Sunday ride after hiatus

Work has been a bitch these past week and I usually ended up half a sleep by 9pm. Have been missing my 10km rides a lot that my body aches here and there.

I finally have the opportunity to squuze in some cycling today. Enjoyed it immensely !

Riding after 2 weeks of holiday and a BBQ

I am finally home from Hari Raya Haji and the Conference in Malacca. I regretted not bringing my bike to Malacca, the hotel was a golf resort which would have been an awesome ride.

I woke up early today aching to ride. I soon found out what long holiday and a BBQ does to your stamina. It was almost like my first time riding 10km.

Not wanting to feel beaten, I came back for more later at night.

Hope the weather is good tomorrow night!

Sunday morning ride

It has been raining everyday day and night so imagine my joy when I woke up to a relatively dry sunday morning.

Hop on my bike and off to my usual flatland route. Excitement got me pushing hard and I was doing well, covering 7.5km in 30 mins, was looking forward to a 15km target.!

9km mark and I wished I didn't push so hard during the first 30 minute. In the excitement that morning I have also forgotten to bring water. Had to cut it short at 10km but highly satisfied that I got to ride after many days of rain.

Family ride during the Raya Qurban weekend

We went for a ride around the Ampat Tin Old Mine/ Lake. It's a nice scenic route around a big abandoned tin mine turned to water retaining lake. What a wonderful time riding with my famili and my brother and his kids.

The 5 km ride was too much for Adik. By the third KM Adik wa already half asleep in his seat :)

Hari Raya at Kedai Basikal Samy

It's Aidil Adha today and I am back in Jalan Ipoh for the Hari Raya weekend. Incase you're wondering, yes we brought the bikes with us :)

After friday prayers, I went to the famous Samy Bicycle Shop near Batu Chaves. I've just inherited a pair of disc brakes from my brother so we went there to get them installed. Very excited!

Upon checking we found that my Raleigh frame only supports rear disc brakes however my wheel base does not. Pretty disappointed as I could not use the parts at the moment.

I however found a handlebar that fits me better at Kedai Samy. The original Raleigh handlebar is a little short and creates stiffness on my shoulders as I have ermmm "broad shoulders". Got them for RM70 plus RM30 for the part that holds the handle bar to the bike that I have yet to learn the name for.

10km5days day3

Today is my third day of trying to achieve my "Ride 10km for 5 days" goal. Started out as solo ride but at km 2 I was joined by Farid from PUSJ3.

I again hit a snag tonight when the same brake pad got stuck. I decided to remove the faulty brake pad and was left with just rear brakes. I don't think that would be a problem as I am not going at high speed.

I must admit that I have never took the time to check my bike or do any adjustment other than adjusting the seat height. Looks like I will need to spend some time this weekend checking and correcting any bad assembly job the bike shop may have done.

Are you guys bored of me yet? :)

Today's ride was with Birthday Boy Amin. First KM and my front tyre hit a snag. A brake pad has gotten loose and got stuck against the tyre wall. Luckily we're back riding after a quick fix. I was just glad that it was not a flat.

Pop goes the rat's head

Today I rode with Amin on our usual 10km @ 10pm session. Beautiful weather today except for a few road kills stinking up the ride. I think I ran over a dead mouse and heard its head pops under my tyre. Gross!!! Gosh that stink is going to haunt me for a few days so sure.

What footie final?

Solo ride today, seems everyone was out watching the footie final between ATM (Armed Forces) vs Red Warrior (Kelantan). Good news was the road was calm and clear due to this.

I also have to mention that today's ride is accompanied by a full blown fever. I think I got the same amount of water coming out of my nose as my sweat today. I went on a slower pace and successfully completed my 10k.

Hope to be better for tomorrow's ride.

My Cycling Goals

Things I want to do/ be able to do

1. Ride 10km nonstop ( 12/10/2012)
2. Ride 10km everyday for 5 days
3. Ride 15km nonstop ( 19/10/2012)
4. Ride 15km everyday for 5 days
5. Ride 20km nonstop
6. Ride 20km everyday for 5 days
7. Ride 25km nonstop
8. Ride 25km everyday for 5 days
9. Ride 30km nonstop
10. Ride 30km everyday for 5 days

Let me know if they are realistic goals or feedback if you like me to add in a goal.

First 15km!

Today's ride is with Zahar. Rest of PUSJ1 Night Riders were unavailable.
Did my first 15km and feeling great!

I am also riding with new safety lights. I finally had the time earlier today to go buy one. They are about RM25 - RM29 a piece and I got the front and rear one for RM40.

Ride cut short by rain , bummer!

Solo ride tonight to be joined by Zahar a bit later. At 2KM met Farid, PUSJ3 rider and we rode together. Farid gave me some tips especially about me riding without lights and in black shirt. He almost bumped into me hehehe

At about 6 km rain started coming down and the ride had to be cut short just when I was starting to have some fun.

Better luck tomorrow!

I discovered front gears!

We have Hasnawi and Shukri tonight for our 10km @ 10pm ride. Started out ok but halfway they picked up speed and I was struggling to keep up. I was pedaling the fastest I could go but the bike just won't go any faster. I started to think that better more expensive bikes goes faster.

With both friends shrinking in the horizon, I started to play around with the gear pedals and for the first time I shifted the left gears up a few notch and suddenly I could feel the pedals getting heavier and the bike going faster. I finally figured out what the left gear pedals are for (and what frot chain gears are about!)

Best 10k by far! Will be back for more!

Family cycling trip to Bukit Cerakah

We went cycling at Bukit Cerakah today. Nice place with challenging climbs. I was hoping for any good flat stretch for some family cycling but there was none. The climbs were too much for Irfan so we spent most of the time pushing our bikes.

Poor Irfan was hit head on by some dumb girl going too fast down hill. Luckily we had him in full protective gears and helmet so other than some bruises, he was fine. The girl got a good scolding from us no doubt!

Other than the steep climbs and descends, the frequent bus driving up and down the road definitely makes it an unsuitable place to cycle with children. We will be back but definately without our bikes!

Irfan learning to ride without training wheels

This morning I spent some time with the kids at the park. Thanks to a tip from fellow rider, I removed the pedals from Irfan's old bike. This is to allow him to concentrate on learning balancing without worrying trying to paddle at the same time.

He started to try gliding almost immediately before decided he had enough and wanted to go home.

10km ride 12/10

Today we have Amin and Hasnawi doing our 10km. Tried to push to 12kmph, I got close. :)

Flatland route

Here is my current route that I have been doing this week. It's very flat and allows me to get started. I am trying to get average speed to about 12 - 14 kmph, currently doing about 10 kmph.

Tuesday ride

We have Zahar and Hasnawi last night and we're doing the same PUSJ route. My target for the night was to do 10km in 1 hour or less. Target achieved!

Monday night ride with friends

I joined some regular riders for the first time. We have Hasnawi, Zahar, Amin and Bull and we instead went to PUSJ 3 because the topo there is pretty flat. This was my first ride with friends and my first ride over 3KM. Phew!

Pity the guys had to slow down their pace for slow me.

I covered 11 KM that night and the longest distance was 8odd km! Oh my aching butt!!!

That's me the orange monster in the photo btw.

Second solo ride

I was back the next night for more. This time I wanted to do 3 laps of 3KMs.

Started cycling around the neighbourhood

I started cycling solo at night around my neighborhood. I am still getting used to the butt pain even when I am using the big ass seat.

I only lasted 3KM per lap due to the hill climbs. No worries, I'll just do more laps.

New bike for Irfan, second ride at Taman Tasik Shah Alam

So we went to the bike shop and decided to get Irfan a new bike. He was so broken hearted and wanted to ride again soon.

We got him a new bike and the next morning we went for our second attempt at the lake garden. My boy completed his 3KM course before he decided to take a detour (and bring everybody) to the playground. Kids :)

First Ride, Taman Tasik Shah Alam

We rode at the lake garden on saturday and right after the 1 km mark, tragedy strikes. Irfan's training wheel broke and our cycling trip was cut short. I did completed 1 round around the lake to go fetch the car and rescue everybody. It was my first 2KM and it was fun!

Oh after the tragedy we decided to go have breakfast instead and I forgotten to end my runtastic session. The reading was not valid as you can see in the picture below.

Bicycles purchased

It was a Raleigh Renegade. Frame size is 17.5. We bought one each for me to ride with my family.

Mine is black and her's is white with the baby carrier at the back.

We also fixed Irfan's bike and we were set to cycle at the lake garden during the weekend.

First Post!

Starting my cycling blog today and will be posting backdated entries based on my instagram feeds as well as my runtastic sessions from the past week.

Stay tuned!