Port Dickson by Affendi Sunday 12 April 2009

You can bill today’s ride as a mini interstate as we transversed through 2 states, Shambo pointed this out. After a week of serious planning to map the route by Sham, Fuzzam, Nazli and our appointed again Captain Foad, we started off at Sepang, all 22 of us plus the support car. On we went through Bukit Pelandok which was supposed to pose a slight challenge as it involves a bit of climbing but all of us breezed through it and then on to Lukut and Port Dickson.

We average 27kph and reached PD in slightly over 2 hours covering just over 50km and most of us didn’t feel it, this 1st part of the ride. Our return journey took us back to Lukut, then through the old road to Seremban bypassing Bukit Pelandok and then we took the turn to LBJ which connected us back to Sepang, and this has got to be the longest 30km plus stretch of non-stop undulations, many many hills, one immediately after another. Just as we got through the 1st one, ahead there was another and then another and then another and then another, rolling on and on, what seemed to be an eternity of one climb after another….I guess you get the drift.

And it was supposed to be one flat ride, this home stretch so all of us got fooled as I believe this was the first time for everyone as well tackling it. The GPS map didn’t really show the terrain to be undulating and it showed up as being flat, so now we all know. My legs are still feeling fuzzy and warm as a result of this stretch as I would guessed everyone had to push a bit to get through it and Fuzz even snapped his chain, that’s how hard he was cranking uphill. And to top it off, it rained FI cars when we got to the Sepang stretch and all of us were soaked to the bone when we got to our cars. 106km in total we rode averaging 25kph, cadence of 90 based on my reading and capability. The front runners would be clocking higher speeds and cadence. Feedback was that this was a good route to come back to after our interstate as the rolling hills was fun to tackle, perhaps this time we’ll ride it in the morning when we are fresh and come back through Bukit Pelandok.

Thanks to those who meticulously planned the ride and guys, looking forward to this coming Sunday’s ride…BROGA here we come. Yeeehaaa! (the scream of pain, that’s my anticipation)