Kek Seng
Kek Seng is the name of the kampong (village), the plantation, and the palm oil processing plant.The plantation is impressive: it's a large, sprawling, contiguous forest of palms laid out over a undulating area, going from the Senai Desaru Highway, to Sungai Johor, off to the north up towards Kota Tinggi.
The Kampong is nestled down in a serene, verdant valley. To get there, you leave the Johor suburban sprawl, wind out on some rural highways a bit, and then you cross a stunning jungle creek, with a swath of unmolested jungle tracing its edges, it's a great view of how amazing the country was before the palm carpet was laid down.
The road climbs up out of the cool creek valley, and down past an amazing factory: the Palm Oil Processing Plant. It's cloaked in some of the most pungent, unique, industrial aromas you could imagine. I'm not sure how they refine palm oil, but I now know that it's quite odoriferous. Rose and I will never forget it.
We went a day early to get the number plate. It was cool to see the village on a more average day: it's a quiet, peaceful place.
99.9
They call races here Jamborees. This Jamboree is called 99.9 because it's 99.9% dirt; only a few meters are paved, when you cross a road.I arrived early, but wasn't aware of the Malaysian starting line etiquette. I was probably in position 100 or so when I got there, an hour before starting time. I straddled my bike and waited, figuring I'd guard my good position. Instead, people just walked around to the front of the line, or cut the lines from the side, put their bikes down, and went to drink coffee and smoke cigarettes. By the time they were done piling their bikes up, I was probably in 500th position.
When the race started, we stood still for two or three minutes after the event up front started. The race banner was probably ten meters across, in the middle of a football pitch. At the end of the pitch, the road was a double track as it headed into the plantation. It was a crazy traffic jam. Then, at the 2nd or 3rd km, there was a rickety one plank bridge over a small ravine, which made another serious bottleneck. By the bridge I had worked my way up to 450 or so. At the bridge I passed another 50 or so by starting a new line of people who carried our bikes down the ravine, hopped the creek, and climbed up.
Over the next 10 km, up to CP1, I passed a constant stream of riders, probably 300. It was winding, mostly flat or short hills, all plantation road. The fabike's traction is great for passing in these areas. I was able to shoot up the middle, over the loose rocks, in between the lines of riders on each side. There's also passing on the outside when needed, where the big tires and confident handling help.
After CP1, I settled into a groove. I'd set my sights on a rider, or a group of riders & doggedly reel them in. Then they'd tail me for as long as they could, and then I'd drop them. The terrain got hillier, and more technical after CP1, and again after CP2. There were some really nice downhill sections after CP2 especially. At one point, there was even a section that seemed made for this race. It was fresh, loamy, very wide ST that bombed straight down a gulley, winding with the contours of the plantation hill. I was literally screaming with joy, and finally caught up and passed this rider I'd been gunning for for a few kms.
Then, there were a few steep hills heading up and away from the river. Each steep, punchy up was followed by long, fast, straight downhills. During these sections pedaling over the hills was my secret weapon. People refuse to be passed by a fatbike, so they'd hang on next to me. But as the hill crested, they all stood up. I always pedal down through the gears and spin Shrek up to speed, get into a nice aero tuck and cruise down the hill. I made up a lot of ground that way.
Signs of Success
This jamboree had a really cool feature: signs that count down the kms left until the finish line. On a hot morning, where I almost puked once, this really helped me gauge me effort and stay in a good zone. It's a great idea, and one that more races should consider.With only a few kms left, I went into more of a sprint mode. I knew I was in a good spot, because many of the riders I was passing now were clearly serious riders, and also the fans were getting more numerous, and were shocked to see a fatbike. On one last, long technical downhill, I passed quite a few riders, and then on the last steep, slippery uphill I caught another. In the winding plantation section, the last section, I caught and passed a serious Indonesian rider.
I shot out of the plantation and onto the football pitch. There was a really fun section reminiscent of CX races: tight winding turns on the grass. I smoked that section, fueled by the crowd's cheers and the MC, who I heard announce me as rider #23 overall, and Fatbike Champion. Hells yeah!
1st Fatbike; 23rd out of 1100 overall
This was a great result for me. It was the biggest race I've ever done. Previous biggest race was the Dakota 50 in 2014, and it was less than half this amount. There's cool energy, and amusing diversity in a field that big.Great social scene at the end of the race. I met tons of fatbikers, and saw a lot of people I've met out on the trails here.
I got to take the podium as the Fatbike Champion and won 700rm cash! It was my biggest prize so far, after the 100$ I won at Maah Daah Hey 2014.
Building up Momentum
Ever Since Tatanka 100 in 2014, I've really been pushing for success. I see this as my window of opportunity, right now. It's been amazing to work so hard for over a year now, and to finally get my rewards. I drink a lot less (beer). I eat a lot less. And I ride sometimes when I really would rather be gaming, or snuggling at home. But it's all for a goal: winning bike races.I'm now on a roll of 1st place Fatbike Dakota 50 2014; 1st place Fatbike Maah Daah Hey 100 2014; 1st place Fatbike Dry Creek Gravel Grinder 2014; 1st place Fatbike and 3rd overall at Empian Green Ride 2015; and now this result. It's a great start, and I hope there'll be more to come.