was able to unload the eskis from my car for the very last time, this is when I realised my excitement was due the passing over the Bashpiss duties. A few ‘bloody funny mate’ jokes with Shiney, and were we ready to ride.
After registration, our Supreme King provided the ride briefing, I can’t really remember what he said because I wasn’t listening (was anyone?), though I do remember the ride not starting because no one volunteered to be the short ride scribe (so this is how I find myself wasting a perfectly good Monday morning – Ed). As Sarina and I had decided to ride the short with Sweeping Stan, we waited for most of the riders to leave at which point Stan said “You’d better start now as there are a couple of steep climbs at the start”, thanks for not telling us earlier, mate!!!
A short ride along the road brought Sarina and I to a longish climb past the Kiaramas sales office. We decided to stop in and see what was on offer, we finally settled on a 16th floor 2 bedroom apartment – that reminds me!
For Sale: A soon to be furnished 2 bedroom apartment in Kiaramas, close to public transport (taxis), entertainment areas, schools, with 24 hr security, a short drive to KL with magical views of KL city. Competitively priced at RM4.5mil. Call Lloyd or Sarina during business hours.
I digress.
We continued to the mouth of the trail where we found a large group of riders gathered. After a few short questions, it was revealed that the climb (apparently named Reverse Boner) Stan had mentioned previously was causing some people some grief. (Note: I have just been informed by our Supreme King that Reverse Boner is known as No Boner – mate, that goes a long way to explaining your success rate). An entertaining chat with our good friend Julian proved to be the energy that we need to tackle the climb, or so we thought! Half way up all three of us jumped off our bikes and were trying to take in air like a hot air balloon descending in the top of a volcano. It was at this point that our previous KLMBH President, Winston, appeared on his 29er, I guess he still has size issues.
At the top of this first climb Sarina and I both agreed that this area looked like the ideal spot for the first of our many breaks and it would also give ‘Slow Stan, sorry Sweeping Stan’ (one in the same thing anyway) a chance to catch up. Little did we know that the combination of two gorgeous full suspension bikes (Sarina’s Yeti and my Scott) be too much for Stan’s Ti hardtail. At this point Phil pointed Sarina and me in the direction of the short ride. Thanks Phil!!!
After the break we jumped back on the bikes and sailed down a fairly tame downhill after which we came to another climb. We contemplated another break but were too tired to jump off the bikes – go figure… We made our way through a fairly large gap in the fence (it’s good to see the fence doing its job – Ed) and took some time to admire someone’ handy work, as just after the fence was the look out over Damanasara where a person had creatively stacked rocks on top of each, it reminded me of my childhood days playing on the farm.
After a few up and down sections, you get that with mountain biking, we came to a rocky downhill where an unfortunate guy went over the bars. After a quick check to ensure that he was ok, we continued at a leisurely pace. Mate (sorry I don’t know your name) I hope you’re ok. We continued further and were sure we were on the right trail when we came across a familiar face heading in the opposite direction. Boon Foo, were you lost?
Further along we came out onto a fire access road and saw the ‘HOME’ sign, it was at this point that Sarina and I discussed about doing the long as we still had enough energy in our legs, the fact that we could barely breathe ensured that we continued on the short.
After a couple of downhill switchbacks, which Sarina completed with the grace of a gazelle and the determination of a lioness chasing down her pray (should that read lioness or cougar – I’m not familiar with all these new-fangled terms) we came upon a bridge.
Now, the Oxford dictionary describes a bridge as a:
- Structure carrying a road, path, railway, etc. across a river, road or other obstacle.
Personally, I like to use the description used on the film ‘Funny Farm’:
- “That ain’t a bridge, it’s termites holding hands”
Having said that, we made it across in one piece.
Next in my notes (that were taken while I was riding, bloody good effort –Ed) is ‘we came out of the trail where Sarina previously fell’. I can’t remember this part so I guess I can’t write about it and tell everyone where Sarina fell, so Sarina you don’t have to worry about anyone knowing where you fell… hahaha…
We continued along and turned left up a fire access road which was quite muddy and smelled like, like, ummm, crap… I still don’t know how horses and cows, etc. turn sweet smelling grass into THAT!!! I steered my bike with the purposefulness of a Marine guiding a full spec military Hummer through a mine field, I’m pretty sure the minefield would do less damage. I still reckon the hares should have put up signs reading ‘Caution, you are entering a militarized zone’…
We turned right into another ‘militarized zone’ which proved very difficult to ride up. The combination of mud, horses’ hooves prints and their golden nuggets all seemed to work against us so we jumped off and pushed the bikes up.
We came out onto the tarmac road and turned left at the water tank into what can best be described as ‘slop’. Slop can take many forms, there’s slop which animals like to eat, there’s slop which is served in prison (so they tell me – Ed) and then there’s Kiara slop. Let us all take a minute to really appreciate Kiara slop.
The slop that Sarina and I rode through (there was no way this little black duck - (gotta love Looney Tunes cartoons – BTW, a special ‘hi’ to my friend Loon, I’m coming to see you soon… haha… geez, maybe I should have written this as a poem?) was going to put his white shoes (shut up Stan!!!) in the mud) was a leg sapping slop. I was able to ride through the first half and struggled to get through the second, Winston/Shiney, maybe there is some benefit in a 29er.
Sarina and I kept riding and by this point we knew that ‘Slow Stan, Sweeping Stan or now even, Slop Stan – ewww, that grossed even me out!!’, was not going to catch us, such was the speed with which the dual sussers were eating up Kiara. Speaking of food intake, it was at this point that I had realised I had run out of water, my camelback bag was empty and my ‘Angora Goat’ was ‘Drier than a Dead Dog’s Dinger’… I knew if I had to ‘Mad Mike’ in the future, I was going to soil my ‘Reg Grundys’… ok, enough of the Aussie slang…
After the slop, we turned left and started riding up another ‘horse trail’, after which we turned left into a narrow single trail where a corner of the fence is located. Sarina ascended the short climb to find yours truly cursing and swearing at the fence (shut up Stan!!!). It seems in my haste to get up that short climb the fence step out in front of me and took out the left side of my handlebars, stupid fence!!! Who in their right mind installs a stupid ugly fence in the middle of pristine countryside, maybe we should get a petition going?? Hahaha… (before you write in, I am joking!! – actually on second thoughts, please address all emails to stan_the_supreme_king@gmail.com, hahaha… - Ed).
After some sedate single track downhill, we came across what looked like one of the ‘campsite’ for the illegal rubber tappers. Empty bags were strewn all over the place, there was a mattress and shelter on one side of the trail and a what looked like used prophylactics on the other – ahhh, the joys of mountain biking!!!
After working our way through the ‘campsite’ we continued on a slight downhill and then took a left onto a fire access road where we came across a couple of other bikers heading in the opposite direction. (Sorry, I can’t remember your names, but I never forget a face – I guess that doesn’t work when your writing – Ed.). Sarina and I continued riding at which point we came to a fork in the road – decisions, decisions – though the instructions of ‘stay on paper’ at the other bash briefings rang through my head, so we hung a right and stayed on paper. This trail led us to the back of the school and a very challenging single track over tree roots, drains and a small wooden bridge. It was here when Sarina asked ‘do people actually ride this?’ at which I responded ‘yes’… (c’mon folks, you can’t expect all conversations to end in a joke – Ed).
We rode back to the registration point, signed back in, bought drinks from the new Bashpiss, thanks Laurent, and sat down and waited for the others to arrive. Riders trickled in slowly (Stan, I believe you have experience with this?) and before we knew it, it was time to leave.
Many thanks to the Hares for taking time from their busy schedules to identify the trail and lay the paper, to Laurent for accepting all the Bashpiss crap I had in my car (I was not going to reload my car) to Stan for standing Sarina and I up, to Johnny for not actually coming and last but not least, to Sarina for sharing the ride with me. It was a day to remember!!!
Pics: KLMBH #220 @ Bukit Kiara (5)
