I am the one at the back with the orange bandanna sticking out right under the letter M
This will be my 2nd participation in a mountain bike race, the first one being the Sg. Lembing Mtb Challenge held 19/20 March this year. I have been avoiding, or rather preferred mtb jamboree compared to race as jamboree is a much more relaxed ride. I remembered attending my first jamboree, KOTRT's "One Hill Ride" way back in 2002 and it took about 5 hours to finish the ride (can't remember the distance).
Max Ng and I just after the raceMany many jamborees followed after that and I still took a long time to finish the ride. I realised the reason for taking hours to finish the ride was because I took a relaxed ride, too relaxed in fact. Stopped many times to recover and to take photos for this blog. Hey, I gotta stop being a tourist and be a mountain biker.
After joining ECC and being with riders that want to push themselves to the limit rubbed on to me. Got tips from my friends on how to come out earlier and now like to challenge myself to see my rankings and have fun at the same time comparing with my fellow members.My position has improved tremendously since then. I now target to be in the top 100 with most of my fellow ECC members in coming mtb events. One thing for sure, I am enjoying the pressure and difference in racing than in jamborees. Next race - Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge in August.
As for this race, I came out 18 out of 30 plus participants in my category.
The hill that fried our brainsMy category was the Junior Veteran which the organizers group the 31 - 45 year old participants together. Not good grouping as the age difference is too wide. They probably had limited budget and resources for this race. We rode 4 laps of 3.7km per lap.
The race started with a short stretch of flats and then came the mother hill. Few managed to ride up but for most of us, we took the word MTB literally - Mari Tolak Basikal. It was pushing up for about 1.5km and then the fun begins from the peak. Downhill with some peddling for most of the way back to the starting point.
Each time we reached the hill, it got hotter and hotter with the noon sun right above our heads. Repeat that 4 times. It was the sun that drained our energy than the hill itself.
The race started with a short stretch of flats and then came the mother hill. Few managed to ride up but for most of us, we took the word MTB literally - Mari Tolak Basikal. It was pushing up for about 1.5km and then the fun begins from the peak. Downhill with some peddling for most of the way back to the starting point.
Each time we reached the hill, it got hotter and hotter with the noon sun right above our heads. Repeat that 4 times. It was the sun that drained our energy than the hill itself.
Good thing was the downhill that provided some rewards after the pushing. Looking from the above photo, you get the idea how nice is the downhill from the zig zag route.
Ah Chai who came in 3rd in the same category as me. Good job!
Sze Wee, a new young rider came in 5th the junior category
Last but not least, thanks to our ECC members that provided support in terms of safety, photo, encouragement and feeding. It was a joy to ride with all of you.Note of thanks also goes to the friends in facebook for the photos used.
