PCC - MUDD 2008
Incredible..there are rides which are just rides. MUDD has to be one of those rides which you got to be there to know how doubtful , crazy , tension , cold and tired it was . It had literally everything. it is an extreme ride. It made everyone a lil better, a lil closer , and whole lot more confident.
Everyone in for MUDD has a story to tell..( I'll tell you mine )
Due to heavy down pour of several days ago the rivers swell, it was our concern earlier but nothing was going to spoil our ride.
this is how it went , we reached there about 2 in the afternoon unpack out stuff. 4 of us chilled out at the balcony facing the open valley shower comes as frequent like when one needs to go take a leak when its cold , Everyone chilled out at the veranda ( insects too ) soon as hours pass everyone trickle in till 1.30 am due to delays and bad jams in kl.
Could not get enough sleep as there are plenty of heavy snorers in the bunker.
So everyone woke up at 5.30 am to prep. About 40 of us descend 7 km down to take the bus for breakfast and packed lunch. The atmosphere is great the amount of people there makes it really nice... like a small mini interstate.
Start of the trail wasn’t all that great, cutting thru farm’s mud hole and stinking fertilizer. However the second part was crazy very slippery moss and water coated cements made it very slippery.
Bombing thru the 1st section 4 was Lim , Kenny , Dan ( qwailow ) and me tailing . This fast slippery part everyone braked, Dan got caught slammed his brake thus i slammed mine , my front end gave way , I bit the dust hard going down on right side then to all four about 3 meter slide. Knees, wrist and shoulder are banged up ( now on inflammation pills). Recovered got back up on the bike , limp back into the pack.
The river is horrendous, its like teh tarik..endless flow of teh tarik.. There was no way we could pass thru. We went to look for alternative recce, did a survey and in our surprise we found a bridge made of bamboo, native engineering type. (A1 grade if you ask me.)
How it was made was sheer brilliance, linked from the tree branch at the banks of the river to tree branch on the opposite end of the river , inter- linking it across with no nail nor steel cable , everything made from material found there. Imagine 4 parquet tiles wide with gaps of the river flowing thru without rail handles.
Soon , we walkie talkie back on the good news as the rest were waiting.
We cross in batch together with our bikes. Cracks are heard as pressure is laid on the some dried but slightly rotten bamboo. It does freak most of the riders, but darn it, it was pure adrenalin. (No ugly scene there)
Then we descend and cut across fallen rocks trees, mud traps. ruts and with leaves from small shrubs whipping our shin like we are asking for more, ironic masochist decision of going faster or getting whip harder.. all still very manageable.
We then came near to a real show stopper. A huge 40 foot swelled river crossing, some decide to turn back, and some decide to cross it. Everyone knew the risk bring trapped in between deciding and weighting (swept away or crossing the bridge again which is fragile)
Took the liberty to ask for a native helps which is isn’t too far away. One came to help us, 51 people stared at this native, all alone walked thru the torrent river flow by himself using his feet to feel the path of the invincible bridge below.
It doesn’t give confidence to most of all the riders and isn’t nice to see one going for a unintended ride with the class 5-6 rapids. Morale is at all time low.
I went back to the orang asli settlement. A massive climb greets me for the 3rd ...this time 5 of them came to aid us. However they will only help if they can ride my bike. They rode my bike as i walked back to the river bank.
Form a chain with bamboo-come-rope as support, we men cross 1st. The good feeling came back. Morale was good.
Everyone crossed the river safely but we lost massive amount of time with massive climbs ahead of us, nothing much we can do but soldier on...
The climbs to the constructed highway feels like genting, it grinds the granny, the need for traction. We (Lim .Kenny and me) got on to tar road for the 1st time in 8 hours, it’s just temporary. We manage to get into a construction site canteen which serves us fried rice and drinks. Gobble up, we had another 20 more km or climbs to go..soon more riders arrived , Rob, Kiat Dan, Joseph and so on.
I was alone most of the time when the rain came, the forest grows darker earlier with the jungle canopy. Pushing on, I dread the worst of not able to make it as its 7 pm now .I heard motorcyclist going thru with my friend on it pushing the bike while along on the motorbike , he told me he will send the motorbike back for me, soon, i met another biker so following him , but in a while i found myself ahead taking the wrong turn, going in 4 km away into the tea plantation , i was pretty afraid being lost in the dark with no orientation or lights but manage to bomb back down the hill again with to met the same biker named Ming again. I was seriously elated.
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 7.00PM to 9.00PM:
Its 7.45 pm now, it’s very dark. Could not see a thing, but ahead we see a land rover coming, this orang asli came to help us by the alert of Kiat whom was on the motorbike.
We hop on, we went back to help the rest of the group about 8 - 9 they all seems pretty glad.
We got back by 8.15pm with 2 trucks one with bike the other laden with riders.
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 9.00PM to 11.00PM:
There are 41 people out there still...its 10.30...it starts to shower hard..
10.30 pm ( Like 24 the series , except there is no terrorist ) We need a game plan to get them out. Deploy all capable vehicle to triage the stranded.Phones were ringing , calls are made.
Word out , everyone is out except Alvin , Pat , Brenda and etc. Stranded in some unknown place , order was out to get em move forward nearer to pickup location. Firstly we got to eat the roti canai before moving the VAN.
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 11.00PM to 2.00AM:
Slowly the familiar faces starts trickling in wet clothes, pale and cold. it is not funny.
Last group came in at 1.45 am. physiological ride this is but what a memory.
Labels: Rides