Friday express

The Friday express train from Taman Warisan to Cyberjaya and back started off it's journey at 10.50pm, delayed from 10.30 as scheduled due to late cargo from Saujana Utama Sg. Buloh. I planned to stay slow escorting Saiful whom still having the "mental kacau" syndrom ever since Brahim bought a Pina Galileo and charges off with speed and energy during our first Friday night ride last week...hehehe. The peloton was last in sight before we left Putrajaya towards Cyberjaya. Then there were only 4 of us left behind with Awe, Azahari, Saiful & me pushing our cadences towards the Elite toll plaza.

Upon reaching the flat 5km stretch, Azahari & me can't bare the anxiety within. The first struck of gear shifting from his Paris lured me to give a chase. For the next minutes, we were already leaving Saiful & Awe behind not to be seen. We rode off back towards Taman Warisan completing the 45km loop ending at 12.30am. Weather was great for a late workout. Crowd was nice but didn't had the chance to be with them though. Btw, the Arione was superb once I've done the final setting.

Another Tuesday came along

Yeah...another Tuesday came along and only a handful of us did the city ride that night. We rode the same route till TTDI's 7-E and enjoyed a Magnum ice cream each for about 30 minutes. The menu for the night hooked us to the lazy path back to Titiwangsa the way we came, not towards Bukit Damansara & Bangsar as before. Clocking 27km on the cyclo meter ended up at the mamak's beside the tyre shop of Jalan Pahang with another round of mamak's delicacies of roti telur and mee goreng mamak.

Express Rail Link vie Elite Highway

Heheheh...kali ni the night ride was meant for roadies. Since a few of us yang dah gian sangat nak try out their new bikes, we chose Putrajaya as the venue...empty & terang benderang.

It was a 45km loop started from Taman Warisan until the Elite highway toll plaza before looping back on to the duahtlon route. The lung busting stretch was the toll plaza stretch. Aku tak ingat berapa jauh stretch tu tapi that was where the ERL train started the speedwork. One single line and we were clocking 45km/hr yang sempat aku jeling my cyclometer. Giler...but was awesome. Tak pernah aku kayuh laju tu, minus yg turun bukit la sebab tu tak kayuh.

Was glad that boleh catch up with the train pace all the way back to Tmn Warisan. Was totally an awesome & good workout, especially kalau nak bagi flush dada yang serabut. Ride buddies pun cool although most of them aku baru kenal or tak kenal pun before this. 2 guys from way2ride who lead the way, 5 from Jamis's gang, Azahari brought a few jugak, the Brahim bawak Doc, then Alwin, Saiful, me & sorang dua lagi yg aku tak kenal.

Night ride kembali

Not just that I am thankful for the return of Ramadhan, I am also thankful that Ramadhan allows night ride sessions with buddies like previous years. Actually the objective was to at least prep a bit for the upcoming events after hari raya i.e. Lumut Powerman, PCC Prez Ride & Penang Jamboree. If last year the Prez & Jamboree were completed with satisfaction & enjoyment, this year is to improve the record...the least la.

Besides, night rides allows we cycling buddies to keep in touch and let the flow of bike talks goes on. Kalau tidak sebulan tak sembang pasal bikes, mau semangat pudar.

So, the first Ramadhan night ride was last Tuesday night. We started from our favorite spot, Lake Titiwangsa. 7 of us on mtbs. It was the usual route wounding up the muscles up Bukit Tunku towards Masjid Wilayah & Sri Hartamas.

We headed towards Kiara behind the golf course, pit stop at Tmn Tun's 7-Eleven before riding back to Pusat Sains Negara, Bukit Damansara & off to Bangsar. Then it was Jalan Bangsar to Dataran Merdeka to Jln Raja Laut, Jln Ipoh & back to Titiwangsa for a plate of mee goreng mamak kat sebelah kedai tayar. Wrapped up the ride at 2.00am. Clocked 35km.

Ramadhan kembali daaa...

Alhamdullilah aku dapat jumpa Ramadhan lagi sekali. Tahun ni aku plan to complete tarawih. Last year was not so encouraging. A good insentif was that surau sementara al-ansar depa dah usahakan, so ramai muka2 familiar dok tarawih sama2.

Cuaca tak berapa menentu. Kejap hujan, kejap panas. Working hours sampai kul 4.30 je, so very ample time to go back & chill depan tv layan tour of spain or tour de pologne. Dok layan Ch84 je dah 2-3 hari. Channel lain semua aku tak boleh absorb.

Semenyih loop

Although baru sekali jumpa Jami, I pushed myself to join his Sunday ride since no camdekians available. Alwin was supposed to go to bikezooka, Azahari still mourning from Perak's defeat (I guess) and Saiful attached to his personal chores. Since Ramadhan is around the corner, I'll take any chance as long boleh kayuh puas-puas.

Met up with Jami and his buddies along the Cheras-Kajang highway after the Sg. Long interchange. 4 of them. We headed towards Semenyih on the Grandsaga. Pace was leisure. We passed Semenyih busy town in a brisk before taking the turn into the sleepy road towards Tekala. I can still able to tag along with the pace.

When reaching Tekala picnic area (the place that I anticipate they will stop for refuel), the Sg Long train moved on towards the Peres junction attacking several hills along the way. Aiya...wa dah mula tertinggal keretapi again. What was supposed to be a climb that is cool, turned out to be the climb mcm bukit batu 14. Maybe aku dah mula pongeh sebab panjat those bukits without stopping refuelling, tak mcm biasa yg aku buat.

They were supposed to proceed to Peres but was aborted due to pongeh riders like doc & me...hehehe. The train again charged on towards Batu 18 where we finally stopped for refuel. After a glass of coke & teh ais, we paced ourselves towards Batu 9 before I saw their silhoutte at the Grandsaga highway again. Rasa tak puas hati sebab aku tak dapat catch up with the train throughout the loop. Ternyata kaki aku mula berangin upon passing the 50km mark which means tak cukup milage la tuh. I'm determined to improve that. Semenyih loop is awesome. 10.30am dah sampai rumah struggling, I mean real punya struggle, the last climb in the biting sun.

Cycle facts:
1. Distance : 76km
2. Average speed : 25km/hr
3. Max speed : 51km/hr
4. Ride time : 2hrs 57min
5. Buddies : Jami, Sani, Doc and Wak

14th mile to Tekala

Planned with Alwin to ride from Batu 14 Langat to Tekala at a leisurely pace considering Alwin ada bikezooka esok & aku pun malas nak tekan sangat. My arrival was welcomed with a few faces at the dewan carpark with "triathletes" endorsed on their forehead. Hehehe. Definitely the train will be charging fast this morning. They are attempting the Broga Loop. A few other might chill until Tekala only, just like us.

Just as the traffic light at the mosque turned green, yes, I was correct at the first place & was left behind at the last place. They were charging like hell broke lose. The sight of them, which included Alwin, faded away in minutes. Giler. Normally the stretch to Batu 18 allows for warm up. I suffered trying to catch up but my attempt was a waste.

Alwin was there waiting for me at Batu 18 but not the rest of the train. My pace was disrupted by my exhaustion. Reaching simpang Genting Peres or Tekala was impossible. Layan aje la Alwin dengan sesi mengenal pokok-pokok buah-buahan with the orchards along the road although I can hardly catch my breath.

A 5 minutes break at simpang Peres, I decided to proceed to Tekala, considering that the weather was the best ever this morning. Storm clouds above, mist above the hills of Peres. Normally it was already hot at this junction at this time.

The powergel I swallowed moments before regained my energy to push on. It was a "cool" decision. We cruise along the lake at that awesome weather reaching Tekala only to find Mac & Bernard pekena nasi lemak & coke. We joined for some chats.

Mac proposed to use Bukit Langat for our way back. Cool with me & also again considering the coolness of the weather allows a slow leisure 3km climb. The route back to Batu 14 was only 16km. We clocked 46km today. Then again, pekena mee jawa at Batu 14 before we wrapped up our day.

Inter-miles

Hehehe...when almost all the roadies in Klang Valley are riding the interstates right now, finishing their final route to Penang, Saiful & me did our inter-miles ride. The usual Ulu Langat route.

Punya lah lama tak layan roadride, maybe a month plus. Last ride was halfway to Tekala masa baru recover from demam. After that terus aje hectic kayuh mtb starting from Bikezooka, training for Kiara Carnival, the race itself, revisit Kiara lagi & the Pertak. Knowing mtb rides, it was more of a casual & happy rides rather then the serious ones like roadrides. So, forget about stretchings, supplementary food pre & post ride and of course the beauty of a piece of Malboro light under the cool canopy or at Devi's after roti canai.

So, the ride today was fine. Less traffic maybe sebab the usual weekend picnickers busy vacating outside KL. Weather was great. We didn't miss the morning fog overcasting the Peres from Batu 14. Halfway to Tekala, just about to reach the Bkt Setan junction, Saiful had to stop our pace sebab dia kata ada rasa nyut-nyut kat belakang betis...macam kena gigit monyet (happened to be we just ride passed them). Hahaha. Dah mula le tuh.

Carrying on to Tekala might not be a good idea since only the two of us. I was more worried about him riding back. So, we headed back to Batu 18 for roti canai. Today aku cuma take it lightly but maintaining the pleasure of riding sebab kalau boleh next weekend nak kayuh lagi which is the last weekend before Ramadhan. Alwin balik pulau, Azahari pulak orang kampung mai visit. It could've been a long weekend without the ride today. Janji kayuh. By 10.30 dah sampai semula kat carpark Bt14.