Broga Reverse 116 - the longest ride

BROGA REVERSE 116: - THE LONGEST RIDE

Event: Broga Reverse 116

Date: 9^th December 2012

 Introduction:

This event was the first time I attempted to cycle non-stop on the road a distance of 60 km on my MTB.  Most of the distances I had done were in the range of 20-30 km only. I had done a few 50+ km rides from to home to Ulu Langat-Bukit Hantu and back home but not a continuous ride of 60 km.  I had also upgraded my MTB from the Raleigh Diablo to a Fuji Tahoe 1.0.  I already knew that I would not have the stamina to cycle 116 km on my MTB and therefore opted for the “old-man” option of 60 km. That 60 km distance category was meant for foldies but, what the heck!  I had wanted to attempt this “long” distance ride and so I had to swallow my pride and joined the foldies category but using my newer and lighter MTB.  What an unfair advantage for me, you would say.  Nevertheless during the actual event many foldies “out- rode” me on my MTB  (so sad and pathetic) .

I stumbled upon this event on Facebook. There was a call to cycle in the Broga area.  Broga was familiar to me only as a hill to trek to see the sunrise.  I have heard that Broga is a very nice hill to climb, located South of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, somewhere near Semenyih town.   Cycling buddy Edward and I read about it and decided to join the group of cyclists who were going to cycle in Broga.  We met the group without knowing anyone on that Saturday (4 Nov 2012). From there we heard about this Broga Reverse 116. I decided to take part in the event while Edward declined as he was not available on the day of the event.

It was there that we met the organiser Elaine Wong and another cyclist Jimmy Chow from Ori bike shop with the rest of the Ori foldies bike members.

The trial rides

There were two trial rides. The first one (4Nov 2012) was with Edward. We had to abandon the ride one third of the way. The trial ride was meant to start early at 7am.  But by the time we set off it was past 8 am. Both Edward and I had always started our rides early in the morning. This was deliberately done to avoid the hot sun later in the morning. On that day the sun was really hot and both of us decided to abort the ride at about one third the planned distance. We backtracked the way we came and managed to get back to the Police Station meeting point.

Pic 1: The gang of enthusiasts wanting to do trial run.  Majority were foldies (4 Nov 2012) . As usual double click on the photos  to get a zoomed in view

I was on my own for the second trial ride (2 Dec 2012). By this time I had already registered and paid for the Broga Reverse ride.  The meeting place was at the same place as the first trial run ride (Police Station at Taman Tasik Semenyih).  This time I managed to complete the whole course. It was tough especially towards to end as we had to climb up past Broga and up the hill towards Nottingham University.  I had to deal with the extra-long ride plus the intense heat of the sun as it was approaching noon.

It was a satisfying trial run as I managed to complete my first long 60 km ride.  Yay!!   

Nevertheless I was humbled by a foldie who was riding with a fixed gear. He passed me along on the return leg to the Police station (Hiss! Hiss Edwin! ha-ha).  Elaine reminded the gang to attend the Goody-bag and pre-ride briefing which was to be at the VW showroom along Sungei Besi the same evening.

Pick up goody bag and Pre-ride Briefing (2^nd Dec 2012)

 Pic 2: Early goody-bag pickup and pre-ride briefing location

I had not planned to go as I thought that I would be tired after the morning’s trial ride.  Anyway it rained that evening but I eventually found my way to the briefing.  There I was pleasantly surprised that there was a picture of me in one of the presentation slides.  It was to warn the riders of the speed bumps that were installed on the road. They were told to be aware of it as it was at a downhill stretch and the riders were to slow down before they encounter the speed bumps else they may fall over.  It 

was by pure luck I was cycling down that stretch as the photographer was taking a picture of the speed bumps. (Yeah.. right! Hehehe)

Footnote: Not many riders turned up for the briefing. I supposed it was partly due to the spell of rain earlier
 

I guess by now you would have realised that VW was one of the sponsors of the ride.

Event Day

I got to the University of Nottingham early without any hitches as I was familiar with the route.  There I met some of the Ori-bike gang from the earlier trial rides. I noted that they were the best organised team. They even had a support van that came along both during the trials and on event day. Heck! They even had their own private photographer taking action shots from the van as the riders rode along the route.  I also met a colleague who was going to participate in the full 116 km event.

I had already collected my race jersey and race number on the afternoon of the 8^th Dec at Nottingham University.

The ride was delayed as the organiser was waiting for a VIP to turn up. In the end we started out without the VIP sending us off.

Pic 3:  View of participants at starting line

I told myself to keep pace with the bunch of Ori riders. Initially I was glad I was ahead of them. But eventually everyone of them effortlessly passed me by.  Sigh!! Overtaken and out-paced by foldies.   :-(

Pic 4: Ori Riders at the start line

The ride on the whole was  good and uneventful.   I did not push myself and just cycled at my pace, hoping that my left knee will not start complaining.  I remembered being passed by the “professional” riders as I was riding towards Broga hill on the return leg.  The police motorbike outrider was escorting the first batch of the front cyclists.  (Dang! They were cycling at more than twice my speed as they were doing the 116km while I was doing the 60km route. How embarrassing.)  Just right after Broga hill and as I was climbing up the slope towards Nottingham University, my colleague from work was the second batch of “professional” riders who passed me.  Triple embarrassment it was!  

Pic 5 : Start of the long ride with the sunrise over the horizon

The lunch that came in plastic lunch boxes was not worth mentioning. There were a lot of lunch boxes left as I guessed most of the bikers did not stay for the lucky draw and the prize giving ceremony. I was terribly hungry and had a second helping.

The weather turned for the worse and it started to rain. So we had to switch the prize giving ceremony and lucky draw indoors.

Pic 6: Location of awards ceremony. Rain forced it inside the building

I supposed the “negative” aspect of this ride was that there were complaints of cheating.  Allegedly in the female category the person cheated. The organiser had called upon the person to come forward to clarify but she did not show herself.  By default she was dropped from the winner’s list.

There were plenty of lucky draw prizes that day too.  Alas, in the lucky draw, I won a travelling bag.  As it was getting late, I then decided to call it a day and drove home. 

Sub-story 1 : There was a last minute route change to the 116 km route as there was a landslide on the original route. (the road along the Semenyih dam.. another story for the future).  As such the organiser had to come up with an alternative route. The new distance for the alternative route was shortened to 105 km.

Sub-story 2  : Having joined Elaine Wong for two trial rides, KUDOS must be given to her and her team for organising this ride.  Elaine was on her bicycle constantly checking and testing both the routes personally.  If it was me, I would have taken the easy way and used a car to recce the routes.  Not her, she actually cycled the routes.  A rather interesting and alarming story from her was this: On one of her recce rides, she had two punctures and to add salt to the wound it poured heavily. They had to abandon the ride. While waiting for her buddy to get the car, she stopped under a bus stop for shelter from the cold and rain.  A motorcyclist stopped and flashed her and began "amusing" himself. (tsk.. tsk.. there are many sickos out there). Female cyclists be on the alert and cycle in a group.  But the silver lining to this story was that a kind and concerned motorist actually stopped by to offer her help while she was waiting for her buddy to pick her up. (Yay... there is some goodness out there !!)

Pic7: Broga Ride Route Map : A measely average speed of 19 km/h

Pic 8: Broga Ride - My Profile