Haven't been riding and writing for quite a bit, as was too busy with work and other major commitments. Here's the update on my life and the MTB scene. In the MTB world, press releases with major impact was everywhere, firstly, Sam Hill went from Specialized to Team Nukeproof/CRC, and Aaron Gwin surprisingly took over the spot as the key rider for Specialized despite the display of intentions previously in continuing with Trek World Racing.
When I wasn't riding, I'm still shopping anyway, hence bought myself several new MTB related products, such as a hope seat clamp, renthal chainring, XT cassette, full face helmet and new knee guards.
Here's some picture of the loots.
Well the knee guards haven't arrived yet, will post pictures once I received it. Oh and the stickers are worn so... Time for new ones!
Finally the trip for the Drak Bike Park had arrived, all of us were so stoked about it and some didn't even manage to get some rest the day before. We met up in the morning at 6am and headed for Harbourfront, to take our ferries to Batam Island. We had much more riders today then usual, which total up to about 16 of us.
Upon arriving at Batam, we were received by Mr Ong from Drak Bike Park, who had all the admin details sorted out for us, and made our procedures across custom a convenient one. We were received by a huge green truck which loaded our bikes and drove them to the bike park, while we took the mini vans there. On arrival at the headquarters of the bike park, our bikes were already unloaded and there are refreshments waiting for us (how nice!). We then readied ourselves for the trails, mounted our bikes and rode out.
The warm up ride was pretty fun, went through a few farms and villages along the way, the natives were friendly and some kid even greeted me when I rode by. The trails was overall tiring, lots of climb, we took a short break after the trails and headed for the dirt jumps. My buddies did a few jumps (well I wasn't skilled enough for some of the jumps so I skipped), and next we headed for the berms trail, which was pretty fast and flowy, which led us into the small village which we will enjoy our lunch in the jungle.
pretty sweet place to enjoy the awesome local food
After we headed for more trail rides and the forest jumps, and then back to the dirt jumps, and after we will start the longest climb of the day, which many of us started to whine due to the fatigue kicking in from the extended period of climbing (this is the only part of the day which isn't fun). We finally reached the top of the hill and just ahead of us is a downhill track, a 2 minute descend which is extremely fun, making the climb worth it after all.
We headed back to the headquarters and had our bikes washed by the people there while we took our much needed shower. Then its time to head back home, almost 7 hours of non-stop riding, but it was totally a different experience from anything in the world, definitely one that will go into my memory bank.
