CP2 – Dairy Farm Entrance - BT Trail – Rifle Range – Park – Navigational Hazard – CP3

TOPO QUEENS LEAD TEAMS TO HORLAN!

Yippie!!! Finally, I get to hop onto my steed, leaving behind the pounding on me legs and destruction of me knees. Took a quick glance at the map. Head in the direction of Rifle Range Road. Look for the nearby playground! Sounds easy enough. Giddy-up, Firefly, charge forward!

At the first twin barrier divided by concrete on the way to the Belukar Trail, we were cheered on by regular BT smiley-faced bikers, Eric and fellow concussionist, Jason. How I wished I could ride at leisure and not at “cheongster” speed, especially after that exhausting run! We waved goodbye and were on our way.

We then glided past a couple of teams pushing their bikes up and down slope. “Excuse me…..bikers coming….Thank you.” Recalled saying that several times. Guess that was a good sign, thanks to our cleat-less pedal practices which really paid off!

Getting to CP2 was a breeze. What came thereafter was a nightmare for us...and a dream come true for others!

Took out passport from waterproof bag, got our proud CP2 stamp, and followed road to first navigation point. Planted on our first pole was “x◦” where x meant left - as I forget the number. When asked to whip out her compass, Beck’s reaction of one of panic. Afraid she’d left her compass snoozing at home, she swept through her bag thoroughly, eventually heaving a sigh of relief as her Silva showed its pretty head. Ok, false alarm! We took our bearings and started our navigational test.

After cycling past 2 bearing points, the third marked “25◦” welcomed us into what we thought was an evil “trap” designed by the organisers. Strictly according to compass, 25 required us to head on straight through unknown grassy rainforest terrain, whereas if we had blindly followed the concrete road, the right curve would have led us into a residential estate …and away from the general BT direction.

We looked at one another and thought…nahhh…..it can’t be so simple. Very soon, we were joined by several mens and mixed teams, including Team Dominoes, who by their puzzled expressions and queries gave away their equally perplexed state of mind.

The enticing green seemed to pull us a little closer as we headed on in that direction in search of further clues. And so we abandoned civilization, and edged closer to what we thought was the truth!

Lo and behold, we definitely took the route less traveled, eventually landing in a big longkang. One team member went through the dodgy longkang to the other side of the highway, and shouted to his teammates to come join him. As in any blind-leading-the-blind situation, we followed suit. We pushed our bikes through the underground tunnel filled with ankle-deep water (probably sewage-rat-scum infested water) ….only to face yet more unknown territory.

The forest grew denser and so did our bikes. I saw toilet paper hanging from several tree branches – hmm…characteristic of a hasher’s path. “Must be in this direction guys…hey, but take note : you follow at your own risk”. It’s amazing what influence the Pied Piper has on ‘em little rats, even with a gentle disclaimer! J

Eventually, Lau Shi from Team Dominoes and I, who were the lead scouts, hit a dead end…or so we thought. Becks went to recce another path, but turned back when the majority, not wishing to waste any more time, backtracked. Seconds later, we heard someone’s gleeful call in the distance. They had found a clear path! After following that path, which seemed to have been freshly cut (again giving us the illusion that we were on the intended track), we eventually hit concrete again and yes, we see the marshalls!!! Phew!!!

But…relief immediately turned into frustration after we learnt that we had spent the last 30 minutes bashing through dense jungle, searching for trails and clues to lead us all to CP3, when we should have taken the blind-faith path at the crossroad which would have saved us a lot of energy, time and mozzie bites!