Sabah Adventure Race 09
ok finally got the pics sorted out.
so after enjoying good food and the doing all the touristy stuff, Lip and Adrian flew back home.
I stayed on in Sabah and joined up with two other friends. The three of us formed a team to take part in the Sabah Adventure Challenge (SAC)
The 2009 race is the 10th edition of the race. The SAC is a 3 day race that requires participants to traverse various terrains on foot, bike and this year it also involves bamboo rafts. Basically, we were had to trudge way through jungle, bike and run/hike up and down mountains, float down and wade across rivers. Basic orienteering skills, some mountain biking experience and endurance are a must. But what I found more important were guts, sheer determination, a love for torturing yourself physically, the ability to tahan running around in wet shoes and muddy conditions.
i took part in the SAC with the objective of completing the race. man, was it grueling. only about of the participating teams (about 40) managed to complete the 3 day course. so I am very glad to have accomplished my goal. but of course there were other teams that are like way way way up there. that's why need to train train train.
The first day of the race started out with a run followed by down river ride on a bamboo raft. it was fun but also tiring cos we had no paddles and were only given bamboo poles to use. got stuck in whirlpools, crashed into stone walls, trapped by low hanging branches etc. basically got wet lah. after dropping off the bamboo raft at the checkpoint, we picked up our bikes for the rest of the journey. lots of uphill climbs that really killed me, especially with the sorching sun. pushed the bike uphill for more than half of the journey. really really wanted to give up. glad i didnt. managed to get to the finishing point, which is a village named Lobong Lobong located on top of hill...zzzz. got in around 8pm (i.e. after the sun has set) and was really heartened by all the cheers of the villagers and other participants who had finished ahead of us.
washed up and had a damn good night's sleep at our host family's place. very cosy and nice. the host family was unbelievable hospitable and friendly. good experience.
The second day had less mountain biking. part of the day involved a team biathlon where we had one bike to share between the 3 of us. so while one biked, the other two ran. the biker after getting sufficient ahead will drop off the bike and the runner behind gets to pick up and catch up with the teammates in front. the other parts involved lots of jungle trekking and orienteering. jungle terrain. and yes that means leeches. damn. got bitten twice. not pleasent. oh and it rained and rained and rained.... good thing was we managed to get back to base camp (Lobong Lobong) before dark.
The third and last day started with mountain biking again. this time the challenge was this steep uphill climb that went on for like 4km... again nearly died. had to carry the bike across a couple of landslides too. the bike portion ended at the Mt Kinabula National Park where teams had to orienteer and find checkpoints littered throughout the National Park. rather fun trying to beat the clock.
so that was a short summary of the race. cant go into all the details as it will just bore everyone to death. peektures instead:
Preparations for the Race:
SAC Banners at the Hotel where we staying
Getting our gears checked. helmets, raincoats, first aid kits, water bags etc.. tried to pack as light as possible
my personal pack and my trail mix. ate these during the race. need energy to keep myself going. need to eat stuff other than power gels. kinda like a reward system. haha
The Race:
everyone getting ready for the start of the race. we actually rafted back to the start point to pick up our bikes, hence the presence of the bikes. so much preparation work to be done.
had to cross many "bridges" on foot and sometimes with the bike. some of the bridges are really the swaying types... I can understand why they have fight scenes on bridges liao. so difficult to even walk properly. fighting must be even harder
lots of biking.. rather shag...
I slept at every opportunity I got. 5mins catnaps can do wonders. so I slept
and slept
and slept. =p
The Base Camp where we rested our weary bodies
accommodation was kampung style. totally shiok.
was greeted was by 2 cats. happy to see pussies around. kawaii!
the landscape views were also excellent.
The aftermath!
just to give a sense of how dirty we got. and the injuries we suffer. the guy in the last two pics is not my team-mate. took his pic cos he is like how garang can. he pressed on despite what happened
anyways, I ended the race with a sense of pride and lots of battle scars on me leg. am definitely looking forward to next year's race!
so after enjoying good food and the doing all the touristy stuff, Lip and Adrian flew back home.
I stayed on in Sabah and joined up with two other friends. The three of us formed a team to take part in the Sabah Adventure Challenge (SAC)
The 2009 race is the 10th edition of the race. The SAC is a 3 day race that requires participants to traverse various terrains on foot, bike and this year it also involves bamboo rafts. Basically, we were had to trudge way through jungle, bike and run/hike up and down mountains, float down and wade across rivers. Basic orienteering skills, some mountain biking experience and endurance are a must. But what I found more important were guts, sheer determination, a love for torturing yourself physically, the ability to tahan running around in wet shoes and muddy conditions.
i took part in the SAC with the objective of completing the race. man, was it grueling. only about of the participating teams (about 40) managed to complete the 3 day course. so I am very glad to have accomplished my goal. but of course there were other teams that are like way way way up there. that's why need to train train train.
The first day of the race started out with a run followed by down river ride on a bamboo raft. it was fun but also tiring cos we had no paddles and were only given bamboo poles to use. got stuck in whirlpools, crashed into stone walls, trapped by low hanging branches etc. basically got wet lah. after dropping off the bamboo raft at the checkpoint, we picked up our bikes for the rest of the journey. lots of uphill climbs that really killed me, especially with the sorching sun. pushed the bike uphill for more than half of the journey. really really wanted to give up. glad i didnt. managed to get to the finishing point, which is a village named Lobong Lobong located on top of hill...zzzz. got in around 8pm (i.e. after the sun has set) and was really heartened by all the cheers of the villagers and other participants who had finished ahead of us.
washed up and had a damn good night's sleep at our host family's place. very cosy and nice. the host family was unbelievable hospitable and friendly. good experience.
The second day had less mountain biking. part of the day involved a team biathlon where we had one bike to share between the 3 of us. so while one biked, the other two ran. the biker after getting sufficient ahead will drop off the bike and the runner behind gets to pick up and catch up with the teammates in front. the other parts involved lots of jungle trekking and orienteering. jungle terrain. and yes that means leeches. damn. got bitten twice. not pleasent. oh and it rained and rained and rained.... good thing was we managed to get back to base camp (Lobong Lobong) before dark.
The third and last day started with mountain biking again. this time the challenge was this steep uphill climb that went on for like 4km... again nearly died. had to carry the bike across a couple of landslides too. the bike portion ended at the Mt Kinabula National Park where teams had to orienteer and find checkpoints littered throughout the National Park. rather fun trying to beat the clock.
so that was a short summary of the race. cant go into all the details as it will just bore everyone to death. peektures instead:
Preparations for the Race:
SAC Banners at the Hotel where we staying
Getting our gears checked. helmets, raincoats, first aid kits, water bags etc.. tried to pack as light as possible
my personal pack and my trail mix. ate these during the race. need energy to keep myself going. need to eat stuff other than power gels. kinda like a reward system. haha
The Race:
everyone getting ready for the start of the race. we actually rafted back to the start point to pick up our bikes, hence the presence of the bikes. so much preparation work to be done.
had to cross many "bridges" on foot and sometimes with the bike. some of the bridges are really the swaying types... I can understand why they have fight scenes on bridges liao. so difficult to even walk properly. fighting must be even harder
lots of biking.. rather shag...
I slept at every opportunity I got. 5mins catnaps can do wonders. so I slept
and slept
and slept. =p
The Base Camp where we rested our weary bodies
accommodation was kampung style. totally shiok.
was greeted was by 2 cats. happy to see pussies around. kawaii!
the landscape views were also excellent.
The aftermath!
just to give a sense of how dirty we got. and the injuries we suffer. the guy in the last two pics is not my team-mate. took his pic cos he is like how garang can. he pressed on despite what happened
anyways, I ended the race with a sense of pride and lots of battle scars on me leg. am definitely looking forward to next year's race!