Up and Coming Interstate2007 - Recce

what can we expect from Interstate2007 as far as ride review is concern, let see


The route statistics here says 150km and we will be taking the route from Casurina Hotel Ipoh and heading towards Sunway City and further up to Tanjung Rambutan. The road here is narrow and after Tanjung Rambutan, the journey becomes very interesting. There is little town for us to get water replenishment.

Looking at the profile, we will be ascending all the way in the first 40km and those jagged spikes are rolling hill (for those not in the know). The total ascend will be about 60m which translate to 200 feet in climb. There will only be one major climb which is between kilometer 120 and 130 and this is the only major climb for the day. We will be climbing a total height of 70m (240 feet), roughly the climb up to Bukit Tekala near Semenyih. Then, it decsend all the way down to Taiping town passing the scenic route of Lake Garden Taiping. Nothing that most casual rider cannot do.

We will be pushing off from Taiping Golf resort at about 7 am and will be heading towards Selama and circling Bukit Merah and heading towards the old road heading for Kulim. There will be very minimal village let alone town here, so water stops is going to be rare. From one village to another is 40-50km apart. Going into Kulim and Bukit Mertajam will be very busy.

Judging from the profile obtained from my GPS, there only be one major climb between kilometer 30 and 40 and the height of the climb is approximately 90m (equivalent to 300 feet). This climb is due to the crossing of the Banjaran. To put into context, this climb is only 2/3 the climb up to Peres in Ulu Langat - simple (for those familiar with Klang Valley Bike Route). The rest, is a doable rolling hills, leading into Kulim and Bukit Mertajam.

Third is the interesting day, we will be pushing off from BM Hotel at about 7:00 am in the morning and will be escorted by outriders up to Penang Bridge Entrance. The LLM personnel will be certifying us against their name checklist and after 30 minutes, we will be let thru onto the Penang Bridge escorted by LLM, Police and Support Car. After that, we will be heading for Balik Pulau and further on to Batu Feringgi.

There are caution points as we cross the Penang Bridge. The cross wind is quite strong and we are advised to ride in two rows at equal speed. At Balik Pulau we will be attacking the first hill which is much like the Tekala Hill both in gradient and height. The second hill is a bit more challenging. My friend Azwar might like this hill as the climb is equivalent to climbing up from Gap to Clock Tower of Frasers, but steeper. The distance of climb is also long, ie about 7 km. You know that you have reached the peak once you see the sign board, Durian Farm ahead ;-). The height of the climb is about 200m (660 feet). Caution when riding down, keep ur hands on the brake as the road is narrow and winding. After the Dam, there will be minor climb as we head towards the Golden Sand Hotel in Batu ferinngi for our rest.

Hope, everybody is geared and ready for this ride.............

Ouch - My Fork

Sponsored and loaned my MTB to one of the L2A cyclist for the weekend MTB challenge. My beloved Manitou Black Fork is gone - kaput. Boo Hoo. well, at least he manage to win the KLMTB Carnival though.

Maybe its a sign for me to stop MTBing. I have already given up on swimming, now I have to really consider whether I want to do anymore Mountain Biking.

Answering a MEME

Got tagged by Jaja,

I remember 10 years ago was my second time I went through a recession. The first recession I was in Government and I was not that badly affected. The second recession, I just started my job in 1997 with an ISP and most of my colleagues were facing tough times. Some had to sell their Merc for half price and others were disposing handphone and computers at bargain pricing.

I was already quite chubby then, and just started my job as a Network Security Consultant with that ISP. Little did I know that I was being groomed to be the potential CTO of the company. At 36, I was very hungry for work and I was putting in a gruelling 16 hour day, 7 days a week.

20 years ago, I was still supervising the construction of the Jetty Complex in Kuah, Langkawi. This had to be finish before CHOGM (Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting) in 1987. I am a Civil Engineer by the way. My first daughter was just a year old and I had to look after her as my wife decided to further her carreer overseas in doing her MSc.

30 years ago, I was playing tennis for the school, did Tae Kwan Do to survive Ipoh School Life and played a bit of hockey. My bicycle keps getting stolen everytime I park at the YMCA for my tennis and Tae Kwan Do classes.

So, started life as a Civil Engineer, went into System Development, Network Security and Telco Management. Now doing a lot of Tai Chi............

Weekend Adventure

Wha Lau,

The journey to the Pearl of the Orient is going to be fun. Having had to preview some possible routes to the Interstate2007, I am so looking forward to this year bike ride. Looking at the list of 250+ cyclist, you cant but help feel the awesomeness of the journey and the potential fun along the way.

Had some sneak preview these weekend of the route, and it can be describe in one sentence, beautifully long rolling hills with little water stop. The route from Ipoh to Taiping is so serene, after Tanjung Rambutan, that I think many cyclist will find it fun. The route from Taiping to Bukit Mertajam is also challenging in more ways then one. U better fill up your bottle at every opportune town, if you don't want to be stranded.

Most important is the ride in Penang Island Balik Pulau area, this is very exciting, u think that u have conquered a hill of about 300 ft, but that is only a preview. The next hill of 600 feet is about to be attacked, but I leave it more to the participating cyclist...HURRAHHH

Changing Forms - Fluid to Air to Fluids

As i sat down and started to read this interesting article that May Senn had written a bugging question came to my mind, when did I first loose the ability to swim. You must be thinking, "What an idiotic question this guy is asking?". Well, seriously folks, when did I loose my ability to swim?

You know, when u were small, no , not when u were babies, when you were way before u became babies, in my mother's womb, half of me were damn fast swimmers. We swam so fast that we hit this wall which happens to be the egg. Later, I then gain the ability to dive, without even using any breathing apparatus. I sit inside my mum's womb for 9 month inside a sac of fluids.

Then , the moment I came out into the world and started breathing air, I just had the fear of water. Now I cannot swim and cannot enter the triathlon. Can someone help me remember!!!

Blog and Race Report - Mis-informations???

Sometimes ini Blog pun serupa weapon juga!!!!

Some people put information on Blogs as race reports to antagonize other friends....

Some people put race reports to side track other secret training.....

Some people put up race report to vent out anger and moan about dissatisfaction...

Some people don't put up race report at all to keep other people guessing...

Some people put up race report to gloat !!!

Some people put up race report...........................just for race report ;-)

Which one are U????

Revisiting Malaysia's Gold Coast - Bagan Lalang

Total Distance MTDC to Bagan Lalang - 96.2 km
Average Speed going to Bagan Lalang - 29.3km/hr
Average Speed coming back from Bagan Lalang - 28.7 km/hr
Total Calories Burn - 3005 calories

This week, I have gone to Sepang twice and took a left turn to Bukit Pelandok and subsequently going to Telok Kemang, Port Dickson and today, I turn right at Sepang town to go to Bagan Lalang. We pushed off at 7:39 am and reached Sepang in just 65 minutes. Refuelling quickly in Shell while we wait for everyone to congregate (we were also joined by BoonFoo and team who came from Denkil), we then pushed off to Bagan Lalang for our breakfast feast. We reached Bagan Lalang in just 30 minutes.

We had the usual nasi lemak and coconut water and pushed off back to Bangi at about 10:20 am. Wong and me had work out a plan to work coorperatively to take turn to pull ourselves back to Bangi. Not wanting to be drawn into the first peloton strategy of pulling everyone back at fast pace and exhausting some of the members, wong and me stayed back and paced ourselves at a comfortable 32 to 34km/hr. This strategy work like a charm and though both of us were fatigue from the ride the previous day, we managed to reached Bangi just before 12:00 afternoon.

Among the people who joined the ride today were Rafique, Shuey, William, Azam, Per Li, Don, James Bak and a few others which I did not get their name.

Wong and me managed to overtake quite a few guys that was pushing themselves hard as this is part of their training for interstate. For Wong and me, it was more like s Interstate2007 simulation for consecutive day of cycling. This week, we had simulated 140km for first day and 96km for second.

Bike Ride to PD - Sweeping everything

Total Distance MTDC to PD (Telok Kemang) - 138km
Average Speed going to PD 24.9km/hr
Average Speed coming back from PD 27.0km/hr
Total Calories Burn - 4062

Started from MTDC at 8 am after briefing by Azwar and Bacin. Kept company with Faie from MTDC to Sepang (mid point of journey to PD). After Sepang decide to speed up with the gang and chased the peloton of Dicky, Bernard, Stupe, Zabil, Bacin and Ishal. Only managed to catch up with Ishal, but during the catching up, along came Azwar and potong me like sayur. I think he must doing 60-70km/hr. Damn superman, that fella....

Congregate at rendevous point near Lukut. While heading for Telok Kemang, decide to keep Ishal and Faie company. Funny thing happen, Faie started to have some of her things "tercicir", started with Bottle cage, after that bottle, then sponge etc. This gives me new meaning in being a sweeper for the day.

After meal in Telok Kemang, some of us the slower ones decided to push off about 2-3 minutes earlier. Bernard decide to set the pace of about 36 to 38km/hr and Farook, Adeline and me set out trying to gain as much distance as possible. Bernard was so fast that he decided to check out the route to Seremban while Farook, Adeline and me decide to go back to Sepang. About 5 km from Sepang, near Bukit Peladok, Zabil came from behind and overtook us at about 46-48km/hr. I decide to give Zabil a chase and kept behind him until we reached Shell. Little did I know that he can set such a pace since he has already called his wife to pick him up at Shell Sepang.

That 5 km chase with Zabil cost me too loose a lot of energy and by the time we push of for MTDC Bangi, I cud only keep a pace of 30km/hr. If not for Sufian, who help me with alternate drafting, we would not have made good time back to Bangi. Upon reaching the parking area, got a call from Bernard to inform me that he had a puncture about 5km behind and I went back with my car to pick him up.

Overall, it was one hell of ride. Most enjoyable. Route review, most of the journey is rolling hills and flats. The only challenge is just after Sepang (ie km 37) where the landmark is Ladang Bukit Pelanduk, there is a hill climb. That hill climb is about 6km in distance.

Spartans.............

I dont't know whether to laugh or cry.....



Though this clip brings back many fond memories ;-)

Interstate2007 - Checklist

Wooohie....the list of participant is out and wow, so many familiar faces and names. So many girls going for this ride....wah lau eh...

Long rides is all about preparations. Anyway, checklist and tips for long rides like this (and lessons learnt from my ride to Penang) are:-

a) Water bottle and packed recovery drink powder - Done!!
b) Rehydration salts satchet - Done!!
c) Power Gel dispenser - Done !!
d) Tyre Lever and Spare Tubes - Done!!
e) Sun-Bloc - Done!!
f) Tools - Done!!
g) Spare handphone and walkie talkie (just in case no coverage) - Done!!

What else ahhh????

Me as a SImpson

Here is how I look like as Simpson character

My precious BUFF

Sometimes when u have something like this, u take it for granted and do not appreciate it. This buff of mine symbolises a lot of things since it has a lot of use.





For me, its one of the most precious things that I will keep and maintain its current state. But I sometimes wonder whether when u have something like this, would u use this with care or would you retain it and keep it for posterity



The fact that there are multiple use of this BUFF and the way it can be used, I will never know. Above demonstrated in the photos are ways of using the BUFF. You can get more info from here

Update, jangan tak update!!!!

Hai, first there is a reminder by Bola2api, then this note come from Zebra, looks like this baboon kena update la sikit blog aku ni...

What did I do on Saturday, owh, yes ....I went to that ride that was organized by some well known Triathlete that did not turn up. Any how, still manage to meet up ole frens like Dr K (a fren of 20 years) and Shazly. Was suppose to baby sit some ladies (Faie, Jaja and Aini), but seems that they did not need no baby sitting to Peres. They were off like the wind, or did they break wind, I donno, I cannot smell them at all.

Notice, the vast difference in speed in the graph between going and coming back from Peres. Managed to get about 55 km of ride in total that Saturday, still came back about 4 pm after collecting Bernard. In sweeping and going back for Aini (who decided to go shopping for buah-buahan tempatan), we got lost trying to locate Sungai Chongkak. Nearly turn back had it not been due to Aini's sister's persistency.

Addendum
During our ride back from Sungai Chongkak, Stupe and me went on a speeding spree and was racing back. One silly girl (she may not have seen us coming) crossed right in front of Stupe (maybe like 5 feet away) and Stupe had to take evasive action and almost sliding sideways. He managed to control the bike although skidding the rear wheel. Must have a bald patch by now ;-). Salute to him.

Next day went to Bentong with PK and family. Met up with Adeline, Lim-Rain ,Jeff (patani), Wong Pinarello, Mantak and two Ironman candidates (both riding Kuota). Since it rained in morning, we push off at about 9:00 am and reached Bentong at 11:30. I going there, budak Jeff and Lim, punya le laju, they were doing 46km to 48km average just about 23km outside Bentong town. Managed to draft them for only 6km before I gave up, thinking that I better save my energy coming back.

Coming Back, Mantak set a pace of 26-28km up back to Sempah and by 2pm we were at Sempah. Budak Lim dengan Jeff toksah harap tunggu la, they were gone at 30km average. Took us only 30 minutes to come down to Hospital Orang Asli once from Sempah. Balik rumah, nak angkat basikal turun pun dah tak larat, tidur dulu, angkat basikal pukol 10 malam, letih.....

Aiyoh....although I did 160km this weekend, rasa macam tak cukup je.

Reflecting on Life - Mirror-mirror on the Wall....

I don't usually handle death very well. I cannot imagine how Patrick handles it, especially when they are the ones that found Arwah Zubir's body in PD at 4 pm on Sunday.

I also am bothered very much on how I would be remembered and how my orbituary would have been written by friends, colleagues, bossess, parents, siblings, children and wife. Here lies Mac,......{thats about it, my mind goes into a blank} or "I remember that guy, he is the one that ruin that person's cycling career..."

What have I done to contribute into these people's Emotional Bank Account?. What have I done to change or impact some of their lives?. Have I done enough, how much more should I have done? These are questions that I have no answers to.....

Damn, I need to manage time better. So little time, so much to do.

Sad News - My Condolences

My fren Zubir pass away during the PD triathlon...........

As I finished my trip to Frasers, I was greeted with disturbing news that the organizing committee is searching for Zubir as he did not emerge from the swim leg. His wife has alerted the marshalls. As I was driving home, I recieved another disturbing call from my fren Bernard and Bacin that they have found his body and he was pronounced dead.

My condelences to his family. I will miss him. I will remember him as the down to earth guy riding a LOOK 595 bike.

Al Fatihah

Addendum

This is how I would like to remember him to be, so joyful and humble..one of the gang (with RS Murthy). Thanks RS for the clips.

0 to 2950 feet in 1 Hour 45 Minutes - Frasers Revisit

PCC has organized a joint ride between the Mountan Bikers and the Roadies. The target, Frasers Hill. There was a huge turnout, I think there were more then 40 people who must have come for the ride.

The trip up to Gap (which i only 31km) was achieved in just 1 hour 45 Minutes. The GPS read 900m which is roughly 2952 Feet above sea level. We kinda waited for another 40 minutes for all the rest of the cyclist to arrive at Gap befoe pushing of to the clock tower at Frasers. This 10 km journey took another 1 hour. The final ascent up at the clock tower read 1233 m which is 4045 feet. That means its 1000 feet in 10km.

Reaching Frasers brings me with mixed feelings, remembering interesting moments of friends trying to hold their puke in journey to Frasers and of happier times.


Statistics:
Burn 4183 Calories
HR: Avg:140 Max:172
Max Speed : 56.5 km/hr

When one cannot do Triathlon..................

One goes out for a ride.

Headed for the L2A team house where I met PK and family, where we quickly started our journey to Sungi Tengi via Ijok and Batang Berjuntai. As usual, following the L2A team, they don't have the word "Slow" in their vocab.



The route back is via Selangor Fruit Valley and heading towards Batu Arang. As you can see from the profile, the climb up is about 70m in all.



The statistic for the day is 3351 calories and average speed going is 29.7km/hr and 23.9km/hr coming back, i suppose due to the climb near Selangor Fruit Valley and Batu Arang.

Pondering on new health Targets (2007/2007)

Went RPM at FF last night. The usual suspect was there minus Adzim. I think he is sick. Did Joanne and Michelles class back to back. I think Joanne was in murderous mood and out to kill someone with her song selection. It must be Azwar, I speculate.

Majority of the gang are going to PD Triathlon this week. I can't participate as I cannot swim. Need to get that sorted this year.

Weighed myself last nite. To date already lost 31 kg from the time I started gymming last year (15 month). I was 112kg and now 81 kg. I aim to loose another 11kg in 6 month so that I am 70kg. That could be more comfortable to my biking and running.

Waistline, dropped from 42 inch to 36 inch. Now if I can target to loose another 2 inch, I cud be happy.

New skills, damn..havent picked up new skills this year yet, kayaking - gone, swimming - fumbled, mountain climb/trekking - failed. I think I 'll go for swimming again. Since today is double date time ie 20-07-2007, I better get a grip of things.

Tajamkan Gergaji

For most of us in the working life, we only have about 33 hours* left of what ever hours in a particular week for self fulfillment. This is the time balance that we have per week to invest in Mental, Physical, Spiritual and Emotional Bank Account (EBA) with those we care. I think the apportionment of hours will depend on which stage of life we are at.

If we are young and single, we may spend the hours in either Physical and EBA. Just to put into context, 33 hours is not much. A typical sportsman or triathlete spend about 20 hours(minimum) per week training and competing. That means you will only have 13 hours (half a day) to spend on EBA and/or spiritual/or mental. (to see your parents, sibling, friends or reading)

If you are in the courting mode, you will be spending that 20 hours maybe in a single EBA and thus your friends will miss you. You can also throw away your sporting life, I suppose. What ever balance of the 13 hours maybe spent on physical and/or mental leaving spiritual empty.

As you grow older, maybe time maybe the balance of hours spent will be on Physical , Spiritual and Mental and thus less time is spent on EBA . Hmmm, does that explain strained relationship, one wonders.

The first challenge is to actually find the right balance and better still secondly, if you can achieve investment in at least 3 of the areas with one activity. Food for thought, don't you think so?


*Hours per week {168} - (Hours of Sleep {56} + Hours of Work {50} + Hours of Commute {15} + Hours of Necessary Indulgent - read toilet&bathing {14} ) = 33 Hours.

When it Rains, it pours.............

Yesterday was the suckiest day ever in this month, everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It was really challengging especially when one is so prep up after attending Steven Coveys 7 Habit Course. How could I forget to bring my Gym shoes? How could I screw up the parking tickets and how did miss my appointment with the maid agency........

On a more soothing note, watched Harry Porter on Monday, though alone, I chose to.

Went cycling on Tuesday nite at Bukit Damansara, there was a large gathering of 18 people. Must have been the largest turnout ever this year for a Tuesday nite ride.

Lessons learnt, PLAN..PLAN..PLAN...(Begin with end in Mind and Put First Things First).

Kajang Annual HASH

Now i remember why i hate bike hash!. I got lost twice in the route. I am not sure whether I had followed the trail wrongly or I am just plain dumb. But there are many people who got lost also. Almost 90%, hmmm..that is bad.

I think there are more then 100 bikers who turned up for the day. There is a short route of 13km or the ordinary distance of 29 km. But as usual in bike hash, u sometimes double the distance as one tends to get lost. Many familiar faces were there.

Me, Bernard and Ash arrived there very early. The actual flag off was at 9 am. We waited for almost an hour and a half. (Actually, ASH belasah je gate crash ;-). She is fast, and excellent company).

The trail itself consist of palm oil trails, rubber plantations and virgin single tracks. Like any hashes, u sometimes end up chasing shadows. The trails is a bit confusing as we later found out that the runner hash trails converge with the biking ones. I went in and accidentally came out on a short route. Not being satisfied of coming out early, I went in again into the trail, but still came out nearly the same route. It rained just as soon as I got back after doing two loops, not voluntarily. Ah well, better luck next time.

Friday the 13th

Early in the morning, I got text by my fren Joanne, saying that I better go and visit the Superstar website Azwar. Seems that he gave me a complementary link. Damn, talk about trying to keep low profile. I was stuck in some god foresaken meeting until 12:30 , so I rushed back to office to see what has been said or done to this monyet/baboon.
Saw the time and date, yeah , no wonder, its Friday the 13th. Anyway, guess I may be going to some concert this August 21st.

Interstate2007 - What to expect?

Well, all the three stages of the Interstate2007 preview has been done:-
Stage 1 - 31st August 2007 - Ipoh to Taiping (150km)
Stage 2 - 1 st Septempber 2007 - Taiping to Bukit Mertajam (130km)
Stage 3 - 2nd Spetember 2007 - Bukit Mertajam to Persiaran Gurney (80km)

Hope you find the information useful for your ride plan. Next in the feature will be the route itself.

Come on Buddy…we will not leave you behind.

Ever watch those War Movies, where the soldier gets saved by their platoon sergeant or commander. The sergeant (be it Vic Morrow or Bruce Willis) comes into the enemy line and drags the soldier out of the enemy territory and makes sure you are safe and sound. Well, that what I felt like in the last PCC ride to Ijok and Puncak Alam, I was that helpless soldier, William and Vong was my platoon Sergeant and Corporal respectively.
After an eventful long ride from Center-point to Ijok Petronas and braving the scenic palm Oil estate roads from Ijok to Puncak Alam and the dreadful climb up the "dragon back" hills of Puncak Alam, we stopped at the restaurant to quench our thirst at Kampong Subang. The stop at the restaurant was good for all the riders to cool down in more ways then one, venting their anger and disbelief at the ride Directors choice of route. I could swear that I could still remember the swearing and cursing of the riders as they face the first initial climb of Puncak Alam and then saw the rolling hills up ahead. My philosophy which I shared with Andrea that day was simple, forget the view and focus 5 feet in front of the bike, grit your teeth and pedal.

Coming out of Kampong Subang, I made a mistake of riding off on sharp cobbled stone pathway which then punctured by rear wheels. It also broke the sidewall of my tire. Though having a spare tube in my pouch, I decided against changing the tube and chose to pump the tire seeing that the air that was escaping was little. I also thought that I can survive the ride to the next petrol station, so that I can use their pump and perhaps change the tires there. Having not gone through a puncture ever in my cycling live, I got worried and kind of panicked.

But, my trusty sergeant and corporal were there to pull me and bail me out of that danger. That was PCC at its best, not leaving anyone behind. William and Vong could have chosen to leave me there as it was not a critical situation, but no, they saw my panic stricken face and chose to provide support as I chose to pump the tire eight times round before reaching Center Point. It is also disheartening those petrol stations pumps are also hopeless and does not seem to be working on Sundays.

Heartful thanks to William and Vong for rescuing me out of the Cold. Overall, still managed to rack up 106km for the day and still manage to come back to Center Point just after noon.

Statistics for the day:-
Center Point to Ijok (42 km) averaged 28.1 km/hr and
Ijok to Puncak Alam to Center Point (62km) averaged 25.1 km/hr.
Total Calories : 3109 cal

I AM TIRED OFF...........

1. People blaming me for the bad habits that my "daughters" acquire..........
2. People blaming me for giving useless and non helpful advice to frens leading them to non independence
3. People scolding me for helping people out and spoiling them silly(white knight syndrome)
4. People questioning my motives and intention
5. People who cannot love themselves
6. People who has no urgency in coorperating
7. Having to do repetitive work
8. People who are singleminded and sellfish and come to you only when they need your help
9. People who give up easily
10.People who whines and moans about other people.

Damn, I am tired of myself............................

Different Approaches in Islam

It is ironic that two of my friends decided to launch their books this year, each has their own perspective of bringing in Islam to the communities. One approaches it through self discovery and relates it in the form of short stories, while the other writes a love story but infusing Islam as the value that the character adheres to.

Who are these two prolific writers?

One goes by the name of Dina Zaman who authored the book I Am Muslim, while the other goes under a psuedonym of Maya Iris (ironically a Yahoo Messenger ID) who writes the love story of Curahan Cinta Niagara. Having known them for quite sometime, i know them to be two totally different character in terms of outlook, behaviour and profession.

One writes for a living though it is only one of her many talent, while the other is a System Architect and Software Developer by the day that finds solace in writing love stories late through the night.

I would not have believed it myself when I first saw the transcript last year. One would not have expected someone as stolid and as fiesty as her to write touching and loving story. As they say in the business, there are hidden talents for these people.

Please feel free to buy these books and read it with and open mind. As the Angel says "IQRA" or traslated READ

Would I want an iPhone?

Quick Answer - Not at the moment.

Why would i want to trade off my current HSDPA phone for one that has EDGE technology. Perhaps in the future, I might consider getting the iPhone as the feature grows and it gets more matured. At the moment I am happy with my Samsung i600.

Feature for feature, the Samsung wins hands down except the camera. But I do agree it a nice conversation piece for most of us. I was watching E-Magazine on Channel 76 Astro, most of the superstarts wants the iPhone like mad. At this current moment, the price point of the Samsung is very attractive.

This is more RPM then RPM

Having the LeTua boys around pacing for a Sunday Ride to Batu Arang can be interesting to say the least. Ironically many of us turn up for this torture this Sunday morning. Adzim was there, so was my RPM instructor Joanne. The normal PCC gang of the PK family, William and James Bak, Yap Swee Leong and Alwyn. Two strong lady rider Andrea and Adelina is also there. The last time i went of with Joanne for the ride, we went of late the last time round because she had to stop at the ladies, this time round, her cyclometer fell off. As usual we had to play catchup with the train hitting 36-38km/hr near Kota Damansara.

This time the route to Batu Arang was in reverse ie CenterPoint - Projet Kota Damansara - Sungai Buloh - Petronas Ijok - Batang Berjuntai - Selangor Fruit Farm - Batu Arang - Jalan Kuala Selangor - Guthrie Corridor - Subang - CenterPoint. We didnt see the Letua boys until the Kuang intersection at Jalan Kuala Selangor. True to the newsletter, they came in from the rear and started pacing the train between 35 to 40km/hr. The interesting thing about these guys is that they kept that pace irrespective of flat or hills. Don't this guys have or understand the concept of hills? We headed for Ijok and then turn of to Batang Berjuntai. At this point, I already lost sight of the train having to play sweeper again albeit at a faster pace of 30km/hr.
Somehow, my new toy did not capture the first part of the journey. The view at the Selangor Fruit Farm was breathtaking and so was the hill climb from Batang Berjuntai. We saw many cyclist coming from the Batu Arang, the p2K boys etc. We reached Batu Arang at about 9:30. I am only left with the second part of the journey back. We finished the 107 km journey at 12:15. My heart rate monitor was kept busy as the graph showed, averaging 160 and above most of the time.

I find that this ride is tougher then my 167 km ride to Sungai Tengi though, but I enjoyed this ride thouroughly. Don't mind doing this ride again. I see this ride as part of the training ride for Interstate2007 this year.

Memories of Happier Times

I wish.....

I was most happiest when I was in Pulau Kapas, playing with Kites in Kuala Terengganu or riding a trishaw in Melaka town..........

I wish those day are back, really miss them. What to do, water under the bridge. Bye-bye happiness, hello loneliness.

Tuesday Nite Route

Testing out my new toy for the second time round, brought it out during the Tuesday Nite Route. Very interesting statistics though. At the end of the day, its the company of joyful bikers that brings joy to ride around the TTDI area.


The usual suspect of Arif, May Senn, Adrian, Patrick and Sons, Adeline, Chau, Jaja and myself were there to take some other new riders around the hills of Damansara Heights.

Ironically the Garmin was not sensitive enough as we go through the Pencala Link Tunnel. U can see a gap in the route. Total distance is 26 km, Highest speed 56km/hr and highest peak about 120m with difference in climb of about 70m. roller coaster ride though.

Interstate2007 - A preview to Fun (Part 1)

What can we expect to Interstate2007 this year round.? Well, for full report and what to expect, u can visit this website specific for the PCC - Interstate2007.

Khabar Bike, Janda Bike!!

Never be to overzealous and over confident. That what the trip to Janda Baik with the PCC taught me. When cramps chose to visit me just 20 m before the peak of the climb from Mc Donald near Genting Sempah, what do u do, choose to kiss the tarmac and lie flat on the road. This way, u can protect your ever precious bike while using your body to break the fall.

Lie down flat on the road for 3 minutes while catching your breath and get up lest the passing cars think that u are dead on the road side.

Ah well, was pushing myself too hard with the PCC group. I don't usually do climbs from Orang Asli Hospital in less then an hour to reach Genting Sempah and I dont usually climb from Janda Baik to Genting Sempah in less then 30 minutes, but in the spirit of stroking ones ego, serve me right for not listening to your body. Today, I am walking like a crab, with both thigh harden.
All this after a "gentle 40km ride" the day before in Kota Damansara to evaluate wheelsets. Well, at least the conclusion that I manage to get out of this is that the MAVIC Ksyrium Elite is a better wheel set then the Campy Scirroco though the latter is lighter. Lighter rims does not guarantee a better performance.

PCC Interstate - Registered and Prep

PCC generally organize to major rides every year, the PCC Interstate and the Presidential Ride for Mountain Biking. The Presidential ride last year was the most memorable for me, as that was the introduction for long distance mountain biking that I was first involved in. 60km of sheer torture in Semenyih jungle area.

Now, PCC is organizing this Interstate Biking Road Ride which will allow most of us 360+ km of road riding thru the most scenic area of Perak and Penang. More importantly, this is one of the few times, a whole bunch of rider will get to cross the Penang Bridge. As the highway authority is highly skeptic on gatecrashers, we have to register early and will be issued tags to pass thru the toll gate and we will have to cross the bridge within one hour window on that Sunday morning. Even support vehicles will have to be preregistered. LLM is so strict.

We will be pushing off on 31st August from Ipoh and will finish in Penang on the Sunday and come back on Monday 3rd Spetember. As we will be bringing support car, we will not depend on the bus to shuttle us back to Ipoh. Looking at the pictures of hotels booked along the way, it does look nice. So is the rolling hills of Perak !!!

I look at this ride as a biking adventure cum holiday and look forward to catch up with friends and cycling colleagues all over Malaysia. It will also rekindle my thoughts in my first cycling race that I had in Penang as we will be cycling round island starting with Balik Pulau and ending in Gurney Drive. For RM350, I think this 3 day Holiday on Bike looks like a steal.

Going through the checklist with my cycling buddies last Saturday:-

Registration - Check
Thule Roof Rack - Check
GPS - Check
Walkie Talkie - Not Check
Support Car Registration - Check

Tired and Confuse

....from attending RPM class at MAXIS last nite.......

Did two rounds of RPM, back to back. Logic, if instructor Joanne can do it, and summore, the other superstar triathlete like Azwar and Adzim are there to do back to back, why can't i try?. They are superstar and you are not, remind ur self that.....next time. Pahhh...burn only 1120 calories only.

Confuse......to go Mountain Biking HASH in Bandar Tasik Puteri or go road to Janda Baik?

Of Number Plates and Fetishes

Malaysian must have certain fetishes on number plates and its significance. An old friend of mine passed me this and asked me what do I see? Told him, looks like a Honda Accord to me.

Can U imagine the words that can be coined from number plates such as PAN 747 or BU 8? The things that tickle our minds.

Being Tagged or Pass the batton

I was hesitant in doing this meme as I considered the person tagging me is considered disqualified as I am the 7th person and the tagging is only limited to 5. But since I am in joyous mood after getting news that my daughter has scored a perfect 180 on her MENSA IQ test, I will finish this meme. Pardon the weird answer tho.

Layer One:
On the Outside
Name: Mxxxxxxx Mxxx Fxxxxx Casual name Mac
Birth date: 31 October
Current status: Alive
Eye color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Righty or Lefty: Sometimes I am right but commonly I am left (out)

Layer Two:
On the Inside
My heritage: Malay, Dad from Kedah, Mother from Perak.
My fears: Heights, Water and being tagged
My weaknesses: Don't know how to say No
My perfect pizza: In my stomach

Layer Three:
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
My thoughts first thing when I wake up: I hope I am beside my wife!!!
My bedtime: Everytime I switch on the TV
My most missed memory: Best left missing and forgotten. Where is it again?

Layer Four:
My picks
Pepsi or Coke: 100Plus
McDonald's or Burger King: Wimpey!!!
Single or Group Dates: Packed Kurma
Adidas or Nike: La Sportiva
Tea or Nestea: Moccha
Chocolate or Vanilla: Ice cream???
Cappucino or Coffee: Kopitiam

Layer Five:
Do I
Curse: No, but I am learning!!! Voodoo helps!!
Take a shower: Everytime it rains.
Have a crush: Yeah, everytime I wear my undies.
Think I've Been In love: Second hand Emotions...Nah
Go to school: Cannot remember, that was 35-40 years ago (refer to missed memories)
Want to get married: Are you kidding me? Go through the suffering again?
Believe in myself: Have to, nobody else will?
Think I'm a health freak: Does Superman wear his undies on the outside?

Layer Six:
In the past month
Drank alcohol: Never. Methylated Spirit is too strong !!!
Gone to the mall: Yeah, thats where we congregated to start our Sunday bicycle Ride!
Been on stage: Nope, never will
Eaten Sushi: No, I dont't go for Japenese girls.
Dyed your hair: Which hair?

Layer Seven:
Have I ever
Played a stripping game: Every nite, when I am pretending to shower
Changed who I am to fit in: That will be easy in a crowd of monkeys

Layer Eight:
Age
I am hoping to be married: 24, 47, 53, 60 (hang on, this are part of my secret bank account)

Layer Nine:
What was I doing
1 min ago: Doing this
1 hour ago: Blogging
4.5 hours ago: Stripping.
1 month ago: Playing with my blubber/fat
1 year ago: Breathless doing excercise!

Layer Ten:
Finish The Sentence
I love: blogging.
I feel: my nuts when my hand is in pocket.
I hate: to have to go during long distance cycling.
I hide: my intelligence until I cannot find it.
I need: change my job

Layer Eleven:
Dowant to tag, reminds me of chain letters

Stephanie Chok - Crossing the Straits

Was having dinner with Stephanie Chok last nite to celebrate her 26th birthday. What a colorful life this young lass has gone through. I find it truly amazing and highly motivational to have a short chat with her. This picture really does not do her justice, but I took it to capture the moment.
I know her to be a very athletic and sportful person, but to what extent, it was about to be revealed during the conversation. In that short chat, she was relating to me her experience recently (last Saturday) of swimming the Malacca Straits to Riau, Indonesia and back. She did it all in the name of fun.

Stephanie who has done a continous 96km swim before this was convinced that this swim from PD to Riau which is a 45km each leg should be fairly easy. The way she related to me, was that she wanted to see how much shipping traffic was there in the Malacca straits ;-). They started the swim at 8:45 am and reached Riau at 10:30 pm much to the chagrin of the Indonesian passport Authority, who expected them at 2pm. She jokingly quipped, they expect us on jet ski or what?

What was also fun, she said was to swim behind a net which had captured the biggest jelly fish she has ever seen, almost as big as a racing bicycle wheel, she chuckled. It was hilarious the way she said she needs to keep up with the boat captain who had set the speed of boat and net at 3.3 knots, which was almost competition speed.

So, what else do you want to do, I asked her?. I said, she has done skateboarding, triathlon is her passion, mountaineering and now swimming across the straits of Malacca. There was a gleam in her eyes and she gave me hints on her next project. I grinned and just sat there dumbfounded but in admiration of what she had plans and also the fact this girls is so humble and down to earth. Thats the Steph that I know and like.

Till next time, i bid her goodnight, we parted - me to my next appointment.

Up Hill Time trial - 1st FAK UP (for me that is)

I think i call it the race of truth. Its where u find out whether u can climb this hill or not and relative to the other person. I also think that many people just didn't want to enter becoz of the fear that you may really find out where u stand and it may bother your ego. Well, i for one did it for no other reason but in the spirit of community assistance. Originally, I went there to help out with the race, but upon seeing that the race organizers have enough assistance and not to project the image that there are more race organizers then participant, I enrolled for the race.

Its roughly an 8 km climb with an elevation of merely 250m (in the last 3 km) .

The results are as posted in the Fakawi Website and I did horrendously. Knowing the results as I was climbing up, I decided to end the day by going for a spin ride to Batu 18 with Boon Foo. Met a few way2ride riders and the Malaysian squad training as they were climbing the reverse side.

Went back at 11 am after a 30km spin ride. What a Father's day celebration!!! Got a few dadly wishes from some close frens, thanks guys n gals.

FRIM - Revisiting

Its been quite sometime that I have been to FRIM. Last Saturday went to accompany pals from Quick Release Adventure and a newbie into an initiation ceremony into the MTB cult. The route we took was Rover and Steroid Hill.
My conclusion of FRIM, its getting easier and there is a whole lots of pacat. Got bitten left and right. The waterfall near canopy is still as tranquil as before, notice that there is a girl in pink there meditating by the stream of water. So peaceful....
As most of the guys have not been to FRIM for ages, here I was briefing on the difficulties of coming down steroids, only to find out that it was levelled and there are no more gulleys and rocks. Urrrgghhh...
Ah well, some things are still the same, food , lack of stamina, not bringing in water for the ride and lastly for me not to be able to climb steroids in one go.

Tough Love

I have been mentoring this guy for the past few months and last Friday was the pits and it really kinda spoil my weekend (I think). He cares for this person/confidant so much that off all things (and I keep reminding him this), he uses technology indiscriminately. He was communicating with his friend and it seems he went overboard and over stated his intent and by using SMS and YM/Instant messaging, communication between him and his friends broke down and now he has lost everything that is so dear to him.

The ironic and tiring part of this is now he is bugging me with his glum and trying to talk to me non stop and its causing me distress and I am not being able to enjoy my weekend. Sheessshh, talk about being an idiot. I keep reminding him that not to be so emotional and don't use SMS and he blews it, some people will never learn - I say. I know it sounds kinda cruel but all I can say to him is go and listen to the lyrics of Frey...Hahahahah. Serve him right.

Indecisions - This is getting finicky

I hate this. There is so much things to do this weekend and the next. Okay, tomoro is clear, its Mountain Biking in FRIM, but come Sunday, there is the 120km ride from Bangi to PD or the Fakawi Time Trial in Langat or the recovery run. This is a tough decision.

Okay I have already registered for the Kajang HASH for next month but I totally forgot about the month ending HASH in Tasik Puteri which is supposedly to be nice in view. PCC is arranging for a joint Mountain Bike and Road Bike ride up to Frasers. The HASH trail is new but I may have to contribute RM50, but the PCC ride is free but the route is quite familiar. Most prolly I will go with Frasers before tackling the Subang Jaya 10k.

Climbing Jalan Tun Saadon

At the request of Aini, I thot I might as well publish the video of the race climb up Jalan Tun Saadon. This is one of the toughest hill climb in Penang Road Race. It has an incline of 14% average. I can't remember who the guys in red but maybe its the team from Singapore.



Enjoy Aini

Penang Bike Race

was rummaging through my archives (sounds sophisticated, but actually cleaning up the files in my phone) and came about this movie file of the Penang Round Island race during Pesta Pulau Pinang. I was driving the support car for feeding. Anyhow for nostalgic purposes and also to try out YouTube, u can enjoy this uphill climb by one of the LeTua boys.

Brazilian Cusine

Its been quite sometime that I had good foreign food. A group of friends (Melody, Hafiz, Bernard, Azira and myself) went out to celebrate Adli (IceCube) birthday party. We chose a quaint little Brazilian Restaurant in Damansara Kim by the name Carnaval.

The setting
The restaurant has this arrangement where u can go and pick your side dishes like vegetable, gravy, rice, spaghetti etc from a buffet bar. The main dishes which consist of roast beef, lamb are served by their chefs and carved out freshly in front of you. The chef (one actually is from Brazil) will come out with endless selection one after another starting with Beef, Lamb, Fish, prawn, chicken and lastly pineapple. Its so mouth watering to watch as the cutlets are soft and tender.

I would like to really recommend this restaurant to those who have really big appetite.

Note to self: Work out tonite to burn at least 1000 calories

Recovery Ride - A new definition

It started with Ariff reminding me that I have not done the Tuesday nite ride for quite sometime. So, Tuesday morning, I packed my bike in the car and was ready and raring to go to the Tuesday ride which Ariff takes the lead. Having just recovered from the PCC Batu arang ride, I was not in the mood to go for aggressive pace and was looking at a more leisurely pace. Knowing that Ariff might wanna go fast, I look for company and this was my conversation with my learned friend :-

[15:37] Mac: wanna cycle tonite?
[15:37] Mac: ttdi
[15:38] bernard: i am
[15:38] Mac: cool
[15:38] Mac: cya tonite
[15:43] bernard: i think i am going ot be slow
[15:43] bernard: today ler.
[15:44] Mac: so am I, please keep me company
[15:44] bernard: yeah no prbs.

Huh, when I arrived there, the usual suspects were already there, Adrian, Ariff, May Senn, Jaja, Karen, Willie, Bernard, Patrick and Jason. But the moral of story is that when a triathlete says that he or she is on recovery ride, what they mean is that you'll see his/her butt in ur face. The moment we hit the Pencala Link tunnel, Bernard was already sprinting ahead and leaving us minions behind.

Damn, even Jaja and May Senn was faster then me in most part of the hill climb. I am still trying to recover from that recovery ride. Note to self: Careful in interpreting when triathlete is having a conversation.

Recovery of Body and Mind

What do you do after a good bike ride? Carbo loading, recovery ride, laze about....no..u go and watch movie. Since there wasn't much people at the cinema, went to Cine Leisure and got tickets to see Shrek 3 and not having enough movies to wash over you, buy another ticket to watch Pirates of the Caribbean.

Shrek 3, .....not much of a fan of this one. Seems to loose a bit of zest when compared to the Shrek 1 and 2. The stroryline is abit tame and more like a love story fairy tale rather then the witty film that it was in Shrek 1 & 2. Maybe I just could't connect with the happy ending in this story. I wouldn't recommend to see it though

Pirates, now this is a different ball game altogether. Though, u sense the fact that the film maker is loosing ideas of how this movie is to be run, and the fact that having pirates from all areas of the world to cater for the different international audience, the movie is much more watchable then Shrek. Though I am not much of a Johnny Depp, i do find that his character being very witty and helps the movie where there is too much serious overtones.

I would recommend for viewers to see the movie if not for the character, storyline and special effects

Sweeping from the Rear - Batu Arang Ride

Its a call to duty. Since there were few newbies doing the PCC Batu Arang 90km ride and also some of the newbies are freinds of mine, so it is only fair that I volunteer to become the sweeper. Master Don, who also volunteered to be the sweeper gave in eventually to take the middle of the group where the lead was to be taken by Lim from Bike Pro.

As we exit Center Point at 7:35, we made of to Kota Damansara and as we pass IKEA, we were joined by the P2K group who happen to be heading the same direction. As we head off towards Sungai Buloh, the peloton got spread and I was accompanying Annie who was brave enough to use a MTB for the 90km ride. We made it to Kuang safely to meet up with the group before pushing of towards Batu Arang. At this point, the gang decide to attack and me being selfish decide to join in the fun and proceeded on at breakneck speed up towards housing estate near Kuang.

Master Don gave me a friendly reminder, "Eh, sweeper role like this ahhh?", I sheepishly backed off and went back looking for the rear of the peloton. I accompanied the last rider into Batu Arang and we had nasi lemak there. Shout out to Alwin who was nice enough to keep me company into Batu Arang.

We pushed off for Kuala Selangor road after refuelling and the team is back to its usual breakneck speed. I lost sight of the peloton at the junction of Kuala Selangor Road back to KL. I accompanied the last rider until she had got the cramps twice, once at about 200m before the Guthrie entrance and again just after we entered Guthrie Highway. Not wanting to take chances, I hail a taxi and pack her bike and the rider back to Centerpoint. It was starting to get hot at about 11:35 am.

Realizing that I had neither a handphone or a pump, I quickly pushed off quickly back to Centerpoint. Somehow that recovery ride did me good and I was able to ride continuously and speedily without feeling lethargic and was averaging 32km/h on the Guthrie corridor. Managed to reached Centerpoint at 12:35 while every body else had packed their bikes. Silently, I felt relieve after getting back to my car and managed to contact the rider and found her to be safe and sound at the Mamak. However, I did feel guilty of not spending time with some of my friends though...ah well, till next ride. No more sweeping duties for me, I hope ;-).

Good to see new faces to the cycling family.

Fakawi Up Hill - MTB Race

Was helping out Melody and Edele of Quick Release with the Fakawi (FAK UP) Mountain Bike Race. The race is up from Cross Road in Kiara to TWin Peak. The race distance is slightly more then 1 km and the elevation is 100m from Cross Roads.

12 contender was brave enough to go through the motion of climbing the hill inclusive of one brave German in a recumbent. The eventual winners were Lim Yew Meng (pic) from Bike Pro with an astonishing time of 4 min 15 seconds. Second was Pat Brundson and third was Adli Dahlan.

Happy Birthday Kim Yap

Happen to be around to see Kimberly recieve her birthday present. She is also off to Australia soon, but u shud see the beautiful bike that she will be using in Australia. A new Scott CR1 with nice pink decals.

Its her xx birthday and there was also a cake for her. The bike came with Campagnolo Record and is very light. The carrying case that came with the bike is also cool.

Oppurtunist that we are, had a taste of the birthday cake that she was distributing. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM.

Road Bike Review - Hill Climbs

Road Bikes tend to have a character of their own and have certain contrasting differences. I am starting to learn that the characteristics of my road bikes and ironically their character also changes and will also differ on the choice of wheelset that I use also. However, this is a preliminary assessment of the bikes that I use for my road adventures especially for hill climbs.

The Bianchi, as I found out recently loves to be riden hard especially on flat road. I find it difficult when trying to tackle long gradient as the ride from Bentong to Genting Sempah. Pacing other riders at 30km/hr or so on gentle climbs is OK, if you are drafting, but the moment you hit a steeper climb, then you find that the effort requires is a bit on the tough side. However, in sprint and pacing, i do enjoy riding this bike.

In stark contrast, the Specialized Tarmac is a nice bike to climb up from Bentong to Genting Sempah. Perhaps it being 3 pounds lighter may explain it but then (in my mind) should not make much of a difference. I find that this bike is more responsive then the Bianchi, and also more comfortable to ride for distances more then 70km. Perhaps the taller stems may have some effect on the ride posture. Need further investigation.

Forward Planning - Biking

After the recovery that I had on Monday, I immediately set my task to rebuild my stamina for the up and coming Inter State Ride (31st August to 2nd September). Seems that I had recovery for almost a month of non activity of sports that the last two days was torturous.

Tuesday, after work managed to sneak into Gym in AXIS for RPM class. Did back to back starting with Challenge class with Herny and normal class with Pat. Burned about 1100 calories. Wednesday, did another two classes back to back with Pat in the first class and Lynn in the second challenge class. Burn about 1100 calories as well here.

I may take the day off endurance training and just do weights tonite and do RPM again on Friday.

This weekend planned ride will be to do Mountain Biking in Kiara in the morning and maybe participate in Fakawi MTB race up Twin peaks in Kiara Park in the afternoon. Hmm...RM30 for a 7-8 minits of ride up to twin peak. Sunday, most likely I will be doing about 80km road ride to Batu Arang with the PCC.

Next weekend is the Fakawi Time Trial in Pekan Batu 14 near Cheras. The subsequent ride planned by the PCC which involves roadies and MTB will be the climb up to Frasers on the 24th June. That could be interesting.

The atheletes that I know - POEM

The last I attempted to write a poem was about my RPM instructors and that was in September last year when I was unemployed. That was after a moronic attempt to write and collate poems that was a bit cheesy. But bear with me, since I need to give tribute to my athletic frens of mine with another of these lame poems:-

Kimberly Yap is very strong when she is in water,
She looks very tough, but sweet when u know her,
Her figure and physique is just so astounding,
Acquired by enduring a tough physical training.

Steph Chok started competing when she was small,
U know her to be bubbly and miss know it all,
Her abilities has expanded into mountain climbing,
To fulfill her passion while not just day dreaming.

The KlingKlangman as he is generally known,
His ability to compete he has generally shown,
A civil engineer,a flying Scotsman, that wears no kilt,
Adrian ur my man, you are stolidly built.

Arif is the anchor When it comes to biking,
He copy writes by day, he calls it a living,
He competes in triathlon, and he calls this fun,
I called it torture when i see him bike, swim and run.

May Sen has a bike that she names it cow,
Its all spotted and pink, only she know how,
She rides it hard with such determination,
When u see her perform,a mild state of aggression.

Bernard Tan is his name, a mild mannered guy,
His bike is a pink T-Mobile ironically he is shy,
He rides like the devil, speeding ever so fast,
Try to catch up with him and see if u can last.

Ashley is a girl that loves adventure racing,
She also runs the trail, she also loves hiking,
Her endurance and threshold is high, makes u wanna scream,
When she leaves u standing, u think its a dream.

Petite little meehoon, Jaja is her name,
Healthy fit and agile,they all look the same,
When they dashes passes you, like they normally will,
You tend to admire them, by just standing still

Listening Ear

Some people say that I have a gift of being able to listen, maybe its the upbringing of never to question anybody, I don't know. People somehow feels comfortable to talk to me about their problem, but ironically, if I have a problem, I don't know who should I go and talk to.

I also happen to be watching the movie HITCH on DVD and I can very well relate the character played by Will Smith. Seems that my life is all about mentoring someone and bridging relationships and lately I have come to a cross road of life and I am now trying to figure out is, "How long more can I do this ?, How much endurance do I have to sustain this kind of life?".

As I ponder through this, the lyrics of songs that I can so relate to at this moment is by a group called Frey and it goes like this:-

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Weekend Escapade - 32 + 70 km

Not doing enough biking for the past month, i decided to go out for a gentle build up.

Anyhow, went for dinner with an instructor friend of mine to my favourite Restaurant in TTDI for carbo loading the day before. The next day, went out for a gentle ride round Bukit Damansara with a new acquaintance (Jaja) as she wanted to get the feel of the Tuesday nite route. She did well to follow me around. Not getting enough distance, went up into Kiara road track and finish off the ride after 2 hours. Distance covered 32km with lotsa hill climbs.

Not feeling enough of the torture, next day pack up to go an ride up to Bentong with the PCC boys and girls. Total distance - 70km from Genting Sempah. Its also an excuse for my to try out my new road bike ( a collectors item Bianchi/Liquigas Team issue). Actually Boon Foo and gang wanted me to ride with them from Hospital orang Asli, which will add up another 32km, but since I wasn't sure of myself (after more then 1 month of not cycling), i chicken out and went with the short ride, which incidentally was the more sane choice i come to find out eventually.


The speed of ride to Bentong was fast, although we did stop at Hot spring to regroup, we arrived in Bentong in about 1 hour. Climbing back from Bentong was however a different story altogether, I was with the front peloton for only about 22km but was out of breath for the next 7km and fell back. Bernard, Adzim and the Don was insanely fast. I nearly bonked out 5 km from Genting Sempah just after Janda Baik junction. Adrian who started from Hospital Orang Asli passed me at this point with his constant pace with no signs of tiredness. In fact, it felt as if I was running out of gear just trying to climb the plateau 2 km before Genting Sempah. I was thinking to myself, don't tell me this bike (which is only 3 pounds heavier then my Specialize Tarmac) is really that heavy for me not to be able to push through. I arrived back at Genting Sempah at 11:20 am.......eventually. 35 km in 1 hour 50 minutes, damn that is slow.

Moral of story, don't stop biking unless you want to suffer.

Lost boys at it again

These lost boys are arranging a race session for Mountain Biking and Road. I am sure there are many of my compatriot might go to these events though some are looking for buddy support. Nevertherless, here is their flyer for those who are interested.

Most of the ditance are no longer then 20km. Should be fun tho..but get a grip of the name....somebody's brand of humour ;-)

What a Dilemma...

My God,

My close buddy, Mohamed bin Ali drop me a line in the comment section to remind me of the potential Mount Fuji climb. I have so looking forward to this. So what's the problem that you may say?

Its scheduled to be nearly on the same date as PCC Annual Interstate Ride. Consider this:-

a) Interstate - a ride which starts on Friday at Ipoh and will finish on Sunday at Penang. This year, they will close up Penang bridge for 500 odd cyclist to cross the Penang Bridge and subsequently round Penang Island. Opportunity to meet new friends and explore new routes.

b) Climb Mount Fuji - Pay nominal fee for flight tickets and walla, will be in Japan and able to climb Mount Fuji. Its considered not that challenging a climb (more of trekking) and doable. Opens up new horizon and new things to do this year.

Actually, I should be thankful to MBA as he has worked hard to secure this deal and its such a wonderful deal, but why am I in such a dilemma to decide one way or another.

Inspirational - A triathlete she is..............

I had the most frustrating weekend ever, I had to sacrifice some of the things that I had intended to do last weekend for someone I cared. I couldn't do my Century Ride which I had trained for weeks. I have been missing out on my training schedule and picking up excess weight and I did not do enough rides due to time constraint. Wahhhhhhhhh....

Fortunately, I have had the oppurtunity to "see" (read hear) that my compatriot, a triathlete in the making has become a full fledge triathlete at Bukit Merah last weekend. I, for one am still in training and learning to swim where she has now done a full triathlon in two attempt.

Well done to her, at least that is one good news that I got during last weekend to drown my sorrow of not being able to get my riding licence. Well done also to Adrian, who has given a nice report on the Century Ride which he had particpated with some of my other colleages Ashley, PK, William, Bernard and Joe.

Labouring Day - Mind the GAP/Hello Frasers

I was so hardup to ride that I woke up at 4:30am Labour Day morning to prepare and pack my bike and drinks for the ride to Frasers. The day before, i had received a text from Jaja that she was not able to make it to the ride due to some circumstances. Was quite eager to see her biking skill up this hill. Fortunately, Bernard did call and he became my partner in crime for the Frasers Hill ride.

Picked up Bernard and his bike(with new spanking TOKEN wheels) at BHP station near Damansara and we convoyed to KKB (oh Ah Fook and Roland bumped into me at the same station). Arrived in KKB just before 7:30 (the designated time) and as usual Adrian was already there with Arif and May Sen. May Sen chose to unviel her brand new spanking Orbea DIVA. It is truly a DIVA of a bike in all sense. She must have chosen such a time when she feels its among friends. There was quite a few triathlete in this group that , it makes us normal cyclist feels puny. Actually, I have never seen such an ensemble of many traithletes in one ride before this.

We pushed of to GAP at about 8:15 after the customery photoshot by Adrian. Adrian actually did and extensive and impressive ride report on his blog here. (Note to self: Please learn from Adrian on report writing and coverage). Met up with PK,family and Kim Yap along the way. In my eagerness trying to chase Kimberly (read- keeping up with her), i hadn't noticed that my rear wheel was misaligned. Laif helped me out with my misaligned wheel 15 minute into the ride.

We reached GAP at about 10:15 am and if you had a camera at GAP, u wud have liked the photo oppurtunity session in seeing the dissapointed face of most of us seeing the GAP coffee house closed. Me not having breakfast that morning chose to "Mogok" and refuse to go any further to Frasers without my carbo loading.

PK & family, William , Kim and me choses to go down not after me taking some photos of the first initial back creaking climb after GAP. Halfway down the hill, we met Patsy who had an unfortunate puncture and we assisted her and coax her to climb down with us, seeing that the whole group was already at the peak.

It was an exhilirating race down hill, PK, Kim, me and Hassan racing from the Dam to the foothill of Kuala Kubu. The headwind was very strong that you even had to peddle when going downhill. We were still doing speeds of 52 to 53 km/hr just before the Kuala Kubu stadium and managed to reached the Stadium just about 11:30am.

The group from Frasers did eventually come down racing lead by Azim and the triathletes at about 1:15pm. Everyone said it was a good ride and enjoyed it.