Mountain Biking Expedition Sg Lasor, Kedah. 10-11 January 2004
By Shamoon Shabudin.Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a bunch of avid cyclists who wanted to explore the teeming jungles of Malaysia. So, off they went on an incredible journey of sweat, swearing and some blood curdling screams….
Actually, it all began in October 2003 when the original trip was scheduled for December to go where no man had gone before. In reality, they were preparing to go where no sane minded person would go but only die-hard, out-their-mind cyclists would take their two-wheelers off road.
However, that got pushed out because of bad weather. The torrential rain coupled with soft, muddy tracks were rendered inaccessible by bike.
That really was a damper!
So the schedule was moved out to January, specifically, 10-11 January, during the drier months.
When the new year came along, it brought about a renewed enthusiasm for the wild ride ahead.
Emails were being sent left, right and centre. To the normal laymen, these would have been treated as spam-mail!
However, these guys were talking jungle!
Expressions such as tiger fodder, beware of pacats’, making friends with the slithering kind were all commonly traded across in the email. Even cockroaches were not spared from the barrage of emails, already at roaring levels!
Then the big day came…
Saturday, 1.45pm; everyone was assembled at the car park opposite the Penang bridge toll plaza. Azmi, Shaharin, Ju Lian, ST, Derek, Marcus, Gerard, Pang and Adrian were the first ones there.
2pm, on the dot, they took off.
Following closely behind, were Alan, Larry and myself. We were just a couple of metres behind but the main group just couldn’t wait! That was how eager these dudes were.
The day was sunny with some slight haze, and the ride to the destination was smooth with no hindrance.
We took the east-west highway to Kulim, then branched off, taking the country roads that led all the way to Pedu Lake. However, the place we stayed was 30km short of the lake.
The place we lodged in was called MADA resort. We got there about two and half hours later. It was a no frills place but it was clean and well maintained. The rooms here reminded me of dormitories in university campuses. Only these didn’t have any desks and creaky bunk beds.
After settling down, the guys went out to get some snacks with a short car ride to Muda lake.
A few hours later, more bikers arrived.
First, came Faizal at around 6pm, followed later by Kar Hong with 3 other riders at around 7pm.
That night’s dinner was a barbeque set-up. Everyone was piling up on the carbo, protein, and liquids for the next day’s ride. The food was so good that it attracted uninvited guests numbering a dozen or more.
They waited patiently, in the dark corners, and in the hedges. Eyes that glowed at night, they were watching the unsuspecting crowd. They wanted a taste of the kill. Their sharp claws exposed, ready to grab any flesh that comes its way. Sharp fangs that looked menacing even more so in the night. They were ready to grab whatever comes their way. This was nature’s ultimate killing machine.
Slowly they inched forward. Then suddenly, without warning started meowing!
After the barbeque, there was a briefing on the trail, courtesy of Kar Hong.
The next day, 6am, everyone was up. All were pretty excited about the ride.
Breakfast was short as the guys were quite excited about hitting the trail. By 8 am, they were packed up and all ready to go.
Just before we left, Malik and Ramly came in the nick of time.
Before taking off there were some picture taking sessions everyone looked fresh before the start of the adventure. It will be a different shot when they got back...
8.30am, we arrived at the start of the trail. Everyone got their bikes, gears assembled. All systems, brakes, and shifters were checked one final time before the ride.
Total riders, 20 including myself. Unfortunately, no ladies came along.
9am, off we went.
First hurdle was the river crossing. This was Mother Nature’s way of greeting the bikers almost to say “Thou shall be cleansed in thy river before ye enter my jungle realm”. Fortunately it was only 6 inches deep!
In the beginning, the trail was a slight gradient, an easy climb for the first few kilometers. It reminded me of the climb up to Bukit Gambir from Yeap Chor Ee road.
Throughout the trail, the trees stood guard. Layers, upon layers of them, flanked on each side watching over the riders. They stood silently, majestically. Their branches spread out in the warm open sun, greeting the rays of light with exuberance, gently swaying in the light breeze.
Everyone was in a chatty mood; no worries of what obstacles lay ahead. They were all excited with adrenalin flowing. Caffeine, fresh from the morning’s sip, running strongly in bloodstream just added a new high to the groups’ adventure spirit.
Then it got a lot steeper.
Moods began to change. We weren’t so chatty now. More sweat oozed out of our bodies as we pedaled harder. The trail never eased up. It just got steeper. Pebbles and rocks that were easy in the beginning were now major bumps.
Then came the mother of all climbs we just called it ‘The Wall’. We looked up and couldn’t see the slope flattening out. It looked steep, really steep. Made Penang hill look like a stroll in the park.
This time I just got down to push. I wasn’t the only one. There were others who did as well. We couldn’t cycle anymore. Every ounce of our body was out of energy.
The stronger ones like Pang, Adrian, ST, Azmi, and Shaharin were way ahead. They still had loads of energy to carry them through for the rest of the trail.
Actually, they had their Viagra before the trip.
We also had a 4-wheel drive trailing us just in case anyone got into any difficulty. Plus, he was carrying refreshments for the rendezvous point.
Finally, after about 7 km of arduous uphill ascending, the next 5km was a welcome change; it was gentle downhill all the way.
11.15 am, we arrived at Lasor Camp, a training station for forest rangers. This was the end of the trail. The ride into this camp took about a couple of hours. Off course the stronger riders got there earlier!
The camp comprised of several wooden huts, a surau, a meeting hall and a canteen. Behind the camp, a river was gushing through; this was Lasor river. The camp site was built into the jungle trees provided a lot of shade from sweltering hot sun. In fact, it was almost noon but the place was cool and shady because of them.
We explored the camp structures, going from one hut to another, checking out the surroundings. There were also some picture-taking sessions; getting proof we were there just in case our family didn’t believe we went into the jungle instead of a massage parlour in Haadyai!
11.45am, we started heading back. This time the climb wasn’t so bad but a lot of us were knocked out from the ride in. So, the 5km uphill was painful, but not as painful as the first 7 in.
Then came the sweet part, the final 7km home stretch.
On the ride in, this was quite a pain to climb but the ride down on these slopes was exhilarating!
Suddenly, we didn’t feel so tired anymore. We had the wind blowing in our faces and bodies. The same rocks and pebbles that were major obstacles going uphill were now sissy gravel coming down. Our bikes just went over them like they were not there. We felt like teenagers all over again, going through the rush of adolescent joy.
The jungle whizzed by us like a blur. Even if our families were standing by the side, we wouldn’t have seen them. Everything went by so fast.
The expression ‘eat dirt’ was one small aspect of the fun we were having. We were flying! Leaves, pebbles, twigs, earth were swooshing by as soon as our bike tires hit the earth.
Then, we saw the river where we first crossed before hitting the trail the adventure was ending but we had one last thrill; cycling right through the river, to get one final splash.
Actually, some of us went a few times to get wet because once was not enough.
Then as quickly as it started, it was over.
1pm, we packed up and started heading back to the resort. Had lunch and headed for home.
4pm, we were out of there!
Eventhough it only lasted half a day, the Sungai Lasor trip will always be a trip fondly to be remembered; we’re definitely coming back!
