Throughout the journey, Suzali was keeping an eye on first-timer Ghani as he struggles to maintain balance on his luggage rack.
The rest had progressed ahead of the pack.
On the average, I was doing around 9km/h with a constant gradient of 5%.
Our destination was Batu Malim, a small village along the Kuala Lipis road.
Radzi was ahead of the rest and as the day became hotter, progress was rather moderate..
Despite the shortcomings, Suzali had kept an eye on his childhood friend and his wife..
Batu Malim is the last stop before we made a left-turn to Lata Lembik.
The guys gathered to rehydrate and filled their water bottles before the last push to the campsite.
The heat was already taking its toll and our entrance into Lata Lembik was greeted by a steep slope.
Crunching my low-gear, I slowly pedaled uphill as the others with heavier loads had gotten down from their bikes to push.
We rode into the trail head, some 23km away from the main road.
The stronger cyclists were way ahead as the bunch broke up.
I was right in the middle and after riding past a technology park, I noticed that someone was riding behind me.
I said: "Okay?" and the respond was a grunt.
The guy was not from our group and as I peep onto my rear view mirror, I noticed that it was an orang asli on a single-speed bike.
He trailed me all the way to an orang asli settlement along the Sungai Lipis.
While riding, I engaged in a conversation with the man who was heading home after finishing some of his personal chores.
After parting ways with the friendly aboriginal man, I slowly cruised towards Pos Buntu, an orang asli outpost at the outskirts of Lata Lembik.
Here, the scene was amazing.
Clear streams and blue skies literally dotted the view.
I rolled down a slope and saw some of the guys who were already hanging out at a shaded area.
As soon as I got off my bike, I began to take snapshots of the area. En Harun, who was ahead of the pack had entered Lata Lembik while we waited for Suzali, his wife RJ and En Ghani..
After waiting for more than 90-minutes, the last of the cyclists had arrived at the entrance to Lata Lembik.
Little did we knew, there was a steep climb towards the campsite.
I cranked up my bike and overtook RJ and En Ghani who came down to push their bikes.
Their load was too heavy and became unbearable. They have a short distance to cover before reaching the reception counter where En Suzali had earlier booked a campsite near the Lata Lembik Park.
For visitors, there is a ticket collection booth at the entrance.
TOP LEFT: RJ with a villager near Cheroh. TOP RIGHT: A view from the cockpit along the paved road to Pos Buntu in Raub, Pahang. BOTTOM LEFT: Lata Lembik Park is a well-managed adventure resort for nature lovers. BOTTOM RIGHT: Suzali, the happy camper.