From Rover Trail to Steroid Hill

I have been here before...but that was ages ago...
less weight, more fit....
...but it's always refreshing to ride down (or up!) the memory lane...
...or more appropriately - dirt & mud path!

1.

That's the elevation map of rover Trail & Steroid Hill, courtesy of Dr Azmi. (If there's lotsa extra dough lying around my home workstation I'd get the same Garmin thingy!) These hills are in FRIM, Kepong....

...and that's where I spent half of this Saturday cycling with some of the usual gang & two new friends - both are professors.

The group can actually be divided into two - the memang-fit & the nakjugakjadi-fit...I'd definitely be with the latter, the last in line in terms of "qualification" mueheheh!!

In total the memang-fit group did about 17km or so if I am not mistaken, while the rest did about 13km. They did more because they went up Steroid Hill but we waited for the at the base. Apparently, according to the FRIM Penguatkuasa who were there to guard the unmarked entrance from Sg Buloh Hospital Kusta are, the hill is actually named Bukit Hari...there's a story behind it but I do not intent to write it here, maybe you can ask me when we meet or go for a ride...perhaps?!

2.
I had a good night sleep & rest and by 530am I was up & ready for the trip. Packed the T-Bolt (or I fondly nicked Rhino) into the car andperformed Fajr prayer by the roadside of the cond before meting Sy Din & Elda at the stated rendezvous point. Journey to FRIM was smooth, we managed to dodge the traffic which apparenty was hectic by 7am according to AbeDib.
By 830am, we were rolling toward Rover Trail, climbing from the reservoir point. T&T on the first 300m for me since I am not fit yet! The climb is smooth & interesting. Checkpoint was at the picnic waterfall place and from there, everything is smooth and moving downhill. Wohooo!! The discs brakes were really useful and the challenge was not to "tergolek-dog". I tried my best to redistribute weight at the far end of the seat and "look where I wanna go", not where I do not want to go! As simple as it may sound, that rule is actually vital!

3.
I am quite glad to say that FRIM is the same as it was in the early 90's - at least from my point of view - the thress are there, the waterfalls are still cool as it was...yeah, some things are not meant to change at all! The difference would be the entree charge used to be Rm3 but now it's Rm5 per vehicle per day - for a very valid reason. According to Bro Z (a 'Penguatkuasa' we met at the border of FRIM & Sg Buloh), the cars are insured for any damage due to "natural disaster" in FRIM. Trees or branches can broke down etc...so, what is Rm5 for that matter, aye? furthermore, it's a one day access...so if you somehow cycled away from FRIM and found yourself next to the Kusta Hospital building (abandoned) in Sg Buloh, you can still re-enter FRIM from any gate at no cost....well accept your effort to cycle back to FRIM laa...it's quite a long one from Sg Buloh...I have done it back in 1997...and my housemates said this when I got back home - "Mung giler ke apa" heheh!

4.
The top of Rover Trail after a steep 300m climb (aduih! for me lah!)
The waterfall picnic area is nice & cool as it used to be. From here, I am champion la...downhill dirt, mud & gravel, ehehehe...the trick is to allocate the weight to the rear end of the seatpost - behind the seatpost would be better....otherwise you can tumble easily...BUT too much weight at the rear end of the rig may also cause a wheelie-action...no good for traction and you can also fell down....SO, pandai-pandai sendiri la how to survive! It's ok to fall...as long as you can manage to get up and ride again...otherwise, you know you are in trouble!

5.
That shot ------->
....would be the highest point I reached before descending to Steroid Hill's base check point. I had a massive cramp just before I reached the Steroid Hill base - good thing Dr Azmi was there to assist me! Darn...my muscles are still dormant. I need to do more..at leat 5km everyday.
The fit & courageous group would be The 2 Professors (they are really Professors ok!) and Sy Din & Elda (tepuk! tepuk! tepuk!) who managed to scale Steroid Hill and DH down. Lesson learnt - get good disc brakes!

Steroid Hill (Bukit Hari) base point

6.
We had some grubs and borak a bit after we scaled down Steroid Hill....a great outing indeed!

Well done Rhino!

7.
I could not post up photos as I wrote this, had to put it up much later. P1 has not been performing as it used to. Infact this entry could have been posted much earlier if it's not because of the farking P1 unreliability.
They are going to get another round of bashing from me today...definite.