The Great Outdoors

The Great Rawang Challenge Ride

It is the time of the year again when CFAL (Cycling For A Lane) is held again and among us, there were many who are not riding. I was planning for a quiet and relaxing weekend, then after I mentioned to Cikgu about doing the Ijok's 'beggar chicken' ride, Cikgu immediately proposed riding from Rawang. Then after conferring with Rivern, the date was moved to Saturday and like myself, I am OK with any day, even weekdays!

So, the Rawang to Ijok ride was born ! Date CFAL weekend.

Event page was posted up in Facebook and hosted by me and Cikgu. (sheepishly, actually Cikgu did most of the work). Orders need to be confirmed at least a day earlier for the 'beggar's chicken' ( chicken wrapped in foil with herbs and covered with mud and coal fired till done, something like doing clam bake on the beach ).

Starting point

The day approaches fast and there were a few late entries and we re-ordered an extra table. The meeting point in a school in Rawang was choosen for safety of the cars. We have also pointed out very clearly on the event page that for this event we will not wait for late comers and all came punctually.

After the group photo, it started to drizzle and when we reached the first apex of the dragon's back, it started pouring. I was still arguing  with myself whether to put on the rain poncho. Then, I say, " what the heck! ". Just feel the rain. It was raining cats and dogs but the whole group cycled on. When the rain started more and more dump trucks appeared but they were careful too as they were driving on 'kampong' roads.

<music> riding in the rain.

After stopping under flyovers for regrouping a few times, I decided to put on my rain poncho. Not because of the rain but because of my thin jersey. My nippies was too obvious and Chris was really excited about it. Although still getting drenched, it was warmer. I kept my glasses in the bag as droplets are blurring my vision.

We stopped at a lakeside local eatery called Kafe Tasik Biru and the nasi lemak there was nice. So does the 'lontong' that KK ate. View from here was nice too and we all had a good rest here and had our share of filling in for breakfast. The rain although slowed down, nevertheless it was still a very wet ride. The view from the slopes behind Rawang is actually quite scenic but most were not really looking at it because of the extra attention we need to put in while riding wet.

We moved on towards Kundang, passing a golf club and through housing estates towards the Kuala Selangor main trunk road. Just after the junction into Batu Arang, the road here was beautifully lined with rows of rubber trees. The whole scene was almost extracted out of a movie scene. We did not ride into Batu Arang as we headed to Ijok first.

Big honey jackfruits

Nearing Ijok, I told Cikgu that I won't be riding to the rabbit farm and I will be waiting at Delicious Restaurant. The ride to the farm is another 5 kilometers and I was not really interested and I prefer to get dried and be more comfortable for lunch later. So, a few of us rode to the restaurant and had a hot chinese tea while waiting for the main pack to return.

Beggar chicken oven!

Apart from serving the famous 'beggar chickens' this restaurant also sells the Honey jackfruit. We were observing a worker extracting the fruit. They also produces preserved calamansi limes and there were rows of bottled preserved limes there. Yes,, they sell it too. Opposite the restaurant, amidst the oil palms, there's also a chicken breeding farm. My guess the chicken we will be having are from here too.

Happy diners

After an hour, the main pack returned and after we were all seated and refreshed, the food is served. Each table had 2 chickens, a duck, a fish, glutinous rice and a greens. I would suggest avoiding the duck as it seems bland but we didn't try the pig's trotter though. The glutinous rice had salted egg yolks inside. No wonder I see boxes of them behind. The food was consumed within 30 minutes and also there were 13 orders of take away chicken. Take-aways are still mud wrapped and it weighs 3 kgs each. I had one tucked into my rear bag, no problem.

The bike must have rejected the chicken as I got a puncture just after I loaded the chicken. So, I changed the tube while the rest waited. After huffing and puffing, we finally moved on. 500 meters on, I noticed the rear tires were going flat. So, I stopped again and redo the puncture again. Luckily Mr.Chow was still around as my other spare is a presta valve and my pump can't pump presta! I spent quite some time pumping it as the spokes were too near for a full size pump. We managed to fill in the tube and we rushed to rejoin the others.

The famous root in Batu Arang also for mosquito bites!

At the junction we regrouped and moved on. After a while riding, Wai Keat was telling me my tire were still under inflated. He asked me if I want to fill more air into it. We stopped and tried pumping it and in the process bent the valve and the tires can't hold the air. Now, this is tiring and also looking for problems when there's none. Then Chris cycled by and I had to get a spare schrader valved tube from Chris. Another round of tube changing and P-U-M-P-I-N-G  ! Golly! my hands are aching now. Finally we managed to get the air right and off we went.

The main group waited for us at a junction and we all rode together. I like this group, really! Understanding and patient! No matter who's in trouble, we are riding in a tight group. No heroes trying to show their speed prowess. We then rode into Batu Arang and Cikgu being the good guide, showed us the history of Batu Arang. After the iconic tower roundabout photo session, we rode towards Rawang again and this time we have to climb, climb and climb.

Everyone was still in jovial mood proving that the ride was not tough and we have clocked over 50 kilometers at this stage. The climb took some time for some but it was not too tiring while the faster climbers stopped at the Rawang junction to wait for the last few riders to rejoin. When the last rider arrived, there was cheering and encouragement.

The vacuum cleaner and the rider!

The final stretch was the last 13 kilometers but a great deal of it was downhill. We managed to reach the Orchid Farm quite easily and as it was quite late already, almost 5.00pm we broke up into two groups. The group that wants to visit the farm went ahead while the other group head for Rawang.

We stopped at a petrol station and replenished ourselves with 100 plus before we continued again. The last part was dangerous actually. The daily jam here made motorized vehicles lined in two rows in a single lane road and that leaves no space for us cyclist to maneuver. And that little tight lane, we had to share with motorcyclist. I was sweeping at the rear because it was quite dangerous and some with slick tires, made it even more treacherous. At some parts Fenn had to come down and push and at some parts we had to cycle in the middle between two rows of vehicles which included many lorries and buses.

Finally, we rode into the more open road and into the road leading to the school. Finally we saw the same cement factory and in the last turn, we reached the school gates. There were faces of relief when we reached there. Finally , finally!  I can take off my drenched shoes and socks and luckily I have a spare pair in my car. Some went back first and some waited for the last to return and when that happened, we thanked Cikgu and Cikgu and drove home and I got stuck in a bad traffic jam for two hours before reaching home.

You know! After all the soaking, tiredness, hunger, thirst, numbing feeling in the ass and palms, IT WAS FUN! When are we doing it again?