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!

Kau selalu kayuh mana?

Soalan ini adalah yang paling payah untuk aku jawap pada tahun 2008. Untuk tahun 2009, jawapan segera dan ringkas aku.. "FRIM"

2008
Pantang kena cuit, menjadi aja... bak kata orang lama, macam pengantin baru. Begitulah aku dan Scott Scale 70 aku.

BBB cuit ke Cameron Highland, pergi.
Shaq cuit ke Gohtong, pergi.
Jazlan cuit Sg Pusu ke Kemensah, pergi.
Seminggu lepas tu, Joe Adnan cuit Sg Pusu ke Kemensah lagi sekali, pergi.
Dua bulan lepas tu, Cikgu cuit Sg Pusu ke Kemensah lagi sekali, pergi.
Geng Melawati cuit Kemensah ke Sungai Congkak, pergi. Sampai bermasam muka isteri yang ku cintai.
Shaq cuit ke Sahara Ride, Melaka, pergi.
Dari 12 hash KLMBH, 8 aku pergi.

2009
Tidak banyak ride yang "notable" aku tercuit.

• PCC Prez
• Road trip ke Fraser Hill
• 2Fn'K Race di Kiara
• Scout Trail time trial di Kota Damansara

Dari 8 hash KLMBH, 2 aja yang aku pergi. Di hash BTP, aku membawa anak perempuan untuk pertama kali menyertai hash. Yang keduanya, KLMBH Epic dimana aku berjaya menghabiskannya buat pertama kali (tahun lepas gagal sungguh).

Lepas raya nanti, Burung Hantu Jamboree, dianjurkan oleh ECC Melaka. Selain dari itu, FRIM adalah jalan mudah, ringkas dan cepat untuk meluangkan masa berkayuh di hujung minggu. FRIM juga sering dijadikan tempat latih-tubi untuk meningkatkan tahap kecergasan dan ketahanan fizikal untuk persediaan PCC Prez dan KLMBH Epic. Ya.. FRIM pilihanku!!

p.s: walaupun kena bayar RM3 sekali masuk, ianya lebih berbaloi dari cost minyak untuk drive 20-30km ke trail free yang lain.

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.

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

Ride of Silence

I read on Ride of Silence from Fakawi Tribe a day earlier.

The Ride Of Silence is a free ride that asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. There is no brochure, no sponsors and no registration fees. The ride, which is held during Bike Safety month, aims to raise the awareness of motorists, police and city officials that cyclists have a legal right to the public roadways. The ride is also a chance to show respect for those who have been killed or injured.

excerpt from Ride of Silence

Pre-ride briefing by the organizer

Back here in Malaysia, this ride is organised by Massa Kritikal on 20th May 2009. 30 cyclists turned up last night at Central Market Annexe as early as 6:00pm. Ijam, cyclist buddy who I bumped into him recently at S.N. Samy was co-organizer of the event. Some familiar faces were Sufino, Toyol Pemalu and Azizan Fixie. Noted 3 female cyclists, 1 of them was on fixie (single speed, fixed gear).

Fixie cycle chick from PJ

The ride finally rolled at 8:00pm. It was slow and quiet ride heading Jalan Pudu, Jalan Imbi, Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Ampang (KLCC), Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan TAR, Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Dang Wangi, Jalan Ampang, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Pudu, Jalan Imbi, Jalan Tun Razak and a stopover for liquid break at 10:30pm. I splitted from there at 11:15pm heading home.

Checkout photos of the ride from my camera here

Addendum
27/5 - Write up on Ride of Silence at Massa Kritikal

RTW - Denda?

The sign reads "NO PARKING, DENDA RM15". Aiseyman.. How come can't park here?

The story goes back to early April when the company decided to relocate motorcycle parking lot to some other shaded area. Good move however not so bicycle friendly. Moist tarmac, cramped with fossil-fueled vehicle and some splash on rain water during heavy downpour. I take chances of 1st offence. They would issue warning letter, then fine subsequently.

Addendum
It was end of the day, picked my bike, no summon! :)

Langkap to Pasir Salak

Yours truly

Photo of me doing 40km trip to Pasir Salak on Spesh. More photos once I reach civilisation with Internet access.

Finally, the keyboard version
I woke up early however muscle pain on my thigh a bit hesitate to cooperate with the plan. The plan was to do tarmac to Kompleks Sejarah Pasir Salak, 40km away from Langkap and return. After ding-dong with the decision, I drag my feet to proceed with the plan.

I left at about 10:30am, the weather looks promising with no sign of rain. Cranking at about 27km/h and trying to keep it up since the route almost flat. Saw a few stopover to serve my appetite however decided that it wasn't a good idea to have lemang, neither coconut water during this somewhat long journey.

Almost flat tarmac

Signage to my destination By 12:30pm, I reached Kompleks Sejarah Pasir Salak. My plan to visit this historical place was hampered by the security guard who refused to let me safely park my Spesh beside the guard post. I believed that he was just carrying out his duty as per instruction and directed me to the information counter to ask for permission to park within the vicinity. Unprepared with proper lock, I decided to shelf the original idea instead I snapped a few photos below. Solar clock Terowong Sejarah Observation tower: A view over Sungai Perak Sungai Perak: A view from a bridge Next plan... Langkap to Lumut, 90km. End December.

Cycle to work

I always looking forward for an assignment where I will "have" to spend a day at HQ. A trip about 18km in 40 minutes (moderate pace), I beat my travelling time by car, anytime. I opt for a route via Chow Kit since traffic is a bit low comparatively to Jalan Mahameru.

After preparing Shogun the night before, I left about 7:20am this morning and reached HQ slightly before 8:00am. Thanks to my luck on each traffic light junctions, it was green all the way. Secured my Shogun near the cafe and had mihun goreng breakfast while waiting my body temperature settling down. 8:15am, headed to Surau to wash myself and put on my office attire. By 8:25am, I clocked into the office.

I have a good start this morning :)

Note on photo above: Couldn't get proper place to dry up jersey, towel and helmet thus all cramping under visitor table. Merempat, nak buat cemana :)

Kayuhan Anggerik

Last Friday, I went for Kayuhan Anggerik at Shah Alam. So much so of promoting healthy lifestyle, we have the first (and on monthly basis) Putrajaya Critical Mass which runs on every last Friday of the month. And now Kayuhan Anggerik which will be on every 3rd Friday of the month.

I didn't get the whole objective of the ride precisely. I was imagining the ride should be santai (relax) that I even wore jeans. Was on rear pack, chatting and socializing with Azizan the Fixie and Shaque when I start noticing other cyclists zooming left and right chasing the front pack. Thought that the organizer has changed the format to race event, I changed to my mode too. While I was overtaking some other cyclists, those on knobbie still a lot faster than me. And Shaque, despite knobbie tyre, was constantly tailgating me. Damn! I am still have a lot to improve.

On overall, it was an enjoyable ride. I will attend their next event as a sign of support.

My Album
Report on 1st Kayuhan Anggerik (official report)
Mass Ride (Kayuhan Anggerik) by Heero Yui

Shogun the return!

I changed the wheelset and 27X1.25 tyres on my Shogun recently (spend money). Bigger wheelset means I no longer can use the existing V-brake, thus front set of road bike brake caliper (spend more money). I already had a test run Sunday where mishaps came to my doorstep (on my earlier post).

Last night, GLC changed their regular nite ride from Thursday to Tuesday and I took Shogun out for the ride. Lesson learn from previous derailed chain, I strengthen the tensioner with 2 cable ties, and took some spares in case I need to replace the puncture tube. Stupid enough, with no spare tube of that size and pump that only works on Presta valve, I just crossed my fingers.

This Shogun is fast despite stuck with only 1 speed due to its slim, low-resistant tyre. Its high profile survived abundant potholes in our beloved city making it a perfect tyre for commuting.

Ramadhan rides continue….

We (as in me & Shaq) finished all 4 Friday night ride this Ramadhan successfully. First Friday, Jazlany joined us despite the drizzle a few minutes before the ride. The following Friday, swelled to 30 cyclists. Namely those from Taman Keramat, Taman Melawati and Ampang after an invitation posted by Shaq at jomkayuh.com (not really).

The third Friday, dropped to 20 cyclists. Probably due “unbearable” series of climbing route designed by Shaq. New faces turned up among roadies. The route gets tougher with climbing section from Mahameru to Bukit Tunku. As for myself, Shogun was running 2 speed i.e. 44/15 & 32/15 wasn’t survived that section too. The final stopover was at Middle East restaurant somewhere in Bukit Bintang introduced by Dr Mariam.

Cyclists of the night

Rekindle my memories during my short work trip in Riyadh with Foul and Humus dishes

More photos here!

I decided to take my Scott for a ride on forth Friday. I suffered tremendously for trying to keep the gear ratio as if I am riding my Spesh (Scott on knobbie while Spesh on semi-slick and 3 kg lighter). The crowd on that night were mostly roadies with bling-bling road bike. New faces emerged, old faces faded away. My shallow mind making conclusion.. “when the going gets tough, only the tough gets going”. Report from Shaq on the next day, those roadies ask for a rerun of the route that very night. I guess a stopover at Doraisamy was the biggest attraction.

Small matter for Shaq

When men turn their heads in 1 direction....

Ramadhan al-mubarak rides

As usual, ride must go on.. with some minor adjustment during this fasting month. Been 2 weeks fasting and 2 city centre rides on Friday in a row. Last nite, me, Shark, Zali, Pak Abas and 2 other roadie went downtown for mild ride. Mild due to my request since I took Shogun for a test ride. Shogun was running on 44T chainring and 15T cog, quite a huge ratio. Lucky enough, uncut handlebar helps to leverage "rock the bike" cranking up short steep hills.
Tunnel under Jalan Ampang/Jalan Tun Razak intersection

First Friday of Ramadhan, we (Shark and Jazlany) went for a ride. Started of from Sri Gombak flowing to Sentul then to Hentian Duta. Turning of to Masjid Wilayah and climbing up Hartamas heading to Pusat Sains and take a turn of to Damansara Height. Slowly climbing up Damansara Height and fast descent to Pusat Bandar Damansara and proceed to Parlimen via Jalan Duta. From there, Tasik Perdana and exit at Dayabumi and pay a visit to memorable Pasar Seni (me and wife's RV before we get married, back then cellphone wasn't born yet). Added to that sweat, we loop to Bukit Bintang before taking a break at Dataran Merdeka. We met a bunch of cyclist from AU3, Keramat who invited us for a drink at Selangor Mansion. Over Teh Tarik, we discussed on combining for a larger group for the following Friday nite ride.
A view by the riverbank near Central Market

Jazlany admiring graffiti near Central Market

Sahur break with Kelolo


The following weekdays, me and Shark started discussing on how to entice others to join us for Friday nite ride. An invitation in one of local cycling forum didn't catch any response from forum's member. It doesn't really matter bcoz to me, rides must go on, no matter what number of cyclist we have. To our surprise, our proposed RV swamped by nearly 30 cyclists around the vicinity, Shark was saying "this is like Critical Mass". I can say that all of them cycled from home.

Great! Now we have a large number, how do we handle this?

Typically, any number below 10 is easy enuff to handle. 30 cyclists can be a different ball game. Though everyone is aware that they have to take care themselves out there, being sort of "organizer", we have a responsibility to ensure the route is safe enuff, doable, and spread out some sweepers within the crowd to avoid ppl loosing direction.

RV at Tasik Titiwangsa

So the game plan was, Shark taking the lead, me sweeping in between to ensure ppl taking the right route, and Pak Abas as final sweeper. Alhamdulillah, everything went smooth and safe. The route was the same we did the previous week minus Bukit Bintang due to high traffic area.

In front of Masjid Wilayah

Mejar Anuar at Dataran Merdeka

Golden boys group

Youngsters group

Let's do maths on cycling

Constant
I'm running 26" wheel with 1.5" semi slick tyre on my Spesh thus,
Wheel Circumference = 2010mm

Variables
At average I can pedal about 70 to 90 revolution per minute thus,
Cadence = 70 to 90 rpm
Crankset's chain ring,
Chain ring = 22/32/44 teeth
Cassette's cogs,
Cogs = 11/12/14/16/18/21/24/28/32
Gear ratio = Chain ring divide by Cogs

Question
If I pedal at 80rpm for 1 hour with chain ring 44t and cog 12t, how far can I go?

The calculation
Wheel Circumference = 2010mm = 2.01m
Cadence = 80rpm
Time = 1 hour = 60 minutes
Chain ring = 44t
Cog = 12t
Gear ratio = 44/12 = 3.67

Answering the question on how far,
Distance = Velocity multiply Time
Where Velocity = Cadence multiply Gear ratio multiply Wheel Circumference
which is equal to 80rpm multiply 3.67 multiply 2.01m = 590.136m per minute
Thus Distance = 590.136m per minute multiply 60 minutes = 35408.16m = 35.40816km

Answer
35.40816km