Location: Bukit Beruntung
Date: Sunday 31st March 2019
After persuasion from neighbor Tarik we packed up our bikes and headed 40min north to Bukit Beruntung for KLMBH #289. Tarik’s promise was “you won’t be disappointed”. And he was right!
Along for the ride was my 7year old son Blaine. It was his first ride on dirt of any kind and was certainly going to be his longest ride ever. Hence we choose the Kiddies route described as “easy, relatively flat, mixture of single track and open road, and 8km long”.
After a detailed briefing we were off. After a few hundred meters of sealed road we entered the bush on a gravel road that started off flat with no obstacles. The perfect way to begin ones MTB career. This continued to a very gentle incline to an amazing lookout and photo opportunity. The perfect place to look back across the valley.
After a quick photo shoot we were back on the bikes heading into the first true section of single track through the rubber plantation forest. This section was definitely the highlight of the entire route and the perfect section to get a 7 year old hooked. It was relatively flat (slight down hill) with smooth and gentle turns. To sum up this section my son said “Dad, this is the best day ever”. This section lasted for just over 1km before our first ‘hike a bike’ section. My son had a small unexpected dismount here but it never dampended his spirts. Some more single track followed by a few more small ‘hike a bike’ sections got us to just over the 4km mark indicating the split between the kiddies section and the longer section.
This was the perfect place do sit and eat some of the snacks we’d packed for the journey.
Moving onwards had us onto a disused 4WD track. Hence the trail was more open. There was an initial gentle climb before descending gently down to a sealed road. The beginning of the sealed road was approx. 6kms from the start. Riding along the sealed road provided a welcome relief for the young fella given the longest he’d ever ridden a bike prior was 6kms! The sealed road returned in the direction of home, lasting approximately 1km before returning us through the same single track section in the rubber plantation as described above. Given the familiar territory my young fella ate it up. From here we returned the same we started.
I couldn’t have imagined a better route (and terrain) for kids to learn on. Credit to the organizers for arranging such an excellent event inclusive of young kids. Already my son is asking about the next one.
Cheers – Mat Hyland (and Blaine Hyland)