CRUISIN'
Ride review
with gradients of 5%
Bukit Damar was in the horizon as we slowly rode into the Felda scheme.
It was a straight-forward ride as we cleared this satellite township and made our way out towards another slope.
So far, we have endured a lot of hills and the junction towards Kg Bolok, where the Kuala Gandah Elephant sanctuary is located.
I discussed with the team on the prospect of doing another 10km of climbing and descent towards the Kuala Gandah Elephant sanctuary.
Most had agreed as we proceeded to crank and crunch our gear on this hilly nature and wildlife sanctuary.
Our bikes were perfect for the road conditions.
At 06:30am sharp, we rode out towards a rubber plantation and made our way towards a fruit orchard some 1.5km away.
The coarse and loose gravel road had proven to be really tough as the tires couldn't get a good grip.
At certain sections, we had to push the bikes as it was next to impossible riding up the loose gravel.
Puncture was also a main concern, but most of the bikes were using a 20" Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires.
The only small bike in the ride was Angela with her Curve SL.
We cleared some 2km in to the trial and everything had looked fine.
I had no idea that the terrain was so rough and undulating, it seemed like we were riding a mountain bike hash.
The suspension on my Dahon Jetstream EX had taken the knocks and bumps very well and with a 27-speed drivetrain,
climbing the unpaved trail was not an issue.
Michelle too had done the track with ease on her Dahon Jetstream P8.
We reached the end of the trail at the rubber plantation and rode through a tunnel across the East Coast Highway.
At the end of it, the trail continued until it joined-up with route C138 towards Sertik
Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary
We took a short break at the Lanchang - Kg Bolok junction.
A decision was reached to ride to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary -- which is the highlight of this trip.
We have to cycle through a 10km course where the gradient averages from 3 - 20%.
Now, the top-speed recorded here was 57.3km/h downhill.
I've been to the Wildlife Department's training centre in Lanchang on assignment when I was a feature writer in the NST.
This place is hilly and the only place I can compare it with is the Na Mueang waterfalls and elephant sanctuary in Ko Samui,
Thailand.
For hill-climbing on a folding bike, this landmark is a benchmark.
Anyways, we made it km7 on the route and took a break at a grocery shop.
I took the liberty to round up some isotonic beverage and distributed it to the cyclists.
From here, there's another 3km to go.
Langsat, a four-year-old infant pachyderm at the centre
It took us about 45-minutes to ride to the Elephant sanctuary's visitor's centre.
There, I registered the cyclists and we donate RM30 to the conservation and maintenance of the facility. A small token, and
we hope it'll make a small difference.
The show actually starts at 1pm, but we were way too early to catch the programme.
A staff told us that a bunch of school kids were being briefed about the sanctuary's activities.
But, we were late. We only managed to catch the tail-end of the show.
The only saving grace here is an enclosure where two baby elephants were being fed with cow grass.
One of them were 'Langsat', a four-year-old baby. It was so cute, I went on capturing the little jumbo on my camera.
Later, we went to a cafeteria at the centre for a drink and decided that its best to move on to have lunch in Lanchang.