What a day it was - the first gathering of MTB bikers. We had so much great fun in the ride, great trail, stones, gravel, mud ... and finally leading to a nice cool mini hydro dam vicinity. Need I say more ... Congratulations to the KORT who have so painfully and successfully organized this fellowship MTB ride.

It was a one hour forty minutes drive, with one stop in between - for breakfast. The meeting point is the Gopeng Toll booth of the Malaysian North South Highway. Arriving at the booth at around 0900hrs was easy as the traffic was almost nil! We (from KL) were the first group to arrive followed by another rider from Ipoh. This chap actually rode all the way down here from Ipoh town! Finally the rest of the riders arrived, led by Alan Tan, Gary and Francis. What a sight it was, they had along a 4x4 pickup truck and a front sweeper - motor-cross bike!

Meeting the KORT riders and Alan Tan, the main man of the group whom I have all along ICQ-ed but never met was a real pleasure. Strangely, we felt like we already knew each other for so many 'umpteen years! It was also a pleasure to be meeting the owner of the 'real' bike, Gary and Francis, who drives the 4x4 with the supplies of food and drinks. This KORT guys meant business when they say they have full support for today's outing! How not to feel safe and assured of a nice ride ahead with such preparation?

After a brief introduction and some socializing - despite the fact that we were already so late, we were soon on our way. We drove in straight convoy into this small sleepy town, Gopeng. What a sight it must have been for the locals here with all our bikes on our car rooftop, rear and all the fanciful jersey and pants. A quick mounting up and soon led by the front sweeper, Gary on his motor-cross, we were on our way.

The ride started off easily despite the number of riders involved. I think there were at least 30 riders or even more in the group now. Everyone was riding one behind the other.  My attempt to take a good snap shot of the platoon was just not possible. Trying to out-ride the group was no easy task as I soon discovered that everyone was already having their 'turbo' charge on! Each time I try to out-ride the group, the 'infantry' will be charging along behind closely! After my third attempt and almost already out of breath, I gave up!

As promised by the KORT, no serious climbs or technical downhill. But ... (somehow, there is always a 'but' in all MTB rides!) they forgot to warn us of the terrible gravel and loose stones most of the way! Otherwise it would have been a real easy and relaxed trail for everyone to enjoy. And enjoy we sure did! My wheels were bouncing so much that I was beginning to feel the terrible ache on my handgrip. Riding fast and trying to brake at the right time also seem impossible when it only makes the bike skip and want to slide off the track! The worst thing was the loose stones were also flying up and hitting on to my set of rims and even my bicycle frame. Any more of these such rides I will most probably have to change my set of rims soon!

Most of the way, we were cycling next to this great river. In fact, this is one of the cleanest river that I have seen so far. Crystal clear water and no mud unlike most of the sad and pathetic river in Malaysia! Passing through an orang asli settlement is another surprising discovery here. I noticed that some of them were heading towards a hut with hands holding on to their bible! Yes, a bible in their hand! Obviously these were 'Christian' orang asli, going to the church building (hut) in their community!

Finally, the end of the trail - an eye opener! The old mini-hydro station, which was, built in the year 1982. These two building stand here and is so much older than me! The amazing thing is that it is still operating and according to the caretaker, it is still used to generate electricity for the tin miners down river.

And then … the best part of all, food! Yes, food and cold drinks was waiting for everyone of us! The KORT folks have actually taken the trouble to have all these brought in here by the 4X4! Call this professionalism or whatever you want, just thanks to KORT. You are all just great!

The ride back to Gopeng town was just thrilling. Since we had rode uphill from the start, it was down hilling now most of the way. All the more excitement when we have to ride through all the loose and slippery stones, and at a much faster pace now. On two occasion, I had a narrow escape from crashing when my wheels just decided to do the 'waltz'! One setback was the high noon sun, which was not sparring any of us now. The last stretch of the ride was a real killer when you have the scorching sun on your back! On the whole, this has been a very interesting and exciting ride. Once again, many thanks to KORT and namely, Alan, Gary and Francis.