Riding a bicycle..

First,let me thank Dr Idlan Zakaria for her permission to allow me to blog  using her nice  photo taken in Amsterdam. This shot reminds me of my family trip to Holland in 1997.It was a trip to remember for me and my entire family.We had great time in Amsterdam and the only thing that I regret was not making an effort to ride a bicycle in the Land of Bicycles-The Netherland.

Just look at the photo on the right.The road has a bicycle lane!I have been living in Kuala Lumpur for  more than 30 years now and I have yet to see a bicycle lane in my neighbourhood Kampung Pandan,located about 3km away from the city centre.I am not wrong to say that KL is not friendly to cyclists.When I ride my mountain bike for my exercise/leisure,I am taking a great risk to use the main roads.Most of the time,I ride using side roads and only on weekends.Some time ago,I blogged about bicycle lanes but not in KL.It was along a main road from Alor Setar to Kangar! If my memory is still in tact,I observed that more bicycles were used in Oxford and Cambridge,England.With increasing fuel price,I think more people will be willing to ride bicycles if there are enough bicycle lanes provided.

Every time I see a kid riding a bike,it reminds me of my childhood days-way back in the 60's.During that period,there were not many small bicycles like BMX nowadays.I learnt how to ride using my late uncle bicycle and when I ziarah his grave two months ago, the memory flashed back.I remember he took me around in our kampung...(gendong at the back)

My parents could not afford to buy me a bicycle then.I always dream of having one of my own.When I got by first salary from being a temporary teacher in 1973,I bought myself a bicycle.I used it to travel from my house and  the school to teach maths while waiting to get a place to go to UK to study engineering.(September 1973)

My kids were luckier than me.My second son is a fan of BMX bike.He loved to do all those dare-devil tricks.During one of my trips to England,I took him to White Chapel and ended up buying a morales bike for him.It cost me almost RM1000!Lucky boy...

In mid-90,I joined my schoolmate Nadim to enjoy riding mountain bike.My first bike is a Haro.It is still working until today after a few repairs.A few months ago, I bought another mountain bike-The Trek to replace my old shaky Haro.Now, I ride it about twice weekly.I know some of my peers who are sick and they can't walk properly.Here,I am riding a bike around the neighbourhood.My great thanks to Allah swt for His rahmah on me.Alhamdulilah.

Here are the link to my bike set and LTDL set of photos at my Flickr.

Comments

[Gabra]

Adib,

I agree KL is not bicycle friendly anymore. In the early 70s, I used to ride to school from my house in Jalan Damai(behind Low Yat Plaza) along Jalan Tun Razak (Circular Road), Jln Bukit Bintang, Jalan Imbi, pass the Pudu Jail and Jalan Hang Tuah (Shaw Road) to the Victoria Institution. There weren't that many cars then and KL wasn't as hot as it is now!

Weekends, I will cycle to the zoo or to Bukit Belacan with my friends.

I love to cycle. Even when I was staying in Paka, I used to cycle 4kms to the pasar and back as I found out that I get to buy fish & vegetables at a cheaper price if I cycled then if I were to drive there!

I am actually tempted to buy a bike and join you for on your weekend cycling trips but I am not sure why I have not done so. Perhaps I fear that it may just be a dust collector in one corner of my house!! One day Adib... one day!!

[Gabra]

Sorry, I meant Yow Chuan Plaza, not Low Yat Plaza!!

[Adib]

Gabra,
Thanks for sharing your school days cycling story with us.I look forward to cycle with you soon...Btw, I have two bicycles.Just come over to my house and then we can ride around Kg Pandan dan then go for nasi kerabu with daging bakar at Taman Nirwana;-)

[hilmi]

salam pak adib,

haha yes yes nowadays children (like me =P) are quite fortunate to have parents who can afford them.

like my father, he had to get on a bicycle with his father and brother to get to school. it was a 10km ride each day. times that by two? hahaha

speaking about bringing your son to UK, whereabout where you at sir? London?

[Adib]

Wassalam Hilmi,
The trip was in 1996 when my second son was 14 years old.We were in London for a family holiday.Nowadays,I can't afford to go to London.I have 3 kids-all boys.Two are already working and the youngest is still studying at the local university.

[atok]

abe dib,

kat sini gomen ada cycle scheme, ie beli thru office at cheaper price (no tax); sebagai insentif utk encourage org berbasikal ke tempat kerja. details here > http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk

frankly, the last time i cycled was, mmmm... 13 yrs ago! but this coming 15th, i'll be in copenhagen & malmo with 13 officemates (study trip) and it has been proposed that we'll cycle around copenhagen, alamak :)

[Adib]

Atok,
I have been once to Copenhagen.It is bicycle friendly city and I bet you guys will be enjoying tourselves there.
Thanks for the link to cycle scheme.

[Azizi]

Sdr Adib

Just got back from Australia and over there they ride a lot too.

Maybe not as much as in Holland nor Denmark, but at list there are special provisions for lanes, crossings etc. Plus, their drivers are more respectable of cyclists. Here in Malaysia, cyclists are bullied off the road, or worse still, get hit for free!

[Adib]

Sdr Azizi,
I got the feeling that some car owners think that we cyclists donot have the right to use the roads because we didnot pay any road tax;-)
Mat free or mati katak!