GREAT MOMENT IN 24HOURS.......

"I got no words to describe this beautiful moment. To all the guys. We ride. We stop. We sleep. We drink. We eat. We shit. We laugh. We smoke. We break. We speed up. We leaned. We care. We listen. We obey. We motivate. We smile. We respect. We compromise. WE SUCCEED." HAMKA...BMW



Thursday, December 16, 2010

1st Malaysian Woman completed in 19hour 45minute for 1600++km



MY METAL BUTT ENDURANCE RIDE OR DEAL (FA THE BUTT-LESS)

The day of the awaited metal butt endurance ride finally came. After a week of pouring over the route map and discussing with Elly my daughter who plotted the routes into the GPS , I was relaxed and ready for the worst. The irony is that throughout the challenge I never referred to the map nor the GPS – the sign boards were clear and Nash led in the North while I led in the South routes.

It wasn’t until I arrived at KL Tower for the flag off that my adrenalin rushed and I felt nervous. Everyone important to me was there to support – Elly and Shah, Ezry and my granddaughter Daniesya, Is and Izet, Ati my maid of 14 years and all my Lanunbikerz friends!! I was sad that Ricardo my husband had to leave to be with his friends at another flag off in Sg Buloh.

At the sound of the whistle we were flagged off and in my mind “this is it, got to make it- don’t you go tumbling down the KL Tower winding way out!” I was the last and couldn’t see the others in front of me as the town traffic was heavy – it was a Friday night and people were out merry making.

When I reached the Sungai Buloh Rest & Rehabilitation Area, I tooted to my husband Ricardo , and my friend Nash to follow. My first stop was at Simpang Pulai where I fueled up at 11:34 am. My odometer reading was 033537.



I regretted stopping at Juru at 00:40 am for a second fueling up. My odometer reading was 033686. I should have done so at Gurun as I still had plenty of fuel.





Just about 100 meters from Alor Star tower my bike toppled as I lost my balance while stopping to wonder which way to go. So many motorists came, from I wonder where, to my rescue. I was so touched by their encouraging words and concern. The body slider of my bike broke and the arm of my right side mirror cracked. I reached Alor Star Tower at 1.30am . It was very dark with no street lights so the picture taken by En Fauzi (he can be contacted at +6012 4380123) who happened to be at the vicinity, is not very clear. I wasted more than 30 minutes trying to fix/glue/tie my dangling body slider and taping the arm of my side mirror.

My third fuel stop was at Caltex Sungai Petani at 2.23 am, before proceeding to Baling – Gerik route.



I stopped at the cross road at Gerik to Jeli to take a picture of the only restaurant in the vicinity. Nash went to the loom and washed his face. It was 3.45am but there were still many people. My odometer reading was 033966.



The journey to Jeli was grueling – numerous sharp bends in the pitch dark and foggy condition. I was told that elephants often wonder the roads at nights and many accidents have occurred because of them. Once in a while lorries/trailers/busses would come from the opposite direction taking me by surprise as I was going at a pretty fast speed. Once I thought a lorry was going to push me into the ravines and my heart was in my mouth. I slowed down for a long while after that. My ears kept popping – probably due to the high altitude.



By the time I reached Petronas Jeli it was 5.28am and my odometer reading was 034090. My fingers were numbed because it was unusually cold for me ( I totally forgot that my bike has got the heater – what an idiot). It started to pour pretty heavily – more than an hour was wasted before I left for Machang Tanah Merah. I stopped to take a picture of University Technology Mara, Machang at 7.01am. My odometer reading was 034153.



I fueled up at Petronas Gong Kiat station at 8.39am where my odometer reading was 034290 and decided to have breakfast. Though I was hungry, I couldn’t eat as I didn’t have any appetite. But I forced myself to have a bit of rice and chicken plus a mug of hot milo. I had plenty of power bars but they were all squashed up and melted from being in the hot side box which is above the exhaust pipes. After about an hour’s rest, I proceeded to Kuantan- Pekan route. Here I met up with Syed Kabeer and Nizam who decided to ride along with me and Nash.




The traffic to Muadzam- Segamat was heavy. About 50 kilometers to Segamat, two cars that must have been racing with each other overtook a stretch of about 10 vehicles from the opposite direction. I was forced to swerve onto the red earthed side stretch full of gravels. I thought that was the end of me as my bike wobbled and it wasn’t possible to get back onto the road as it was of a higher level. If I had braked I’d have crashed into the pillars on my left. I literally froze and left my fate to God – I don’t know how many lives I still have, but I lived to tell this story. Syed Kabeer told me later that he thought it was miraculous that I was still in one piece!! Syed Kabeer can be contacted at +60132892121.

At 15.07pm I reached Jementah Segamat Johor Petronas Station. My odometer reading was 034807. I had an ice cream to cool down my nerves. I just wanted to reach KL Tower and get this challenge over and done with.





I stopped at Putrajaya toll to take a picture. Just as I got on the bike to head toward KL Tower it rained torrentially. I could hardly see but refused to stop. Drenched to my knickers, I finally arrived at KL Tower . I was glad to see my children and the organizers waiting. Most of all I was glad I made it below 24 hours. I don’t want to have to try again!!! My odometer reading was taken by the organizers – I didn’t even bother to take a picture of it….

My gratitude goes especially to Nash my riding buddy, to my family, to Lanunbikerz and not forgetting the organizers, who supported, encouraged and believed in me !!

3 comments:

  1. "50 years old woman...Good luck & see you in Archives of the Minnesota 1000 = July 29-31, 2011"

    ReplyDelete
  2. congratulations my love you are the best,,,you are good rider i know ,,

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations sis.
    1st Malaysian woman to ride 1600+ Km. Bravo.
    And its done on the best bike ....FJR : )

    ReplyDelete