Last Sunday, I went off-road riding with my officemates. The initial plan of riding up FRIM trail and later heading to Selangor MTB Challenge track was scrapped. Instead, we went directly into the track started from Hospital Sungai Buloh to feel the real challenge. All my life, I have never been there. It has been quite a while since I last breathe fresh air in the woods. It was really a great feeling to get back to the nature again.
The weather was excellent in the morning but it was raining earlier in the morning made the trail dampen down. By the time we reached Hospital Sungai Buloh around 8 am, everything was on the right schedule. There were few groups of riders getting ready with their bikes. Everyone looked great with their MTB apparels with some playing with their digital gizmos on their bike’s handlebar. Cool!
Around 8.15 am, we started rolling. The trail was not to my expectation. I wasn’t expecting it to be crazy, maybe just some paths through the woods, steep downhills and a bit of climbing but I was totally wrong. It was some pretty serious off-road stuffs, the woods were full of roots and fallen trees, mega climbs, crazy mud, steep drops and crazy fast downhill sections with rock gardens galore!We took the challenge of riding up a hill. The initial riding was last just for 5 minutes when the hill getting steeper and made us climbing up for 30 minutes! Later, we finally came off safely and reached the top. There, we could see a nice view of the North-South Highway and the Chinese cemetery. Great landscape.
Soon after, came the reward: downhill riding. For this, brakes and poise need to be balanced. My rear tire skidded many times, but still in control. I really enjoyed the adrenaline rush. Riding off-road in the muddy and wet trail is really tricky and mental-torturing. I’ve never experienced it so far. But the adrenaline rush (and sweat) that you'll get is awesome. Some of the best bits were the downhill sections and few take-five stops for capturing some great moments. The ride turned out 9 km within 45 minutes. A good start indeed.
Overall, I must say the ride was full of fun and enjoyable and also a good introduction for off-road riding.
Lessons Learnt:
- Use the front and rear brakes almost equally downhill for the most effectiveness, and at the right times. All of the stopping power is in the front brake. If you use the rear brake only, you will skid.
- Try to stay in a lower gear. It will be easier to keep control of the bike on really steep hills.
- Eat something light before riding preferably cereal drinks or fruits (i.e. banana, etc) to fuel the body.
- Bring additional isotonic sport drink to provide fluid, energy and electrolyte replenishment.
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