The Reader

" Let the sleeping dogs lie.."

How do I know the maximum speed of my cycling?

Well,this morning I went cycling to Kg Perwira Jaya(next to Ampang Point)-a distance about 6km from my house.Then I went to TESCO Ampang via Taman Angsana Hilir so that by the time I get home,I will have cycled at least 10km.Today,I made a bad mistake by going around those new shops next to Tesco Ampang.Some of these shops are not taken up yet and the developer put a security guard and two dogs! When I came to the cul-de-sac of a road in between the shops, I saw the jaga(but not the dogs) and made a noisy U-turn(koner baring,ada stail sikit).The scratching of my bicycle tyres woke the dogs and immediately they ran after me.Now,I know the real meaning of the proverb:" Let the sleeping dogs lie..".{Knowledge comes with arrival of meaning}.The dogs gave chase and  I pedalled with all my might for about 20 metres before the guard shouted to the dogs to let me go.There was only one metre gap from the mouths of these %^&* dogs and my right leg.Thanks to Allah swt for saving me from the dogs and the heart attack!

Next time if I go cycling to unfamiliar territories, I must bring a stick along.At least I can fight with these dogs who could not differentiate between the thieves and the gentleman riders like me;-)

From this episode, now I know what is my maximum speed-the speed I cycled when I was running(actually cycling) for my life.

Ride details for today:
Max speed: 24.1km/hr
Time taken 49' 56"
Distance 11.33km
Avearge speed 13.6km/hr

Next Bicycle rides..

I am pleased to announce that our next ride will be at Putrajaya Wetland.Meeting place is at Pusat Rekreasi Air:Coordinate:
 N2 57.196 E101 41.945

Date :Sunday 9th Nov., 2008
Time: 8am

I will stop at a few places to take photos.

Here I pasted an advice from Azmi Bogart on taking photos:

You better go early morning.. to capture beautiful sky
places to stop: Flamingo, Duck (cage), 11am feeding time. check the place.

Good to ride bicycle, can cover more places..
we walked from 9am to 12 noon. along the wetland.. a lot you can capture, I used Tripod for 300 mm lens and handheld for wide angle lens.

Please browse and see Azmi's photos taken at Wetland.All are welcome to join for the ride.

Upcoming rides:

1. Shah Alam monthly night ride, every 3rd Satuday of the month. next
on 22/Nov @9pm. Gathering point is at Dataran Shah Alam.

Latest info:It is on 21/11/08-Friday night.

2. Putrajaya monthly night ride, Putrajaya Critical Mass, need no
further explaination .28th Nov 2008

3. Kuala Lumpur monthly morning ride, every 1st Sunday of the month,
next on 7/Dec @7:30am. gathering point is Dataran KL (Jam Besar).

4. Organise XPDC to Port Dickson on 27&28/Dec.  The leader from Shah
Alam, Azizan will do fact-finding and survey.

Cycling around Putrajaya Lake

My original plan for my cycling guide to take me and a few of friends this weekend for the above has to be deferred to next weekend.This is due to so many Open Houses to celebrate our Eidil Fitri,1429.I am grateful to my Lord,Allahu Rabul'alamin for His Mercy and Kindness that most of my friends are doing well.

The event is as follows:

Date :Sunday 26th October,2008
Time to meet: 7:30am
Location:Dataran Putra,next to Masjid Putra.

The ride is around the lake for about 90minutes.By 9am,we shall stop for breakfast and knock off at 10am.

Anyone who is interested to join me,kindly send email to me: mohdadib[at]gmail.com and let me know your mobile phone number for ease of communication.So far 3 gentlemen and 1 lady had agreed to join.

Note on the photo: The one in the centre is our Cycling Guide. He rides Ducati bike.Standing from L2R: Adib ,Saifudin,Nadim Shah.

Night riders along E20

Night rider along E20
Originally uploaded by Adibi

On the way to attend my alumni supper at Nim's Little Island restaurant in Sg Ramal,Kajang last night,I took the expressway E20.This elevated toll road runs from Bulatan Kg Pandan to Cyberjaya~25km long.Now,I am a regular user of the highway to avoid traffic jam.While travelling on the road,I was dreaming of taking my mountain bike to ride this highway.However,it remains a dream because I don't have the gut and the stamina to complete the journey.The return trip of this route will take 50km! My latest ride was 21.5km and it took me more than two hours.

Last night,while on the E20 and with my son driving my car, I saw this man and his three friends behind him(not shown because this is the only photo I managed to snap since my car was overtaking them too fast) were having their night ride.If you look closer at the photo, he gave me a V -sign.That is the spirit and honestly,I love to be riding on my Black Beauty( a name I gave to my black bicycle) with those guys..

A few of my friends are now getting interested in riding bicycles.You are welcome to read Dr Azmi Mohd Tamil's posting on his latest acquisition of Proton bike.By the way,if you wish to read my first night riding experience,kindly click here.

We don't walk,we don't run but we cycle;-)

Bicycles:Haro & Trek 3700

IIt has been more than three weeks since I last rode my mountain bike at Putrajaya.When a Sunday comes like today,it reminds me to ride my bike around my neighbourhood.I love to pedal and sweat it out but not during Ramadhan-not young anymore.But today,I am taking out my bike for a short ride-just like my neighbour with her dogs..and later give it a wash to make it fresh;-)

By the way Aliff,thanks for talking to me yesterday about cycling.Here are some photos for you to see my old Haro bike and my new Trek3700(bought in mid January,2008).More photos here.

Knight riders..

It was raining outside as I was preparing to get my riding gear ready to participate in the monthly Putrajaya Critical Mass bicycle ride last night.My wife kept nagging me not to go because of the rains as well as she was worried of any untoward incidents may happen to me in participating in such an event.A 20km bicycle ride is no short distance for a person of my age.Deep inside, I think she may be right but I was quite determined to take part.My 18-year old son was in concert with my wife in giving me advice not to go.These concerns had shaken my confidence so I planned to take a short cut for a 10km ride.My son was equally worried about me,so he offered to drive me to Putrajaya-just in case I may not be able to drive back.Earlier,I have committed with my schoolmates Nadim and Saifuddin that I would be riding with them last night at 9:30pm.

We arrived at about 9pm as scheduled.The meeting place was at Darussalam Restaurant at Precint 9,next a Petronas Station.There,I was very pleased to see at least 50 cyclists were getting ready with their bikes.The people came in all sizes-big and small,tall and short,males and females,old and young.Even kids were there to ride with their parents.Seeing this, it added more confidence in me but still I don't believe I can pedal 20km last night.When I told my friends Nadim and Saifuddin, they assured me not to worry and they promised to be with me all the time and all the way.However, they said I could do it and let see how it comes.

Actually,this is my first time riding my bicycle at night. We started on the flat road and  later went downhill.It was a great feeling and I was enjoying myself like a kid with his new bike!Well,as we all know, the road could not go downhill all the time.When I came upon a uphill ride, my bike started giving problem whenever I shifted my gears.Luckily with the help of fellow riders, I could get back to normal riding.Our first scheduled pit stop is at PICC, but my group continued on until we had another uphill climb.This long uphill climb really tested my pedaling power and my endurance.I was very slow and Sharin and Saifudin came close to ride with me and keep me talking.Nadim was following me from the back.I almost give up before I reached the top.They keep me talking and time passed a bit easier on my legs and my knees.I felt so thirsty and decided to stop for a drink and relax for a few minutes.

Starting again,I saw at least a kilometre of downhill ride.It brought big smile to my face and I told myself to enjoy the reward of my previous 'hard labour'.Four of us just let our bikes ran on their own and again,I felt like a young kid enjoying the cool night air of the beautiful city of Putrajaya.

To cut the long story short,we came upon a few uphills(not as bad as before) and the subsequent downhills.I kept on asking Sharin how far more we had to go and the confidence to finish the ride suddenly came to me. Another pit stop was in front of the Palace of Justice,but we did not stop there but continued a few hundred metres and took  another breather at a bridge.The sight of the city from this bridge is breath-taking.How I wish I had my Canon 400D with me.

As we approached the starting point,Sharin told me that we had clocked 21.5km(the first ever in my entire life time).That brought joy and gratitude to my heart.At last,I made it!!! Thanks to Allah swt and my dear friends for your support.May Allah swt bless you and I am looking forward for another ride in October,2008 insyaAllah.Last but not least,my thanks to the organisers for the job well done!

Lesson learnt: When something seems impossible,donot give up.Get helps from our friends and do'a to Allah swt.InsyaAllah, we can overcome the hurdle or achieve our goals.

More photos of the ride taken by Nadim here.

Putrajaya Critical Mass

This afternoon I talked to my friend about going cycling at Putrajaya on 22nd Aug 2008 night.And toninght I discovered this website:http://putrajayacriticalmass.blogspot.com/

What a pleasant coincidence and lovely suprise.InsyaAllah,I shall be there with the 'critical mass'.My friends Nadim and Saifuddin are coming.Anyone interested to join?

In my neighbourhood,I observed there are only two other senior morning cyclists,age ranging from 58 to 74.It is seldom that we could ride together,so I must join other bicycle groups to add more colours to my cycling;-)

NB: The photo shown was taken during the last LTdL at the junction of Jalan P Ramlee and Jalan Ampang.

LTdL-2008

Today,I am too tired to go to work because my weekend was full of 'work'-attending seminar the whole day on Saturday and shopping for my mother and watching LTdL on Sunday.So,today,I hereby declare myself a non-working day(un-official holiday)...may be to catch up with my reading.

To digress a bit,I can't help myself from entering Payless Bookshop at Ampang Point.It is selling old(about 5 to 8 years old) hardcover books -3 books for RM18!My new interest in Paris/France led me to buy The Last Time I Saw Paris by Elliot Paul(1942) and Coastliners by Joanne Harris(remember Chocolat?).

I was very tired but I dragged my legs to be at the junction of Jalan P Ramlee  and Jalan Ampang and arrived around 4pm.As like last year, there were more photographers than spectators lining the road.The event this year is not much different from last year but I love to see the actions and prefer to be there and not watching the TV.From my observations, this cycling event did not get much attention from the public.There were kilometres of empty space along the roads but most Malaysians were shopping in the KLCC or Pavilion nearby.

By the way, you can see some of my photos.

For details of the race result,click here.

Le Tour de Langkawi(LTdL)

I have been reading the sport report on LTdL for the last few days and I am looking forward to watch the final lap this Sunday(17th feb;2008) in KL.I am very happy for Anuar Manan,a Malaysian participant in LTdL who has won the second place yesterday in the 3rd lap yesterday.

During last year event,my son took this video of the race next to KLCC.This time around,I plan to take the photos and video of the event.
You are welcome to peek at the photos I took last year here.

Below is the news in Utusan Malaysia in Malay language:-

Anuar cipta kejutan LTdL -- Pelumba tempatan pertama menang perlumbaan sejak 13 tahun

Oleh HISYAMUDDIN AYUB

PELUMBA pasukan LeTua Anuar Manan mendapat tempat kedua dan menyarung jersi hijau dalam peringkat ketiga Le Tour Langkawi 2008 laluan dari Sitiawan ke penamat akhir di Banting Selangor, semalam. – Gambar MOHD. NAIM AZIZ.

BANTING – Pelumba benua tempatan, Anuar Manan berjaya mencipta kejutan dan sejarah lumba basikal negara apabila menjadi anak Malaysia pertama dinobatkan sebagai Raja Pecut serta menaiki podium sebagai pemenang kedua peringkat ke-3 perlumbaan berbasikal jelajah Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) semalam.

Peringkat ke-3 yang bermula dari Sitiawan, Perak ke Banting, Selangor itu merupakan perlumbaan paling jauh pada perlumbaan LTdL kali ini dengan jarak 209.4 kilometer.

Kemenangan Anuar yang mewakili LeTua menamatkan badi kemarau kejuaraan LTdL bagi pelumba tempatan selama 13 tahun, iaitu sejak penganjuran kejohanan itu bermula.

Selain kejayaan itu, Anuar turut diangkat sebagai naib juara keseluruhan peringkat ke-3 di belakang Jae Won Lee daripada Pasukan Berbasikal Seoul dengan catatan masa selama 4 jam, 37 minit dan 48 saat.

Anuar hanya ketinggalan 0.05 saat di belakang Won Lee dan berjaya mengalahkan 145 pelumba daripada 25 pasukan keseluruhan yang bertanding.

Pelumba Perancis, Matthieu Sprick yang mewakili pasukan Bouygues Telecom terus memegang jersi kuning yang dimenanginya sebelum ini sebagai juara keseluruhan.

Log Book

Do you have a log book for your car,motor-cycle ,a bike and a camera?I do except for motor-cycle because I don't have one.The first time I came across a log book for a vehicle when I joined JKR in 1976.What do I write in the log book? Well,I record the hardwares particulars,any additions and repairs done and also the  activities involved.

My latest log book is for my bike.To date,only two pages got written with my records of rides.Later on,on weekly review, I hope it will be my scorecard that will motivate me to write ride more kilometres for my own good.

Here is a short note of what I did this morning for my own record:

I planned to have a business lunch with my friends today, but suddenly I got to know that the government has approved a public holiday for Thaipusam today.So,I took the opportunity today to practise my cycling.You know,the new bike has its way of telling me to get out there for a ride;-)

A young mountain biker from Ampang recommend that I try the trail at Taman TAR.He said it is one-third flat,another one-third uphill and the rest downhill.The last part attracted me the most.So off I went this morning...

To arrive at Taman TAR,I had to cycle about 4km from my house and it took me almost 20 minutes.As I approached Taman TAR (along Jalan Kolam Air) next to Craven Cafe,I realised it is a long gradual climb to enter Taman TAR.When we are driving,we seldom realise(feel) the additional power needed to push our cars uphill.However, you will know when you are climbing when you are pedalling a bike!

What sacred me most is I may not have the energy left to cycle home after going through TAR trail.So,I chickened out and decided to come with my car next time.I need more practice for the stamina.Better safe than sorry..

Ride statistics:
Odom 9.83km
Max speed 25.8km
Move ave 12km/hr
Mov time 49 minutes.