If I have to sum up 2020 in one word, it’s unprecedented. It may be clear to most of us that the new normal is a constant state of uncertainty, a period of extraordinary changes. Businesses and schools closed, exams deferred, graduations canceled, WFH and pressure from home schooling the kids, weddings moved and vacations postponed. All of a sudden our life’s routines have dramatically changed. And It’s a massive challenge to get used to all the changes at once.
Domestics challenges aside, our cycling routine is affected too. The sudden surge of cycling enthusiasts has a created public concerns on road sharing and safety. Fines and compounds enforced. No cycling on highways, bells, brakes, helmet etc. All of a sudden cycling becomes a top trending topic with mixed reactions. I’m not going into the debate on who is to be blamed. It's time to adapt, be creative and think positively, which is a better choice than sinking into deep frustration and the “us versus them” mindset.
Last Tuesday I paid a visit to a friend's bike shop because I wanted him to check on my cranky BB90. It was at about 9.30ish in the evening and typically during this time, they'd be cleaning up and calling it a night. But to my surprise I saw a few people on rollers and trainer busting their lungs spinning those wheels like hamsters.
Apparently this friend of mine now does "night class" program for those who want to improve their cycling techniques and cores such as posture, spinning, cadence, endurance and aerobics.
Ever had that thought? Or someone asked you the question?
It doesn't matter if you’re new or a seasoned, cycling aficionado, at some point in time you’d come across these questions: “Should I get a carbon bike? What’s the price tag and which brand or make?”. For the deep-pockets, It’s a matter of preference, just point and pay. But for an average person, this could be the most expensive hobby ever. He or she is about to make a hole in his/her savings for the first genuine racing bike than most people pay in full for a motorcycle. In fact, it could be more expensive than a scooter, a two-wheeler without engine.
Cycling has always been my all time favourite pastime ever since I was a kid. I cycled everyday to school and everywhere with my buddies. We had our weekend rides too and usually accompanied with “mandi sungai”, river floating, shooting birds with slingshot (never hit one actually), playing rounders, football and all other outdoor. My friends and I are always outside enjoying the outdoor activities. Then I went to boarding school in Penang. I was into hockey, played for the school and appointed as assistant coach of my school’s hockey club. I picked up cycling again in college but just for a brief moment because I was into serious hockey team for competitions.
I’ve been into serious cycling for a few years now. Come to think of it, I’ve come a long way since the day I bought a second hand mountain bike from a friend of a friend. That was somewhere in 2008. I started joining Saipol and Farizal on cycling rides. Our usual route was Sugai Long. Then we changed to road bike. My first road bike was a second hand Scott, then a second hand Trek 5200 USPS edition, it's Trek Project One Road Bike from the Lance Armstrong heyday. Now I am riding a Trek Madone and an MTB which I use for training and leisure rides. My cycling posse got bigger and we expanded our routes covering more miles, going to places like Bagan Lalang, Genting Peres and Port Dickson. We truly enjoyed the companionship.
Trek 5200 USPS edition
But once in a while we especially me would go below the radar because of mixed reasons. The hiatus period varies and so far the longest for me is close to 9 months. Hiatus means you need to do recovery training to get back into shape. This is the critical make or break moment that will decide whether someone will comeback to regular rides or forever be in the ride-in-the-park mode. Recovery is hard and requires support from your peers or cycling buddies. Consistency is key. Find things, stories or role model that can boost morale, motivate and inspire. Set realistic targets, stick the program, evaluate progress periodically and adjust the difficulty level accordingly. It’s hard but not impossible.
Speaking about inspiration, a friend shared a YouTube video, Martyn Ashton - Back On Track. It’s truly inspirational. The excerpt from the video description is self-explanatory:
Following his injury in 2013, Martyn Ashton, trials legend, creator of Road Bike Party 2, and, above all family man and bike rider, began his inspirational journey to get back on track. Joined by his friends Danny MacAskill, Chris Akrigg and Blake Samson and filmed by long time collaborator Robin Kitchin, this is Martyn Back On Track.
He is a former British and World Champion mountain bike trials rider, stunt rider and team manager. He had been riding professional trials since 1993 and a mountain biking legend, the star of Road Bike Party YouTube sensation. Click the link-> Martyn Ashton Videos
Thank you Martyn, you inspire many people out there to never give up, work hard and enjoy life. You've certainly have answered this quote: Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mata-ne!
Cycling can be addictive. You could pretty much tell when casual weekend ride is no longer enough and this could probably be one of the signs of you're addicted. Then slowly you begin to intensify your frequency. When your buddies aren’t keeping up, that's where the solo ride urge kicks in. It will start with familiar, safe routes. Over time your confidence builds up and you'll start to venture on different cycling routes.
But then there is confident and overconfident. You’ve grown so comfortable that you’d ride solo without considering whether you riding choices are actually safe. There were a few incidents of crime involving cyclists on Silk Highway and LEKAS last couple of years. If you’re cycling alone on lonely route, or during quiet periods such as early morning or at night, you’re an easy target.
These crooks know you’d be bringing some cash, a phone and gadgets. They know the perceived value and there's demand for cool looking, branded carbon bikes. Some cyclists were knocked down from their bikes, hacked with machete or the likes. The point is, they don’t usually say “hello” before they attack and rob you. The threat of being robbed and hurt during solo ride is real and the “not going to happen to me” attitude will just increase the risk.
Alhamdulillah, soon Muslims across the world will be celebrating Aidilfitri (Eid Ul Fitri), marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. CA's and I, would like to seek forgiveness for any offense that might have be done unconsciously through this blog, or when replying to comments.
We wish all of you a meaningful celebration with friends, family and loved ones. For those who are travelling back to hometowns, please be careful and watch out your diet!
Salam Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir Batin.
We're coming to the last week of the holy month Ramadan and soon we'll be celebrating the Eid Mubarak. During the previous years we used to have night rides on Friday and/or Saturday nights to satiate the addiction to cycling. This year however we seemed to have chosen to hanged our bikes for a good 4 weeks. That is a one costly long break.
To start back cycling is going to be really tough. The reason being is that when you stop exercising, you are going to lose your muscle, regardless of the amount of hard work and long hours spent on the wheels beforehand. This a one of the common situations that any cycling addicts or enthusiasts pass through at some point in their lives.
While the reasons for long breaks varies and could be due to accidents, domestic problems or just taking a break (while trying to figure out new hobbies), I'm just going to share my thoughts about getting back on bikes after the Ramadan break.
One of the worst thing that could happened during any recovery program is you're hit by another injury while in process of getting back into shape. That happened to me when I participated in the office games, last Friday, during a tug of war match.
Luckily the injury wasn't bad but enough to make me limping off the field. I was lucky not to have gotten my knee "twisted" otherwise that would have been a game over, a solid 2 month on crutches. Hopefully I can start cycling on the roller on one of these days just to make sure the legs are fit for long distance ride.
Anyway, here's the Sunday Geli-geli Ride video redux or more like a re-compile version.
Abayo!
Which is one is for you MTB or road bike?
From time to time, I have friends, acquaintances and neighbours asking question on what to buy if they wanted to start cycling. Over the years I've developed a keen smell for small talks, serious talks or just trying to start a conversations kind of discussion about cycling. I'll always try to give the simplest answer to that question but there's no one answer that fits all circumstances.
There are different kind of circumstances that drove them to think that cycling is something that they believe might work for them. Some people wanted to just exercise or workout. Some wanted to loose some pounds, trimming down the spare tires or ABS wrapped around the waist. Some thought cycling looks cool especially with the team jerseys, cool shades, weird but funky helmets, clipped shoes and branded bikes. Some used to do cycling during their younger years and some who cannot run or swim if its to save their life. The worst kind would be the one that don't really know what they want but wanted to give it a try but with high hopes that it might suit them by clinging on somebody who would share their ideas.
Sunny Saturday Morning
It has been a while since the last blog entry with ride photos. To be honest I feel really awkward writing the blog without them. Maybe I'll snap something just to add some juice so that the entry is not too dry if you know what't I'm saying.
I've been on cycling hiatus mode again these few weeks and only started riding my bike again last Saturday. Its hard to keep up with domestic challenges but at the same time it got me worried as I realized my body started to feel very comfortable with the situation. Weekends without workout starting to feel really good.
Last Saturday I decided to ride my bike via what used to be our routine route, the dragon backs of Kajang Perdana via Saujana Impian. The traffic was rather busy but I really enjoyed the ride. The only setback was the road conditions after Kajang Prima heading towards Semenyih, dusty and loads of sands on the road edges. And yes, not to mention, loads of sand trucks too.
For me the toughest hill was the last point before the Sungai Long Exit near the Kajang Perdana clover leaf. I really enjoyed the climb at the spot that used to be one of the route's worst point. As I was descending via the Sungai Long exit, I saw Zaha and the rest waiting at our usual spot near the clover leaf. They were surprised to see me coming from the end of the road. After a brief break we continued out ride through the CA arena.
The 4 weeks hiatus period has taken its toll on me. I struggled to climb the hills. So it's back to rebuilding cadence and endurance again. It's a good start nonetheless.
Abayo.
Congratulations to Razi on his wedding last Sunday, May 8th 2011. Wishing you a wonderful journey as you build your new life together. It was a wonderful wedding ceremony. Even though the weather was super bright and hot but the event was blissful, rich with tradition.
I don't know If Razi or Zam was a fan of the Credit Agricole Pro Team or it was purely just coincidental, but the green and white wedding theme was just awesome. Luckily no "Geng Seluar Sendat" was spotted at the wedding. Hahaha It would have been a cracker if that actually happened.
There wasn't much to talk about last weekend cycling activities. Of course there was this "storm in a tea cup" commotion about my little adventure doing white water rafting at Kuala Kubu Bharu just recently. I've exaggerated the bit about going out doing all these "extreme" outdoor activities just to spice things up. But that's about it, just a mind game, a tease. I am still a "roadie" and we still haven't conquered PD!
Last Saturday we went cycling at the Sungai Long and on Sunday we're supposed to ride to Putrajaya. But due to domestic challenge, I had to settle for the CA Arena, the shorter route. At first I thought I was going to cycle solo on the SILK Highway until I bumped into Zack, Syamsul, Zam, Ah Meng and Azmi who were taking a break at the Bukit Kajang toll plaza. This came to me as a surprise but I guess they too had domestic problems just like me.
After cracking a few jokes and few good laughs, we continued riding through the Sungai Long route up until the the Bandar Sungai Long exit. Zack, Syamsul and Azmi took the exit to Sungai Sekamat while Ah Meng, Zam and I took the the usual route taking the Cheras Jaya exit and headed to the Joint.
There was another surprised at the Joint. We met with Romzi who apparently cycled here just to have breakfast. Later Saipol joined us for a drink. We had a good catch-up session. It wasn't that all bad.
My new hobby: lomo"nization"
Hmmm... It has been a roller coaster December for me. I've missed few weeks of ride thus far for a number of reasons. There's only so much that can be going right in one's personal life at one time.
As you might imagine, there's a lot to juggle, give attention to, and hope goes well from work, family and self indulgence stand point. Inevitable, not everything can be going well at once. On most year-ends, this is how it tends to go:
Personal: long school break - vacation, weddings, monsoon season, social visits, going back to hometowns etc
Work: Next year's business plan and budget preps, finance closure - clearing payments, claims, year end reports, more offsite meetings and the list goes on and on...
It looks like I'm going to have to switch back to YouTube from Vimeo. I noticed that the videos uploaded were not in HD even though their source files had been transcoded into high-end MP4 HD format. There's no doubt that, in my own personal opinion, Vimeo has faster video transcoding rate and slightly better video quality especially in HD.
I gotta wait...on Vimeo
As it turned out, all the limitations of being on a free account became apparent recently such as limited one HD video a week and the waiting line for video transcoding (I find this very "amusing"). I don't know what other limitations will soon appear if I keep using Vimeo's free account. But one thing for sure, ride videos will take longer time to be published and this is not going to work for my plans to share our ride experiences.
I'll need some time to figure out the right decision, drop either one or have a mix of both.
Anyway, I've digressed. Here are the videos:
Darn, this HD video making is tedious. It's nice to have but a bit complicated to produce.
Riding and video recoding at the same time is a challenging task. The technique however is still a "trade secret". The biggest problem has always been managing the level of vibration, in other word how to keep a steady shot. The camera setting has to be right before the ride.
Splitting the video has an impact on the page-view and time spent on page. I'd prefer to have all the content in one go but due to the video transcoding and time-consuming uploding process, the video posting will have to come in later.
Anyway here are the videos taken during the ride. You're going to have to click on the "read more" link to view the video list. For some strange reason the jump-break function does not allow embedded video to be viewed on the landing page.
After toiling since May 2010, CA's blog revamp project has finally been completed. It wasn't as easy as I had expected in the beginning. It was time consuming and up to a point daunting especially when facing complicated script errors. I was lucky enough to have kept a few backups as roll-back plans.
Next revamp will happen in a year time....err maybe two. Thank you for your support and patience.
Here you go guys, the videos in HD.
It took me while to get this done. It's a lot more complicated than a MotionJPEG video like we used to have. The whole process of encoding the videos into MP4 files and uploading them to YouTube is an effort by itself but its worth it.
The breathtaking view while coasting downhill shared in HD. I hope you guys enjoy watching them as much as I enjoy recording them.
Note: The video parts are a bit confusing. I'll fix this later.
Video #1: Coasting downhill from the Peak
Video #2: Coasting downhill from the last hill after Sungai Long's Toll
Video #3: Cycling through the SILK highway towards Sungai Ramal
Video #4: Cycling through the Cheras flyover heading towards Cheras Jaya
My dream bike, the TREK Madone 5.2
So what is the best road bike out there? Which brand? Full carbon-half carbon or alloy? Italian or American made (Well...most of the lines except for the really high-end are made in Taiwan or China anyway). Some even say the group set is the key differentiator.
Sourced from GoPro website: Handle bar mountable camera,
Gadget lust is something of a phenomenon nowadays as proven by Apple's Iphone 4 recent launch quite recently by our local telcos and soon the much anticipated Ipad. Hard to say which is what and why but is pretty much like buying the "lifestyle" instead of just the product. The were people who queued up at "ungodly" hours just to get their hands on this "magical" device.
It's amazing how strong the brand loyalty is. The widely discussed Iphone 4's "AntennaGate" issue has not deterred the "die-hard" fans from buying it. Even when they knew that Apple is coming out with the "white" Iphone 4 that is supposed to fix the current antena design defect. This scenario reminds me of a law called the Diffusion of Innovation. According to this law, we all sit at the different timescale such as the innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards (the last ones to adopt anything, in fact the reason why these sets of people buy dial-tone phones is because they couldn't find the rotary phones anymore). I guess it safe to say that those who bought the Iphone 4 are in the 1st and 2nd categories.
But I digressed.
Dear CAs, Friends and Followers,
Wishing all of you Salam Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir Batin. For those driving back to your hometowns, please remember to drive safe and have a pleasant journey.
We wish you a safe and enjoyable celebration. Just remember not to over-whack the lemang, ketupat and rendang and practice "eating safe" as well.
Here's a "classic" Raya song during the 80s. I don't know if it is just me but I find that majority of the new raya songs fail to lift the raya spirit and ambience. Retro rules!
