Saturday : Penang Heritage on Wheels (Phew)
Sunday : Can you Survive? [xx] participants
Having ridden a majority of this year's trail last year, I thought I'd survive the ride. Rumour had it that this was going to be the toughest jamboree yet - and I was so looking forward to the 37 switchbacks, a finger-wrenching feature which appeared once upon a time in the first Jamboree.
The above just about sums up this year's disappointing ride; the only ones being disappointed being those who got majorly lost...including me, lucky No 8 (or so I thought)! Sigh!
I remembered cheong-ing with the front pack (which I later found out to be the first 50 or so bikers, not that it matters now or at all), climbing steadily and focusing on the narrow paths leading up to....errr....well, just up!
We finally came upon a fork. I looked up and I thought, "@$)*&@$)&@)!!! Friggin Hell!!!! These Penang-ites are REAL sadistic @$*&@$)&@$"!
Right before me, a killer hill which was so steep that the 10 or so bikers scattered on the slope were pushing, some resting every few metres to catch their breath! I didn't even bother looking at the left option of the fork since my mind was fixated on making it to the top of this bike-n-hike section! This was turning out to be another adventure race!
That was when things went completely wrong..........without me realising it. It never crossed my mind to question the well marked out red / white tapes I was following. I was so embroiled in conversation with the other bikers, who seemed comfortable enough with where they were heading.
"I'm in the company of other bikers, some of them from Penang", I thought to myself. "I should be on the right path".
I proceeded to mash on up, up and away, and then down, down, down! Wheeeee....this is really fun! And oh, what a nice new trail they have carved out for us this year! But where are...all the other bikers? It has been sometime since any biker overtook me, and vice versa.
The euphoria of the "cheong" was finally beginning to wear off. I finally bump into Terence, fellow LOST victim, and we exchange notes. It was then that we realised we were...LOST! Shortly after, a Penang-ite appears, followed by 2 other blur Malay bikers.
We asked the Penang biker whether we could make our way back up from whence we came. The look on this face said it all! No....way! But hey, where's the "never-say-die" attitude? Even if I wanted to turn back, I wouldn't know which was the wrong turning we took. Sigh!
The 5 of us unanimously decided to follow our guide, who said he'll lead us to Air Hitam market, and to where we started off. Siggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! No 37 switchbacks this year!
Terence and I were the only ones from the LOST team who managed to collect stickers for CP1 and 5. After returning to the finish line, we found out there were others who were equally lost. This Ipoh gentleman got lost 3 times! Poor fella!
When I told others the story, I had some sympathy votes, as well as non-sympathetic remarks from others who chided me for trying to speed ahead of others - but I was only striving for me best timing? :(
Alex McNab's response was the most unexpected :-
1. Have you been eating a lot of beef lately?
2. Did you pee without saying thank you?
Come to think of it, I plead guilty to both.
Lessons learnt this year :
1. always follow the exact markers described in the briefing
2. don't assume that the locals know where they're going
3. sometimes, it doesn't pay to cheong with your eyes closed
4. try to avoid eating beef when you're cycling on sacred buddhist grounds
5. always ask for permission before you pee in the wildnerness, and don't forget to say thank you!
Above : elevation chart (of the ride I didn't finish - boo hoo), compliments of Chwee.
Above : GSP readings (of the ride that I missed - sigh), compliments of Wayne.
Let's move on to other things. Above : Cool editing function, available only in select Canon cameras. Photos compliments of Angela and Wayne.
Above : This is the first year that we're staying in Georgetown - close to where all the good food is! I also got to visit the Kek Lok Si temple in detail....maybe the forces that be was telling me to slow down, and smell the laksa (no beef please)!
Penang Jamboree 2006 was both Firefly and Chiku's swansong epic ride. It was also the 5th year that moi, Mingloid and Eric Bak Chor Mee have been dragging our asses up Penang Hill since it's inception.
The organisers forgot about us during the dinner :( Apparently, we had used multiple names over the years for our multiple-personas. They quickly made up for it by presenting to us each a lovely Penang Jam cap with our names personally stitched!Awwwwww.....you shouldn't have!
But kudos to the KOTRT folk for bringing us so much joy year after year, without fail! We really must return the favour by organising our very own Singapore Torture Jamboree! :)
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