UCI 2009 Calendar: Mountain Biking

If you’re planning to go on holidays next year, and at the same time you want to watch some exciting mountain bike races or even trying the race courses, the UCI 2009 Mountain Bike Race Calendar should help on your planning. For the rest of us, let us wish that they air the event on our local stations or ASTRO.

[Beautiful mountain bike trail at 2008 Beijing Olympic]

Will Julien Absalon win the world title again in 2009? Can Christopher Sauser catch him with his beautiful Specialized Epic? Don't forget the young talents such as Nino Schurter that emerged during the 2008 Beijing Olympic?

[Julien Absalon on the right]

As for the women, the Chinese girls such as Cheng Ryun Yen are too close for comfort for most. Could Gunn Rita Dhale regain her previous glory? Again the young talents will try to get themselves on the podium for example Maja Wloszczowska the silver medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic.

[Cheng Ryun Yen]

[Maja Wloszczowska showing off her Olympic medal]

I predict it will be an exciting year..! Here are the listing for 2009 race:

UCI Mountain Bike Race Calendar: 2009

April 11-12: Round 1 (XC/DH/4X), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

April 25-26: Round 2 (XC), Offenburg, Germany.

May 2-3: Round 2 (4X) / 3 (XC), Houffalize, Belgium.

May 9-10: Round 2 (DH), La Bresse, France.

May 16-17: Round 3 (DH/4X), Vallnord, Andorra.

May 23-24: Round 4 (XC), Madrid, Spain.

June 6-7: Round 4 (DH/4X), Fort William, Great Britain.

July 18-19: National XC/4X/DH Championship Weekend.

June 20-21: Round 5 (DH/4X), Maribor, Slovenia.

July 25-26: Round 5 (XC) / 6 (DH/4X), Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada.

August 1-2: Round 6 (XC) / 7 (DH/4X), Bromont, Canada.

August 23: UCI XC Marathon World Championships, Graz, Austria.

September 1-6: UCI XC/4X/DH World Championships, Canberra, Australia.

September 12-13: Round 7 (XC), Champery, Switzerland.

September 19-20: Round 8 (XC/DHI/4X), Schladming, Austria.

September 26-27: National Championships XC Marathon.

I also wish that the 2009 Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival will be somewhere in October 2009.

Happy New Year everyone…!

KL Mountain Bike Carnival 2008

The Kuala Lumpur (KL) Mountain Bike Carnival 2008 was held on 29 and 30 November 2008.

Initially, I planned to take part after I missed last year race due to injury. But, I have to skip it primarily due to family commitment and my master's thesis.

However, it didn't stopped me from watching the event which I look forward to it every year. I did not have the luxury to watch every race category, but here are some of the photos that I took during the 2 days event.

Disclaimer:
All the photos are not touched up, except for resizing and labelling. This is the first time I labelled my photos, so it means that they are my property... hahahehehh..! If you are interested on having them, please contact me.

I also have more photos in higher resolution on my harddrives, so again if you're interested, please contact me.

[Nurfarahdini Zakaria, Army, Malaysia - The winner of Womens Sport category]

[Lee Chuan Ling, Singapore heading towards her final lap]

[Adilah Junid from Team Thunderclan, Malaysia - Competing in Womens Sport category]

[Start of 18-30 years old category.. they are fast]

[Mohd Shahrul Mohd Amin, Malaysia - The winner of 18-30 years old category]

[Jeff Cole, USA - Total concentration on the downhill part]

[Chong Soon Yew or SY trying to pump up]

[Alexander McNab from ThunderClan Team, Malaysia.. still smiling as usual]

[Oopppssss...! It's SY again..]

[Towards the finishing line...]

[Lim Yew Meng from BikePro trying to catch up in the Mens Elite category]

[The winner of Mens Elite category - Bandi Sugito from Indonesia]

[Followed closely by Sharin Amir (Malaysian) at second place in the Mens Elite category]

Gold Medal at Track World Cup

Track World Cup 08-09 Round 2 - CDM, Melbourne, Australia, November 20-22, 2008

Keirin (Final):
1. Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia, GOLD)
2. Andriy Vynokurov (Ukraine, SILVER)
3. Francois Pervis (France, BRONZE)

Azizulhasni Awang created history! He is the first Malaysian cyclist to win gold medal in a World Cup event. Congratulation...!

Read here for more..
a. The Star
b. Cycling News
c. Picture 1
d. Picture 2

Trail Maintenance 16 Nov 2008: Carnival

Nearly every trail that I deal with on trail days is Bukit Kiara’s classic, but you cannot argue the iconic status of the Carnival trail.
From the moderate climb that leads to lung-busting climbs, uphill switchbacks, fast & furious singletrack, rocky downhill switchbacks, rock garden, river drop, 3-tier downhills, no trail at Bukit Kiara has such compilation of those characters.

It is also the host for the yearly Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival, hence the name of the trail. This year race will be on 29 and 30 November 2008.

The challenge today is trying to fix Carnival to its best.

I don’t have the number, but about 15 people showed up. The Penghulu, Pat, divided us into several work parties. Me and Johnny were given no. 10, that was a fast and rooty section towards the end of Carnival. The rest got their number and location.

Here are a few photos that I managed to snap…

[Safety briefing before the trail work. The location is at Taman Lembah Kiara]

[BEFORE: Putting some rocks to protect the trees' roots. This was just the beginning...]

[AFTER: Smooth...! Under the dirt were lots of rocks]

[Jun and Tony]

See you guys at the race...!

Between Semenyih & Bandar Bukit Mahkota

It was quite a while since I rode my last hash. Although it was on Sunday, 9 November 2008, this hash was actually the October Hash.

The hash was actually at Semenyih, opposite Bandar Tasik Kesuma. It was also quite near to Bandar Bukit Mahkota, if you're coming from the east side.

There is no photos of me, except for my left hand on the bike's handlebar.

[Briefing]

[Towards the trails]

[Trail head]

[Kampung Rinching, Semenyih]

[Next to cows's feed lots]

[Riverside singletrack.. cool! That's my steed on the right]

[...and the singletrack led towards a kampung]

[A pigeon at a goal post.. ehmmm..??]

[At one of the checks]

[Megat and Joe(and Casper) at one of the checks]

[My left hand on my bike's handlebar, looking down towards the trail]

[Chicken out or go long?]

Casper

After a gruelling tarmac uphill, I reached the 4-cross junction, and someone shouted my name.

Aahhh... it was Joe Adnan. Fimiliar face along with unfimiliar face... ehmmm.

Hi! Casper!

Casper is Joe's new bike. Casper... as hand-scripted on the head-badge.
Note: Casper is also Joe's nickname.

It was a good looking bike. After a chit-chat, he allowed me to ride his new bike. Down to 2K trail I went and continued to the technical uphill section of Twin Peaks.
I was speechless!! A very good bike was an understatement. It was excellent!!

It floats and goes everywhere... like the friendly ghost in the movie Casper.

Click here to find out more.

Aidil Fitri 2008

I will be writing in my mother's tongue language about the forgiveness and thanksgiving that are associated with the Eid celebration.

Ampun dan maaf diminta andainya…

TERkasar bahasa..
TERsilap bicara..
TERmarah yang tak kena..
TERtanya tak tentu hala..
TERsasul yang tak sengaja..
TERpukul kat mana-mana..
TERpekik di telinga..
TERhantuk di kepala..
TERpinjam harta benda..
TER”moody” tak semena-mena..
TERumpat bila-bila..
TERmacam-macam lagi yang kena-mengena..

Semoga dimaafkan..

Selamat menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

[Eid's cup cakes]

Additionally, I will re-start my mountain biking menace this week. So, stay tune.

Mountain Biking Event at 2008 Beijing Olympic

I watched the mountain biking event at 2008 Beijing Olympic. It was awesome...!!!

Results:

Men's XC:
1. Julien Absalon (France) - Gold
2. Jean-Christophe Peraud (France) - Silver
3. Nino Schurter (Switzerland) - Bronze

Notable riders are:
4. Christoph Sauser (Switzerland)
7. Liam Killeen (Great Britain)
10. Jose Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain)
12. Oliver Beckingsale (Great Britain)
20. Geoff Kabush (Canada)
One lap behind - Adam Craig (USA)
Three laps behind - Todd Wells (USA)

Women's XC:
1. Sabine Spitz (German) - Gold
2. Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) - Silver
3. Irina Kalentyeva (Russia) - Bronze

Notable riders are:
5. Chengyuan Ren (China)
7. Mary Mcconneloug (USA)
8. Georgia Gould (USA)
DNF Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Norway)
DNF Margarita Fullana (Spain)
DNF Marie-Helene Premont (Canada)

Some photos:

Mens...

Womens...

A video from YouTube (added on 7 Aug 2009):