For those interested in the limited edition Kiara Video, please do drop me an order to lingemerciless@pacific.net.sg. For a low RM25 or S$12, you get to catch a glimpse of the formidable riders of this tough trail who have been caught on film, the famous words of Patrick Brunsdon and support homegrown videographer like moi. A Part II Video is in the making, which will feature footages of tumbling tots at the 2k loop for KGP6 taken by Hans Fritsche, recently crowned King of Kiara for the Masters Category. It will also contain nature shots of this lovely trail before it is swallowed up by bulldozers and eventually becomes someone else’s storeroom.

KIARA BIKERS HOT IN THE ACTION

After having satisfactorily completed one of the stage races with Beykha, I found capturing on video the bikers soaked with expressions of suffering a more rewarding experience (masochistic it may seem but I prefer the phrase "pictures tell a thousand words"). With a video camera in hand and armed with a thick layer of mosquito repellant and the aspirations of becoming an extreme sports filmmaker, I set forth to cover as many stages of this intense race as possible. A few stages later, I managed to collect a montage of speedsters whizzing by, not forgetting the inevitable crashes even amongst the expert riders.

At one of the races, I stumbled upon Patrick Brunsdon, one of the regular bikers whom I was told deserved special mention for his dedication and effort in maintaining and building new trails in Kiara. I managed to grab an interview with Pat before he migrated to Australia with his wife, Karen. We later exchanged e-mail correspondence concerning his interview. It finally dawned on me that this was more than a bike race. A mountain bike trail actually has a life of its own. Someone has to breathe life into it and continue to pump in energy to keep it going. The next question which springs to mind : who plays God?

TALES FROM PIG PEN

According to Patrick Brunsdon (Nickname : Pig Pen), his initial motive for developing and maintaining the trails were mainly for his own purposes and satisfaction. However, his passion, perseverance and efforts have helped to shape the face of Bukit Kiara as it stands today and fuel the path to the Kiara GP. The "Evolution of a Bike Trail" section of my VCD features Patrick and tells a brief story of his relationship with the Kiara trails. Read on for a better insight into the story told by the man himself :-

"There's another thing I probably didn't get across when I talked with you - a lot of what I did was totally selfish.  I don't mean that in a bad way; I didn't want to keep it as a secret for my own, it's just that I was really enjoying riding there and I could see that some trails were growing over and others were suffering badly from erosion.  It might be hard to imagine, but up to a couple of years ago hardly anyone rode the trails.  In fact for a long time I would only see one other set of bike tracks.  (Later on when Azizul and I started riding together he pointed out the same thing - he knew there was one other biker riding the hill regularily, but he didn't know who it was).  I figured that if I wanted the trails to stay open so I could ride and enjoy them, I would have to take it upon myself to take care of them.  I did the trail maintenance for my own benefit and satisfaction.  I tried to encourage people to ride there but for various reasons very few tried it." 

"I think what finally did it was posting my trail map in a couple of bike shops and passing it out to anyone who asked.  I had long since mapped the whole area using a GPS, again mainly for my own purposes.  I needed the map to figure out where to add a few key trails, which changed the whole complexion of riding there.  It added a lot of variation, and also made it possible for riders who weren't expert to make a complete loop that was fun rather than a descent into the third ring of hell.  (The Kiara GP doesn't even use a couple of the original trails - too nasty!)  Azizul and I had kicked around a few ideas, arbitrarily agreed on trail names and even written trail descriptions for all the trails.   Finally I just started giving out copies of my map.   A note on the trail names:  because we each had our own independent history on the hill, we each had developed our own unique sets of trail names.  We had to pick and choose between the two sets to come up with what people know today.  If you must know, we did not take our responsibility lightly!"

JOE AND THE PIONEER BIKERS

I followed up with Joe Adnan (Nickname : Casper). When asked about his involvement in the evolution of the Kiara trails, this pioneer rider replies :-

"My only claim to fame is that I've been riding the trails in Kiara longer than most, way back even before the equestrian and golf clubs were built. This was circa 1988."

"Big credit must go to the guys who get together to do the trail work. People like Fuji, Adli, Paul Sweeney, Farizul, Krankster, Scott, Janie, Jake, Simon Kenny, Hanafi, Zailan and the Le Tua gang who designed and help build the 2k loop etc etc."

"Of course, the biggest gob of acknowledgement and high regard is saved for Pigpen, and to a lesser extent, the economic crisis of 1997-1999, which freed up Pigpen's time somewhat ;-")

"But at the same time, the trails are everyone's. The issue is less staking one's legacy or even prior right of use, but more the fact that everyone who use the trail should appreciate their incredible good luck to have such a brilliant piece of singletrack real estate smack in the middle of the city. With this appreciation maybe more people will take a little time to care for the trail."

"I must say that when my friends Sha, Shariman, Hulk and I first started riding the trails we felt a certain sense of selfishness over sharing the secrets of Kiara with others. "What if the buggers screw up the trails?" "What if the idiots start throwing rubbish all over the place?"

"I'm happy to have been proven wrong. Since Pigpen's Last Dance and the GP series, the trails of Kiara have been veritable mountain biking highways, and on the whole have not suffered the worse for it (the "trail maintenance" on Janie's Addiction notwithstanding). Kudos to Farizul and the rest for having the vision to put something like the GP together, which increases the accessibility of Kiara to the average rider. Hopefully if more people use the trails and appreciate how lucky we are to have it, the likely it is that at least some of the area will escape the dreaded mandibles of progress."

BATTLEFIELD KIARA

From cradle to the end of its useful life, a trail requires serious trail maintenance. The words "trail work" and concepts such as designing and building trails are practically unheard of amongst us most of us Singaporean riders, save for bike race organizers who have had to clear the race paths before any big race. I’ve witnessed organizers and bikers alike fatigued from having to manually saw off fallen tree trunks and clearing stacks of bushes off mosquito-infested trails of Kiara. Our BKT Trails on the contrary are maintained by NParks, granted there are the odd BKT biker or trekker who has the initiative to move obstacles from harm’s way.

Trail maintenance is not the worse of its problems. Organizers are fighting another battle aka the "Battle of Styrofoam Hats and Fat Tires vs Hard Hats and Flat Tires". Many bikers have the displeasure of seeing Kiara trail slowly shrink at the hand of condominium and highway development. Men with tractors continue to bulldoze their way through some parts of the original trail. Such a situation is not unique in land-scarce Singapore; economic and other pressures for land for development have been the recent hot topic of discussion e.g. the destruction of graves under the mass exhumation exercise and the fast vanishing Chek Jawa at Pulau Ubin. Our BKT Trails have not been spared either. Apparently, a 50-metre wide swathe was cut through its forested catchment in 1985 to make way for the Bukit Timah Expressway (or BKE).

What can we make of the future of Kiara? Bikers can always turn to other trails, being the huge land bank that Malaysia is. One is spoilt for choice, compared to the limited trails in Singapore. Inevitably, the conservation of the Kiara trails located on what I understand to be prime land owned by private businesses will most probably only remain an item on a wish list. But to those who have put their stud, sweat and years (and blood, sweat and tears) into making this trail a success, I can imagine this situation to be akin to watching the slow demise of one’s special playground.

"It's a terrible shame that it's all going to be sliced and diced and turned into condo's, but more of a downer for the many riders who have only just discovered it.  For me, I came to the realization years ago when I first started seeing survey stakes, and I've had a long time to get used to it.  I knew it was on borrowed time.  I do hope there will be enough green left to keep some of the trails or build new ones that skirt all the development - Kiara is unique in that it is has a well known and well documented trail network, and it might be possible to retain some of it.  If I was back in K.L. I would still be building trails up there - there are considerable areas of the hill with no existing trails and no immediate plans for development - what matter if the trail is only good for a couple of years?  That's a long time."