ECC Malacca: Sahara Ride

Or should I call it Sengsara Ride?

700 or so cyclists came nationwide and Singapore to "suffer" themselves in this ride. This event was organized by ECC Malacca on 26th October. Unlike PCC Presidential '07, I only managed to hit 6 out of 9 checkpoints. It was hot with about 80% of the route is open & double track. The following are excerpts from my photo album.

Dinner by the seaside at Pengkalan Balak

6:24am. All set to leave my kampung and heading to Afamosa Resort

7:53am. Starting line

11:25am. Common scene along the route

12:52pm. A view of series of hills to climb

3:35pm. Azea's nasty cut earned from fall.

5:39pm. A plate or 2 dishes of our choice by the seaside.

The Bastard Operator From Hell

Excuse me for the vulgar word but this is the actual title of this site.

Few years back (this is just another way of me subtly telling you that it's like 10 years back) I was a System Administrator (or SysAdmin,click there for explanation, I love Wiki!), full time. A few years back (in actual context where the rest of the world defines it as like 3-4 years back), I was assigned to client's office to run the IT operations there. Sparingly I attended issues like I send a file for printing but nothing come up (the printer was out of paper), network down! (while fact that the cable also unplugged), I can't login! (tried many wrong password and the account get blocked), and the list went on and on.

Coming back to title, this SysAdmin taking it personally and write a journal on this. I am trying to believe that the journal is purely fiction but it is hilarious to read (trust me, SysAdmin is a nice person on earth that always there to fix your issue with PC). Of course I don't expect non-IT person or ordinary computer luser (gosh! Wiki explains that too? ;) ) to get the jokes. I simply call it a tribute to all System Administrators for a large dosage of laugh that they need while attending anything-under-the-sky luser's issues.

Blog of my SysAdmin friends: -
Yoebaik (and still going strong)
Kapla Hodot (was in IT, now in Telco industry. I guess "same kinna shit, different flavor")

DIY chain tensioner

Finally the tensioner!
I was looking for metal plate to implement solution I found on mtbr.com. I bumped into metal plate found on my Bike Hand pocket toolset that might deliver the function. After 2 hours fitting, fixing and adjusting, I came into satisfying result (that yet to be tested) :-)

Mounting on RD act as a hinge, cable tie just did a fine job as tensioner and RD's jockey wheel deliver the task as chain guide.


44T chainring in the middle position. Added spacer from vandalised 32T chainring to correct the chainline.



A satisfying straight chainline :)

Sup daging Sururi

I was introduced to tasty soup by Amir back in 1998. After 10 years I can't find any other soup that as tasty and as cheap as this. A bowl of this sell at RM3.50 and the queue built up over time. By 1pm, all 3 large pots taken until last drop. My last attempt with wifey was a failure that we settled for nasi campur. According to the owner, he starts sell every weekdays and still can't coup with the demand (previously only on Tuesday and Friday).

Check out the queue!

Location Map
This restaurant is at the end of the rumah pangsa block next to Masjid Jamek Alam Shah, Pasar Road.

View Larger Map

Raya long holiday

Last day of Ramadhan
After a few days break since last ride, I made a loop via Degong, Chenderung Balai, and Chikus. Under 30km mild pedaling on flat terrain. By the time I reached kampung, I had half an hour to clean up myself and getting ready for breaking fast.

Metal bridge at Chenderung Balai

It's Raya!
Personally, I have nothing much to look forward for Raya. The enjoyment seems has faded for quite sometime. Probably being a person sitting on the other side of that monetary transaction on pre-Raya, Raya and post-Raya is not funny at all.

On Raya day, after Solat, we had our lemang and rendang dishes. Later asked forgiveness among family member and then we paid a visit to distance family member on the other side of the kampung.

Family photo

Grandpa at age of 88

And what is Raya without firecracker

Ride to Teluk Intan

The lean tower of Teluk Intan

It’s 2^nd day of Raya and it was about time to hit the road. Especially after stuffing my tummy with countless lemang, ketupat and rending on 1^st Raya. At about 7:40am, I left Langkap and heading towards Teluk Intan, about 20km via kampong’s single lane route. Several times, I gave way for cars passing thru. About an hour ride I reached Teluk Intan.

I stopped by the Lean Tower catching my breath. It wasn’t that long when an uncle on his bicycle checked out my Scott and start counting my 9-speed cogs. Our conversation revolved around bicycle and he was sharing his plan to do touring with multi-gear bicycle (on which he planned to buy). My guesstimate, he’s circa 60 years old and still going strong for a guy at his age.

Apart from me, he was the other cyclist wearing helmet I encountered for the day

Fisherman jetty at Teluk Intan