It rained on Sunday morning, at night and it drizzled in the wee hours on Monday. It was still a bit dark and breezy at 7.00am. I took a quick glance through the window and saw loads of nimbus clouds over the horizon. But slowly the dark clouds subsided. That's it, that's the sign I was waiting for. The ride was ON.

As 2011 comes to an end, it's high time to reflect things that matter to us be it personal achievements or the  (almost) forgotten previous new year resolutions. Do we have the guts to ask ourselves "What Have I Achieved This Year?" or do we just "Forget about it".  Yes, I'm referring to the illusive PD (Port Dickson) ride! It has been 3 freaking years and we still couldn't bring ourselves to do it. It's painfully disappointing and to make it worst, someone is laughing at us from across the sea in Toulouse, France.

We're back cycling after a few short breaks, here and there, sort of. It's December again thus the spasmodic blog entry, perfect "December Syndrome": weddings, weddings and more weddings, holidays and the rainy season.  

We got back cycling together as a group last Sunday and did the Sungai Long route. The crew were Suhaimi (with his new Pinarello), Romzi, Cikgu Syam, Zam Besar, Farizal and me. It was pretty much an easy ride through the cloudy Sunday morning.

Romzi, Suhaimi. Zam and myself started from the Sungai Balak Toll Plaza and we later rendezvous with Farizal and Cikgu Syam at the Sungai Ramal RnR area.

Who's game for PD ride next week?

I have to admit that I was a little worried about the reception of the Setul ride on LEKAS Highway.  One have to be crazy enough to spend his/her Sunday morning cycling 100Km against the unforgiving LEKAS's headwinds and under the searing hot Sun. Utter madness!

Imagine one day while you're on you bike climbing a hill alone and suddenly you were surrounded bike escorts and team car coming from behind telling you to crank up and calling you "Richard". And then the cheering crowds as if it was you're on Tour de' France.  You'll be treated as a stage winner, given a trophy and interviewed by TV crews.

There has been a lot of discussion about the PD ride these few days.Yes, the talk has been going on for a couple of years with no "yields" to date.  Frankly speaking, I think we already ran out of idea to add on to the "Great Book of Excuses". The sleepover, escort,  yada yada yada.

The Gaban Blitz Man

There were suggestion that we should do the ride during school break. Personally, I don't think its a good idea. Based on general observation, school break is our most dormant period ever. Anything that coincide with wedding invitations and vacation plans will render obsolete. Forget about doing the ride during this time of the year. If the PD ride is going to happen, its before school break.

We've started with few long distance ride to improve endurance. So far we've done Mantin and Putrajaya.  As we need to add intensity to the training, I'd like to suggest that we do Sungai Long's One and Half Loop on Saturday and Setul on Sunday.

Long distance cycling can be an amazing and rewarding experience. The physically and mentally challenging activity has attracted many seasoned cyclists and neophytes alike.  What would be  interesting to learn is what happens after the ride. Some might like it and want a repeat or worst,  he or she might decide not to ever ride a bicycle.  The latter actually happened to a friend, who just started cycling and joined a ride to Bukit Antu, Hulu Langat few years back. After the ride he swore not to ever touch a bicycle for good. There's no doubt its a tough gig hence the prep is utmost important.

So far we're on track with the Recovery Programme even though there are some tweaking and "creative" adjustment done during the tours.  We haven't done any rides so far to Bukit Antu or Genting Peres. Perhaps the gang could consider doing either one this month and the other on the next one. It's just something for you guys to think about.

It has been a while since we last ride with Cikgu Sham. We recently met him at a mamak restaurant at Precinct 14 when we did "The 38°C Putrajaya Ride" last Sunday. If there's anyone with the latest and rare bicycle gadgets,  it would be him. From odd looking portable bicycle stand to shoe cleat's cover, he'd have them first.

Cikgu Sham joined us on our Saturday ride. Zack, Dr. Azlan and me rendezvous with him at the Sungai Ramal's RnR area en route to Sungai Ramal's toll plaza.  We rode casually on the SILK highway all the way to the 2nd RV point at the Kajang Perdana's clover leaf.

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.

Jacky and Liu

It's 7.30am and there's nobody at the Sungai Balak RV. Yes, another solo ride through the SILK highway. It was a cloudy morning and slightly breezy.  Weather like this, most people would just pull their blankets and continue to lie on their beds.  For cycling addicts, this is a perfect weather to ride, especially when you live in a country that is generally hot and humid.

So many things happened in the last couple of weeks. Its interesting to see some new "hupgrades" in the family. It started with Azmi from his Cervello to TREK 2.1. Quite recently Zam Besar had had his Raleigh frame "hupgraded" to half carbon Specialized fame. Yesterday I saw a Giant with a brand new Spinergy Stealth Wheelsets at the a workshop. Little bird told me it's going to be another half-carbon Specialized too.

Okay, I had an upgrade too. I traded my TREK 5900 USPS for a brand new TREK Madone 5.2. I've been dreaming and saving for this bike for quite a while and now I am riding one.

Personally this is the best price point for performance level bike. You'll get Shimano Ultegra groupsets, good frame and a get crappy good Bontrager Race wheels. They are lower level sub one thousand MYR wheels but suprisingly, they still provide great performance. Some suggested that I change the Dura Ace C24 on the TREK 5900 to the new Madone. While it might be not such a bad idea, I'd prefer to ride the Madone as it is. I just want to savor the "smell of a new book".