It was a sunny Sunday morning and the condition was perfect. One thing for sure, it would get hotter during mid day. The plan was to finish the ride by 11am.  The original route was SKVE, Putrajaya's Persiaran Selatan, Bukit Malang, PICC, Precinct 14, Uniten and  back to Sungai Ramal where we broke off.

Usually on a good day, plan will always change with detours and new routes. That makes Sunday ride always interesting, the unpredictability that is. Instead of the original ride plan, we added Taman Cabaran and PICC on the menu, in other words, lots of climbing.

We had a rather huge ride party today. It could have been 11 riders but unfortunately Zack had to do Sungai Long while Dr. Azlan made a cameo appearance at the LLM's Petronas station because he was on-call. After meeting us at the RV he went straight back, Kajang bound.

Sunday Putrajaya ride crews were Zaha,  Joe, Najib, Azmie, Romzi, Suhaimi, Sham, Zam and I. It's always fun to have big ride party. Personally it provides me a sense of security and confidence especially on busy roads.

I took loads of pictures and few videos during the ride. Normally the pictures are placed on the last part of the blog. Due to the large collection, I'm changing the order based on timeline.

Even though the ride was not as far or arduous as Mantin, it was a fulfilling tour.  Too bad we didn't climb the Istana Negara hill right smack in the middle of the big round about. May be next time we should include in Sungai Merab and Limau Manis. Not forgetting Wisma Putra's hill too. Now that would be something wouldn't it? A "Climb-Madness" ride day. Those thighs are gonna sore for a couple of days by the time we're done doing all the routes.

Based on my cycling computers, my ride distance was 54 Km. Total Training Time was 2h:45m:6s with total Kalorie burnt of 2289. Average heart rate was 139 and maximum heart rate was 173 bps. While the average speed is a little low, that was compensated with the additional climbs.

It was a good ride except for the time when we had to ride back to Kajang under the searing sun at 38°C based on Zaha's cycling computer. It was really hot and those SPF 30 was not going to do it with the heavy perspiration like a deluge, pouring down to your face.  That sounded really weird but that's how it was. Pure madness but we loved it.

At the Sungai Balak RV:

Zack and Joe were the earliest to arrive at the RV followed by me, Najib and Zam.  We hit the road as soon as Zam arrived as we didn't want to be late at the 2nd RV point.  Azmie caught up with the group just as we entered the SILK highway from the Sungai Balak RnR area.  We cycled casually at 28 Km/h on the SILK highway heading towards SKVE while Zack took the Sungai Ramal exit as he wanted to do Sungai Long route. Too bad, it would have been fun to have you with us.

Najib's new GF is hot

Team Specialized

RV at Petronas Near LLM.

We arrived earlier than expected at the Petronas station. Some of us took the opportunity to take their breakfast with sandwiches, bread and Redbull (No kidding). Dr. Azlan came a few minutes later for a quick stop to say hello, good morning before he cycled back to Kajang.

As soon as Zaha arrrived, we continued our ride via UNITEN where we regrouped with Sham, Romzi and ex-captain, Suhaimi.

Waiting for Zaha

100 dirham! Yang depan itu berbadan tegap dan mantap, boleh angkat kayu balak... Yang tengah, 80 Dirham, badan kecil sedikit tapi sangat kuat kerja. Yang hujung tu...

Cycling on The SKVE-Putrajaya

We continued cycling through KLIUC-UNITEN and rendezvous with Sham who was waiting for us near a bus stop along side the route.  I really like this route because of the shady trees along the road. The ambience was just awesome.







RV With Suhaimi and Romzi Near UNITEN

After we regrouped with Sham, Romzi and Suhaimi we continued cycling on the SKVE and took the 1st exit to Putrajaya's Persiaran Utara.  There was a nice short coasting downhill before we were greeted with the first hill. After the short climb we then took the Persiaran Timur route and continued on via the Persiaran Selatan.

With exception of the Bukit Wawasan, the route here was mostly flat. The Bukit Wawasan climb was "fun". Like any climb, the trick is to maintain your cadence at 80-90 rpm. Use light gear or any combination that you're comfortable with but try and maintain the rpm. You should be able to conquer any hills like a breeze...provided that you're fit of course...

Cruising on Persiaran Timur

Regrouping before we headed to Taman Cabaram on Persiaran Selatan near PICC exit

We begun to wonder if Suhaimi crossed the road?

Suhaimi testing Zam's bike

Najib's new Hot Rod

Taking a break

Siapa parking kat tempat OKU ni woi? Siapa kenal pemilik basikal tu?

Team TREK

Group photo at Taman Cabaran

Coming down from Taman Cabaran

The PICC climb and "Eh-Eh" Break


From the Taman Cabaran, we continued cycling towards PICC and climbed the hill until we reached the main entrance. Apparently there was a convocation going on and there were loads of people at the entrance. I guess that made some of the Pakciks and Makciks thinking why in the world would a bunch of men in tights wandering up there during their sons and daughters convocation day.

We quickly ride through the crowd and straight to the Helipad area and waited for the rest. Suddenly we heard a sound, "Eh-Eh" and "bada-bang"... somebody fell off the bike. I shall not mention the name here. But it was quite a scene and we had a good laugh too.

Immediately after that, like adrenalin rush just kicked in, our friend suddenly cycled like Lance Armstrong. It was like a burst of energy unleashed out of the "Eh-Eh" incident.

Climbing to PICC

Atas permintaan Azmi, gambar dia terjatuh telah dimasukkan dalam blog entry ni...

Pergghh... Nasib baik takde awek kat sini...

Gua Okay...

Langgar lampu merah!

On to Dataran Putra

From PICC we took on Precinct 4 and straight to Precinct 2 through the beautiful buildings such as the Palace of Justice and MoF. It's quite a spectacular view a long this road.

The road here is mostly flat. It's nice to do some shirt sprints. The only problem here are the number of traffic lights and T-junctions.

We continued cycling towards Dataran Putra and on to the big round-about and headed straight to the Diplomatic Precinct for a quick break. Unfortunately we had to spend more time there than we should and spoiled our timing.

Azmie, like a burst of fireball came from his back, climbed the hill.

The Palace of Justice

Some tourists checking out the buildings

Approaching two ladies on MTB...

Smile....

H.R.H Sultan of Selangor's Castle

The Red Masjid...

The dock

A cycling group passed by the bridge

The Dataran Putra, straight up is the PM's office.

The Red Masjid's main entrance

A tourist couple cycling on the Dataran Putra

RnR at Precinct 14 


Most of the Mamak restaurants were full house. We ended up "lepaking" at restaurant near the Mydin Store. Nothing much to say about the restaurant. It was lousy and slow. We had to wait for almost 30 minutes to get our foods.

We caught up with Farihan and Cikgu Sham at the restaurant. After a brief chit chat, we continued our ride back home via Jalan Ayer Hitam, on to the round-about near the temple. We then entered a small road near the UPM stable and made a quick stop before we entered the SKVE to regroup.

Apa lambat sangat ni?

Zaha memberi amaran keras kepada pelayan kedai, "Lain kali cari la ayam yang cepat bertelur!"

Eh-eh-eh... dia-diam ye Cikgu :)...Zaha tanya tips

Freaking hot....

Back on SKVE, Kajang bound. 

It was 38°C and it was freaking hot.  We were back on the SKVE, Kajang bound. We cycled through the highway and broke off with Zaha as he took the Semenyih bound SILK highway.  That another 20 Km for Zaha and a lot more miles for Joe.

While cycling on the Sungai Ramal, we were broken in to smaller groups. Najib, Zam and I were in front while Azmie, Romzi, Joe and Suhaimi on the the gorup at the back.  Under this weather, climbing the Taman Kenari hill was very tormenting.

It 's good to know everyone arrived home safely. It was a good ride. Thank you all for your participation.  Next week we'll do Mantin!

Abayo.

Riding our way back home

Ride Videos:


I must apologize because the videos taken were a bit haywire and shaky. It might cause giddiness or even dizziness. So watch at your own risks.


Part 2:


Part 3: