The Big Brother Ride

"Abang Besar" or "Big Brother": A term used to refer to a gang boss, a triad big brother

Why "Big Brother" ride? I want to keep it as a secret for a while. Only those who joined the ride this morning would know. Let's park it and focus on the ride. This Kajang-Cyberjaya-Putrajaya route is what the CA's call as the "The Big Cyberjaya-Putrajaya Loop". We haven't been riding on this route close to a couple of years now. 

The rendezvous point hasn't changed, it's at the PETRONAS Station SILK Highway located on the SKVE, near the Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia. From there we headed straight to Cyberjaya trough the SKVE. We then took the Putrajaya-Cyberjaya Expressway all the way to Persiaran Perdana in Putrajaya. From here we continued on through the Lebuh Persiaran Timur and all the way to Precinct 14 where we took a break at a Mamak restaurant. We then ride on the Jalan P14, took the exit to Jalan Ayer Itam and back on the SILK highway to Kajang.

The wether was nice and sunny early in the morning but it gradually became hotter at 9am, searing hot at 11am onwards. We had a good ride. I had a good training after 1 day recovery. The good balance between workout and rest has been achieved.

Below are the ride pics.

Mata-ne

Ride data

Training Recovery and Visit to Sam’s Bike Shop

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of the 2-in-1 concept, like shampoo  etc. Well this entry is no different, it’s a combo entry. My fingers need to rest. You'll understand what I mean as we go along. I’m going to start off with training recovery and then my visit to Sam’s bike shop.

 

The past few weeks have been very productive for my recovery program. I’ve managed to stick to the plan and I can see incremental improvements be it fitness level, cadence, average speed, power output and heart rate zones. Plus the wether has been amazing. It’s sunny and chilly during the weekends even though technically it’s the rainy season.

But these couple of weeks I’ve experienced a couple speed bumps. It’s easy to be demotivated when there’s an apparent lack of progress. It’s very important to stay focus and persevere during lagging moments. The fact is, more training doesn’t make you fitter. Getting fitter isn’t just about busting your legs by increasing your training intensity, it’s about recovering from the workouts too. Recovery or resting is important in order to avoid accumulating “tiredness” as this will impede fitness.

The TREK Bicycle Shop

Fanboy
noun fan·boy \ˈfan-ˌbȯi\

Definition of FANBOY:  a boy or man who is an extremely or overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something.

The last time I went to the TREK showroom was somewhere in April 2013. It's located at a perpetually busy shop lot area at Solaris Mont Kiara.  Finding a parking spot there was almost impossible.  I still remember how I had to make a few rounds before I found a spot and it was a couple of hundred feet away from the showroom. 

The shop was cramp with bikes from low-ends to high-ends, kiddies bikes, helmets, shoes, wheel sets, apparels, accessories, bike parts and a service area right at the back. I'd assume this would be the reason why they couldn't have the latest models on display back then.

Earlier this year they've relocated to a 3 floors showroom at Kota Damansara. Just recently I went and paid them a visit. I just had to check out the new Madone 9.  I reached the flagship store at around 4pm.  It's spacious on the inside and had it's own parking bays. 

Rather than writing a thousand words about the experience, check out the pictures I took while I stroll around the impressive setup. The Madone, Emonda, Domane, Speed Concept.... you name it, they've got it. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable.  They also have "The Spartacus" TREK Domane on display and it's not for sale.

A Breath of Fresh Air

 

The haze condition that shrouds the sky and dims the sun for the past few weeks is gone. The air is fresher the skies are back in its glorious blue and the sun no longer looks like a dim red ball. We're back on our weekend morning spins on the Sungai Long dragon's back. It's good to see more cyclists on the road, burning their legs climbing those hills on this route. 

I'm still in my recovery mode, phasing my workout to get fit again. So far the progress has been positive. Thanks to STRAVA, it's much easier pin point exactly where and what to fix. This app can track and measure every possible aspect of the rides such as speed, distance, cadence, heart rate, power output, elevation, calories burned. Regardless of the issues, one can't ignore the way STRAVA is changing the way people are engaging within cycling and how cycling logs are being shared. Looking forward to the ANT+ sensors integration. It's going to be awesome.