From start to finish, I must say that this is one very good and enjoyable ride. What more can you ask for when you get a good mixture of flat land, bumps, climbs and downhill. And what makes it even more interesting is that this is a reccee ride, searching for an unknown trail. Bukit Ceraka is a trail, which has long been missed by many of us CycleFlexers. So none of us dare say that we can remember the exact trail or turnings right from the start of today's ride. But our brave Kor Yong started off as the leader of the 'pack'! Probably hoping that this will serve as his pennants for arriving late!

Hoping that the McDonald's will be open early in the morning, the meeting place was decided here. At 08:00am, everyone was here at the Shah Alam Makro Hypermarket. Not to do our Sunday morning shopping as what other people may thinkbut togather for our weekly off-road ride. It is indeed a big change from our usual gathering in Damansara, Taman Tun Dr Ismail or even in Bangsar. I would like to think of it as a true show of 'who' are the real serious mountain bikers - those who take the extra trouble and effort of getting here just to be able to go mountain biking with the gang! Once again, it is breakfast, drinks and plenty of it - much to Craig's dislike!

From Makro Shah Alam, we drove on to our starting point, Bukit Ceraka Agricultural Park, about another two kilometers away. Before the start of the ride, we agreed that today's trail will be a reccee and we will just try to go along with whatever we can recall - the right trail! The usual gearing up and soon we were off, all 15 riders cycling happily heading for the rubber plantation. A short road ride followed with a steep uphill climb. Then came the very long and steep downhill that saw all riders charging for the kill! A very sharp bend right at the bottom of the road and a fear of crashing helped slowed some of us down.

Soon we were entering the off-road trail. Here a lot of careful maneuvers and control of our bikes begin to test each individual. Miss a grip or loose control of your mountain bicycle and direction, huge cow dung pile would be the reward! Not to mention the fantastic aroma of the great original and natural manure that surrounds us now! And indeed a very quiet lot as no one dared open his or her mouth to speak a word passing through this stretch of danger zone! But soon again, the serene surrounding was filled with our voice and laughters!

The trail was thankfully dry, as it had not been raining for the past couple of days. With the exception of all the cow-dung, it was generally very easy going with gradual slopes and a few mud splashes along the way. Suddenly we came to a T-junction and confusion set in. Louise was shouting out loud from the rear, "Don't stop, go on …" with Kor Yong replying, "I am not sure of the way!" Then came Louise's reply, "Just go on … pretend you know the way!" And continue we must as we cycled on regardless of whether it is the right trail! The rest of us just followed along happily like one big family. No one complained - we just followed obediently!

The real stopper was when we came to another T-junction. This time, there were comments like, to the left, with some saying to the right. And I recalled that it is usually the 'guay-loh' who seemed to always have this peculiar sense of remembering the directions so I conveniently asked Craig our only 'Mat Salleh' for the day, "Which way buddy…". His reply came almost instantly with both arms folded and fingers pointed to each left and right direction! Thanks to Dave, he became the official scout and cycled off happily into the distance - looking for a trail! The rest of us just stood around and chat away happily while waiting for our 'hero' to come back and to give us his report.

None of managed to get any mosquito bites yet with the exception of dear Jesse who managed to get one real big bite - and to think that she was the only one who bothered applying insect repellant!

The other humurous incident was when we reached the top of a slope and then went charging happily downhill only to a hut and a dead-end! With the kind offering from the owner of the hut, we were allowed through his backyard into an adjoining trail! I think history was made here as we cycled through with Craig laughing away announcing this great trail - a ride through people's backyard!

We had to carry our bikes across a deep ravine twice. Then followed by a very steep climb up a rock face cliff! With each other's help, we were all soon on top of the world! Looking beyond the rock cliff was quite a sight. A quick photography session and the making of our very own 'Cliff hanger' movie starring Louise!

Finally, it was timeto head back to our cars. And to lead us out was 3 young cows! Those poor beasts were actually trying to get away from this bunch of mad mountain bikers who seemed to be chasing after them! Actually the cows were also running on the same trail that we were using to get out back to our cars! Someone was shouting, just follow the cows! Luckily none of us heed the suggestion as the young cows were soon dashing into the thick bush with us riding towards another direction. What a way to end the ride - cow dungs led us in and cows led us out!

Two last words here:

Firstly a very Happy Birthday to Craig. Going down the hill or is it up?

Second and last but not least, I just can't help noticing this great father and son relationship. A very wonderful sight as the father will without fail and taking his precious time off and trouble to send his son to us, so that Kevin can join us in our mountain biking rides. I would like to extend my sincere and warmest invitation to him, to come join his son and us in this exciting sport. One that is not only a discovery of nature but also more importantly, a discovery of oneself. Matthew Han, come join your son and the rest of us! We hope you will and we do look forward to your participation in this sport.