In the morning The Batu 18 and Sungai Gabai are almost always covered with mist, plus the smokey smell wasn't that obvious. The only problem was the visibility. But certain areas en-route to Genting Peres were bad. The air was smokey and it was kind of hard to breathe.
This ride to Genting Peres was my first after 8 month of cycling hiatus. As expected my variables were all “out of tune”. But conquering Peres was an important morale booster for myself. The plus-minus 10km up the hill with elevation gain of about 400m from the the T-Junction was hard. My thighs were screaming out “murder!” and the crotch was extremely upset and cursing all the way to the top. After an arduous 48 minutes journey, cracking just at 9-10KM/H I made it to the top. Never thought the chant “Shut Up Legs!” actually worked wonder and helped me through when everything else said “Stop! Let’s call it and turn back!”. All in, I clocked 41.7Km and had a good meal break at the Bahulu Classiq with the Cyclone posse.

