Locked in dates - Oct 22nd (Thu) to Oct 26th (Mon).
My wish for dry weather was answered! Omens were good as we went through customs at 7am with no waiting - an easy drive up with BK and GF, took a few leisurely breaks to punctuate the monotony of the drive, and we still managed to check in at the hotel before 4pm. The good weather and easy traffic on the drive up helped put us in good spirits - enough that we were psyched to get in a ride that very afternoon.
1st Day: So as per SOP when taking newcomers to Penang hill, we took the cable car up at 5pm (just missed the 4.30 tram), started riding at 5.30 and took the easiest way down (via the 39 switchbacks). It's still a very challenging ride for trail newbies, as it's still a decent variety of terrain. But not so much that it became overwhelming. That's for the next couple of days as new riders get used to the scale of Penang hill *evil laugh* By the time we got back to the van, dusk had fallen yet all in all, it had been an exhilarating start to our riding 'holiday'.
2nd Day: Friday the 23teenth. Time for BK to lose more trail virginity - Penang hill, the hill that keeps on giving.... ;) So for today we did 6 to 3 (from 84). 6 starts off with a sequence of 5!! 4 to 5 ft drops. A quick recce showed that the easiest route would be left/right/right/right/left. There are short runoffs of 1 bike length or less after each drop, where most of the effective braking is done. Your truly crashed upon completion of the 5th drop as the arms had turned to jello and there wasn't enough strenght left to muscle the bike through an off-camber turn right at the end. BK had an intimate encounter with a tree stump after the 2nd drop, resulting in a bloody gash on his upper chest. He may have done that on purpose, as he garnered a lot of sympathetic enquiries from female admirers over the next few days.... sneaky, eh? :)
After the drops, comes the steeps with tree roots and more tree roots. And yet more tree roots... never-ending tree roots. The purpose for this self-torture was two-fold - [1] in theory it should be easier riding down to No 3 rather than pushing up from Youth Park and [2] we need some tree root training for the "NEW TRAIL" from 84. Suffice to say, there were a lot of crashing, sliding and moaning.... but hey, just remember to tell yourself - no pain no gain.
Then on to No 3 - the official DH course for Penang hill. Fun fun fun. Every rider loves this trail, especially on weekdays when there's next to no hikers and it becomes a high-speed course with a few technical parts thrown in for good measure.
3rd Day: Today CK was able to be our 'tour guide' to the "New Trail" from 84. An easy pushup from 84 brought the riders to about 460m elevation... then over the course of just over 1km, we descended close to sea level. Saying that it's steep would be an understatement. We had actually started riding down from the usualy 703m elevation, so we became pretty exhausted we rode the "New Trail" for the first time. Super steep, tight, twisty and rooty - one had to really believe in his bike and tires (used 2.5 Stick-E Nevegals). An amazing riding experience, to put it mildly.
4th Day: 4th day of riding in a row, no need to be a hero. We dropped off at 84 instead of the top and started riding the "New Trail" immediately. Did much better than the day before but nonetheless, exhaustion still set in somewhere in the middle of the trail. Guess 40km of cumulative downhilling is A LOT of downhilling.... Anyways, the day was still young and yours truly then drove the riders to Mt Erskine - now a high speed course with lotsa jumps. Heck, even if you don't want to jump, once you go above 40kmh, even small dips will make you catch some air. We mostly watched the locals practice at a new jump site where you had to clear at least 2.5 bike lengths if you didn't want a flat landing.
So now the 'template' has been set for 'newbie' riders to Penang hill, if they are going to be as garung as BK. If not, then we will just have to do more of the easier trails to acclimatise new riders to the trail conditions.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Another Penang trip write-up
Anvil's Blog
Excerpt:
No excuse not to go riding, real riding that is. Something I have been putting off for awhile Not the usual monotony that the flat landscape and hiker crowded trails in Singapore has to offer..... 8 hours of smooth driving to Penang lull me into thinking "its just another trail, another ride"
.................................
Apart from the first day of riding, rain was a constant companion which no doubt made the riding a tad more difficult than if it was dry. Steep sections smoothened and slick from all the rain has more slick roots at every pedal stroke; ready to get you. Some sections felt more like skiing rather than biking.
Excerpt:
No excuse not to go riding, real riding that is. Something I have been putting off for awhile Not the usual monotony that the flat landscape and hiker crowded trails in Singapore has to offer..... 8 hours of smooth driving to Penang lull me into thinking "its just another trail, another ride"
.................................
Apart from the first day of riding, rain was a constant companion which no doubt made the riding a tad more difficult than if it was dry. Steep sections smoothened and slick from all the rain has more slick roots at every pedal stroke; ready to get you. Some sections felt more like skiing rather than biking.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Aug 09 Post-trip review
So 3 intrepid Singapore riders set out for Penang on Aug 20th, armed with 2 DH bikes (Glorious Giant + Chumbawumba F5) and 1 AM (El Cheapo with his 36 Talas). It was the smoothest drive up to Penang - EVER. No rain, no traffic, beautiful weather.... totally lulling us into complacency about the 'technical' horrors that await us on Penang Hill. The following is a short and sharp recap of the subsequent riding experiences.
(1) The first technical section, dropping in from Viaduct Road, is now a rooty slidefest. Kent Ridge has nothing on this, so it was an excellent wake-up call, albeit a bit of a jaw dropper one.
(2) The main runs from the top of Penang Hill to the base are anywhere from 10 to 14km, so there is a tremendous variety of terrain to cover. Erosion by mother nature has created numerous sections with their own special technical features, each requiring a different set of riding skills and ways of looking at possible lines. Gullys, rooty high speed, drops drops and more drops, rocky outposts both sizeable and ridiculous. Only a small sample is shown here.
(3) Any subsequent trips with new riders to Penang Hill will have at least 1 day of 'recce' riding, as there is just too much information/terrain to absorb. Ride leader will have to be extremely patient, so remember to tip him well.
(4) The level of technical difficulty cannot be understated, as this is not exactly a man-made DH course with proper entries and exits to technical features. One just has to up the standard of riding - or else portage quite a bit. Portaging downhill is such a waste of elevation.
(1) The first technical section, dropping in from Viaduct Road, is now a rooty slidefest. Kent Ridge has nothing on this, so it was an excellent wake-up call, albeit a bit of a jaw dropper one.
(2) The main runs from the top of Penang Hill to the base are anywhere from 10 to 14km, so there is a tremendous variety of terrain to cover. Erosion by mother nature has created numerous sections with their own special technical features, each requiring a different set of riding skills and ways of looking at possible lines. Gullys, rooty high speed, drops drops and more drops, rocky outposts both sizeable and ridiculous. Only a small sample is shown here.
(3) Any subsequent trips with new riders to Penang Hill will have at least 1 day of 'recce' riding, as there is just too much information/terrain to absorb. Ride leader will have to be extremely patient, so remember to tip him well.
(4) The level of technical difficulty cannot be understated, as this is not exactly a man-made DH course with proper entries and exits to technical features. One just has to up the standard of riding - or else portage quite a bit. Portaging downhill is such a waste of elevation.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Bike setup requirements
(1) Minimum 5 inch travel bikes, in good working condition
(2) Minimum 2.1 tyres (will be going through some serious rock gardens... don't play play)
*AMENDMENT 26/10/09* Should be 2.35 tyres or bigger. Due to high levels of erosion, bigger tyres with lower pressures are needed for rock gardens, drops, steep rooty sections.
(3) 8 inch rotors - for the front at least. Ideally, both front and rear. I have spare adaptors for 8 inch rotors (various, IS to POST, POST to POST etc), so can loan that out to you guys first if you don't have it already.
(4) Shorty / stubby stem
(5) Suitably short seatpost (will usually drop the seatpost pretty much all the way - so some rear suspension may have an interrupted seattube which would prevent your normal long XC seatpost from coming down all the way).
(6) Almost forgot - PROTECTIVE GEAR. Elbow, knee/shin guards. I've also taken to wearing 'armoured' shorts, which has extra foam protectors for hips, thighs etc. Before that, I had blue blacks on the hips, despite doing ok breakfall during a spill.
I will be bringing along the floor pump, shock pump and a couple extra tubes. Best that you have extra tubes for yourself.
(7) *AMENDMENT 26/10/09* Clipless pedals with platforms are a must (e.g. Shimano M647, Crankbrother Mallets etc) Clipless pedals alone not suitable for the steep technical terrain.
(8) *AMENDMENT 3/3/10* If you have a few pairs of cycling shoes, should not use your nice-looking ones, as they will get trashed with each run. For example, a brand new pair of SIDIs will look like it has been microwaved with putty after Penang hill.
(2) Minimum 2.1 tyres (will be going through some serious rock gardens... don't play play)
*AMENDMENT 26/10/09* Should be 2.35 tyres or bigger. Due to high levels of erosion, bigger tyres with lower pressures are needed for rock gardens, drops, steep rooty sections.
(3) 8 inch rotors - for the front at least. Ideally, both front and rear. I have spare adaptors for 8 inch rotors (various, IS to POST, POST to POST etc), so can loan that out to you guys first if you don't have it already.
(4) Shorty / stubby stem
(5) Suitably short seatpost (will usually drop the seatpost pretty much all the way - so some rear suspension may have an interrupted seattube which would prevent your normal long XC seatpost from coming down all the way).
(6) Almost forgot - PROTECTIVE GEAR. Elbow, knee/shin guards. I've also taken to wearing 'armoured' shorts, which has extra foam protectors for hips, thighs etc. Before that, I had blue blacks on the hips, despite doing ok breakfall during a spill.
I will be bringing along the floor pump, shock pump and a couple extra tubes. Best that you have extra tubes for yourself.
(7) *AMENDMENT 26/10/09* Clipless pedals with platforms are a must (e.g. Shimano M647, Crankbrother Mallets etc) Clipless pedals alone not suitable for the steep technical terrain.
(8) *AMENDMENT 3/3/10* If you have a few pairs of cycling shoes, should not use your nice-looking ones, as they will get trashed with each run. For example, a brand new pair of SIDIs will look like it has been microwaved with putty after Penang hill.
Planning dates for Penang trip
Guys, this blog will be used for spreading info, answer your FAQs, address concerns, work out logistics and discuss bike setup requirements.
(1) Currently we have a 3 week timeframe from Aug 24th (Mon) to Sept 13th (Sun). The impetus comes from Ron, whose workplace is shutting down for that period of time for renovations. Since Ron doesn't have much of a chance to get block leave at any other time of the year, and I've been telling him how good Penang downhill is for like gazillion years, his dates thus become our dates :)
So minimum, we will have Ron + me. Please use the comments page to post the dates that work for you within the stated timeframe and we'll see how we can accommodate as much as possible.
(2) I'll like to keep the group between 4 to 6 people for the purpose of driving up in the van. That number includes me. With 4 people and 4 bikes, everything should it in easy including personal luggage. With 6 people and 6 bikes, it'll get a bit tighter as I want to keep all the bikes in the van itself, not on a roof rack or bike rack outside the vehicle. Chances are good that we'll hit rain at some point during the 700km drive... so unless one of you want to volunteer your bike to experience 120+kmh wind and rain blasting at it.....
(3) My preferred dates would be to Thu to Mon. From experience, the drive can take anywhere from 5hrs (in a very fast car) to 8 hrs (with traffic jam here and there). So Thu will be for driving up, starting around 8am, so that we can avoid the worst commute jams around the KL area and subsequently across Penang bridge. Fri, Sat, Sun will be ride time. If my body hasn't been too bashed up, then Monday morning may do 1 more ride, then eat, go back to hotel to bathe and nap, and start driving back around 2pm, reaching Singapore before 10pm.
(4) I'll probably have one of drivers to also be a van driver - to split the driving duties, doing 1.5 to 2 hr shifts each time. The huge van takes some getting used to, so I dont' want to have to orientate/train too many people.
(1) Currently we have a 3 week timeframe from Aug 24th (Mon) to Sept 13th (Sun). The impetus comes from Ron, whose workplace is shutting down for that period of time for renovations. Since Ron doesn't have much of a chance to get block leave at any other time of the year, and I've been telling him how good Penang downhill is for like gazillion years, his dates thus become our dates :)
So minimum, we will have Ron + me. Please use the comments page to post the dates that work for you within the stated timeframe and we'll see how we can accommodate as much as possible.
(2) I'll like to keep the group between 4 to 6 people for the purpose of driving up in the van. That number includes me. With 4 people and 4 bikes, everything should it in easy including personal luggage. With 6 people and 6 bikes, it'll get a bit tighter as I want to keep all the bikes in the van itself, not on a roof rack or bike rack outside the vehicle. Chances are good that we'll hit rain at some point during the 700km drive... so unless one of you want to volunteer your bike to experience 120+kmh wind and rain blasting at it.....
(3) My preferred dates would be to Thu to Mon. From experience, the drive can take anywhere from 5hrs (in a very fast car) to 8 hrs (with traffic jam here and there). So Thu will be for driving up, starting around 8am, so that we can avoid the worst commute jams around the KL area and subsequently across Penang bridge. Fri, Sat, Sun will be ride time. If my body hasn't been too bashed up, then Monday morning may do 1 more ride, then eat, go back to hotel to bathe and nap, and start driving back around 2pm, reaching Singapore before 10pm.
(4) I'll probably have one of drivers to also be a van driver - to split the driving duties, doing 1.5 to 2 hr shifts each time. The huge van takes some getting used to, so I dont' want to have to orientate/train too many people.
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