The plan was that, we met up before eight-thirty at the second rest area besides Batu Dam lake along the Ulu Yam road.   I hurried a bit that beautiful Sunday morning... couldn't see the sunrise, but the scenery was soothing....

 

0830hrs ~ I was already at the rv place.... but CheMat & Faizi hadn't arrive... There were two anglers at the pace when I got there, and they seemed engrossed in their rods.  CheMat said they were already at Batu Cave when I called him few minutes later.  So, I took my camera, walked around the parking area nad snap  some pics.   First, a picture of my car - the official transport for my trustworthy bike.

 

 

Then, the beautiful and calm-watered lake....

 

 

Of course, the serene rest area....

 

 

A lil' bit of close up photography.... not bad ehh using a compact old & beaten ixus500.... :)

 

And a try at artistics shot... artistics?  hehehehe....

 

 

However, I began to get worried when at 0910hrs they hadn't arrived.  It has been a lil' disheartening lately as far as organising rides are concerned.  Take for instance this particular ride.... Faizi started a thread on it - saying that he and CheMat wanted to do the Batu Dam reverse loop ride - but everyone, except me, had prior commitments.  If I recall correctly, there were two other members whom indicated availability... but in the end, only the three of us made it to this ride.  Could it be that they went to a different place?  Could it be they stood me up?  But just I sms'd to ask of his whereabout, CheMat's car pulled besides mine.... 

 

 

"berapa kilo berat ni encik?" ~ "errr.... 13 kilo kot.." 

0930hrs ~ The three (stooges, musketeers, abdul, etcetera...) quickly headed out from that parking area as it was already one hour beyond our ETD.  Apparently CheMat & Faizi were held up at Batu Cave by the devotees going up the Batu Cave Temple.  Ah well.... as long as everyone safely arrive.  And after an easy descend along the tarmac road of about 5 minutes, we arrived at the turn-off into the Batu Dam trail - at the RiverStone Resort entrance.

 

 

Not far after the turn-off, the "30% uphill" trail began.   According to CheMat, this was a downhill competition stretch - but it has been cleared ~ more like bulldozed ~ with a wide and almost flat-surfaced trail.   Still the climb seemed like ithas a gradient of more than 10%, although I think it was more like 5 to 7%....  CheMat & Faizi immediately began to do the "mtb" routine... while I tried to pedal my way up... well, almost halfway, I gave in.. too steep and too long a gradient!  Faizi pedalled after halfway through.. while CheMat maintained the 'mtb' option... :)

  

 

   

Of course, the 'take five' was more frequent whenever and wherever I roam the trail... hehehehe....   at times, it seemed that every breath I took was like the last one... few minutes of trudging uphill would need an equal if not greater period of take-fives!   Kudos to CheMat though... despite his initial intake of 'steroid' (errr... actually his asthma inhaling thingy...), he was in top form.  Faizi?  he was always leading and was setting the pace for us.... but with me always falling behind... wayyyyy behind.... :(

 

... a moment in reflection.... "I thank thee Allah for this 100plus..."

Finally, we reached the peak of that supposedly "30% climb" of this trail.  and of course, I was last to do a slow-bike pedalling... :) 

  

 

1015hrs (or thereabout) ~ we reached the top of that '30% of ourride that's uphill according to CheMat'.  Waiting us were to routes.  One would take us to the waterfall where we picnic'd during our 15th Ride, while the other would take us back to the reservoir and back to our cars.  The waterfall route would involve some uphill with a lot of satisfing downhill ~ but the down side was that we would need to return the sama route which means a tuff uphill on the return leg.  And, prolly the other minus factor would be that during our previous ride, CheMat sort off came in a too-close-for-comfort encounter with a wild animal.  He didn't see waht it was at the time but he was certain it was a black panther.  The other track would be an all-the-way-downhill with a lil' bit rideable uphill, and it would take us back to the finishing line.  The delta of this route was that, our ride would be rather short as we had completed the dificult part.

A few discussions later, and with all three feeling that we could do more, it was uninamously decided we go for the waterfall.  Hoorayyy!!  But, first, a long rest, plus a deep meditation by our ridemaster CheMat...hehehehe....  it was a good twenty minutes or so rest...

Shots of CheMat's X6 and my AM1000 from Faizi's newly found hobby.... photography...hehehehe...

 

1040hrs ~ the ride continue with yet more uphill battle.... so much so that I did my trademark thingy... hehehe... and Faizi was quick on the shutterbug....  had time to experiment with his close up[ nature shot as well.... 

      

CheMat and Faizi pushed on along that uphill trail... and rather bushy as well..... but it was not an abandoned track.  While I was ready to continue, a man on a motorcycle was making his way down.   And I could hear Fazi & Chemat calling for me a while later...  but just as I was about to start pedalling, I got the scare of my life!... errr... not really... but it was quite a good scare....   ahead of me, I think it was about 15 metres away, I saw the wild animal CheMat was talking about earlier crossing the track ~ from left hand side, running across and disappeared into the thick forest.  I was numbfounded, in a way.... and immediately I called out for Faizi & CheMat  "oiiii!!!.... ada kawan melintas jalan larr.... "     "... ada kumbang larrrr..."  I was of course still a bit taken aback by the sight of that black panther crossing the track right in front of me... and seeing it with my own eyes!   CheMat & Faizi came rushing down, and even before I could finish my next sentence, they were already at where I was.

The kumbang was already long gone... prolly more afraid of us than we were of him/her.....  The one thing I've told about wild games, they are only a threat to humans either when they are protecting their cubs or when they are super hungry due to depletion of food in their habitat.  Alhamdulillah this was not the case then......  So, we calmly and cautiously continued to ride a few minutes more of uphill before coming to a sweet and fun and awesome! downhill ~ all the way until we reached the waterfall.....!

 

 

   

It was as if we found shangri-la!   All three quickly took our shoes off, and in a split second we were already soaking our feet in the iced-cool stream.   I was kinda of exhausted.... expected even before the ride that morning as I didn't get to catch a good nite sleep the nite before....   I found a nice shaded area with relatively flat rocks and boulders... for me to lay down....  it was a rerfreshing rest... looking at the greenery covering the clear blue sky above...   with the feet now cooled down from the heated pedalling...

                   

The bikes..... guess 'em bike need a rest oso... :)

   

 

After a good rest, and an equally good nasi lemak + doughnut (err... whatever left from the fish-feed), Faizi explored his camera's with these nice shots....

Butterflies were plenty... and the surprise was I must say with the tengas.... these fishes were extra friendly & daring - came very close to the water edge as if posing for Faizi.   The sight was worth while the decision to go to that waterfall.

 

 

 

Faizi and I took a good swim/dip in the iced-cooled-as-if-they-were-just-taken-out-from-the-fridge waters while CheMat did a quick splashing-body thingy.  It was rather refreshing and I for one felt rejuvenated.   But, it didn't last long!  @1130hrs or thereabout, we began our ride back... more of mtb (mari tolak basikal) than pedalling.  As they say "when you go down... you need to go back right up!"  And we prayed quietly that we would not cross path again with our friend of the jungle ~ kumbang...

 

1208hrs (roughly...) ~ Finally, we reached the "junction of decision".... this time happier than before as we had just completed the return leg from the waterfall... Happier?  yuppp..... relieved that we didn't again stumble upon the kumbang... and more, the next leg will be mostly downhill with rideable-due-to-downhill-momentum uphill... :)   But what's Loska if a group picture of the day's riders were not taken?   So, Faizi's new Nikon Coopix does the timer thingy... and voilla.... the three musketeer mountaineers.... (or tiga abdul and three stooges as CheMat intechangeably referred to ourselves that day)

 

The downhill stretch was, for lack of other expression, awesome!  We kept shouting to each other "this was worth every uphill push!"   Halfway through, we met a lone rider on his way up.... imagine that..... hopefully he didn't make the waterfall trail.  And if he did, he didn't come across the kumbang....

At the end of that awesome (for lack of a better expression) downhill, and just before "the plain ride ahead" as exclaimed by CheMat, we 'took five' to catch a breather.... and to reflect on what the future might hold for us.....

             

           

...hehehehe... not really....  that was actually lessons from CheMat, a seasoned photographer, to Faizi on capturing moments in time... capturing emotions in display.... rather nice ehh?   And Faizi took it one step further to capture this signature moment... :).. again...

 

... this panorama of the lake is soothing and beautiful... right?

       

 

             

One last stop before going back to the car park area..... just after we exited the dam, we found this place to give our bikes a bit of a wash.... and Faizi yet again practiced his shot-finding skills....    The time was close to half past one... CheMat's phone alerted us as the azan zohor came on... I suddenly remembered that I needed to get back well before three o'clock as the wife has made an appointment to service our car that afternoon.  Scrambling through my backpack, I couldn't find my handphone.... hmmm.... prolly left in the car... err... hopefully left in the car... else, its lost in the jungle trail!

While CheMat was starting to feel exhausted... he subcontracted his bike cleaning spree to Faizi... and CheMat bought us each a cup of air kelapa... thank mate!  exactly what we needed after this long and tiring ride....  I don't really keep track of the distance we did... but I'm sure it was more than 20km just the jungle routes alone....

 

... errr... shooting newly weds?  hehehehe.....

 

After that cuci beskal + air kelapa scene... the easy route awaited... after all the offroad was over, just the tarmac ahead...... so we thought!   Although in my mind the tarmac road was all downhill, just the one stretch before reaching our car were an uphill.  Both me and CheMat were halted by leg cramps!   Faizi was already no where to be seen and ahead of us. 

After about five minutes of 'take five', we continued..... and alhamdulillah up ahead the car park was in sight.  But, there seem to be quite a number of policemen + squad cars there.... first thing that came to mind was that an accident - car or bike - happened nearby.  But that was not the case. 

As it turned out, the two anglers that were there earlier had found a body - according to one of them... prolly a couple of days since time of death - on the lakeside.  The area was cordoned with police line... and curious onlookers were curiously trying to look beyond the police cordone.  The three of us, as if the scene was not that abnormal, loaded our bikes into the cars and bid each other a bye-bye...  I had that appointment to go to while CheMat was to meet somebody at his home just after 2:00pm.....

      

     

1345hrs ~  I hurriedly left the "crime scene"..... My phone was nicely placed on the dashboard... There were three missed calls from my better half.  She said that the appointment was set at 1400hrs... geezzzz..... fifteen minutes to get home, then go to Shah Alam's TTDI?  if with a helicopter maybe.... so... I reached home around 2:40pm.... showered, solat and some other petty rituals, just after 3:00pm, we were on our way to have my faithful City IDSI serviced..... and as I finished this report... the car was fully serviced... the wife was happy, I was drained and tired... but all's well that ends well....!

Till our next ride.... keep 'em tyres rolling on the ground, and once in a while reach for the sky and fly....

 

Copyright @ 2007 Beareye. All Rights Reserved.

20th January 2008