I missed cycling last weekend. Saturday was a false alarm and on Sunday I got wasted.  I missed yesterday's ride due to a domestic problem and today, again it was a close call but managed to ride, yeah!

The Wasted Weekend
Last weekend was a complete mess. It was really cloudy and the ride was called off. A few minutes later, the morning suddenly turned  bright and sunny but it was too late to start cycling.  To make mater worst I went fishing that night and finished at around 3.30am, yes empty handed, the baits were intact. I got home at around 4am and the rest was history.

Man on a Mission...
After a no show yesterday, I was adamant that I'm not going to miss my Sunday ride. I was hoping that the gang would pick a short route like Sungai Long because my fitness sucks.  Missing few rides and my "get-back-that-damn-fitness" was all but so-so thus far were just not going to cut it for long range ride.

When Zaha texted me the ride plan, I was a bit glad but still uncomfortable. It was Pajam. I was glad becuase it was not Mantin. Uncomfortable because Mantin was just 5 Km away from Pajam. It was still a 50-50 plan because it might rain on Sunday and there might not be enough take-ups. I don't know who were the ride crews other than Zaha.

I had a busy evening on Friday filled with back to back adrenalin pumping activities, a speedball game and go kart race with colleague.  I went home exhausted, flat and even missed dinner. I had no idea that waking up on Saturday morning would require an effort. Nonetheless I got to make time for my morning ride.

Saturday route will almost always be the CA Arena. I started late again. Yes, I almost overslept but manage to bring myself out of the bed.  There was nobody there at the 1st RV point so I'd figure the train would have left the station. I continued cycling and true enough I saw two riders about one Km infront of me. At this point I couldn't possibly know who they were so I pressed on but couldn't quite catch them as they consistently rode through hilly roads from the Sungai Chua's cloverleaf all the way to Bukit Kajang.

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.

Zaha has been one resourceful ride organizer and since he’s out of range this week, the schedule was slightly a mess. Everybody was wondering what’s the ride plan. It’s even tougher especially during school breaks due to “domestic responsibilities”.

The guessing game is counter productive and I believe nobody likes to wait. So lets make it a rule that starting next week, all ride plan will be posted on the blog’s chat-box every Friday. We only save the text message for last minute changes.

This morning was my 2nd ride since the last hiatus. I felt better during the climbs even though my left thigh was strained. It was fun playing the attack game with Syamsul during the climbs. I’ve lost count how many warning beeps from the Sigma HRM every time the session reached the power zone.

There were only four of us at the 1st RV point, Najib, Zam Besar, Syamsul and me. Other than Zaha, the rest fell below the radar except for Saipol who seemed to retire from road cycling this year.

Its June now and we are halfway through the year in a blink of an eye, literally.  I have to admit that my cycling calendar isn't looking very good. To many "short stint hiatus" in between the days and the things happening around the office is not helping at all.  Advice? Well, I've heard it all. Striking balance and yada yada yada are easier said than done.  Balance finds its own way, the more natural it is, the more sustainable it will be for a period of time until your boss comes out with more new "bright ideas".

Sunny Saturday Morning

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.

Oh lalala.....

Dutch cyclist battling the crosswind

Last weekend wasn't the best of cycling days. First off my old stead started to get grumpy. There was knocking sound coming out from the headset and the left pedal was a little tight. I  had sent the bike for servicing but the pedal problem seemed to be there.  When the bicycle is not at its best condition the ride will turn sour. It turned out the pedal stopper was broken . I was lucky it didn't fall of the bike during the ride.

Secondly, we're missing some of the members. Little birds informed us the some had trouble allotting time to go cycling due to domestic issues, work related-you now the kind of work that is rotation based, some had to spend time with new toys (big boy toys) and there is one who put his road bike in frame and have it hanged on the wall.

Some of the routes are getting very routine if you know what I'm saying. Apart for the CA arena and the long standing PD ride, we might want to consider other routes. Lets' discuss this at "The Joint" this weekend.

I've been a little busy these couple of days with work loads. Anyway, I found this interesting video while searching YouTube for headwinds. Just when we thought that LEKAS headwinds was hell, check this video out and watch a bunch of Dutch cyclist battling the crosswinds.


Abayo!

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

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.

One word...Awesome! This was my second time doing white water rafting at Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor, a beautiful river forest with cool clear water. The white water rapids and invigorating river environment created a fabulous ambience.

SPECIAL NOTE: Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Check out 7 Simple Ways to Help: http://t.co/cxcYKCT

Taman Cabaran, Putrajaya

It’s school break again. The traffic is clear, no “gridlock” as early as 7 am in the morning. It’s going to be a ride in park for next 5 days. I am so going to savour the nice a cozy feeling driving through smooth traffic while enjoying the radio.

Well it has been two weeks since my last blog entry. The truth is I’ve had a couple of very intense weeks. Long winding meetings, trying to decipher gobbledygook business plans and a lot of fire fighting. It’s very tiring, both mentally and physically. Managing change communications is not easy especially when drastic organisational shakedown was involved.

Events with such magnitude created ripples on the timeline and new game changing variables that require change communications and this is not an easy gig to pull.