Saturday August 8, 2009
Memorable ride to PD
By C.S. NATHAN
CYCLING is all in the family — the scouting family that is, for a group of enthusiastic pedallers who have managed to combine their love for scouting and the great outdoors to some success.
The team, known as Team Kelana (B) Batu, comprises a group of Rover scouts (adults who still practise scouting) and their families, who have racked up the kilometres on cycling tours from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca, Singapore, Kuantan, Penang, Langkawi and Pangkor.
For the love of scouting and the great outdoors: A group of Rover scouts struggling to keep pace under the scorching sun. Their latest conquest was a 100km one-way trip from Kuala Lumpur to Port Dickson, in conjunction with the centenary celebration of the scouting movement.
Organising chairman Por Yew Guan said their recent tour was a particularly auspicious one.
“The total distance covered was exactly 100km — one kilometre for every year that scouting is practised in Malaysia. In addition, The KL-PD Cycle Tour 2009 was held in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s birthday who is also the patron of the movement,” he said.
The tour was flagged off at 8am at the Malaysian Scouts headquarters, BP House (named after Lord Baden Powell who founded scouting) in KL and ended at about 6pm when they reached the Sunshine Camp in PD.
The 65-strong pack made their way through the city, stopping at Kajang, Semenyih, Beranang, Mantin, Seremban, Mambau and Lukut along the way before concluding their 10-hour journey.
Por said team members often looked forward to the pit-stops on their cycling tours to relax tired muscles and to take in the sights and sounds.
“Cycling lets us enjoy the beauty of our country — slowly. It reminds us how fortunate we are to be Malaysian and it’s a far cry from our fast-paced workdays.
In tandem: Team leader Ho Lee Fong, 46 and his teenage daughter doing their best to stay ahead of the pack. “The short breaks are also a chance to give back to our community. Usually, we try to visit an orphanage or old folks home en route but unfortunately this year, we were unable to do charity work due to time constraints,” said Por.
“Cycling tours also has its surprises, like the time we were invited to a wedding feast while passing through a village. The fun and camaraderie we enjoy more than makes up for our aching legs,” he said.
Team members were not limited to just the boys as many brought their wives and children along for the ride.
“We’ve been doing this (the mycycletour series) for four years and the group just keeps getting bigger. Of course, some of us have been going on cycling tours since the 1980s.
“Our team is made up of people from different backgrounds, from housewives to accountants with members aged between 12 and 46. We had seven women on board this time and also a family of cyclists. Our oldest pedaller, Ho Lee Fong was joined on this tour by his two teenage daughters and son who are all cycling enthusiasts,” he said.
The team plans to continue cycling for as long as they can, bringing with them on their journeys their scouting tradition of service and scouting spirit.
“Each journey is a journey of discovery, we learn things we never knew about ourselves and also our country. There’s no stopping us now, we are addicted to it already,” said Por.
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