Revisiting Kota Damansara Community Forest trail

This was the last ride before Ramadhan, 28 June 2014.

This year, I started to revisit KDCF trail after my last ride, many years back.  Maybe a race there in 2010 was the last time I been there before.  They were just completed Temuan Trail when Fakawi Tribe organized the second race at KDCF.  The first was 2 km race (photos only) on KDCF's first ever trail, the Scout Trail in 2009.

Fast forward, now they have added Sahabat Trail to the network; now become a total 6km of jungle single track mountainbiking pleasure.

Why I like KDCF?
Here are the are reasons: -

1. Singletrack
2. Primary jungle
3. No mosquitoes
4. Trailhead is less that 50 meters from the carpark.
5. Proper signage marking the trail direction.

Trail length
Scout only: 2km
Scout plus Temuan: 4km
Scout plus Temuan plus Sahabat: 6km (additional 2km by guessing the length of Sahabat Trail)

Quickie with Nasrul and Irfan on 14th June 2014. 4k x 2.

With GLC on 1st June 2014. 4k + 6k.
More photos.

KDCF with Khairusy on 3rd May 2014. 4k + 6k.
More photos.

Santa Cruz Chameleon

If we can't get enough of 1, get 2 of Chameleon.

Santa Cruz Chameleon MK4, size L

Santa Cruz Chameleon MK3, size M

Wasn't actually kept both bikes, but here's the story..

Chameleon MK4
This used bike was on sale at BBS for RM4.8k.  It was a complete bike with full Deore XT 10 speed groupset and Rockshox Reba RLT 120mm. From my calculation, it is a good deal.  Now come to the size, it is an L size or 18" frame. My height is on the upper region of M size and lower region of L, and I thought it would fit be nice.  After few months for trying to get the right setup (i.e. handle reach, pedal reach) this L size somehow did not feel so right for me. Then I came across someone else who was trying to sell M size Chameleon MK3 at BBS.

Chameleon MK3
This seller live in Penang, 400km up north from KL. After I managed to get my large size brother in-law to buy my MK4, I get him to agree to drive up to Penang to view and buy the bike on the same day. The rest of it is history. I am quite satisfied with M size MK3 as this suit me better than L size MK4.

Me and Chameleon MK3 at Bukit Kiara. I just love this Fakawi Tribe jersey ability to hide my love handle.

FRIM recorded with GoPro camera

I had this recorded with GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition sometime back in March 2014.  Post production was done using Windows 7 Movie Maker.

Enjoy!

My first mamachari

Mamachari - mama chariot's, a japanese's mama stationwagon
The basic characteristics of a mamachari are:

• Stepthrough frame design
• Upright riding position
• Mudguards

Most also have the following features:

• Front basket
• Rear rack – to which a child seat can be fitted
• Chain case
• Rear hub brake
• Front dynamo light
• Rear stand
• Rear wheel nurse’s lock

* source: http://mamachari.co.uk/the-mamachari-story/

Meet my mamachari

Another conned buddy

I took another friend by the name of Yo for cycling outing.  First attempt at FRIM we go as far as Steroid, where he went dizzy half way climbing up Steriod.  But overall, an impressive fitness level for a newbie though.

On second outing, I added Dream & Pacat.  He had some difficulties with scaling up rooted section but doing quite well with switchback.  At Pacat, he twisted his ankle right before the descend.  Two weeks off the saddle for recovery.

Berkembara ke Sungai Sendat

Gambar oleh BC Kelolo. Diubahsuai sendiri.

Lama sudah tidak berkembas (istilah baru: kembas, kembara berbasikal).  Sejak kegagalan aku menghabiskan perjalanan ke Teluk Intan pada kembas yang lalu.  Berbasikal sejauh hingga 100km sehari bukanlah asing bagi aku, cuba sejak akhir-akhir ini masa kian kurang memihak pada aku.  Sementelah kemalangan kecil yang aku alami pada bulan Ramadhan membuat aku berehat dari berbasikal (dengan agresif) selama hampir 2 bulan.

Kembas yang telah dipersetujui bersama Saudara Subki ke Melaka pun terpaksa aku batalkan kerana keadaan kesihatan yang tidak mengizinkan.  Sungguhpun begitu, Saudara Subki meneruskan kembas solonya ke bandar bersejarah tersebut.

Kembas ke Sungai Sendat yang jarak keseluruhannya sekitar 80 kilometer di hari cuti umum Maal Hijrah ini bukanlah sesuatu yang besar bagi mereka yang biasa berkembas.  Cuma aku berharap ianya akan menjadi suatu titik tolak untuk perjalanan yang lebih jauh dah lebih mencabar di masa hadapan.  Terdengar bisik-bisikan dari BC Kelolo rancangan seterusnya pada hujung tahun ini dengan jarak yang lebih jauh.  Terus sahaja aku mencadangkan Pengkalan Balak, Melaka menjadi agenda kembas seterus kami.  Jauhnya sekadar-kadar boleh untuk dilakukan tanpa perlu bermalam dipertengahan dan destinasinya yang semakin popular dengan tarikan pelancong.  

Pengkalan Balak, insyaAllah kami datang!

Gambar-gambar

BC Kelolo

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100224456191284305811/albums/5942817138929673873
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100224456191284305811/albums/5942808156435568913

Norizzuddin
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105372317387593713383/albums/5942978582194202289

Malakoff Interstate Fellowship Ride

I registered for last year event but didn't make it due to matrimonial harmony.  This year, I registered and start preparing for the ride.

What's the deal?

Day 1, 31 December 2010, will take cyclists around Penang Island passing through roads that allow you to look at Penang from a very different angle. There has been many round island rides but none can compare to this! This 67km route will leave you beaming with pride and bragging rights after completing it.

Day 2, 1 January 2011, will take you through 171km of rustic kampung charm. The road is flat with minor climbs and best of all it is shaded almost 80% of the route. With 3 feeding stops thrown in, it is definitely a doable ride for cyclists of all levels.

from http://www.kotrt.com.my/fellowship_main.html

So.. what's the plan?
Within this 5 weeks or so: -
1. Some flat and long distance return trip like Kuala Selangor.
2. Some hilly and not so long distance return trip like Bentong.
3. Daily dose of roller (I'm still trying to exceed 30 minutes mark).

Now go get some rest, it's Eid tomorrow!

I cycled to Teluk Intan

Last Friday we balik kampung. The next day, my father asked me to ride with him to Teluk Intan.  It is about 20km from our kampung. The last time I tried, I only managed half the way there and we turned back.  This time around I want to give it a try.

We started at about 9:00am.  We passed through numerous paddy fields and palm oil plantations.  It was enjoyable ride until I started to feel hungry.  My father told me that it was only few more kilometers.

Me going strong

A long way to go

I started smiling when my father told me that we are about to reach Teluk Intan. I started to feel even hungrier but managed to put up a smile on the following photo.

See how big is my smile

Soon we reached the town and stopped for a shot in front of my mother's school.

Sekolah Menengah Convent Teluk Intan

Then we headed to leaning tower before proceeded for a food.

The leaning tower. I'm going to use this for my Facebook profile's photo

I had a mee rebus at Mastan Ghani

The bridge that we crossed. This was used to be a railway bridge.

The rest of the photos is here

I retraced Sports Tracker tracklog on Google Maps for safety reason.


View Langkap to Teluk Intan in a larger map


Statistics
Start: 9:00am
Duration: 2h 11m (moving time only)
Distance: 37.54km
Speed Average: 17.1 km/h
Max Speed: 28 km/h


P.S. : This wasn't my own article. My father wrote it himself. Well, he did asked me to write an article for this ride.

When time is short, use roller

Time is short, at least for me.  I want to stick to training on weekdays in order to improve fitness but time always not on my side.  To cycle outdoor, I need to dress up in jersey, water bottle filled, bring along wallet, mobile phone, pump & spare tube and not to forget, put on helmet.  Night riding requires blinkers and bright color attire as preventive measure for other people to see you soon enough to avoid or slam on the brake.

I been doing some indoor cycling on a trainer but fail to set my mind to it.  If I may blame on something, lack of realistic is a major turn off.  A week ago, I borrowed Shaq's roller and since then I dedicate 30 minutes on it, daily basis.  It was hard at first to push it beyond 15 minutes but after few days, the body kinna adjusted to it and it does feel great.  On 2 occasions riding with some usual suspect on the road, I feel some satisfaction on my own achievement though it wasn't that significant that I can outdo Shaq.

Here some advantages of roller as tools for indoor cycling: -

1. Quick setup

2. No need helmet since I believe it's pretty safe to land my head on the carpet

3. Rain or shine, bring it on!

4. 30 minutes is good.  Above 40 minutes is excellent!  Compare that to an outdoor cycling in term of duration and returns

5. Can still look after the kids

The disadvantages:-

1. Sweat.  A lot of it! 

2. Must wipe all those sweat on the bike, roller & floor after each ride

3. Distraction when kids start asking too many question

Last kopek Ramadhan ride

Azhar on the foreground.

Cousins inflicted by MTB decided to join me cycling back at our hometown. We reached hometown on the last day of Ramadhan and unanimously wanted to cycle around our hometown. According to my guesstimate, the route is around 20km and it should roughly take an hour to complete it. So we hit the road at 6:15pm and should be home just in time.


A short break for Azhar to adjust his saddle height.

Just as we expected, we have 5 minutes break right before Iftar. It was a nice short ride before a longer ride on the second day of Raya.


Azhar is trying hard to catch up with Azlan the foreground. Yours truly is killing time by taking photos of them ;-)

Kayuh sampai sahur

Kayuhan mencari nasik kandar Yasin. Break dulu bro!


Sepinggan nasik kandar berlauk ayam kicap untuk Syuk Alamort

KDCF TT 2010 | FakawiTribe.com

RESULTS:

1. Patawi 22:29
2. Joseph 24:14
3. Megat 25:06
4: Adli 25:24
5. Alex 26:35
6. Johnny 27:26
7. Tigerhills 29:17
8. Andy 29:54
9. HYH 30:32 (tie)
9. Fai 30:32(tie)
11. Stan 33.41
12. Riza 37:03
13. Dino 39:47

 source: fakawitribe.com

Expected result.  What can I say more for a person who has not put up with reasonable amount of training?  Served me right.  But on positive note, I'm determined to have regular training.  Rain or shine!

Of the long silence

My P1 broadband was pathetic.  Uploading a resized photo to picasaweb took ages, if it ever made it in a very rare occasion.  So here's my consolidated updates: -

Of new newbie
I bought 13" Proton T-Blaze from BBS for my son who seems hardly earn much height to ride my 16" Scott.  I took him for a ride once at Kepong Metro Park, then FRIM, and lastly a trip to my parent's house, some 15km away from our house.

Of upgrading Proton T-Blaze
Stock 6 speed rear upgraded to 9 speed SRAM X4 gripshift.  V-brake wheelset swapped for a better one from Scott while crankset replaced with Truvativ FiveD.  There you are.. a much better setup for my beloved son.

Of newbie at Kepong Metro Park
He did 3 rounds before I took him for climbing and descending lesson at his chewable size. All seems good and ready for a trail trip in FRIM.

From Newbie skill class

From Newbie skill class

Of newbie at FRIM
On trail, shifting seems a bit harder for him to digest.  Wrong gearing seems his common mistake however he managed to make it to Steroid junction.  I bumped into Pak Adib, Maher (Pak Adib's son), Sufino, and BC Kelolo.  Somehow FRIM was a bit too much for him, for now.

Of newbie on my memory lane
I cycled to my parent's house a number of time, alone.  This time around, I took my newbie along on nice Saturday afternoon.  Even within low vehicular traffic can be challenging for a 10 years old.  I was tailgating and gave instruction from time to time to ensure his safety.  I chose backyard route whenever possible and push the bikes on those 2 to 3 lanes crossings.

Of being beaten by a girl
I was beaten by Azealea.  She did pretty well on recent KLMBH hash at Sungai Buaya, Rawang.  I'm currently motivated on getting back to my fitness level.

Of diarrhea and low blood pressure
I had mild diarrhea and upon checked up by GP, my blood pressure measured at 90/60.  As a result, the GP asked me to keep my exercise not more than 120bpm heart rate.  Kinna devastating shall I keep 120bpm on my cycling workout since at my peak reached 180bpm.  I decided to give it a try quit smoking (again? I lost count of my fail attempts).  A few days later I recovered and did a check on my parent's home BP set, it was on healthy 118/75.  Nice!

Father undergo coronary artery bypass
On 6th March, my beloved father admitted to Hospital Serdang for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (CABG).  The surgery on 9th March went well and he's recovering progressively.  Alhamdulillah.
In 1 occasion when I was bathing him, memories as per mother iteration on how much he loves us.  Abah went to the extend sucking our running nose when we didn't know how to blow it our own.  He would just use him decent shoes while we had shoes of twice the cost for raya.  He's the one who put family on top of his personal priority.  I love you Abah.

KEMBAS 2010 - post ride

My First Touring
I was tempted the moment BC shared his plan on touring trip up to Ipoh. My touring plan year 2008 to Langkap didn't materialised when 1 of us had last minute job commitment.

I was contemplating either to setup bare frame Shogun up or just fit the pannier rack on Kona. Kona had all the necessary tabs for fitting the pannier however had a little issue with protruding rear brake's caliper. Issue that can only be solved by getting disk brake type pannier rack on which I'm not so keen to invest since touring isn't going to be like a monthly event for me.

2 days before the D day, a kind gestures from Shaque in form of seatpost mount pannier rack was a perfect solution since I wasn't planning an overnight. I deciced to use shallow tread knobbie tyres as to avoid pinch flat situation.

The D Day
I left for BC's house about 0630h before heading to Greenwood, Gombak. From there, 3 touring cyclists, 1 escort cyclist & 1 motocyclist heading Bandar Tasik Putri. After 38km, 2 hours later we were greeted by BBB team and led to makan place for a breakfast. From there, we headed to Kuala Selangor via Kampung Kuantan. My sit bones started to develop pain as we approaching Kampung Kuantan. While the pain can be cured with few minutes break, it didn't last for more than 10km for another break. I was on and off the saddle a number of time till I reached Hutan Melintang (20km away from Teluk Intan) when the pain become unbearable. Wife was willingly fetched me there to her kampung in Langkap. In short, it was fun but I was under prepared and under estimate what a flat terrain can be.

My choice of rig

Kelolo camwhoring

Subky close-up

The firestarter of this touring trip

3 tourers in front of me. From right, Langgark, Adam & Kelolo.

1 tourer at the back adjusting his saddle. Subky on the right.

Adam's rig. Don't under estimate :)

Photos of the ride
Kelolo's entry
Entry by ijass of basikal.wordpress.com

Ramadhan rides

1st Friday - Leisure city route

Pak Abas & Shaq catching up at Tugu Negara junction.  From Kayuh Sampai Sahur (Episod 1)

2nd Friday - Skipped due to balik kampung trip
3rd Friday - Titiwangsa to Cyberjaya via MEX

Pine 86/87, adik & shaq at Putrajaya toll plaza.  From Kayuh Sampai Sahur (Episod 3)

4rd Friday - Leisure city route

Pak Abas at his 52.  From Kayuh Sampai Sahur (Episod 4)

4rd Friday -Kemensah offroad

Faceless riders.  From Kayuh Sampai Sahur (Episod 4.1)

The Presidential 2009

All excitement in term of preparation of physical fitness and the bike apparently were put on test. Since I completed the Presidential '07, merely after 3 months took up cycling. Presidential '09 should not be a problem, NOT!
Fitness was good on Stage 1 & Stage 2. Almost worn out on Stage 3, even stupidly fall on tarmac when my front wheel hit another cyclist's rear wheel while we busy chit-chatting. Stage 4 was on cursing mode. A mole climb looked like a Steroid of FRIM.
Finally reached the finishing line at 3:15pm; that was 7 hours of cycling over 65km of trail. Being a finisher, it was an enjoyable suffering ride of the year!
Will I do it again next year? Definitely!

Shaque, Azea, A'an & Azrin at starting line From PCC Presidential '09

A little over 1000 registered riders From PCC Presidential '09

Scott saddle bag, my lucky draw price. Guys, please note that 4 stickers on my passport. From PCC Presidential '09

From around the Net on Prez '09: -
- Akmal Plentong (blog)
- Jamie Chan (album)
- Umar (blog)
- Kayuh Beb! (blog)
- BandarTasikPutri Bicycle Brigade (forum)
- Abu Omar (blog)
- Heero Yui (blog)
- Mike Murano (blog)

Cycling is expensive hobby?

Celebrating 2 years in cycling, I try to summarize my spending in cycling, for your consumption & judgment.
In the keen interest of cycling, I'm indulged and being happy about it.

How does it start
Prior July 2007, a number of time, I been approached by Jazlan to take up mountainbiking. I had a keen interest but forking RM2000 for a bike wasn't that easy at that point of time. An angel came down in a form of human and gave me RM2,500 soft loan for a kick start.

Initial "investment"
I bought myself Scott Scale 70 for RM2.3k from BikePro (thanks to Big Mac for his time and consultancy). Immediately I went to KHS for a Limar 911 helmet at RM280, the only helmet that fits my big head at that point of time. The list go on an on. Glove, bladder, allenkey toolset, spare tube, shoes, cycling jersey, lycra pants, and more tools. After spending a total of RM3k, I may become insane keeping the record of my spending list.

More spending
Soon enough, I endo during first night ride in RRI, bent my saddle (body injury will recover, parts injury won't). So I replaced with Velo Carbon (new, RM120).
Weekend ride dosage seems insufficient, bought blinker and light in order to ride at nite.
Cassette and chain worn, replaced.
Straight handlebar caused numb wrist, replaced.
Running shoe double as cycling shoe caused slippery pedal grip, bought HiTech trail shoe (new, RM240).

Even more spending
V-Brake failed on me, bought Avid BB7 (new, RM350).
Joined the clipless bandwagon, bought SPD pedal and shoe (used, RM250).
SPD design flaw caused numerous stupid falls, changed to Crank Brothers pedal (used, RM100).
Another clipless shoe, Shimano MT41 (new, RM240).
Bought Spesh frame from Big Mac to inflict others in the family (used, RM250).
Bought bundle parts from Jazlan to assemble Spesh (used, RM100).

Recent years..
Before I blow a candle celebrating 2 years in cycling this August, I have 2 full fledged MTB for trail ride, and 2 rigid fork MTB with slick tires for tarmac ride. Now, contemplating to sell off my Spesh for my bed space. Obviously, I need space to sleep.
Proper sleep prior to next morning rides is important!

First and forth wives live happily ever after.

p.s:

• Angel, knowing your preferences to be below the radar, I shall not mention your name you here but you know who you are.
• LHDN, I had received your additional deduction to my salary. Nothing left here, move on!
• Thief, you took my son's BMX, please return it to him. He's not tall enough for my MTB. Thank you in advance.
• Potential thief, you may be electrocuted if you try something nasty. BTW, alloy is a good conductor.

Skill School-Descending

This entry may be useful for those who want to comprehend descending technique so that you can do it without causing injury while having fun mountainbiking.

Photo 1: Photo of mountainbiker tackling descending section. The rest of this entry dissect piece by piece from this photo.

Photo 2: Checking 4 feet ahead of the direction you wants to go. Always find easy way out route.

Photo 3: Left arm a bit straighten, elbow close to abdomen to avoid hitting the tree.

Photo 4: Fingers on brake to micro adjust the traveling speed.

Photo 5: Coasting position with crank level to the ground. This is to avoid horizontal obstacles (e.g. roots, rocks & berms).

Photo 6: Firm grip on pedal & handlebar. Flex and relax muscle (no stiff join). Bend your knee & elbow to absorb vibration & impact. Curl abdomen and take the butt slightly behind (and below) the saddle to compensate center of gravity.

Spinning vs. Grinding, real life lesson

Spinning(some say "spinwork") - pedaling high RPM, lower gear at given uphill terrain
Grinding(some say "speedwork") - pedaling in low RPM, high gear at given uphill terrain
I'm a strong advocate of spinning. Recently, I tested out grinding. Grinding gets me faster compare to spinning at a cost... knee pain!

Last Sunday, me and 5 others climbed up Fraser Hill. It was 28km to gap from Kuala Kubu Baru and another 12km up to clock tower. With recently replaced crankset (Shimano 105, 53T & 39T chainring) on my Spesh, the temptation of getting faster was there. Especially "competing" with others riding a road bike with carbon between their legs.

I was grinding my way up to gap before I know, I developed a knee pain. Not a severe kind of pain but more like a pain that I can bear with. Things getting a little uncomfortable until I reached gap. I decided to change the pattern to spinning my way up to clock tower from gap. It came to the point I was using 39/34 gear combo (lowest gear possible for my Spesh) on some steep section.

Alhamdulillah, I made to the clock tower, non-stop in 3 hours despite being the last person to reach there.

Me on the "finishing line". Video by Shuk CIOCC.

To serve as a reminder to myself in the future...

Spin and you save your knee!!

Photo by Shuk CIOCC

The President is coming to town!!

Not just any president.. this is PCC (Nexus) Presidential Ride 2009

My first participation was in 2007 and earned myself a bragging rights :) . The event did not take place in 2008 and has given the organizer an ample time for bigger fun (read: enjoyable suffering) this year!

I was thinking of taking the ride like I did in 2007. Finished the ride within stipulated time, offering help to those in need, and socializing. Yeah.. sounds like a fun ride :)

See you guys there!!