Sabah Adventure Challenge (Part 1)

The stitches are out! :)

It's been a week since my inaugural crash on my virgin mountain bike ride during my first real adventure race overseas. Too many firsts all at once. Our trip to the Sabah Adventure Challenge was full of surprises and crises. Recap....

19 March 2008, 2am. A day before our departure. One of my team mates discovered, to all our horror, that he lost his passport! A frantic search and contingency plans ensued - replacement candidates, cancel the trip, join the race late etc. Thankfully, the immigration officers helpfully issued a temporary travel document in the same day and we were set to go.

20 Mar 2008, 4am. Morning of the flight. My humble house. Our transport came to collect us and our bikes/ gear to Senai Airport in Johor. 1 giant carton-box, 1 big carton-box, 1 relatively compact bike case, 1 huge duffel bag, and 3x 50-60L backpacks. We had a MPV. The giant carton-box would not fit into the length of the car! Frantic attempts to shove and prop the boxes. The winning configuration was the 3 bike boxes lying comfortably on 2 rows of totally flattened out seats, while Dom and I precariously squashed ourselves atop those flattened backs. KC, by virtue of his length (height) enjoyed the front passenger seat. The lead-up to the race in the past week seemed like a roller coaster, and we were not even on the plane! I only hoped that we would safely hop on the flight and reach Kota Kinabalu. Everyone suffered from lack of sleep in the past week, and we snoozed the entire journey.

We landed. At last! A sigh of relief. Dom's aunt, Fiona, was at the airport with her friend, Michael, to pick us. Another round of loading and unloading before we got everything secured on the back of the 4WD truck. Fiona generously put us up at her apartment during this trip. It was a nice cosily renovated 3 bedroom place, airy and comfortable. :) The rest of the day was spent re-assemblying our bicycles and registering for the race. For some strange reason, KC's front tire did not sit well, and we burst 2 inner tubes trying to align the wheel. We had to find a new tire but many bike shops were closed. We finally bought a spare one (RM75!) from the race organizers. After the race briefing and packing, it was past midnight when we were done. We had to meet at 630am the next morning.