In early January, V asked me if I was planning to do the 2023 Pink Ride. She had registered for the Permanent 100. Having just completed the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge, I felt I could manage a 100 km ride. So I registered for it. Some other R@SKLs registered for the BRM 200.
Both events would start at the same time. Pre-dawn at 5:00 am. I decided to spend Saturday night as close to the start location as possible, so I would have more sleep time before the very early start.
I was late looking for accommodation. All the homestays, of which there aren’t many around Kota Kemuning, had already been booked. My Biker Chick decided to make a weekend staycation out of the event. She booked a two-night stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Puchong, 10km from the ride start in Rimbayu, Kota Kemuning.
Puchong used to be tin-dredging territory. We had a nice view of one of the old mining pools from our room.
Since I was going to be in the area on Saturday afternoon, I volunteered to collect goodie bags for the R@SKLs. Pick up was at the Gamuda Land twenty-five.7 Experience Gallery.
It didn’t take long to collect about a dozen goodie bags.
In addition to discount vouchers from the event sponsors and optional additional-cost tee shirts and cycling wallets, each bag held an event-specific brevet card and bike tag.
The brevet cards get stamped at each checkpoint along the route. The bike tags identify differentiate registered participants from unregistered ones, known locally as “ghost” riders.
The giant lakeside flamingo behind the Experience Gallery was where I met the other R@SKLS at 4:30 am on Sunday morning to hand out brevet cards and bike tags.
Everyone ready to roll. Four of us doing the Permanent 100, and the rest doing the BRM 200.
The Permanent 100 and the BRM 200 shared the same route for the first 20 km. At Taman Periang, the Permanent 100 riders turned right towards Banting, and the BRM 200 riders turned left towards Kampung Sungai Manggis. Although the two routes reconverged at Asam Batu Laut, we would not see the BRM 200 riders again. The Permanent 100 riders got to Asam Batu Laut after a further 20 km from where the two routes split. The BRM 200 riders had 130 km to cover before they got to Asam Batu Laut.
The only checkpoint for the Permanent 100 was at KM 56 at Dataran Morib. We got there at a few minutes past 7:00 am.
One of the event sponsors was Boom+, which is an isotonic beverage. There was an ice chest full of all four available flavours at the checkpoint. I had a lemon one. Very nice!
It was also time for something to eat. A kilometre from Dataran Morib is Delicious Bread Coffee Shop.
Soft-boiled eggs, charcoal-toasted bread with kaya (coconut jam) and coffee hit the spot.
The R@SKLs doing the BRM 200 would have been riding towards Port Dickson from Sepang while we were enjoying our breakfast.
The finish at twenty-five.7 Experience Gallery was less than 50 km away for the four of us.
We got to the finish at 9:30 am.
There was more Boom+ available at the finish. As well as a very nice photographer in the shape of Sam Tow.
The finishing checkpoint was at one end of the row of shops behind the Experience Gallery, facing the Central Lake. One of those shops is a café.
Rewind is a very nice spot for a post-ride latte and a sandwich.
The neon sign inside is very cyclist-appropriate 😂.
All the R@SKL BRM 200 riders finished safely too.
We all got medals. The Permanent 100 was not an official Audax event, so the ones we got for riding 100 km are not the same as the Audax Club Parisien-issued medals that the successful BRM 200 riders could purchase.
Congratulations to all the R@SKLs who rode the Pink Ride 6.0 Permanent 100 or the BRM 200.
P.S. The Pink Ride 6.0 is the third Pink Ride that the R@SKLs have participated in. You can read about the others by clicking on the links below:
Old Roots, New Routes 