Shout Out to Spartacus!

Image sourced from: http://www.radioshackleopardtrek.com/

Fabian Cancellara aka Spartacus has won the one-day classic Tour of Flanders for the second time! He burst clear of the field on the Paterberg and soloing to victory ahead of Peter Sagan and Jurgen Roelandts.



Go team RadioShack Leopard Trek!

Outrageously Cool Stunts

You’ve heard and seen people do all sorts of stunts and tricks with BMX but what about road bike? Check these videos out. Trust me, they are nothing like the “Richard” video.

Video 1:

Video 2:

Hello Sungai Long!

Wow, the blog hasn’t been updated this long but that doesn’t mean the were no rides on weekends. It’s just since early of the year, things are pretty hectic, good hectic. Enough said, lets park this topic and get on with weekend cycling.

We’ve been on the Sungai Long route almost every weekends. Personally I think its a good cycling route. It has dragon backs that makes it a fun and ideal short route. Plus it’s not busy with cars and there’s plenty of cyclist as well. Hence it provides a sense of security or confident.

Where did everybody go?

Passing thru Bandar Baru Bangi

For those who are working KL, it's a 3 day break due to the 1st February Federal Territory Day holiday.  Some of the guys wouldn't be in town. I'd be surprised if we could get 4 or more ride crews this weekend. Well then it's an opportunity to ride, more, with my training bike.  

It was just SBJ and myself on the blistering hot Saturday morning. The Sungai Long route was pretty quiet and we could hardly see people on their bikes.  It was a fulfilling ride nonetheless except for one nagging thing, the irritating cracking sound coming out from the saddle. Like all nagging squeaking sounds that could have come from any parts of the bike, they always shy away when the mechanics checked them.    

Sunday Pajam Ride

Kg Gebok, Pajam

Last Sunday we rode to Pajam, Negri Sembilan via LEKAS highway. To be honest, I wasn't so keen on doing this route not because they were far but because the fine road condition! This would 100% guarantee me eating the dust if I brought my MTB instead of the Madone.

The weather was super fine given the current monsoon/rainy season. It rained in the wee hours Sunday but was bright and sunny the whole morning.

We had a good ride and I had had the opportunity to test the GoPro! I've been testing the camera on my MTB using the handle mount for a few days but the Pajam ride presented the opportunity to test the helmet mount on a long ride. 

Happy 2013!

Allez allez Richard!

Here we go again, another new year fast approaching. Personally 2012 had been very interesting and no doubts it's a challenging year for my cycling calendar.  But hey, that's the beauty about life. You gain some you lose some. After all we are all jugglers aren't we? Jobs, me time, family, community, friends, hobby… we juggle all the time don't we?

Hello 2013! I'm a looking forward for a more "fulfilling" cycling calendar this year, hopefully.  I'm looking to add some off-road actions since I have upgraded my MTB on top of the usual weekend road rides. Nothing fancy and serious like the PCC Presidential Ride, Burung Hantu Night Jamboree  or MTB bike hash. It would just be mini rides with decent track that would not require me to push instead of riding the bikes, at least for the start.

The Training Bike

It has been almost 2 months since I was in a saddle. If Alain is reading this, that 1 botched ride we had on one Saturday didn’t count. To start siding from a long sabbatical is one tough gig. So i decided that the best way to get back in to shape is by using a bicycle that will make my muscles work twice harder than road bike. Hopefully this will help speed the process up a bit if not a lot. And this bike is my newly refreshed MTB.

Why MTB? Well I discovered that when I used my MTB to ride with my buddies not long a go. The distance was 14 KM but the amount of calorie burnt was 2.5 times higher compared to when I was on my road bike. And not to mention I had better heart rate than the target zone too.

Specialized Turbo e-Bike

Image sourced from http://hispertextos.blogspot.com

A lot have been going on with road bikes. New models, disc brakes, electronic gear-shift system such as Shimano Di2 and Campy EPS, TREK's integrated brakes and the list goes on. These are wonderful things that almost every serious roadies would want to have on their rides.  IMHO affordability would be the single biggest deciding factor  if one is to apply the theory of Diffusion of Innovation here, until these new techs are de facto standards for bikes.

Out all these new techs and bike gadgets, one caught my attention, the Specialized Turbo e-bike.  According to the Wikipedia,  an e-bike or electric bike, is a bicycle with an electric motor used to power the vehicle. Electric bicycles use rechargeable batteries and can travel up to 15 to 20 mph (24 to 32 km/h), depending on the laws of the country in which they are sold. In some markets they are rapidly replacing traditional bikes and motorcycles

The Specialized Turbo is still a speedy little beast. The 250 W rear hub motor is powerful enough to give you top speed of up to 45 Km/h. Check out the specs here.

Check out the video to see it in action!

I wonder if this little beast can help me catch up with Richard? Hahahah...that's a thought!

Abayo.

I'm Back!

Howdy folks! I'm back...from the hiatus. I bet y'all  have heard it before one to many times...  Well looks like I'm going to have to initiate the recovery ride plan but it's going to be different this time around. The puasa, the raya...the open houses...oh my...it isn't going to be easy hence the radical change in the program.

Oh by the way, if you love cycling, the adrenalin rush...you have got to check out this movie.



Abayo!

Smoking Hot BMC TeamMachine SLR01

Alain and his new BMC

In rained in the wee hours of the morning on June 2nd 2012. Though it was a sunny morning, the road was still slightly wet. It's school break again, hence it's expected that most people would either be out of town or running with wedding invitations. Nonetheless, ride must go on.

I was running late because I was scrambling to find my camera which I don't usually bring along for Saturday ride.  Alain had already arrived at our RV point and I noticed something different about the way he was smiling.    At first I thought it was because I was 5 minutes late but then it became apparent to me it was something else. He got himself a brand spanking new BMC TeamMachine SLR01bike which he had been talking about for a couple of weeks.