Mission for Sri Gandos

Without any event commitments until year end, a few of us who are free to do anything have been planning to attempt the Kampung Sumpitan climb. What was so legend about this climb by local cyclists be it the pros or simply weekend warriors had us craving for the experience. They called it the 'Bukit Magnet'.

Right after our Hatyai cycling trip few months back, we have started planning for this. After so many adjustments to our calendar year, we pushed ahead with it though with less miles in the legs. Al-maklum the month of Syawal had us stalled from cycling. Alasan...

The usual suspects, the ones from Hatyai. Ordinary fathers & husbands on weekdays and the food-hunter-on-2-wheels on weekends.

We left KL on Friday evening after settling all routines. Escaping the city Friday traffic was something that we looked forward to. Nonetheless, we find the North-South Express-way was also busy up to Ipoh. How come eh?

We reached Selama, Perak somewhere after mid night and hit the sack hoping for a good rest from the drive and for the tasking day ahead.

Selama, a district in Perak still keep its heritage. The small town and kampung climate brought peaceful thoughts into me. The smell of traditional breakfast cuisine filled the air as we cruised through town on our bikes. The busy morning market by the road side definitely will do great in a shutter bug's lens.

We headed towards the first obstacle, so called Bukit PLKN. The three brothers altogether with increment gradient at each climb. Short but steep with the sun shine on our foreheads. Best of all, the sound of primates from nearby wilderness cheered our way up. Epic.

Killer Loop

The next civilization was Kampung Masjid. Such a peaceful place providing the beauty old kampung scene, quiet and serene. I wish one of this plot is mine. A quick pit stop for a quick taste of kuih Jawa and apam from the local stall tossed around before we left for the next bigger thing.

Just as we took the left turn, the gradient abruptly changed. As if like the board game Snake and Ladder awaits, only without the ladder. Maybe Snake and Bike. The combination of bends and inclines were spectacular. I don't why, but these crazy dudes simply seek for these kind of torment.

Even the pros and grand tours throw in mountain stages as part of the tour speciality menu. Hence, we are weird for talking nonsense about elevation and gradients in our everyday conversation.

The climb spread out for almost 13 km without recoveries. It was bad and ugly. But the shades from the forest canopies was cooling and beautiful. The ferns were gorgeous. I kept on being guided by the gradient readings from the cyclometer. An average of 7-8%. The steepest was 17% and we welcomed it with a roar and disbelieve. The most obvious thing about this climb is how heavy we felt attempting to churn and turn the crank. Abnormally heavy. Any paranormal or scientific explanation for it?

A celebration awaits at the peak. Just a few short post mortem for the completion of the task. The roll down towards Lenggong was a point of no return. Similar to the descending from Peres peak down to Titi. Likewise from Janda Baik to Bentong.

The descending was tricky at some part where steep and sharp bends held our breath for abrupt manoeuvrability. The way we descended through the gradient, we were also held up by the thought of climbing it on our way back.

As we reached the cross junction at Jalan Baling-Kuala Kangsar, Route 76, the open sky awaits. The sun shone bright while the road open up for the next 20 km rolling. That was where my old friend 'migraine' strike. I guess it was due to the super hot weather. The joy was kept aside, I only aimed for the next stop which was Restoran Tasik Raban.

Neglecting the pain, I dug in with the rest, indulging ourselves with the lucrative lunch menu of Tenggalan, Talapia and deep fried Keli. Fish dish is a must here. A revisit is another must.

Heavily discussed over lunch about our ride back, we decided to ditch the suffer party of having to climb back Sumpitan from Lenggong. Assuming it would be a disaster for most of us. We opted to circle around this so called Perak State backbone towards the south for a more flatter route. By calculation, that should take us another 100 km more, which will  sum up the total ride distance for this epic to 178 km. Migraine some more!

We had no choice and the majority have spoken. My head was too weak to digest deeper into the options, I just hooked on. The following 20 km towards Lubok Merbau junction was another killing field. Every time it started to incline upwards and when the legs started cranking, the blood started flooding the head and delivered excruciating pain. At times I almost shed tears holding it up. As we entered Lubok Merbau, that was where I threw in my towel, and decided to ditch my bike up on the support car and rest my head.

This small peloton took us through Padang Rengas - Changkat Jering - Taiping via Jalan Air Kuning - Kamunting and back to Selama. I was on and off the bike, but mostly off when the pain crept in again. The tour through these part of Perak was awesome. In fact, we also got chance to cycle along the famous and cooling Taiping Lake Garden. At that point, I felt like we were the urban fixies type pulak.

Enroute towards Selama, we stopped in the middle of nowhere (since I haven't been to this place before) for solat at Pondok Tanjung. Peaceful kampung enveloped us back again with lush greenery of palm oil alongside the new Keretapi Tanah Melayu double track.

Finally we managed to conclude our epic after almost 10 hours on the saddle (for most of us and exclude me) reaching back Kampung Guru, Selama at 6.30 p.m. feeling beaten up but the Sri Gandos awaits. All in all, it was this local delicacy that funded our motivation to attempt this epic ride.

Route A6 of the Bukit Sumpitan

Slowly my blog list runs out of interest when most of the blogs consist of running blogs. Honestly, I can't barely think of anything that relates to run...for the time being of course. Not that I have lost the passion, but sadly enough I have lost the time to even think about it. The best sneak chance that I have was when scrolling down the facebook status with an average speed of 4 meter/seconds. I only glance at event dates, long lost running friends who are still actively running and by the time I reach to the fee column, it broke my heart.

Not that I'm broke nor a cheapskate, but I am just being realistic and practical...and perhaps logic, in a way. Ever since I skipped the running habit, I find that spending a handful of a family dinner treat on a fee is ridiculous, especially when I only run for pleasure. Unless if I am on a mission, say training for a marathon or attempting to break my personal best. 

Of course I missed my running days. I miss my running legs. I miss the huffing and puffing jigging together with the melody of the earpiece playing Kelly Clarkson -  People Like Us. I even miss people around the neighbourhood who will honk or PIN! at the site of me. The worse of all, I miss my running friends. I can only see them on facebook, celebrating their glories every other weekend or their carboloading rituals to say the least.

In reality, I can only afford cycling. That is also after shoving aside other businesses and routines and being selfish for a bit. I only need a day and that would be a peaceful Sunday ride for a coffee fix and nasi lemak perhaps. Been doing that for the last 3 weeks and so far so good.

Not a single event was signed up so far except for a mountain bike jamboree or two. These doesn't require serious training approach, hence the Sunday ride is sufficient. A road trip was planned. Next weekend. The so called Sumpitan Ride with fellow Hatyai buddies. It should be an awesome trip and a great climb hopefully. Will be updating soon.

Btw, I did signed up the boys for a cycling race. Yes, a race. Really. Nominal fee only maaa...fun fun. Too bad dad didn't had the time to complete the bike setup, so Amir had to do with his 1 tonne BMX bike. The weight caused him the lost. Umar also. But we did had fun.

Ramadhan-Syawal Escape

Sebulan la kot genap update blog. Takde aktiviti selain 'interval training' kem Ramadhan yang mana aku rasa KPI kali ni tak sebagus tahun lepas. Setakat attempt untuk maintain aje, nak score ada liat sikit. Mungkin faktor usia...boleh?

Tahun ni juga aku langsung tak campur aduk kan Ramadhan dengan sebarang aktiviti riadah, walaupun pada awalnya aku bercadang begitu. Adalah lebih rasional nya aku concentrate aje kat Ramadhan tu sendiri rather than aku terkejor dan berlari dan kayuh macam 11 bulan yang lain dalam setahun. Walaupun beberapa event ada dalam list untuk di 'sign' kan tapi masih sempat untuk aku prepare selepas Ramadhan. Lagi pun, macam biasa, tiada target pun. Bukan pro athlete atau ada penaja yang menaruh harapan setinggi langit. In fact, 'interval' Ramadhan yang memang sepatutnya aku fikir secara serious dan balun macam lepas sebulan tu ada event marathon. Betul tak?

Hidup ini hanya sekali. Semoga ada rezki untuk berjumpa Ramadhan Sale lagi tahun depan.

Gambar takbir tak dak. Ni selepas takbir dah balun lemang siap-siap...
...bersama jiran tetangga dari perantauan :P

Menjelang Syawal, travel plan tahun ni di adjust sikit. Kami solat di 'kampung halaman' kami sendiri, no other than Surau Al-Ansar, BTHO itself. Sejak dari raya eve, aku dan Amir dah follow program takbir. Sambung lagi pagi. Sempat jugak test suara tarik macam Hattan. Hahaha.

Sejak pemergian arwah ayah 3 tahun lepas, aku make sure pagi raya bersama mak. Tapi tahun ni, aku mintak izin mak untuk adjah. So pagi raya tahun di in-laws pulak. Lepas soru & isi tangki baru kami bergerak ke Selatan.

Suasana raya di Johor memang tak pernah gagal dengan kemeriahan. Berlanjutan sampai raya ke-5. Memang ziarah tak habis-habis. Alhamdullillah suasana gembira di kalangan saudara mara dipelihara. Aku pulang ke KL dengan rasa puas hati. Masuk kerja raya ke-7 pun takde malas-malas, itu pun sebab 'tray-in' backlog sebelum raya kena kasi settle. Sampai la ke hari ni, aku masih mencungap dengan tugasan mencari rezki halal.

Ni Geng Orang Kampung Junior Chapter mai beraya kat Diket's Joints :]

Cungap atas saddle jangan lupa. Ahad lepas jugak sebelum pergi perang dengan kambing open house, aku tunggang balik basikal. Nasib baik jumpa di bawah timbunan habuk. Tapi kaki dan jantung sungguh payah nak synchronize. In fact dua-dua main lagu sendiri-sendiri dan yang menanggung seksanya ialah conductor, aku ler tu. Konon ada cubaan nak test threshold kat last 2KM sebelum exit Lenggeng/Mantin tapi ternyata sekali irama dan lagu hanya mampu bertahan sejauh 200m. Adeh...pedih.

Balik lagi seksa. Penghargaan untuk Ziff dan Junior di atas perkhidmatan 'bike towing' all the way back to BTHO. Memang supa-domestica la syarikat anak beranak ni.

Setelah sebulan tak beriadah, bukan aje rider yang 'pancit'... hik hik uhuk..

Setelah beberapa hari dan ketika aku bermuhasobah sambil termenung lepas ride tu, nampak gaya aku dah patut start tukar objektif aku beriadah. Kita nantikan timbal balas selanjutnya dalam episod yang akan datang...entah bila.

Setahun sekali layan hat yang ni...

Ramadhan mai lagi...syukur Alhamdullillah

Cukup lah berjimba. Dah wajib masuk kem training untuk akhirat pulak. Every year kena masuk kem ni. Kasi polish apa yang dah mula malap dari tahun lepas. Al-maklum la, iman macam Yo-yo. Aku ni bukan para alim ulama'. Semua benda macam tu. Kereta pun kena tukau minyak hitam. Nak masuk marathon kena training paling koman 18 weeks. Hat yang ni training sebulan je tapi untuk dunia yang kekal selamo-lamo nya. Takkan tak boleh ye tak? Sebulan jer.

Approaching Ramadhan aku hanya sedikit excited dan tiada any important plans for the execution. Ye la, maksud aku plan sampingan selain yang wajib tu ler. Aku cuma plan untuk go with the flow and maintain apa yang termampu. 

Solat sunat Tarawih yang pertama pada Ramadhan eve suddenly menyentuh perasaan. Hati jadi pink kejap. Terdetik nostalgia (nostalgik lagi orang tua ni...) bahawa Ramadhan yang lepas macam baru aje berlalu. Dan excitement kembali mengusik kalbu especially dengan kemeriahan 'kampung ku' ini. Dan dalam masa yang sama jugak aku terasa sedikit hiba mengenangkan kejap aje nanti Ramadhan akan berakhir. Huk...huk...

Kemeriahan di kampung kami memang best. Bukak posa di surau dengan family, solat Maghrib di surau dengan family, solat Isya' and Tarawih di surau dengan family dan boleh sambung balik projek tadarus al-Quran dengan kaum. Mintak maaf, PARAM tiada dalam agenda kami sejak tahun lepas lagi ye. 

Jadual yang padat di malam hari membuatkan aku tak sabar nak pulang ke rumah dari office tiap-tiap hari. Moga-moga Allah beri kami sekeluarga dan seluruh ummat Islam ketabahan dan kekuatan membelenggu nafsu dan full swing beramal di bulan mulia ni. Dan mendapat Rahmat dan barakah bulan hebat ni. Insyaa Allah.

Macam biasa, surau Al-Ansar maintain program posisi 4-30-4-2-1. Macam line up JDT. Hahaha. Memang padat beb. Tak sempat penat. Janji masa bukak posa jangan terkam macam pi perang. Jejak mid-night baru reda sikit. Tido awal or tido lewat, bulan posa ni sure mengantuk punya siang hari. Lotak je kepala kat kerusi pun dah boleh berdengkur. Asal jangan terkezut pi sepak meja sudah.

Ustadz kat tazkirah 30 minit tu bawak peringatan benda-benda sama jugak. Dr. Fadzilah Kamsah pun kata kanak-kanak kena remind 200 kali baru depa ingat. Orang tua mau 400 kali kot nak tembus otak dan hati yang dah berkerak tu. So elok la sangat kita chill dengar tazkirah tu kejap sambil lunjur-lunjur kaki. Mana lah tau, mudah-mudahan ROI (Return of Investment) menguntungkan.

Abih witir, kita layan moreh sat. Kalau kat hotel orang kata 'mingle around' la. Layan orang kampung kami ni syiok gak especially yang dah senior-senior tu. Asyik citer pasal basikal, pasal lari, pasal event je. Tukau citer pasal kampung halaman, ayam, itik, kobau sekali sekala kan ke best.

Agak-agak tekak dah basah sikit baru lah kita carry on dengan exercise mata dan mulut pulak. Dapat satu jam cukup la. Lebih kurang group LSD jugak, dalam 5-6 orang lepas ler 1 Juzu' setiap malam. Mudah-mudahan dapat kat kita Syafaat kitab Allah tu nanti, tak kira la kat dunia mahupun di akhirat. Insyaa Allah.

Orait. Setakat sini dulu buat masa ini. Aku doakan sahabat-sahabat se-Islam kuat dan tabah menjalani ibadah posa semoga dapat grab apa tawaran-tawaran yang Allah janjikan di bulan Mega Sale ni. Rugi kalau tak sign.

Burger Stadium

Free sikit weekend since tak berjimba menjalankan tugas chauffeur sepenuh masa. A few classes for the kids takde in Ramadhan. And the Sunday will be a great big hole without outdoor stuff. Will think of something later.

Sambung citer weekend selepas Hatyai pulak. Kena gak citer as a record and since it is one of those interesting stuff yang jarang aku buat. Balik kampung halaman menziarah bonda tercinta sebelum Ramadhan dan pi tengok Liga Perdana kat stadium. Tengok bola kat stadium paling rare & dah lama tak pekena.

Though I was a bit hesitant to accept my sister's invitation (she's a big fan of team Johor Darul Takzim ), I had to do it bukan sebab JDT tapi sebab I'm a big fan of my little soccer star. Amir nak sangat pi tengok football match kat stadium and get the live experience from the thousands.

It was the last match for JDT in The League and the opponent was another big team, the Red Giant. Selangor daaa. Apa lagi, bila giant dah bertemu giant, we hava giant crowd la. 

Beli la jugak jesi, so kena jadi model

The trip to the ticket stand that afternoon brought me back to 20 years ago in the 90s when the Southern Tigers was the favourite in both FA Cup and the League. My memory is a bit vague and I'm not a good football follower. I just go and watch and enjoy myself. My best guest is, I was still in my secondary school era when night visas was a bit flexible for a teh tarik session or a football match watch like this. 

OK. Cukup la nostalgic tuh. Dah tua-tua senang sangat nostalgik. OK, kerana Amir, ayah turutkan sebab Amir juga perlu rasa pengalaman macam mana ayah dulu jadi sakai stadium. Haha. 

Paling aku tak boleh imagine sebelum aku decide untuk pi, is the TWO hours waiting. Sister told me we had to leave for the stadium latest by 6.00 p.m. to get a good seating position. What?! And we need to do nothing for the next 2 hours 45 minutes until the match start? Adeh.

Sekitar stadium dah macam pasar Uptown, penuh dengan gerai souvenirs and food especially the all time favourite Burger Stadium with their motto 'sebelum game RM1.00, lepas game 5 kupang'. Tapi la ni dah naik ke RM2.

Kami agak kelewatan memasuki stadium. Stadium dah padat. Langsung takde ruang untuk kami. Cilok & menyelit punya usaha, dapat la jugak positioned ourselves sebelah scoreboard, at the top most row...standing with so little room to move. Even nak melonjak Yahoo! pun tak boleh.

20 tahun tak menjejak kaki di sini

Lucky la football fans ni always in hyper mode and creative, hence the 2 hours were spent with Mexican Waves and singing macam kat Wembley (old skool selalu refer Wembley je). Dinner burger and air kotak aje. Dah level survival la ni.

The match started and crowds were always with the usual cheers and complaints and suspense throughout the 1 hour 30 minutes. Penat. And I was standing almost the 4 hours campur waktu menunggu. Kalau ada waktu kecederaan, kompom aku pi mintak referee untuk keluar stadium. Lucky la Amir dapat seat, if not sure bonk ler aku nak dukung dia balik ke kereta.

Ada brader approach aku. "Bang, resit bang?"
oooo...ni rupanya guna resit tu

Game ended and I was eager to know whether Amir serik nak pi lagi or otherwise. As expected and the true blood of Diket will always seek and enjoy the adrenaline. "Lain kali ada game bola, Amir nak pergi lagi la". With hands on our shoulders we sang the JDT fan song.

Aku pun tak tau macam mana depa selamat seludup masuk flare daaa...

Epic North Ride 2013 - Hapjaiiii

Banyak jugak citer nak gebang tapi macam feel tarak. Especially bila part nak bagi flow jari jemari ini menaip word after word. Tambah lagi 2 weekend berturut-turut sebelum Ramadhan tu aku isi kan dengan berbagai perisian menariks yang acap kali aku buat. Tapi takpe, ini sekadar menyentuh sikit lebih kurang untuk tujuan rekod dan bacaan santai. Boleh ke?

Mapmyride route log

End of June yang lalu, aku telah menumpang geng peloton Northern Chapter untuk merentas sempadan negara. Kami kayuh masuk ke negara jiran, Thailand. Pengalaman pertama aku ke negara itu sekaligus pengalaman pertama kayuh di situ.

Kalau nak di kira, banyak la jugak tempat-tempat yang pertama kali jejak kaki dengan kayuhan. Contoh yang lain, beberapa tahun dulu Fraser's Hill buat pertama kali aku sampai & dengan basikal. Begitu jugak Swiss Garden Lumut ketika Interstate 2011. Kalau naik kereta belum tentu kot.

Semenjak kayuhan interstate anjuran PCC dah mula mengenakan yuran penyertaan yang kurang diterima dek akal, aku terpaksa meng-kuburkan hasrat untuk menjelajah dengan mereka. Kadar yuran setinggi itu boleh bawak satu famili ke local holiday spots & chill. Hilang akal ke apa depa tu?

Tapi kami ada jugak plan untuk buat bike tour of our own. Hanya setakat merancang. Execution nya sokmo tarikh menjadi isu utama. Bike tour ni boleh adjust kos perbelanjaannya mengikut kadar kemampuan.

Sehinggalah local kelab basikal Perlis ni anjurkan Epic North Ride 2013 dengan yuran hanya RM60 untuk penginapan di hotel selama 1 malam, selain goodies. Murah kan? Kos pergi Perlis & balik KL pun lebih mahal dari yuran! A few of us tidak melepaskan peluang apabila kami di offer untuk selitkan nama di bawah geng MKH (satu group cyclist termasyhur di Kulim). 

Epic North Ride 2013 ni sebenornya by invitation especially untuk local northern groups only. So, ada la beberapa group lain yang aku perasan base pada jersey depa.

Alwin, Azmar & aku gerak from KL Jumaat petang lepas kerja. Melepaskan trafik Jumaat untuk exit KL memakan masa macam boleh sampai Ayer Keroh kalau trafik smooth. Padahal kami cuma nak bergerak dari Kelana Jaya dan masuk highway PLUS. 

Berkat drive bergilir-gilir, kami sampai di homestay area Beseri, Perlis jam 1.30 pagi. Itu semua termasuk sesat barat di sekitar Perlis Indera Kayangan. Aku rasa kami pusing setiap simpang mesti ada tulis Kodiang. Hebat sangat ke Kodiang ni sampaikan setiap pelusuk jalan boleh pi sana? Trauma kejap beb dengaq nama Kokdiang...

Homestay. Neat.

Homestay kami ni chill ni memang sempoi. Rumah kampung berkembar. Satu touke yang mempunyai beberapa rumah homestay lagi di dalam kelompok yang sama. So, homestay dia aje dah nampak macam satu mini kampung. Yang bestnya, breakfast boleh dihantar ke rumah dengan bayaran tambahan hanya RM3. Best.

Sampai homestay, syarikat adik beradik Azahari dah lena tidoq. Kami ber-6 in total pun tidoq la dengan nyaman di dalam kedinginan suasana larut malam kampung. 

Esok pagi memang liat mau bangun. Suhu bilik tidoq kami memang perfect untuk dijadikan alasan tidak bangun. Tapi Hatyai menjadi misi utama kami. Kelam kabut sikit la pagi tu since kami telah dimaklumkan bahawa acara akan bermula tepat jam 7.30 mengikut janji Melayu Utara. Bahaya...

Lebih kurang dalam 5KM memandu, kami sampai di IKM Beseri sebagai event venue. Ada lah lebih kurang 150 orang kaki kayuh tegar yang dah bersiap sedia untuk terkam. Suasana daerah Beseri ni tersangat lah aman & nyaman, jauh sangat dari hiruk pikuk angin bandar. Sukar untuk aku lupakan feel dia.

At IKM Beseri, Perlis. Pinjam gambaq Kakikulenguhlagi

OK. Lets leave Perlis and let us stay on the road to the border please. Kayuhan ala santai dalam our small group of 6 menuju Wang Kelian, salah satu pintu sempadan seperti Padang Besar dan Bukit Kayu Hitam. Cuma Wang Kelian ni lebih kecil dan kurang sibuk dengan trafik. Kebanyakannya pejalan kaki dan motorsikal...dan basikal seperti kami. Tapi sebelum sampai Wang Kelian, kami diberi bonus dengan bukit Wang Kelian dulu. Jarak 3.3KM dengan average gradient 12%. Sebutir-sebutir peluh jantan membasahi badan tatkala dingin pagi masih terasa.

Proses imigresen Alhamdullillah berjalan lancar kecuali kereta Subaru Forester Azahari yang mengambil sedikit masa untuk lepas sebab dalam rekod Siam, kereta buatan dan model tersebut takde. Hahaha! So, depa terpaksa la download dari jaringan & dengan kelajuan internet di tempat terpencil macam ni, aku tidak surprise kami boleh habih sepinggan mee hun sup sempadan.

Paspot! Paspot!

Aku dapat rasakan barang jualan di bazar sekitar sempadan memang murah jika dibanding dengan tempat lain, walaupun di Hatyai sendiri. Memang ramai lah. Orang Malaysia & orang Thailand dah susah aku nak bezakan. Depa keluar masuk sempadan jalan kaki macam biasa je. Aku ada dengar during weekend memang depa boleh cross each other's side tanpa dokumen perjalanan. Agaknya la kot.

Wang Kelian belah Thailand. Will come again

Sebaik selepas minum pagi, kami memulakan kayuhan di bumi Maharaja Siam. Zaman sekolah aku hanya faham cerita pasal Raja Siam aje. Masa zaman berlari aku dengar banyak cerita pasal major events seperti Hatyai dan Bangkok Marathons. Malah ada jugak Phuket Ironman. Lepas tu dengar pulak citer seram pasal perang saudara di daerah Pattani.

Weekend kali ni, aku cuma tau kami akan beramai-ramai kayuh sejauh 130KM dari Wang Kelian ke Hatyai melalui jalan entah mana aku langsung takde idea. Janji kami ikut aje signboard. 

Buat permulaan, kami kayuh di jalan ala kampung yang agak cantek dan lebar dan kurang trafik lebih kurang 22KM. Lepas tu kami dah kayuh di jalan utama. Kira macam federal trunk road menghubungkan antara Daerah Satun dan Hatyai sehinggalah beberapa rangkaian jalan ke daerah-daerah lain. Jalan mirip Jalan Kuala Selangor ke Sungai Besar tapi lebih kemas dan keadaan baik. Pemandangan sepanjang jalan masih lagi disajikan dengan suasana rumah kampung dan pekan-pekan kecil yang terdiri daripada beberapa baris kedai di kiri dan kanan jalan. 

Our feveret store

Antara tempat termasyhur yang kerap kali kami stop untuk refuel ialah rangkaian pasar mini Tesco Lotus Express. Adik beradik 7-Eleven gak nih tapi pilihan barang aneka jenis yang lebih banyak. Paling kami gemar ialah air mineral produk Nestle dengan harga hanya 5 kupang!!! Haaa...kat Malaysia, air minum sumber paip SYABAS pun dah RM1.00. Sedap pulak tu rasa air mineral ni. Pelik pulak kami kenapa Nestle tak jual air mineral ni di Malaysia.

Kenderaan di jalan Siam ni lebih banyak berbentuk pick-up seperti Toyota Hilux, Isuzu Dimax, Ford Ranger dan macaam-macam lagi. Dah paling sempoinya ialah, most of them dah modified. Yang rendah, tinggi, lebor, terkangkang...semuo ado! Cantek-cantek pulak tu. Bas perantaraan bandar pun tu dia punya tinggi dan meriah decoration luar. Tak sempat aku nak capture deco Dragon Ball untuk tunjuk kat my kids.

Panas dan kering by Kakikulenguhlagi

Approaching Hatyai, trafik dah mula sibuk dan beransur sesak. Kami tiada panduan untuk ke arah hotel yang di booking penganjur. Tambahan lagi lokasi para peserta yang dah berterabur sepanjang jalan membuatkan kami tiada tempat rujukan untuk bertanya. Beberapa stoppings di kedai dan tanya orang tempatan tepi jalan untuk lokasi dah akhirnya berjaya melalui perbincangan dengan touke 7E berpandukan peta. Nasib baik ada peta.

Hotel Ambassador yang terletak di tengah bandar Hatyai memang mengingatkan aku dengan suasana Geylang di Singapore. Deretan kedai-kedai yang padat di dalam network jalan yang sangat serabut. Tambah lagi dengan kehadiran penunggang motorsikal tanpa helmet yang menderu tanpa henti. Tapi street depa kat sini aku sangat kagum dengan rate kebersihan. Boleh kira la sampah tepi jalan, almost setiap masa bersih. Cuba korang pi Chow Kit, nak termuntah ler kalau berdiri tepi jalan dalam seminit. Bukit Bintang or KLCC lain ler citer. Itu tempat exclusive. Tapi Hatyai ni tak exclusive pun, tapi bersih. Tabik. Itu pandangan aku je.

Selesai check in, freshen up dan rest sekejap, kami terpaksa akur dengan program free & easy yang di cadangkan oleh beberapa self appointed tourist guide. Adegan tawar menawar dengan pengusaha tut-tut berjaya membawa kami seramai 16 orang (dalam 2 buah tut-tut) ke Hatyai Floating Market. Sempat lah kami menjamah beberapa jenis makanan dan masakan dari mereka. Sodap.

Ini bukan Red Light District ye. Ini dalam chopper nak pi
Operasi Vietkong Tour of Duty cari pulut mangga :]

Malam menjelang tiba dan kami dikenalkan kepada restoran tom yam berdekatan hotel. Orang Kelate pulok touke nya. Terkam sampai pitam segala apa yang depa bawak ke meja. Kalori yang dah guna hampir seharian atas basikal perlu di top up. 

Since dah sampai sini, pergi lah jugak jenguk Night Market yang disebut-sebut tu. Memang padat, dan mostly dengan Malaysians. Depa kata over the weekend, Hatyai memang penuh dengan Malaysians. Mau jalan pun susah. Sesak banget. Nasib baik terjumpa port pulut mangga yang sangat enak di layan di tepi jalan tu. Balik jalan kaki ke hotel senyum je. Sambil layan Stage 1 Tour de France ulasan bahasa Siam, aku dah terlolap.

Pulut mangga secured. Setup perimeter. Lai lai lai

Ahad, kami kayuh gerak balik Malaysia. Start kayuh lewat sikit since dijangka jarak kayuhan tak sejauh semalam. Kami masuk Malaysia melalui Padang Besar. By 1.00 p.m. dah menjejakkan kami di bumi Malaysia semula dan tanpa segan silu kami terkam kat first gerai kami nampak lepas border. Maka bermula lah serangan saka makan kembali dengan hidangan mee hun sup, rojak buah dan bagi melepaskan rindu, kami order lagi pulut mangga.

Mini train back to Beseri, Perlis

Maka, kayuhan balik ke IKM Beseri penuh dengan kelembutan dan lemah gemalai since jarak hanya lebih kurang 20KM aje lagi.

Selesai lah sudah kayuhan Inter-country dengan perbelanjaan kos rendah dalam masa 2 hari tanpa perlu aku menggadaikan ayam itik lembu kerbau dan pokok manggis di kampung.

Kalau nak sambung baca citer hikayat saka makan, boleh teruskan...

Plan kami untuk bermalam pulak di Selama, kampung Azahari dan adik beradik. Highway dari utara dah mula sesak menjelang peak hour orang balik kerja campur rider balik dari Hatyai (macam ramai rider...hehe). Next target kami ialah nasi ketam di Juru. Memang jurupandu kami cekap mengambil setiap selekoh tepat ke destinasi dan tepat tatkala perut dah mula berkumandang masuk waktu makan. Ketam cili, udang dan ikan bawal goreng cecah sambal kicap. Apa lagi mau citer? Bedal aje...

Ketam kecut. Aku attack udang & ikan bawal

Overnight di Selama juga aman macam di Beseri. Maklum lah, suasana kesibukan kota metropolitan langsung tak menunjukkan bayang. Paling dekat pun Kulim...kot. Terus aje kepala ni berat tatkala suhu persekitaran sesuai untuk aku melabuhkan kepala di bantal.

Orang Selama panggil 'market'. Amboi. Cakap omputih

Esok pagi lepas sarapan dan lawatan mencari durian di market Selama, kami terus bergerak pulang ke KL. Tapi sebelum tu sempat lagi pi recce jalan untuk next ride plan iaitu Sri Gandos Century Ride. Stay tune untuk kayuhan sakan makan bulan September nanti. Insyaa Allah.

Selamat berpuasa :]

Hi! Haze...

Hi Haze! When can I say 'bye! bye! Haze?!'.

I think this is the worse coverage, and yes, the most dense ever. I think the last one, many years ago was something like this. I remember riding to work with a face mask. Then, the el nino thing also came together creating the best heat wave strike. But, we've been through these year after year. Then SYABAS also wanted to join in the party, throwing in water shortage package over Klang Valley.

I was in my college life. Thinks were a bit more simple, when I only have to manage...my own self. The  only scariest thing was to manage bowel movement, which created a climate of panic and trauma in the nerve system. We would normally skipped our morning shower and save the water for the evening, after our soccer session. Yes, despite the limited visual, we still graze the football field. And our special shower was from the fire hydrant. Lovely. Life was simple.

This week, things are a bit more complicated. Only two weeks ago we were enjoying the tropical thunderstorm, providing post storm cooling layer over the night. Despite complaints from traffic chaos due to flash floods and such, we the motorcyclists just pull up our rain jackets and let the raindrops pecked our exposed skin.

It is a yearly event when they, the people who's responsible for these phenomena, happily burn their farms as it is the cheapest way to do so to clear for new crops. I came across these from here. However, things went gigantic when bigger farms adopted the same method. These plantations are giants themselves in South East Asia, however the mentality are puny. 600 hectares of flames. That is almost an equivalent size of 600 football fields! Scary.

NASA satellite image (canggih boh...)

Adding salt to the wound, we have wind blowing from north-eastward from across the Indian Ocean developing an envelope of smog over south Peninsular. Things got worse when there's no rain, read hot season. Lucky water didn't run short.

Hopefully the trailing will last soon

We stayed indoor most of the time. It can be suffocating at times, but outside is even worse. A short trip to the sundry have already made me feeling a bit nausea and headache. That shows how serious it is, or I'm too old for all kind of these :]

And this stubborn old goat, still went out cycling on Sunday. Having the strategy to cycle up Genting Sempah, thinking those thick foliage should provide a good buffer from the haze. However, we lost. Haze was still treacherous especially reaching noon time, when the blowing wind brought thick particles into our respiratory system. Too scary to imagine. I gushed 2 bottles straight away upon reaching Gombak again, hoping that it would flush away those scary things.

Fixed

A week of super fast pace went by when work loads piled up like there's no tomorrow. These are the backlogs from the previous week after KCR and I sometime felt confused whether I am still recovering from KCR or the work load itself.

Fixed. Love is in the air

When time passed by like a jet stream and the weekend is not going to be a colourful one, sometimes we just have to be thankful that we don't have the worse from it. OK, this is me babbling at 10.00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Literally it isn't me, when I am supposed to be out there breathing the morning air while perhaps getting a caffeine fixed with friends, somewhere in the state line between Selangor and Pahang. Or maybe, thumping the pavement while listening to the synced heart beat and the melody from the ear-pod.  

But that didn't materialised. The best that I can boast is a 5K run in  between my chauffeuring shift. Like I said, perhaps that was the best 5K for a justified good life.

After sending over the heroes for their weekly tae kwan do class, I squeezed in a run at our local Lake District. Due to my careless mind after KCR and of course old age, I misplaced my heart rate sensor. The only thing I found was the chest strap, hung over the kitchen window for a week. 

So I left the strap and grab the shoes, plunged into the driver's seat and drove to school. Wait! The MP3 is more important since I've downloaded a few new tunes for the run. Arrived at the lake slightly late (time based on supposed normal running time start). Can't help it, anyway it will just be a short one. Put on the right shoe and ... voila! The sensor is inside. So, the run will be based on a more conventional method of air-gasping rate instead. 

First lap of 1.7 km was basically conforming with generally accepted standards of respectable or moral behaviour. Mostly enjoying the fresh smell of lavender from the runners, which mostly ladies...ni bau bedak la tuan direktor :]

Second lap was slightly insane. Slightly. Basically conforming to the beat of the playlist, maintaining steady form while the heart began beating like a drum.

Third lap was the climax when Pearl Jam was on the track. Unfortunately it lasted 80% of the loop when gasp became GRASP!

That was about it for the weekend, before the next shift move in. Time for a coffee break in between shifts a bit later. Nothing beats a nice chillax treat.

Hold on a sec. Is this supposed to be a Father's Day kind of treat?

Lanun - Prolog

Last weekend kami jadi hantu runner. Hantu runner yang dah lama meninggalkan pekerjaan berlari. Asyik jadi hantu basikal je.

Sebaik aje aku turunkan basikal dari kereta setelah pulang dari Kuantan 2 minggu yang lepas, macam gitu lah lagi keadaannya di tepi tangga rumah. Terbalik, dan tayar di sisi. Nasib baik dah siap-siap basuh kat homestay. If not, mau bersemut saddle and bartape macam basikal Det. Tu citer dulu-dulu :P

Menjelang hujung minggu, rasa keinginan nak berkayuh tu tak mai langsung. Maybe aku dah muak dan jelak. Maybe badan aku memberi signal untuk merehatkan kaki kayuh & punggung ku yang dah hampir leper. Until dah sampai hari Jumaat yang kononnya selalu kami laungkan TGIF!, masih belum ada apa-apa plan. Actually dari tanda-tanda biologi, aku masih terasa penat agaknya.

Masa weekend aku diselamatkan dengan adanya kaum yang sedang training untuk Standard Chartered KL Marathon. Cantek sangat. 

Geng Orang Kampung pakat-pakat lambung untuk lari berkumpulan sekitar kampung halaman dengan jarak siuman. Dengan window masa yang aku ada hanya sejam, aku petik untuk lari 5KM je, so sempat balik hantar anak pi sekolah. Ramai jugak yang menimang lambungan aku. Eventually, berlonggok lah kami berlari-lari macam zaman dulu-dulu seramai 5 orang. 

Antara ungkapan dalam hati seorang customer nasi lemak tepi jalan sebaik terlihat kami, "Eh?! Dah lama aku tak nampak geng Kenya Sawo Matang ni. Ada lagi rupanya."

Pace sesedap rasa membuatkan kami langsung takde rasa penyesalan, walaupun dah berabad rasanya tak berlari. Itu tanda-tanda dah mula dapat feel agaknya.

Menjelangnya Ahad, aku masih samar-samar dengan plan apa aku nak buat. Plan untuk kayuh pun masih open dan tiada satu pun yang aku confirm-kan. Di awal subuh yang hening tu jugak lah aku terima lambungan Det untuk melanun di Mizuno Wave Run. Maka jadi lah ia Pirate Chasing Wave Run.

La ni MWR dah jadi 16km. Fee seperti dahulu lagi, sejak aku last join secara halal, masih tetap mahal. Tapi dulu cuma 11km di UPM. La ni di Putrajaya, maybe depa nak justify distance & fee. Iyo lah. Aku sekadar nak ambik feel lari semula, so kemeriahan event macam ni cukup untuk kembalikan mood. Kalau lari kat kampung, kompom 1000 satu macam alasan nak mengelat.

Disebabkan dah lama tak berkejaran di hening pagi untuk ke race venue, maka pergerakan bowel aku juga mengalami masalah timing. Dah sampai PoJ baru dia nak 'panggil'. Maka dengan gimmick muka tenang aku merayau dari satu blok ke satu blok bangunan kerajaan mencari. Queue yang paling pendek aku pilih, so tak lah jenuh berdiri dalam ruang tertutup Alam Flora tu.

Tinggal lagi 4 orang depan aku, horn pun berbunyi tanda peserta 16km dah dilepaskan. Dua orang depan aku dah tunjuk muka cemas lantas depa teruih ciao. Maybe depa mau target podium. Yang lagi 2 terpaksa buat muka kelat sabar menanti, tak sanggup menghadap bala yang akan menimpa sekiranya hajat tak ditunaikan.

Eh?! Apa ni citer benda-benda gross?

OK. OK. Ada lah lebih kurang 5 minit baru aku terpinga-pinga sampai di start line. Anggapan aku, Det dan Zahrol dah ciao. Takpe, memang aku pesan kat depa tak yah tunggu. Rupa-rupanya depa tunggu jugak. Konon tanpa depa, aku nak mengelat & lari sama-sama kategori 7km udah ler.

Depa ajak belasah aje follow 16km dengan saki baki peserta yang baru nak start jugak. So kami pun cangkuk la ekor-ekor peloton yang ada.

Yang syioknya start dari belakang ni ialah kami dapat overtake runners sedikit demi sedikit. Lebih kurang macam motivasi la jugak, konon lajuuuu.

Di sudut hati aku masih berkira-kira nak khatam kan larian sampai 10km aje, lepas tu chicken loop kat mana-mana yang boleh. Pusing punya pusing, bila sampai di PICC, dah cecah 6km. Adeh. Kena lambung manja sikit dengan kaum untuk follow aje route depa sampai lokasi yang sesuai untuk memendekkan larian.

Water station semua kami skip, al-maklum la lanun. Alhamdullillah tekak boleh bertahan, maybe sebab cuaca yang agak sejuk pagi tu.

Kami decide untuk skip loop Pullman Hotel dan satu loop lagi di Masjid Besi, so kami safe 5km. Hasil distance covered cukup setakat 11km untuk larian amik mood. Kena banyak bersabar.

Yang paling girang, kul 10.00 a.m. dah sampai rumah!

Tapi 2 hari kaki sengal. Tanda-tanda untuk teruskan menimba sengal-sengal yang akan datang.

East Cost 100 Miles - Beyond The Peloton

And yet suddenly I have no words to share from the recent event. Not a even a single. Lost most of it. Was it non-dramatic over in Kuantan? It was, definitely, but it did go as planned, Alhamdullillah, without any surprises.

Yes, I gained a few more valuable experience. Bits and pieces put together after the ride. Will share the story as we go down the paragraphs.

Alhamdullillah everything went well. The mission was simple. To cross the finish line within 6 hours without pain and suffer and regrets. The target was set based on the training yardstick. If we could've spent a bit more on strength input, we might target for a better time. Hence, we just stayed rational and logic, avoiding any 'Benson & Hedges Golden Dreams' of being in the first peloton till the end.

The great stuff from the weekend was the outing with buddies itself. The story beyond the peloton. The camaraderie. It has been a while since a road trip, I think the last one was from last year's KCR160 in March.

We left KL early that Saturday morning, an attempt to beat the jam. We failed since the Saturday's public holiday attracted even more traffic leaving the city, creating massive queue at Gombak Toll Plaza. We ditched the highway and enroute ourselves to the old Gombak Road, our weekend cycling route. Driving through it ain't exciting though, compared to climbing it on 2 wheels.

Eventually reached Kuantan after skipping almost every overcrowded rest area. Even queuing for the toilet made it looked like getting a football ticket. We checked in at our beautiful homestay at Indera Mahkota for  a quick clean-up. The 4 rooms semi-D was gorgeous. Perfect for 17 of us and 17 bikes. Did you said SEVENTEEN??! First come first served, baby! Almost felt like a bangla-kongsi with air-conditioned bedrooms.

The luxurious kongsi

Then it was the bib collection a.k.a. meeting up with other fellow cyclists with some chit chats thrown in before we indulged for the biggest behind the scene drama.

Half of us

Ana Ikan Bakar Petai is one of the favourite local joint for seafood in Kuantan. An early dinner, as early 5.30 in the evening was our plan. Simply to avoid the expected crowd. True enough, we made the best decision. Should we came in half an hour late, we'll be standing and waiting for empty tables while wiping our growling tummies :]

The war started right away. With 10 cyclists ready to carboload, the menu was humongous. We appeared to be eating equivalent to 20 person. And there's not even an inch of empty space on the table. Masak petai for the Golden Snapper, masak 3 rasa for the other 2 Red Snappers, a sea of fried squids, spicy delicious Tom Yam, telur dadar and free flow of rice. We were monsters in disguise. The war rages on like there's no tomorrow. The battlefield was scary and yet no one seemed to be withdrawing. Until to the last piece, we can barely lift the spoon and fork to feed anymore. It was devastating. The sight of a waiter passing our table with a plate full of fried squids was already traumatic.

The dark side of us

The real us

We headed back to the homestay for the final preparation especially the bikes. Now everyone wants to be the pro-mechanic. Twitching bikes here and there. Garmin calibration. Hydration measurement and electrolyte grading and hydrate. Gels strategy. Tyre pressure gauging. Chain lubing and hydrate. Timing chip setup and hydrate. You name it. The whole house packed like a F1 pit-stop backdrop. It dragged until mid-night.

The next morning, ample wash-room facilities made life easier for morning routines. Some even taking the effort of waking up super early just to enjoy the luxurious morning 'moment'. Quick breakfast with anything we can grab on, Nescafe for me as usual for that particular 'umph!' feel. We rode to the start line a kilometre away at Malaysia International Islamic University.

Almost half an hour before flag-off, we received a surprise turn up from our long lost friend Nik Enaikay, a legendary runner blogger. Now he's into photo-blogger. Great to see him.

We don't have any special plans. Trying to keep together was impossible since the 2000 cyclists were packed for the first 30 km rolling start. In that particular distance, disaster occurred almost at every 5 km. All stunts right before my eyes. Horrific.

There were crashed from fallen water bottles. Crashed from pot holes. Crashed from tangling wheels and wheels. And even a herd of cows almost triggered a crash when they attempted to cross the road!

I dare not distract myself from the front view and all hands on the brake levers and shifters. Full alert for any mishaps. The cruising speed was devilish, tops almost at 45 kph at times, especially at the nostalgic Pantai Sepat. Sprinting legs were stung whenever the peloton got strung after every corners and inclines. It was super-interval for the first hour. It was pain trying to latch to the first bunch.

No more solitary at Pantai Sepat

Upon completing Pantai Sepat and the kampung road, I got a side stitch. Argh! Perhaps from the rock and roll tempo pace. I had to let go. By the this time, the peloton was released from the pace car and hell broke loose. I grasp for any smaller groups that I can latch to but to no avail, the side stitch didn't help.

As the pain subsides moments later, a group of 7 riders passed by and a foreigner invited me to form a descend pace group. We took turn leading and the speed was managed at a very pleasurable one, I was smiling again rather than crying & startled during the last hour. This small group hold the pace together for at least 10 km before suddenly a huge peloton of nearly 150 riders, I think, caught up and engulfed us back into a sea of cyclists. However the speed remained calm for a while for self recovery. Phew!

The rolling starts after 80 km and that was where most of us was in our own war. When the pain from overboard zone pace started to be fruitful. I had to be a bit selfish, latching up to even a tiny group of 2 cyclists! Shame on me. Then we turned slightly bigger to 7, but soon as we hit the KOM stage, we were back to 1 again. The KOM stage was lonely, and Nik was there to capture my miserable looks. Thanks Nik for the priceless answer.

Bro, mana water station??
Entah la bro. Aku pun tak tau.
Thanks for the honest answer Nik!

Lucky the KOM was short, but the the third water station (WS) was 10 km away! With 3 bottles with me from the beginning, my plan was to skip the first 2 WS. It worked but the mental game played along through the lonely path.

At WS-3, familiar faces waited. Alwin and Azahari. Ziff caught up slightly before. The sense of camaraderie gave a tiny sting of hope of being able to ride together again like our normal weekend ride. And our conversation which was mostly about the 'initial super-interval stage' became lively.

Sponge Bob friends

Again, the tiny excitement melted once we hit the partial end of the East Coast Highway. It has the complete package for a century meltdown with accumulating miles, accumulating pain, energy dissipation, heat from above and below, headwind, exposed and straight climbs. The trauma of Guthrie Corridor hit us. It was mental game again. We barely converse. Silence hits the surface.

It lasted for 13 km one way and we have to return the same way on the other side. The front riders have turned back and tormented faces were streamlined along the way. The three of us took mercy under a bridge for a moment and continued on towards WS-4 at KM133. Now this stop represents the best of it all. A sponging facility! At the time of the day, that was the most brilliant idea. We indulge ourselves into it. Squeezing the sponge, slowly releasing the freezing water through the helmet and down our spine. We took refuge under a van's rear door while deciding to wait for the rest of the buddies which we saw will join soon.

Det and Akmal arrived moments later and we continued to parade ourselves for the remaining 30 km with two more humps and a rolling pass. We knew that sub-6 is already in our grasp, hence another brilliant idea from Alwin to stop for a thirst quencher at a Guava juice stall. Priceless.

We rolled in towards the finish line together somewhere after 5:40 hours of riding time, smiling, no cursing and enjoyed the shower from the fire hydrant's spout. Ethically collected our medal and cert and of course lunch while resting and honouring our taxing day. Suddenly the camaraderie went dead, perhaps due to incompleteness of the bangla on bikes circle.

However, it went lively back again right after we headed back to the homestay and the so called post ride talks, joke and 'lambungs' flew all over Indera Mahkota with a loud bang from the 17 of us. While washing our bikes we added more talks and laughters. We excelled, we ran out of luck and we enjoyed the century distance in our own way.

Wait! The war finale ain't over until the post ride meal is official. Another round of smaller scale war due to diminishing appetite but a plain white rice with a bowl of hot Tom Yam was the best to tease my pale taste bud.

Lost of words nya la haiiii...