KLMBH #285 @ KAJANG PERDANA, 4TH NOVEMBER 2018 - LONG SCRIBE REPORT
After 3 years long hiatus from bash, I was excited but nervous at the same time since my KL friends plan for a long ride. Arrived at starting point early as it was easy access, not the usual bash that I used to where getting to the meeting point was an adventure itself. So much development and so fast, I wonder how the next 3 years scene would be.
As more fellow bashers pouring in, it is good to see quite a number of familiar faces from my early bash years still going strong, looking fit and vibrant as ever. Briefing started at 8.45 with the usual info: Long, Short, checks, falsie, river crossing, safety. By 9 On! On!
The first 4km was an access road passed Kajang Prison, future construction sites, Kajang SILK underpass before we were greeted with our first climb. It was a short and sweet ascend with even sweeter descend, a twisty raw and fresh single track. For those with less knobby tires and fast rolling thread it requires some bike handling skill, especially at this early stage where the pack still tightly together.
After 2km on a rather flat gravel road, we saw the truck that marked the km8 split between Long and Short ride. The Long ride goes into the plantation with a climb that lead to the first Check. At this juncture me and my buddies were in the front pack, checked within the 100m radius and couldn’t find anything and after few minutes of “ Are You?” calls, we heard “On! On!” coming from the foothills. Turn out the connection is a short but steep climb, a carry-your-bike up. my buddies and I caught a glimpse of our fellow E-bikers face and decided to help one of them up the climb.
The second hill was a 200m elevation with undulating up and down while climbing as well as at the peak before we crossed the other side of the hill reaching the plantation guard house. I’ve already dropped to the middle pack and we kind of lost the paper trail. We scattered around searching for clues. The guard was not helpful either and was in fact trying to usher us out to main road. After quite a while of headless chicken situation and as the guard obviously becoming aggravated, one of the riders decided to use the map, which helped point the right turns despite no paper trails. Within few minutes of climb after the turn, we met a group heading down informing us that they hit a falsie 100m up.
We backtracked after “On! On!” call, the connecting trail was a grassbed that lead to the river crossing. Few riders managed to pedal up till the river bank. After the river crossing it was a rather flattish and uneventful ride until ....”The Bitch.” I guess this is where I end my scribe as all of us experience it. There is no in between, you either love it or hate it. For me, The Bitch reminded me why I fell in love with KLMBH Bash in 2015 so much so that I did solo day trip from Penang just to attend KLMBH Bash.
