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Entering a bike shop, it is very overwhelming for beginners to see a wide array of mountain biking products, each shouting, "buy me!" The question now is, "should you give in?" While many biking product are indeed necessary, there are some you can ride without or nice to have. Here is a list of necessary mountain biking accessories that you must have. Unmentioned ones are optional.

Helmet
Not only it is stupid not to wear one, most public parks and trails prohibit riding without a helmet. Buy it the moment you buy your bike. Many serious head injuries can be prevented by just wearing a helmet. Look for a helmet that provides better insulation; fits properly to your head; and with chin strap to secure it to your head.

Gloves
Gloves serve double purpose: to improve your grip on the handlebar and to protect your hand from cuts and bruises in case you crash. Since the natural tendency during crash is to stretch the arms to cushion the fall, the palms take the most beating. While I do not advice you to use your hands to protect your body from the fall, I will not recommend riding without it. You can choose between cutoff and full-fingered gloves, but I suggest full-fingered. Gloves are the second most important accessory you should have next to helmet.



Repair kit
There is nothing worse than having a breakdown in the middle of nowhere and you cannot do anything about it. Make sure that you put equal importance to repair kit as you can never tell when you will hit a major bump and blow your tire out or when will your chain break due to excessive metal stress. That said, your repair kit should include chain repair tool and tire repair tools such as patches, glue, portable pump with gauge and a spare inner tube. Also include multi-tool set with wrenches to repair mechanical damages.

Hydration system
Just like any other physical activity, mountain biking causes your body to heat up and sweat to keep your core temperature normal. As you sweat, you lose substantial amount of water, and even more if biking is extended for a longer period of time. To replace the water lost and avoid dehydration, you must drink fluid regularly. Water bottle is enough but if you can afford a hydration pack with bladder, it is much better.

Eye protection
Sunglasses are more than just a fashion statement. Glasses offer protection from dust, insects, wind and other foreign objects that can enter your eyes while mountain biking. Glasses also protect you from infrared radiation and ultra-violet rays and it can be used to filter or enhance lighting.

Clothes
The point of buying clothes especially made for biking is to provide enough protection and comfort while riding. But regular shirt and sweatpants are good enough.

Choosing among different brands of bike clothing can be difficult and expensive. Your task is to prioritize what to buy. I suggest that you invest on padded biking shorts first since you have shirts and jackets you can readily pull out from your closet.

Shoes
To add comfort while pedaling, specially-made bike shoes are available. Pick the right shoe that will fit to the terrain you will be riding in and will fit to the type of pedal your bike has.

The accessories are listed according to importance. If the combined cost of all these products goes beyond the budget you set, prioritize on buying the things from the top of the list down.

Taking the first stride is always the hardest thing to do so I have compiled the basic mountain biking skills you should possess to get you started. For some, these are very obvious; for beginners, these are very helpful.

Brake better, go faster
Every sports car has 2 things in common: large engine and high-performance brakes. This way, even if it runs fast, it can slow down quickly. No sports car is eligible to run at high speed without having good set brakes. This should also be your principle when riding a mountain bike. If you want to improve your speed, invest on good set of brakes.

The Gear Factor
If you know how to drive a car, then you know how important it is to drive on the right gear. The same thing applies on a mountain bike. Low gears are easier to pedal, but slow on acceleration. High gears are much harder but will give you abrupt acceleration. Low gears will help you climb stiff hills. High gears will drive you fast on level terrain. Do not start on high gears. Start low and gradually increase as you gain speed.

The Instant Turn
If you are about to hit a tree, a car or a large rock, you have to learn how to make a quick turn. To turn sharply to the left, steer sharply to the right. This will make your body lean to the left. Then make a hard left turn, steering into the lean and away from your obstacle. While this takes some practice, it can be very useful on emergency situations. Ease up on the rear brake if your rear tire begins to skid. Ease up on the front brake if your rear tire lifts off the ground.

Slowing Down
Riding fast lessens your reaction time significantly. So if you need to slow down to avoid something in front of you, do the following procedures: Shift your body weight as far back as possible, lower your body as low as you can, and squeeze front and rear brakes evenly. Avoid hitting the brake hard if your body is not properly aligned with your bike or if you are making a turn.

I think I'm falling
Yeah, yeah… It may sound so cheesy but the fact is, there is nothing cheesy when your face is about to crash on the rocks and you are about to experience wipe-out of a lifetime. Aside from learning how to ride the bike, the second, most important things you should learn is how to take the fall. The key is alertness. Anticipate all the possible scenarios that can happen on the trail. While the best thing to do when you know you are about to fall is to slow down by braking, make sure that you have an escape route in case your brake fails. Do not go flying up into the air while sticking your arm to protect your fall. Instead, tuck your body and plan your fall – choose where to land best. Do not keep your eyes off the trail. Do not stiffen your muscles.

Practice is said to make one perfect. But in the case of crashing, there is no better way to make the perfect fall than by keeping in control at all times even if you are about to fall 30 feet down the cliff.

Dalam meninjau ke beberapa blog yang aku miliki, tanpa disedari rupanya blog gapis4wd ini sudah pun berusia 3 tahun pada 30/07/2011 lalu.

Selamat Hari Jadi pada mu Gapis4WD.

Mungkin selepas Hari Raya nanti blog ini akan mula rancak beroperasi kembali dengan beberapa aktiviti meredah hutan rimba yang akan aku anjurkan nanti.

Salah satu daripada acara itu ialah menjejaki trek pahlawan (Mat Kilau) daripada Ulu Slim ke sempadan negeri Pahang. Perjalanan selama satu hari itu akan melibatkan perjalanan dengan kenderaan 4wd dan berjalan kaki meredah laluan-laluan mendaki dan menuruni bukit yang curam.

Tapi daripada gambar-gambar yang aku lihat daripada peserta yang pernah pergi, terdapat tempat camping yang sangat cantik di tepi sungai deras.

Jadi kalau ada sesiapa yang rasa teringin nak ikut sama, boleh hubungi aku melalui emel.

Once an adventure man, you will always be adventure man! That's is what happening to me at the moment. Actually I'm having a mild stroke....but just hope I will recover soon.

However, I'm planning a major camping event sometimes next month. The journey will be both on 4WD vehicles and trekking for half a day before reaching to the beautiful river deep in the jungle.

As a remembrance, I uploaded some photos of my Janda Baik adventure trip on conducting 4WD driving training to the Lada Niva 4WD owners some years ago.

I still remember in the 80s when we go for the 4wd jungle adventure, upon arrival at the village at the edge of the jungle or even when were passing through the Orang Asli village, we were greeted like lord.

Beside giving donation and the goodies to their children, the kampung folks enjoy and admire our highly modified hardcore 4wd vehicles. In their eyes we can see their excitement with our vehicles. They admire when we demonstrated our skill driving the 4wd passing through the obstacles.

Oh yes! Of course we need to tackle an obstacle one at a time. We drove cautiously and skillfully in passing through the obstacles, especially during climbing and going down the tough and slippery hills.

But now, the younger generation 4wd enthusiasts are completely different. Either be driving on the highway or muddy offroad, they just simply speeding without concern of their own safety.

Worst still when they are passing through the Orang Asli villages. Without concern of the children standing nearby they race among themselves. The roar of the engines and the squeaky of the tyres not only bring disturbance to the Orang Asli but it damage the village paths.

The routes to the Orang Asli villages are badly damage due to the hardcore offroad tyres. The peaceful and the tranquility of Orang Asli village come to chaos. Their anger lead them to serious actions.

The 4wd convoy are not welcome to their villages any more. Even to pass through will only be permitted after negotiation with the headman's as all the routes passing through their villages are block with the huge timber logs.

It has been quite some time I have not organize any camping event. However, towards end of May, there is going to be a very thrill and adventure camping coming up.

Further more I was informed that the campsite has been raining very heavily for the past few weeks. As such I am sure the route is going to be very tricky and tough. Indeed it's going to be another great camping adventure.

So I would like to advise the participants to be more prepared. Brings more foods and make sure the 4WD are all fully equips with the offroad equipments and use the adventure offroad tires.

As this trip is a non profit making, I just like to remind the participants to bear their own cost. I'm only organizing the event out of my interest and I'll provide a free technical advice. But most important, the participants willing to experience the tough adventure camping trip.


First stop before hitting offroad


Mild offroad to the campsite (luckily it's dry, if it rain this offroad tends to be very tricky and tough)


Faizal with his Isuzu D'Max


Tackling the fisrt off-road obstacle


Our fisrt stop at the Kayangan Village (350ft above sea level)


Sadai (The Headman) house at Kayangan Village


Stop by at the village sundry shop. Actually this shop sell more things than 7E. You can even buy petrol and motorcycle parts here.


Upon arrival at the Lata Serpik waterfall


Posing at the fisrt stop waterfall Lata Serpik


"I love durian"


Durian feast otw to campsite


View of the Orang Asli village


Tok Batin Yop Lui (The Headman - his face looks like the character in 'God Must Be Crazy)


Bamboo Rice (Rice stuff in the bamboo and burn it)

After the Tibang chaos camping trip, my camping buddy, Dean requested that we look for new camp site for another night camping.



Initially I thought of taking him and his group for camping at my orchard. I feel it's great to camp on the hill top and put up the tents underneath the 'petai' tree. But my partner is against my idea as there is no river nearby the orchard.



Alternatively we camp at 'Pecah Batu' river nearby the Orang Asli village. Eventually we were told the off road to the place is in a very terrible condition. In past a few 4WD's try to tackle the obstacles ended their vehicles in the workshop. So we scrap off the idea to go there.



As I came to understand that is one camp site at the top of the waterfall near Rasau village. So we try to locate it but ending in the merry-go-round.



Our local scout suggested we camp at one camp site. I agreed. As he was guiding us the route to go there, a couple of times we ended at somebody orchards. Dean with his impatient altitude got heated up. Huhuhu...!



Eventually our patient pay off. We finally arrived at the camp site just before the sun set. It's a cozy and beautiful camp site by the smooth flowing river. Hahaha...!



Initially it's quite scary as there is an abandoned chalet that was build resemblance to the Sarawak long house. But the beauty part of it, there's a 5-star toilet facilities complete with shower. Ahahah...!



Another good deal with that cam site, it has an electricity supply. Hohoho...



Then we can have a camping in style with our laptop. Hehehe....!



Before we set up our tents, a middle age couple came with a Land Rover. To my surprise, they are the owner of the place. As requested, the granted our request to camp there for free. Hooray hooray....!!



As I wrote this posting, I just have a lengthy discussion with the owner, Jamal and Yatie. They agreed to my proposition to promote the camp site. As for the scary abandoned long house chalet, they will get the workers to demolish it.

As proposed, they agreed the place to be call 'US RIVER CAMP'. And soon, I'll organize a camping-in-style at this new camp site.

Despite the hindrance that we faced in organizing the Tibang Nature Camp last weekend, overall the camping trip was very successfully. Most of the participants would like us to organize again after the Chinese New Year.



Earlier all plans goes as schedule. My wife will cook the local dishes and another chef will cook western foods. But last minute this western food chef throw the towel against us and we have to take care of everything.



Come the day, as requested all participants was waiting for me at the meeting point. To my surprise, this western food chef was there with his black Hilux. Adding more surprise, he invited his friends to tag along and joined the camping for free.



Anyway it doesn't matter to me. Either you pay or not, it won't make me rich or poorer. But being in the group, it's good to talk to each other rather than being stuck-up and snobbish.



Well, that the last for it. The next Gapis 4WD camping trip will solely be under the Gapis 4WD admin group only.



Last but not least, our great appreciation to Dean Rahim and his wife Halimah and her friend Ena for lending the helping hands despite paying for the camping trip.



Our thank you too to Ah Heng and his wife for understanding our difficulties.



Thumbs up to all the participants including their children who enjoy the trip.

Due to the overwhelming responds from the participants in the past camping trips, with the long holiday towards end of this month, I decided to organize another camping trip for the city folks.

Named, 'Tibang Nature Camp' will take the participants to the beautiful scenic river at Ulu Slim, which is only about two hours drive from Kuala Lumpur.

The 3 days 2 nights camping trip will be full of fun and excitement, beside experience the feeling of peace and tranquility in being close to mother nature.

Camping Package Include:
Complete organization of the camping program:-
- Assistance and advice on camping procedure and handling
of camp equipment’s.
- Guided journey between destinations.
- 2 Dinner / 2 breakfast / 2 luncheon
- Main tent.

Camping Handy Notes:
Cost - RM150.00 per head for catering.
- Your own transports.
- Meals and drinks other than those specified.
- Jungle trekking, fishing, games & visit to Kg. Orang Asli

Suggestion to bring along:
- Toiletries
- Personal items.
- Pair of sandals
- Swimming wear
- Your own snacks or titbits if you like
- Mineral water or juices
- Own sleeping bag
- Own tent
- Own air mattress
- Torchlight
- Sneakers
- Own plate (for your meals)
- Own drinking mug/cup
- camping knife