"Discovering Nature!"

With much respect to our young enthusiastic MTB rider, Kevin called for today’s ride in this much talked about Bukit Kiara trail. “You can consider this an "easy" Kiara ride” – That was what he had in mind. And this is exactly what I told ‘Coke’ since it is going to be a slow and easy ride anyway! What a difference it turned out to be!

Riding up the almost 2km jogging track was quite a warm-up for us. To the other 'early-birds' (people) who were here jogging or taking their morning stroll, we certainly looked very outstanding in our brightly colored cycling jersey and full cycling gears! Must be quite an ‘eye-cerciser’ for them as it is not always that fully geared and colorful cyclists use this lane. To top it all, talking into the walkie-talkie hanging from the neck!

And just when we thought the ride up this jogging track is tough; the beginning of the off-road trail greets us. What a sickening climb it must have been for all of us as we sweat away profusely in the morning air! The only sound that could be heard was the hard breathing and panting emanating from us! The occasional steeper section as well as all the technical terrain, that gave Bukit Kiara its reputation, was no help either. It was more of a pushing than riding right from the start of this off-road trail. It was quite a scare too when over the wireless, “Coke’ said she had wanted to turn back and not continue! Slowly we managed to coax her into continuing and follow along – till the end.

Finally, as young Kevin puts it nicely, this section of Hell climb ends abruptly when we reached an open area from where we were rewarded with a nice view of KL city. Well, with all the over-grown and tall grass, what view? The last time I was up here, at least I could remember the grass were not this ‘over-grown’? Strange as it may sound but I somehow managed to be the first to reach the top of this hill! And this is because Craig had to struggle along with his heavy monster while young Kevin was baby-sitting ‘Coke’! After a short break and having regained my strength and breath, it was the beginning of another round of ‘hell’! And this time, a narrow downhill single track, taking us back into canopy.

The only safe and sensible way to tackle this downhill is to lower one's seat, stand up and ride it slowly. But with the wet and slippery ground, even this had to be done very skillfully! It was impossible not to be applying both the front and rear brakes all the way down. The terrible thought of crashing keeps flashing in my mind as I felt my rear wheel sliding away. Thank goodness that we have decided from beginning that today’s ride is for sightseeing and more like a nature discovery ride.

What seems to be the most common thing amongst our local Malaysian road also happens here! A stretch of slope with regular potholes – making it even more bumpy and ‘exciting’ during the downhill rides … no thanks to the horse riding done here! And just when I thought the end was near, another short technical climb. With what energy left, I had to stand up on my pedals and struggle up all the way. Suddenly the trail flattens out … what a short-lived relieve and then another sudden joy-killer, it was down again. This is probably the most enjoyable downhill ending at a tarmac road.

But the end is not near yet as we still had to ride up a short distance on road before we finally were rewarded with the nice downhill ride all the way, back to our cars. At other times, I would be shouting away with joy over such great downhill ride but today, I just could not! The mud and dirt flying up from the front wheel kept my mouth shut tight all the way till the very end!

Another ride tomorrow? I wonder now … after today’s ride plus a crash out?