Cycling Diary - Genting Sempah 13/11/2012

Diari Kayuh Seorang Macik

Bila geng kayuh macik mula berbincang2 pasal nak berbeskal ke genting sempah, telinga macik capang je kerana hati ni sgt berminat utk mencuba.  persoalannye, mampu kah macik?  setakat yg macik ingat jalan lama genting sempah tu bukan saje berbukit bukit tapi jugak berselekuh... terbayang zaman dolu2 betapa siksanya kalau kereta tersangkut di blakang lori balak, nasib tak baik berjela2 la deretan kereta jadinye.

View of the GS highway

Mini waterfall

Beware landslides semasa musim hujan

Melalui hebahan word of mouth & platform kelab basikal shah alam (kelas) akhirnye ramai jugak riders yg ikut serta kayuhan genting sempah pada 13/11/2012.  in total rasanye melebihi 30 orang and for me yg paling best, ramai gak first timers macam macik so i felt pretty comfortable facing the unknown with others just like me.

The whole gang.

My excitement was probably what got me thru the long & winding climb.  and theres no two ways about it, if i hadnt been doing my regular rides up and down the kesas & guthrie highway, or taming the dragon in my backyard, the ride up genting sempah would have been quite horrendous.  instead it felt a lot like an outing in the park with beloved friends lol.

Macik & Genting Sempah

One thing though, the quality of the road left a lot to be desired and for roadbikes, keeping a vigilant eye over potholes, cracks, rough & mossy surfaces is a must.  it doesnt help that its also the rainy season, and descending can be a whole lot tougher than ascending, especially for begiiners like me.  sampai cramp2 la jari2 macik asyik brek2 jer.

Berkumpul sbelum konvoi ke HOA Gombak

Geng Shah Alam

Starting point - HOA Gombak 

Doa utk keberkatan

And off we go.. 

Checkpoint & regrouping

Steepest climb 

Giddiest descend

Sesungguhnye jangan la terlalu focus pd aspek mendaki, pikir2kan juga strategy utk turun.  macik rasa it takes skill plus brute strength to climb but skill plus mental strength to tackle the speed going down the slippery & winding roads.

Refueling @ R&R GS

...and recharging.

.Getting ready for the ride down.

Sebagai peringatan dan langkah keselamatan, se elok2nye servis la beskal sbelum mencuba route yg berbukit2.... believe me, you'd want your bicycle parts to be working efficientlly.  Theres also bound to be surprises on long rides so its good to have one or two support/rescue cars around.... and in our case, even the rescue car had to be rescued lol.

Rescuing the rescue car 

Hujan lebat selepas kayuhan

Alhamdulillah kayuhan macik ke genting sempah sarat dgn pengajaran  dan pengalaman.  Ia juga bertindak sebagai persediaan yg sangat sesuai untuk kayuhan macik seterusnya - Fraser's Hill here I come woot woot.

Just me, my bike & God's endless blessings

Detail Kayuhan:

Total distance - 35km
Total Time - about 2jam naik & 2jam turun (tidak termasuk break di R&R GS)
Weather - cuaca yg redup & teduh disebabkan oleh pokok2 di sepanjang jalan.
Route - Hospital Orang Asli Gombak ke R&R Genting Sempah and back
Rating - doable utk beginners yg ingin timba pengalaman mengayuh route yg hilly & winding.

Cycling Diary - Perkampungan Kampuchea

Diari Kayuh Seorang Macik.

Sabtu sbelum PIC macik & geng super santai riders telah ke kg merbau sempak, paya jaras untuk misi mencari daging salai. oleh kerana kami ke Pulau Perhentian secara back to nature & bercadang nak camping dan memasak sendiri, maka kena la bawa bekalan utk sessi main masak2 ditepi pantai nanti.  best gak dah lama bebenor macik tak buat keje camni hehehehe.

One of our geng membesar di kawasan berdekatan so dia mmg familiar sgt dgn perkampungan islam kampuchea nih.  pandai je dia bawak kitorang lalu celah2 jalan kampung and for a while terasa macam meronda2 di bumi asing.  mereka di sini masih kaya dgn bahasa dan amalan ibunda... macik tak sangka plak ada tempat2 sebegini tak jauh dr my own backyard.  nnti bebila macik akan dtg lg menjenguk tempat ni dgn famili macik.

Detail kayuhan:

Total distance - about 44k
Time - 3 jam setengah, pegi balik (plus sessi meronda kg & bergambo)
Weather - hujan renyai ketika pergi & panas berjahang ketika balik.
Route - sebahagian besar GCE, sebahagian lg jalan tarmac 2-way
Rating - doable for beginners, interesting dpt tgk kg org2 islam kampuchea

Super Santai Riders of Shah Alam

Sosej daging kalori tinggi

Gerai macik kampuchea mcm2 ada

Cycling Diary - My first 100km

Diari Kayuh Seorang Macik

First time macik ni layan highway was at GCE on merdeka day 31/08/2012... hadoila masih teringat sengsara masa tu.  dah la pungkok macik rasa lebam semacam, rupa2nye kalau baru kayuh ni bukan kaki yg sakit tp otot blakang tengkuk plak yg berdenyut, pelik sungguh.  depa kata lama2 biasa la sbb dok bongkok ja masa kayuh tu.

From there macik telah berjaya tambah mileage skit demi skit sehingga la pada tanggal 29/09/2012, i broke my first 100km weehooo.  dari shah alam ke kuala selangor & back melalui jalan kapar.  masa tu macik bertiga ja, biasa la kan, geng kayuh ni ada pasang surutnye... sat depa nak pi sat ada commitment, kite pun camtu gak so sape yg bole pi, kire ON jela.

Route mmg bagus for beginners... walaupun kenderaan banyak tp jalan sgt mendatar dan generally lurus je so we are tested only thru the distance travelled and not thru gradient or toughness of terrain.  ada kala coach kami, si jey yg hensem, berjaya tarik kami melepasi 30km.. something tht is quite impossible kalau kayuh kat GCE.  overall macik sgt happy kerana telah berjaya melepasi 100km dalam keadaan yg penat namun tidak tersiksa :)

Detail Kayuhan:

Total distance - 104.7km
Total Time - 5 jam 15min (2 jam one way plus sessi bergambo & makan2)
Weather - redup & sgt marveles
Route - shah alam ke kuala selangor via kapar
Rating - doable utk beginners yg ingin tambah mileage sbb route mendatar dan jalan yg sgt straight.

SA-KS-SA - 104.7km

 Naek kete pun macik tak pernah sampai hehe

My cycling coach jey & cycling buddy ann

Tanda 'kuala selangor' in the hills dh tak nampak

Cycling Diary - Highway Foray

Diari Kayuh Seorang Macik

Selepas puas ronda2 biasakan diri naek kenderaan dua roda (instead of the usual four) macik relakan diri dipujuk mencuba highway plak.  cuak tak terkire tp keinginan nak mencuba tu mengatasi segala... i can do it la, macik repeat dlm hati so on merdeka day 31/08/2012 macik ikut geng kayuh kat GCE. masa tu naek mtb anak and pakaian pun kurang sesuai.  nasihat macik, kalau uols nak kayuh jauh2 skit sila la pakai seluar padding, otherwise suffer the consequences!!  dan route guthrie mmg berbukit & mencabar, nak pingsan jugak la dibuatnye hehehe. dari situ macik belajar deal with the initial pain & discomfort of long distance cycling as oppose to ronda suke2.

Detail Kayuhan:

Total distance - 42km
Total Time - 2 jam lebih termasuk sessi bergambo & minum.
Weather - panas & semakin terik
Route - GCE bukit jelutong ke last toll to rawang and back
Rating - doable tetapi guthrie highway sangat la mencabar utk beginners - gradient yg meninggi pada kadar yg agak lama. juga ada elemen membosankan sbb its straight and can be hot. walau bagaimanapun marveles sebagai training ground.

My first ever ride on the highway 

Subsequent rides di GCE

First spin with Tizzy my RB

Super santai riders yayyyy

Perhentian Island Challenge 2012

I stuck to tarmac & pavement all these years bcos i have weak ankles....running on any uneven surface scares the hell out of me.  and thats the main reason why i've given trail runs a wide berth.

But 2012 is a year of awakening for me.  it dawned on me that if i dont try new things now, i might never have the opportunity ever again, not with age closing up on me... and that realisation have somehow given me new courage i guess lol.  so i registered for salomon trail run @ UPM, bought myself my first pair of trail shoes and allowed myself to be persuaded into joining PIC 2012.

Salomon X Trail Run 2012 (UPM 30/09/12)

My bib & new trail shoes

Daybreak & the trail round UPM

Finally the finishing line lol

For better for worse, here's sharing my PIC experience.

I cant really give u guys a fair account of the run bcos i cant compare it to anything else since this is my first trail run (UPM wasnt really something i'd consider as trail, more like muddy road ekekeke). personally, it was pretty tough.. 21km measured flat (the steep inclines makes it so much more), 4 hills in total and 3 of it was before the cut off checkpoint. all along the way people were moaning & groaning, me included...in fact i was screaming obscenities while climbing the 3rd hill, the hill face was almost flat and i was totally dependent on natural vines & foothold.. thank God for the soldier's spirit burning deep within me.

There were no marshalls placed within the jungle route and there were long stretches where nary a soul was in sight, very solitary and very 'its just u & me God' kind of situation.  only 4 water stations and they were definately too few and far between. i came across many runners weak from dehydration,  a few were even desperate enough to drink from the small streams trickling down parts of the hills. and i'm not talking about maciks like me but strong young men & women who probably pushed too hard, forgetting to pace themselves.

In total 12 checkpoints, 5 wristbands and checkpoint no. 6 was the 5hr cut off (initially they said 4hrs but they found out it was just generally too tough so they extended it to 5hrs) . i reached checkpoint 6, 35mins too late so i wasnt allowed to continue but honestly, if given the opportunity i would've wanted to see it thru...i might not be fast but i felt i still had it in me to finish.  all in all i heard only 20-30% made it thru, the rest DNF, me included.  the organizer left a lot to be desired..starting with limited medals, limited finisher tee, limited participant tee, limited food, and a less than committed crew... but perhentian island is so beautiful that one is inclined to forget all that hehehe...so if things go right, i might just be giving PIC another try next year  :D

Perhentian Island Challenge 2012 (11/10/12-15/10/12)

Base camp at teluk keke.. we were the first group to arrive

Then the rest came in droves lol

PIC briefing

The morning of PIC 2012.. lets do it

At pulau kecil waiting for the elites to swim across

 And off goes all the novices

I didnt make the cut-off checkpoint by 35mins 

Favourite pastime at perhentian...snorkelling

And feeding the ever hungry fishes

View of pulau perhentian kecil from pulau perhentian besar

And we were the last group to leave hehehe

Cycling Diary - How it started

Diari Kayuh Seorang Macik

Macik ni jenis yg suke berlari & berkejaran tetapi tetiba one fine day terkena la plak foot injury dan trus segala aktiviti running macik tergendala.  sambil menangani kekecewaan yg melanda, mata macik dok usya gak la beskal anak sulung macik blakang sofa tu...ish ish, sayang dah berabuk rupanye.

Beskal MTB anak macik

Helmet pun ada sampai dua

Maka satu hari tu, terpanggil la plak macik nak cuba round2 kawasan rumah. setelah meng'adjust' beberapa perkara (i sawed off the tube to lower the seat wakakaka) dan berjinak2 dgn gear dan brake yg sgt kuat menyentap sehingga ada ketika macik hampir terpelanting, i went on my first ronda2.

Of course one ronda let to another lol.

I started in my neighbourhood... macik memandai je sengsorang hehehe.

 Bantai jela labu hehehe

Then a friend came over to help me with the basics...

Thx ann for all your help

One nite my nephew took me for a moonlight spin round shah alam weehooo...

First time pusing shah alam

Lepas tu macik panjangkan langkah ke Bukit Jelutong..

Woman power ahaks

BJ oh BJ

Sambil jenguk2 Bukit Cerakah..

MTB sesuai utk bukit2

Hutan pun ku redah heheh

Waaah seronok gak berbeskal nih ye ;)