Riding on and on: 12 May 2010: Gunung Brinchang (altitude 2031m)

We slept in late, exhausted from yesterday. Waking up “late” meant 8am – 9am as we didn’t want to miss our breakfast at the market. Stuff there, especially Cameron Highlands produce, are generally cheap. I got ourselves 6 tomatoes for RM1, totally unheard of in Singapore. We also bought ang-gu-kueh, nasi lemak and soya milk for breakfast. Then it was the dreadful task of patching spoilt inner tubes and packing necessities for our ride up Gunung Brinchang in the afternoon.

We had chicken rice for lunch around noon. By the time we were done, it was raining on and off. In the usual fashion, we proceeded with the ride. A little rain won’t kill =)

Having trekked 16km up Gunung Brinchang via the jungle trail and back to Brinchang via the road last July, I knew what to expect. That provided some form of mental preparation but once you hit the climb, physical exertion and mental exhaustion sets in. It was tough going but since Dad couldn’t climb the steep inclines on his road bike and had to push, that gave me a lot of leeway to rest while waiting for him at intervals. I took the opportunities to snap pictures that would help to preserve precious memories.

The rain didn’t really help in our progress. The weather on Cameron Highlands was cool enough and the rain only served to dampen my spirits. I couldn’t take nice shots with the limited capabilities of my hand-phone camera if the sky was dark and weather bad!

Several jeeps with mostly Caucasian tourists passed us and they were pretty surprise to see people cycling up Gunung Brinchang. The road up to the peak was steeper than Genting and Gunung Pulai. At that point in time, it was probably the steepest mountain I have climbed on a bike, though not necessary the most tiring. Genting was a real pain while the 60km climb up Cameron Highlands would be considered a nightmare after factoring in a 150km ride from Kuala Lumpur.

After passing the Mountain Strawberry Farm, the road became steeper and narrower. There were rocks, bumps and metal drains with pretty huge gaps, enough to pull in anything less than a 1.75” MTB tire. It started to rain again and at that altitude, the fog was settling in and visibility became extremely poor. We switched on our lights.

Past 4pm, we were finally at the summit. We took a break, snapped lots of photos and visited the observation tower. It was raining, the mist blocked everything past 200m, hence there was nothing much that could be seen from the tower. I went up for memory sake but it was freezing and the darn metal steps were super slippery! The steps were roughly half my shoe size, definitely not for the faint-hearted to climb in wet weather!

Descending was the fun part. Or I should say, madness. The turns were very steep and very tight. Dad had to walk several sections. My heart leapt into my mouth when I saw Dad skidding, his wheels locked out as he tried to stop before an impossible turn. For a mountain bike, descending was not a problem. By the time I was down, my rotors were fiery red and crackling (against the generally cool atmosphere). The permanent burnt marks left behind are probably a reminder of the action this bike has seen in the mountains!