I heard through the grapevine that one of my luxury properties in Hong Kong was coming under attack. I came to know that many spy satellites were trying to lock in on my ground there.
But, despite having ran 100km two days back, as a top guardian of all my Hong Kong properties, I felt the duty to go and investigate myself.
Destination: Plover Cove. That’s one of my properties in Hong Kong which is worth several billion dollars (nope, not Zimbabwean currency, I mean USD. Actually, to come to think of it, maybe Zimbabwean dollar will have more value in the near future. Anyway…)
I reached Wu Kau Tang quite late – close to 11am and the first thing I did was to take a quick look around for infiltrators. It was all clear. In fact, the only noise making guy I could see was an old granddad trying to sell something. Here, take a look but you have to crank up the volume big time as my iPhone didn’t capture the sound very well.
There is no threat to my property
I couldn’t go all guns blazing for two reasons: (a) I saw no threat to my well guarded property (b) my legs weren’t exactly 100% recovered from the 100km run I did 2 days back!
So, I started running at about 80% of my top speed and did a full 18km run around my reservoir to look for infiltrators. And, I am glad to declare that my property is in VERY SAFE hands. I finished my run in 2 hours 21 minutes.
However, I did discover that there was some truth to the rumors I heard about satellites spying on my property. I did get a rather shocking email complete with a picture from a self-proclaimed “plover cove committee”. The subject of the email read “message from plover cove committee” and here is what it said.
”
the plover cove committee is sorry to announce that todays attempt cannot be counted as circumnavigation and is therefore a DNF as you clearly did NOPT finish in the required HELI-PAD circle but somewhere totally outside of it……
please always follow rules and dont try short-cuts or whatsoever…….
”
First of all, I question the legitimacy of this “plover cove committee”. As I am already the owner of my property (most number of successful attempts around my reservoir), this so-called committee is illegal as far as I am concerned.
And ONLY for the sake of argument, the fact that I did not stop the timer on my Garmin at the Helipad was actually BAD for me! Here, check this out.
I would have saved a couple of seconds by going to the center of the helipad
As you can see, the black arrow is actually shorter than the actual path I took. So, this “committee” is wrong about the claim.
And last but not least, Tai Mei Tuk and the helipad were occupied by kite fliers so I couldn’t go there anyway.
Anyway, bottom line: my properties are safe and sound and under my ownership and that’s exactly how it should be!
Two of my favorite courses in New Territories have to be (a) King of the Hills – Tai Po and (b) North East Mountain Marathon. There is actually quite a lot of overlap between the two of them!
With the 100Km Oxfam Trailwalker looming ahead in a week’s time (btw, please don’t be cheap – sponsor our team! Ok, fine, I beg ya! I plead ya! Please, please, please!), Dom and I decided to recci the NEMM 2012 circuit at a fast walking pace.
Ok, so why is the NEMM circuit so cool? Four irresistible reasons!
1) If you plot the course on a map, it looks like a butterfly. No kidding! Ok, fine, you have to use your imagination a little bit but here you go.
Use your imagination and see the butterfly. If you can’t see it, you ain’t got no imagination!
Confession: We skipped some portions but still, it looks like a butterfly!
2) It starts and ends in Wu Kau Tang so you can ride your motorbike to one of the most beautiful roads in Hong Kong – the road from Tai Mei Tuk to Wu Kau Tang! The ride makes you forget about all the problems in the world! (if you care – that is). And if you don’t have a motorbike, no problem! You can still enjoy the infrequent bus ride!
3) You won’t see any tall buildings en route. All greenery and nothin’ else but greenery. Gives you the feeling of a real getaway while still being only 40 mins away from the heart of Hong Kong!
4) There is a “special area” on the trail. More about that below.
The “elite” course is 25Km long and goes like this: Wu Kau Tang > Bride’s Pool > Wang Shan Keuk Tsuen > Sir Edward Pavilion > Luk Keng > Kai Kuk Shue Ha > Fung Hang Country Trail > Golden Dragon Ridge > Fire Lookout > Ar Ma Fat > Fan Shui Au > Lai Chi Wo > Sam A Tsuen > Sam A Chung > Ha Miu Tin > Wang Leng Au > Kau Tam Tso > Tiu Tang Lung > Fan Kei Tok > Wu Kau Tang （25Km）
If that doesn’t make sense, I suggest you simply go to Wu Kau Tang and wing it! You will get at least 10-20% of this right! So, Dom and I started in Wu Kau Tang and were on course for most of the way. The visibility was simply awesome (tip: discount “awesome” as this is hazy Hong Kong) and we could almost see as far as the snipers on the hills of Shenzhen training their AK47s on would-be illegal immigrants (use imagination again please).
Robin’s nest is in the background and Shenzhen can be seen as well – use imagination!
Believe it or not, I own that little island and the mountain ridge behind it
Excellent view of those buildings which may either be in Shenzhen or in Hong Kong – your guess is as good as mine
Our CNO for the day – Chief Navigation Officer
Dom is soaking in the beauty of nature
This poor lizard is stuck in the notice board!
One thing that’s gotta be remembered about this circuit is that it gets SUPER HARD at the end. At around the 20th kilometer, one has to climb to Plover Cove (yet another one of my properties in Hong Kong) and go through parts of that beautiful undulating ridge. And after returning to ground level, there is a super massive climb up to something like 400m to some hill (don’t ask me what it’s called) and then there’s a steep downhill back to Wu Kau Tang where the circuit ends! And one more thing one has to bear in mind is that if something is very hard to do, it needn’t be done! And so, we safely skipped both the Plover Cove ridge and this super climb! Instead, we took a shortcut back to Wu Kau Tang. Philosophical tip on life: “Life is full of shortcuts, you just have to find them and take them”. Yup, that’s a genuine quote from yours truly!
And so, we did about 23km for the day before returning to Wu Kau Tang. Oh and before I forget, there is a “special area” on this trail. It’s called Lai Chi Wo. Dom doesn’t think this is so special but several dozen mainland tourists sure think otherwise! In fact, we even saw a Hong Kong tour group on this trail. Oh, in case you don’t know the definition of “Hong Kong tour group” it is – “a bunch of typically old and mostly mainland tourists following some dude carrying a red flag and a megaphone”. Of course, the tourists walk at a snail’s pace (or maybe the snail is faster). Anyway, so this area is famous for its banyan trees. Dom thinks that the Peak has more worthy banyan trees but I think that Lai Chi Wo (minus tourists) is far more beautiful. Here, take a look:
Aren’t the trees gorgeous?
Overall, I think the NEMM circuit is a fantastic course for trail runners. Fabulous running for the first 20km (only about 10-20% concrete and some super massive hills at the end for the Rambos). Today, we took a break from being Rambos but we are Rambos, I assure you! The race is to be held on New Year’s day (January 1st 2012) and you tell me – what can be a better way to usher in the new year other than to run 25km in the wilderness of Hong Kong! (Alright, maybe “wilderness” is a bit of an exaggeration as the only animal you will likely come across on this trail is that lonely lizard stuck in a notice board – see picture above). But, you do get to enjoy the countryside of Hong Kong! And as an added bonus, there probably won’t be any tourist groups on that day…
Choosing between my two luxury guesthouses is always tough. But, I finally decided to visit my reservoir near Wu Kau Tang today to further strengthen my ownership claim to it and to ensure that no evil forces will try and take it away from me.
Target was 2 hours 30 and against actual time of 2 hours 26 mins.
A little drizzle today made the trails even more enjoyable than they usually are. That area near Tai Mei Tuk/Wu Kau Tang really felt like it was in the middle of some tropical rainforest. Very green and beautiful. Although it was cloudy, humidity was still quite high and water consumption went up to 2.5L.
Summary
Distance: 17.86 km
Time: 2:26:34
Avg Pace: 8:12 min/km
Elevation Gain: 610 m
The Hong Kong observatory predicted rains 3 days back. But after looking out the window today morning, I think they changed their minds. Hot and Sunny was the theme for the day. And boy was it hot! To be attempting to climb 3 massive hills on one day required some courage and a lot of insanity. But, there’s no shortage of insane people in Hong Kong. In fact, other than my insane team of 4 members, there were 3 others who opted for some masochistic pleasure on the hills.
Insane bunch
We started nice and early at 7am! The idea was to beat the sun. My shoes, shorts and shirt were drenched in sweat under the sweltering heat. Cloudy Hill + Pat Sin Leng claimed three lives. (Pretty much everyone else other than our core 4-member team).
The surviving 4 of us somehow made it in one piece to Wu Kau Tang to refuel. The shopkeeper at that Dai Pai Dong couldn’t quite believe our itinerary for the day. He also couldn’t believe the amount of water we ordered.
Drinking like camels
We were on Plover Cove under 35 degrees centigrade at 12 noon! The next shaky life was my very own! Barely 30 minutes into Plover Cove, I lost power and my legs and hands were literally barbecuing in the sun. Steven waited patiently for me and kept encouraging me to move slowly.
After 4 grueling hours, 36kms and 1700m in elevation, we finished without losing anyone in the team. (Insanity prevailed today).
Thanks to Steven’s perfect directions, the motorbike ride from TST to Plover Cove took only 40 minutes! Usually takes 1.5hrs on public transportation.
I started the run at 0951 and was on track for a 2 hour 10 mins finish. However, I repeated my mistake from last time. Carried too little water. I had 1.2L + 800ML which I thought was enough as it was overcast. But, the thing about Plover Cove is that when the sun is out, the effect of the heat is multiplied. Not just because the trail is completely exposed but because the plants surrounding the trail tend to trap the heat. It feels like you are breathing in very, very dry air.
So, today, unexpectedly, the overcast sky turned sunny exactly when I was on Plover Cove! I started sweating buckets as soon as I started and began to ration water as I knew I was going to be out. I reached the halfway point in 1 hour 5 minutes which was fab. However, soon after that the sun made a stronger reappearance and my water consumption was quite high. By the time I reached the penultimate leg, I was out. Sucking on the Hydrapack water pipe only resulted in more air in the system! I have been in those situations before and the best course of action in those circumstances is to walk slowly and keep moving. I did just that. As expected stomach cramps soon followed.
By the time I finished, I was at the 2 hour 58 mins mark! Very, very slow but I am glad I finished!
The original plan was to run back to Wu Kau Tang but I ended up taking a bus to Bride’s Pool and walking to Wu Kau Tang from there. The return leg of the motorbike ride was only 40 mins again!
Summary:
Overall
Time: 02:58:20
Distance: 17.83 km
Elevation Gain: 577 m
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