Menace of Kiara

For Sale - Oakley Radar

2010-10-15T10:08:00.003+08:00

Authentic and genuine Oakley Radar for sale.

Model: Oakley Radar.
Frame colour: Carbon Fibre.
Lens customisation: Choose one between Black Iridium or Positive Red Iridium or G40 Special.
Lens style: Path.
Price: 580.00.

Call/SMS me at 012-7037575 or drop me an email.

Epic Ouchh...

2010-06-29T13:29:00.006+08:00

KLMBH Epic hash… this becomes a yearly affair to me. KLMBH organises hash (mountain biking event) every last Sunday of the month. Usually, the hash distance is between 20-30km for long rides. For scenic rides, the distance is usually half the distance and nearly suitable for everyone.

This year KLMBH's epic is about 52km (officially)! Although it is not more than 100km, like typical epic ride around the world, hey... this is not a race! It is a fun ride.

Date : Sunday, 27 June 2010.

Time : Very early morning.

Venue : Ulu Yam and Ulu Tamu areas.

Statistics from my Cateye:

Distance : 53.34 km.

Max speed : 51.3 km/h.

Average speed: 11.3 km/h.

Overall ride time : 5 hrs 33:57 minutes.

Calories burned : 6210 calories.

Statistics from my memory:

Start to CP1:
This was one tough sections with lots of uphills, steep and long. I was just barely to keep up with the FRBs.

This was where the FRBs were separated to several groups, and eventually they were on their own due to different pace and terrain difficulties. There were 2 sections that were seriously steep and even the top national riders and FRBs could not rode them, and of course I was pushing my bike as well.

Rest – None.
Food – 2 McDonalds grape jam packs and one PowerGel.

CP1 to CP2:
If you think that from Start to CP1 was tough, this was tougher. This section really separated the men from the boys. The trails were mainly facing the sky and they felt like an elongated sections, but the good news was that they were ridable. I was on my granny chainring, 24T, and biggest cog, 34T, at most of the time. It was easy to just gave up and pushed the bike, but I did not want to content with the status quo and kept telling myself to keep cycling up to the top. The reward was an awesome downhill towards CP2.

When I arrived at CP2, I was informed that I was at top 15, within 10 minutes from the first FRB group. Hmm..not bad at all.

The CP2 was well equipped with lots of water stations, technical foods supplies courtesy of Hammer Nutritions and of course they were lots of bananas. Well done hares and sponsors.

Rest – ~5 minutes at CP2.
Food – One banana, two hydration pills, 2 McDonalds grape jam pack and two HammerGels.

CP2 to CP3:
Undulating terrains. A typical type of hash route.

It was definitely easier that the sections before, but I crashed thrice. One when my front tyre gave way on a hidden and large tree stump, but this was a no issue fall. The other one was on easy doubletrack section, where I lost my concentration. I braked too much and my rear tyre skidded and I felt on my left arm. Shaken…I rested for more than 5 minutes to compose myself.

Then, another crash…! Big time! Again I lost my concentration. This time was on an easy cemented downhill trail section. I saw myself sliding for about 30 meters, with my right arm on the cement… ouch! Really ouchhh…! Really shaken… this time I took more than 30 minutes to rest and to re-compose myself.

Then, as I was pushing myself to catch up with the other FRB, my right tight caught cramp. This must be from the effect of the big crash just now. Another rest for about 15 minutes just to allow the muscle to recover. Hahaha… instead I was catching up with the FRBs, the other FRBs were catching up with me, including Zuhairi and the strong Kenny Kwan.

As for now, it was a good time to know when to push and when to back off, although my legs, lungs, heartbeats and adrenalin were still at all time high. This was an endurance ride. So, from this point onwards, I just rode at comfortable pace just to avoid more complications. I just wanted to get home and see my love one.

Rest – ~60 minutes at crash and cramp points.
Food – Three hydration pills, two McDonalds jam pack, one PowerGel and two HammerGels.

CP3 to CP4:
Another undulating terrains, but this time the uphills were short but quite steep. They were several technical downhill sections which I don’t enjoyed very much in the muddy conditions… just imagine if the trails were dry… it could be a different story after all.

Then I got diverted into a false trail (although the KLMBH committee said that there was no false trail..!!) together with Jeremy and a few others. I lost about 15 minutes of time.

Rest – ~5 minutes at CP4.
Food – Four hydration pills, two PowerGels and three HammerGels.

CP4 to End:
Relatively easy undulating terrains compared with the others. I was on my front 36T chainring most of the time.

Other interesting statistics:

Water – More than 6 liters (with refill at the CPs).

Fall – 3 times!

Cramp – Once at right thigh muscles! But not as bad as the last PCC Presidential Ride.

Stream crossings – Too many. But one that was about 200 meters of stream with pristine and clear water was quite memorably beautiful scenery.

Bridges – Some steel bridges, two very large wood bridges and too many small bridges to remember...

Best uphill – Between Start and CP2. Steep and long.

Best downhill – None, because most of them are just too muddy to enjoy. I spent time controling and balancing the bike rather than enjoying the downhill sections.

Best flat section – Between CP4 and CP5. All in big ring (36T).

Love & hate section – At the easy cement section, where I fall.

Worst sections – See best uphill!

Brake problem – None.

Shifting problem – None.

Suspension problem – None.

Puncture – None.

Traction – Poor.

Comfort problem – None, because this time I got the saddle angle right and the saddle is designed with ergonomic love channel.

Pre-ride dinner – Telur bistik and plain rice. Lots of water and one glass of hydration salt drink. These were not enough.

Pre-ride breakfast – Yoghurt, one slice of roti chanai with an egg, water & a glass of sweet nescafe.

Post-ride lunch – Maggi goreng with fried chicken at the mamak near the Start point. Barely ate it because of lack of taste and too tired to eat.

Post-ride dinner – A very late home delivery McDonalds i.e. Big Mac, apple pie, some porridge and a large ice milo.

Photos:

Of course, there are more exciting photos of the Epic hash available at Facebook and other sites, but these four photos are just mine... hahaha...

Wasted Skinnies

2010-06-15T12:00:00.007+08:00

On Sunday, 13 June 2010, me and usual cycling buddies were riding the beautiful trail of Wasteland at Bukit Kiara. Before that, Wasteland trail is divided in two sections, one is tight singletrack cutting along the ridges and matured rubber trees and one is an excellent series of switchbacks. These sections were divided by a stream, and the sections are (now were..) connected by a bridge which we called it skinnies.

Due to the force of nature (of course under God's decrees), the demure skinnies gave up, and to reach our destiny we had to cross the stream (more of a riverbed..) manually.

Time to flex the muscle again to rebuild the bridge, connecting the two sections that we, MTBers, love so much. Lets do it...

[Old picture, as at Feb 2009, where the skinnies acting as a bridge to connect one section to another]

[As at 13 June 2010, a broken destiny]

[My riding friends are still smiling, but look at the skinnies's log that gave way at the bottom of the picture]

Integrated Joint Alloys

2010-06-13T14:05:00.006+08:00

Normally, every saturday mornings were one of the best periods of the week. Its either I spent time with my love ones, or riding gloriously at excellent singletracks at Bukit Kiara / Taman Cabaran Putrajaya / Ulu Yam. Further, I was crossing my finger in high hope that year 2010 would be one of the best year for me.

Not today! And probably not this year!
For 37 years, this is my saddest, miserable & gloomy moment.

Before this I felt like an integrated joint alloys, but at the moment I'm feeling disintegrated and just plain singular mineral i.e. in term of emotion, feeling disorientated and lonely.

God must be testing me, and this time the test is very tough, tricky and grueling difficult. I like to move on, but in an integrated and associated way like the integrated joint alloys.

A reminder to myself and others in despair (in Malay) "Janganlah kamu bersikap lemah, dan janganlah pula kamu bersedih hati, padahal kamulah orang-orang yang paling tinggi darjatnya, jika kamu orang-orang yang beriman." - Al-Quran, Surah Al-Imran, Ayat 139.

Edit: Grammar (15 June 2009).

2010 Le Tour De Langkawi

2010-02-25T09:40:00.009+08:00

The biggest road cycling event in Malaysia, Le Tour De Langkawi (LTDL), is in her 15th edition since its inception. The idea was mooted by our previous Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. Bravo...!

The 2010 edition will start on Monday, 1 March 2010 in Kota Bahru, Kelantan.

It will end at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur on 7 March 2010.

The highlight of the race will be, of course, the grueling climb to the peak of Genting, on 6 March 2010.

To find out more, click here.

2010 Firsh Hash @ Semenyih

2010-02-18T18:25:00.015+08:00

The first KLMBH hash for 2010 was near Semenyih town. The parking place was right in front of the Semenyih 132kV substation... since I work with TNB... hehehe... :)

The place is actually around the old Kampung Sungai Lalang.

The route was slightly less than 30km of the usual mixed of palm oil estates, secondary forest trails, rubber plantations, short tarmac sections and long fire roads towards the end.

Honestly, I cannot remember much about the hash, but it was one of the best hashes I ever participated. It was that good, me and my cycling buddies will go again this weekends.

Here are some GPS screenshots info:

[The hash is near to the existing Sungai Pening-Pening trails]

[The elevation profile]

Check out the pre-hash details here.

For after-hash report, click here.

Bike Fitting

2010-02-16T14:44:00.010+08:00

I thought that this article from singletracks.com is useful for fitting yourself on a mountain bike. Enjoy...:)

[The graphic of chart-size below is taken from the above wesite]

Nevegal vs Dred Tread

2010-02-06T23:00:00.011+08:00

I used many models of tyres from various manufacturers, and these are the listing:
> Continental Explorer 2.1”
> Continental Mountain King 2.2” (both the normal version & Chilli version)
> Geax Saguaro 2.1”
> Kenda Nevegal 1.95”
> WTB Wierwolf 2.1”
> Specialized Roll-X 2.2”
> Maxxis High Roller 2.1”
> Kenda Dred Tread 1.8”

Due to limited availability of others tyres and also the above tyres, I have been using either Continental Mountain King (Chilli version) 2.2” or Kenda Nevegal 1.95” or Kenda Dred Tread 1.8”.

I use the Continental Mountain King (Chilli version) 2.2” only for racing due to its low weight. The rest are for trail riding.

So, I was called to make a comparison between the Kenda Nevegal 1.95” and Kenda Dred Tread 1.8”. The comparison (or review) is based on the rear tyre application only, for XC (slightly to the XC extreme side) trail riding application.

I use the following rating system to evaluate the tyres:
5 – Exceed expectation.
4 – Meet expectation.
3 – Meet expectation but can do better.
2 – Below expection.
1 – Does not meet expectation.

Climbing Traction:
Kenda Nevegal 1.95”.
Damp soil – 3/5.
Dry – 4/5.
Loose – 2/5.
Dry roots – 3/5.
Wet roots – 1/5.
Rock – 2/5
Slight sandy condition – 2/5.
Sub-Total: 17/35.

Kenda Dred Tread 1.8”.
Damp soil – 4/5.
Dry – 5/5.
Loose – 3/5.
Dry roots – 4/5.
Wet roots – 2/5.
Rock – 3/5.
Slight sandy condition – 3/5.
Sub-Total: 24/35.

Pedalling Rolling resistance (Higher number represent lower rolling resistance and better traction):
Kenda Nevegal 1.95”.
Damp soil – 3/5.
Dry – 3/5.
Rock – 4/5.
Sub-Total: 10/15.

Kenda Dred Tread 1.8”.
Damp soil – 4/5.
Dry – 4/5.
Rock – 3/5.
Sub-Total: 11/15.

Braking:
Kenda Nevegal 1.95”.
Damp soil – 4/5.
Dry – 4/5.
Loose – 4/5.
Sub-Total: 12/15.

Kenda Dred Tread 1.8”.
Damp soil – 4/5.
Dry – 4/5.
Loose – 3/5.
Sub-Total: 11/15.

Off-camber:
Kenda Nevegal 1.95”.
Damp soil – 5/5.
Dry – 4/5.
Sub-Total: 9/10.

Kenda Dred Tread 1.8”.
Damp soil – 3/5.
Dry – 4/5.
Sub-Total: 7/10.

Total points:
Kenda Nevegal 1.95” – 48/75 (3.2 - Meet expectation but can do better)
Kenda Dred Tread 1.8” – 53/75 (3.6 – Meet expectation)

[Dred Tread's profile]

[Dred Tread's sidewall & label]

[Nevegal's profile - Photos from old archive showing front tyre application]

[Nevegal's sidewall & label]

General comments:
For me, the Dred Tread is a better tyre than Nevegal by a small margin. But that small margin is at the most important part of trail riding especially in Malaysia i.e. climbing over roots.

Some comments on the tyre constructions:
For the Nevegal 1.95”, I wish the knobs are not ramp and this hopefully gives more traction. As clearing mud, Nevegal is far better than the Dred Tread.

For the Dred Tread 1.8”, I wish that the casing is wider at least to 1.95”, and this should give more volume for more supple ride. I also like the tiny knobs running across the middle section, and I wish these tiny knobs are extended towards its side. The side knobs are too close together, hence the mud clearance is just OK; and I believe spacing the side knobs a little bit more won’t affect the traction much.

Body Geometry Gloves

2010-01-27T20:09:00.008+08:00

My riding buddy, Jimmy Kok, went to Taiwan for a holiday, and got me this nice Specialized Body Geometry riding gloves. He got it from Taiwan's Specialized Concept Store.

It fit so well. Thanks a lot bro!

Here is some info about the Body Geometry gloves from Specialized:

To learn more about Body Geometry, click here.

Trail Maintenance: Pure Quill & TNT

2010-01-22T18:44:00.002+08:00

Hi guys, lets do some trail maintenance works on Pure Quill (and probably TNT) this Sunday, 24 January 2010.

Meeting place:
Taman Rimba Kiara at 8:00 - 8:15 a.m. Then I will lead you guy for a short drive to the Kg. Penchala's dead end (very near to Flinstone trail),
or
Kg. Penchala's dead end (very near to Flinstone trail) at 8:30 a.m.

Primary tools & accessories:
1. Cangkul.
2. Full finger gloves.
3. Rake.
4. Parang.
5. Some food & water for yourself till midday.
6. Some good sense of humours.
7. Mosquito repellent.

Other tools that of great help:
1. Shovel.
2. Long garden shear (preferably)
3. Whatever you want to bring..

Spread the words to others, the more that show up the merrier.

My wife will make a small barbeque with some juicy watermelon, but the end-of-work party will be at Taman Rimba Kiara.

See you guys there.

From South Africa

2010-01-18T13:34:00.004+08:00

I was given an honour to lead our Sunday riding group with our new friend from South Africa.

Welcome to Malaysia, Alan.

The ride routes were as follows:

Taman Rimba Kiara >> Uphill tarmac >> 4K (entrance at water tank) >> 2K (halfway entrance) >> Twin Peaks >> Janie's Addiction (horse trail & old Janie's singletrack) >> Boner >> Penchala Lama >> Kampung & tarmac >> Plan C >> Wasteland >> Bar-a-kuda >> Tarmac >> Mission >> 2K (half loop) >> Tarmac >> Shiner's (entrace at halfway) >> Rock Garden (Carnival).

Time : 8:45 a.m till 12:15 p.m

Distance : ~ 17 kilometers.

Quote from Alan "The trails are excellent. They are technical. It's a very good place to learn to ride on roots."

Epic, I'm Specialized

2010-01-10T22:11:00.017+08:00

For MTB, I'm sticking to Horst-Link designed suspension. All by suspension bikes were and are using Horst-Link design. So, does my new Specialized Epic.

Here are some reviews on my new steed:

Technical Fact Sheet (with some comments):

Frame and suspension:
Frame (new) : Specialized Epic, M5 Manipulated Alloy, M-size.
Rear shock (new) : Specialized AFR shock, BRAIN inertia valve with BRAIN fade and rebound adjustable, 100mm rear travel.
Fork (new) : Fox F100 FIT RLC, 100mm front travel (blink, blink..)

Side notes: All photos are with my old Rockshox Reba TEAM.

Cockpit:
Headset (transfer) : Chris King 1-1/8”.
Stem (salvaged from my store) : Tioga 60mm, 25.4mm clamp (this is heavy.. 200 grams!).
Handlebars (transfer): Syntace Carbon XC Low Riser, 25.4mm.
Grips : Some cheap but rubbery lock-on grips, really grippy (I replace it every 6 months due to its fast wear).
Saddle (new) : Selle Italia Shiver Gel-Flow (slightly heavy, but super comfortable)
Seatpost (new) : OTA 30.9mm, grey (look exactly like Thompson’s seatpost, yet lighter).
Seat clamp (new): Specialized QR, 34.9mm, black.

Brakes:
Front brake (transfer): Shimano XT, with Servo Wave & Free Stroke features.
Rear brake (transfer): Shimano XT, with Servo Wave & Free Stroke features.
Front rotor (transfer) : Hayes 6”.
Rear rotor (new) : Quad 6”.

Drive-train:
Front derailleur (new): Shimano XT, DMD, top swing, dual pull (I work with 2x9 only).
Rear derailleur (transfer): 2007 SRAM X-9, long cage (I need to change these soon…).
Front shifters (transfer) : 2007 SRAM X-9, 3-speed trigger (But, I work with 2x9 only).
Rear shifters (transfer) : 2007 SRAM X-9, 9-speed trigger.
Cassette (transfer): 2009 Shimano XTR, 9-speed (11-34T).
Crankset (transfer): Truvativ Stylo, 175mm, with 2-chainring (36/24T).
Chain (transfer) : Shimano XTR, with KMC bra-link.
Pedals (transfer) : Crank Brothers Candy SL (will be Candy 4Ti in near future)

Wheelset:
Front rim (transfer) : Stan’s No Tubes ZTR Olympic.
Rear rim (transfer) : Stan’s No Tubes ZTR Olympic.
Front hub (transfer) : WTB LaserDisc Lite, 9mm.
Rear hub (transfer) : WTB Laser Disc Lite, 9mm.
Spokes (transfer) : DT Swiss 2.0mm/1.8mm double-butted 1.8mm stainless, all black colour spokes except for and 2 silver colour spokes in between the air tube valve, with brass nipples.
Front QR (transfer) : OTA 9mm (Aluminium body, stainless steel shaft)
Rear QR (transfer) : OTA 9mm (Aluminium body, stainless steel shaft), with aluminium drop-out guard.

Side notes: All photos are with my old XC717 wheelset.

Ground contact:
Front Tire (transfer) : Kenda Nevegal, 1.95”, DTC.
Rear Tire (new) : Kenda Dred Tread, 1.8”, DTC (I love this tyre…!)
Front inner tubes (new) : Maxxis Flyweight 1.75”/2.15” (really light, less than 100 grams)
Rear inner tubes (transfer) : Cheng Shin 1.75”/2.25” (heavy at 175 grams, but never has problem with it for more than a year now & still counting)
Front rim tapes (new) : Maxxis Flyweight tape.
Rear rim tapes (transfer) : 17mm masking tape (wrapped twice).

Weight (with pedals, Cat Eye Wireless Meter, sensor & magnet, a bear bell & an old aluminium water bottle cage):
25.9 lbs (at Jimmy’s scale)
25.1 lbs (at Boon Foo’s scale)
25.2 lbs (at KSH Taman Tun’s scale)

My previous KHS XC904R weighted at 27 lbs.

Performance:

Cornering:
I’m talking about descending switchback first, and the Epic steers quickly but with good measure of predictability, so that I don’t go overboard.

On uphill switchback, the steering is mutually fast, so I need to step on the pedal as quick as I’m turning. This is where the BRAIN shines, as it resists pedal hammering to bring me forward; it just feels easier. On my other bike, even with Pro-Pedal is ON position, the rear suspension will be compressed first (little bit, but you can still feel it) before it carries you forward; so you lose time, distance and more importantly it feels harder.

On a singletrack, I’m very sure of the front fork and short stem tracking ability.

Side notes: I also chose the Medium size frame, to give me more knee-to-handle bar clearance during full cornering. Some people questioned my judgement, but it feels right during the tight cornering.

Descending:
Remember, this is a cross-country machine. So riding in series of trails in Bukit Kiara, with some serious drops (rock drops, tree trunk drops and technical downhills), I need to slow down before I approach them. I then let go of the brake as soon as the descending starts, and just feather the front brake or rear brake when necessary. Somehow, this cross-country machine gobble up rocks, roots and surface chatter with confidence. The small bump sensitivity of the AFR shock and Fox FIT RLC keep the bike on the trail surface nearly all the time. When the wheels take off the ground, the shock and fork open up responsively to ensure controlled landing. I also feel that this is the time that BRAIN is working full time to respond to the bumps.

Additionally, this is also the time that I’m satisfied with the choice of Medium-size frame, as the top-tube length is very inviting for technical descents.

Climbing:
The suspension works so well on reasonably smooth surface uphill climb because the Brain ensures that there is no bob. I really feel like riding a hardtail and it is a joy to crank-up the gear & standing up.

On technical climb (rocky, rooty, sketchy soil or undulating surface), the suspension also gives a lot of traction and opens up nicely. However, it also depends on how I setup the BRAIN Fade. If I set it up between zero to 2 clicks (from FIRM), it will behave like a hardtail, so you need that extra effort to go over obstacles and it can be harsh. From 3 clicks to 5 clicks (from FIRM), it will react to obstacles, but you need to go at certain speed from Brain to open up. So after 15 rides at various places, finally I settled at 2 settings. One for Bukit Kiara trail riding (which is super technical) at 8 clicks (from FIRM), and the other one at hash (which is more like hammering i.e. racing) at 3 clicks (from FIRM).

The BRAIN is the critical factor that isolated my KHS XC604 (with Fox RP3) in terms of climbing ability. The BRAIN makes every pedal uphill easier and more efficient than before.

Another important thing is geometry. The Epic has the same geometry as my previous KHS XC904R or my current KHS XC604. The head angle is 70 degrees and the seat angle is 73 degrees. Both my KHSes are agile climbers; the Epic with BRAIN exceeded my expectations.

Pedalling:
From my testing, the Epic equipped with AFR BRAIN shock, resists all pedal feedbacks up to 6 clicks (from FIRM setting) either during sitting or standing. As described earlier, I have 2 settings; one at 3 clicks and the other at 8 clicks.

At 3 clicks, the pedalling feel is super firm and it only equates to my old, old GIANT XTC (with carbon rear ends) pedalling feeling, either sitting or standing. Do I have to describe more?

At 8 clicks, it depends on two distinct situations. If I pedal hard during sitting, there is no bob and I feel the suspension is as hard as at 3 clicks. However, if I’m standing, the suspension will move very slightly.

Side notes: I tried the BRAIN setting to full open, and it behaves the same as my RP3 (on full open) on my KHS XC604. At RP3 (on Pro-Pedal ON) my KHS XC604 will move either I pedal hard during sitting or during standing. It is even worse during standing.

Since the cockpit is generous, the transition between sitting and standing positions is easy and very inviting. It makes pedalling feel snappy when I need to put the power down. As a result, I’m very happy with my 36/24T front chainrings combination with 11-34T cassette. I’m thinking of 38/24T front chainrings now.

The good stuffs:
I’m extremely happy with my choice of Medium-size frame as I can reap the benefits especially during switchbacks and downhill sections.

In short, the BRAIN AFR shock works!

The bad stuffs:
Specialized draws the cables under the down tube (front triangle), thus in soft soil or muddy conditions it suffers from soil/mud sticking easily to the under carriage. Dear Specialized, not matter what are your excuses, it just plain bad design.

[View from the back, with my previous XC717 wheelset]

[The cockpit]

[Syntace Vector Carbon handlebar]

[Downtube...]

[M5 Specialized's alloy & DMD Shimano XT front derailler]

[Horst-Link pivot & my trusted and old X9 rear derailler]

[The tiny swing link]

[Foreground - The Specialized AFR shock. Background - Old Nevegal was replaced by Dred Tread]

[The BRAIN]

[The BRAIN Fade adjustment dial (trail tune) & Shimano XT caliper]

2010 - New Year Ride

2010-01-01T14:37:00.003+08:00

Happy New Year 2010 everyone!

Me and my usual riding buddies rode our favourite Bukit Kiara trails today. Fun!

Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival 2009

2009-12-06T13:00:00.024+08:00

The 2009 edition of Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival was held on 21 and 22 Nov 2009 ago.

It was held at Bukit Kiara trails, where the first half of the loop was climbing... lots of them, including technical climbs, several switchback climbs and triple deckers climbs.

I was getting ready for the race for the last 2 months before the event. I was doing simulated indoor riding based on the Carnival trail elevation, riding intervals and a bit of strength training. Two and half week before the event, I lost 2 kilograms. Things were looking good.

Nope!! I had a stupid crash two weeks prior to the race. I felt down a 12 feet ravine when the rock where I stepped on slip. Apart from lots of cuts and bruises, my left knee had an internal bleeding.. ouch! After seeing the doctor, thank God nothing broken or tear. However, she serious advised me not to do hard riding within 3 weeks. Well.. there goes my chance to be competitive in this year race.

However, I watched the 2-day race and captured lots of photos; 215 in total and here are some for your eyes.

Disclaimer:
All the photos are not touched up, except for resizing and rotating. This time I'm lazy to label my photos, but they are still mine... hahahehehh..! However, 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.

[KLMBC's sponsors printed on t-shirt]

[Start of 18-30 years men's category - Seeding]

[Toward the end - Triple terrace downhill]

[The continuation after the triple terrace drop...]

[Start of Elite Women's category]

[18-30 men's category - Final]

[My friend, Megat, pumping on the technical climb]

[... and he made it, bravo!]

[...but many just pushed up]

[One of my favourite photos - SY climbing up the switchback]

[Another one of my favourite photos - Rider coming down after triple terrace downhill]

2010 MTB World Cup Calendar

2009-12-03T21:34:00.004+08:00

UCI just released the mountain bike (cross-country [XC], downhill [DH] and four-cross [4X]) World Cup, World Championships calendar as listed below. It also includes the European Championship and Marathon XC World Championship.

24 - 25 Apr 2010: Dalby Forest, Great Britain (XC).

1 - 2 May 2010: Houffalize, Belgium (XC, 4X).

15 - 16 May 2010: Maribor, Slovenia (DH, 4X).

22 - 23 May 2010: Offenburg, Germany (XC).

5 - 6 Jun 2010: Fort William, Great Britain (DH, 4X).

19 - 20 Jun 2010: Schladming, Austria (DH, 4X).

7 - 10 Jul 2010: XC European Championships, Haifa, Israel.

24 - 25 Jul 2010: Champery, Switzerland (XC, DH).

31 July - 1 Aug 2010: Val di Sole, Italy (XC, DH, 4X).

8 Aug 2010: Marathon XC World Championships, St. Wendel, Germany.

28 - 29 Aug 2010: Windham, USA (XC, DH, 4X).

31 Aug - 5 Sep 2010: Mont-Ste-Anne, Canada (World Championship - XC, DH, 4X)

Hhmmm.. why don't they have it in Asia at least? All the venues are more than 4000 kilometers away from Malaysia.

Anyway, I truthly hope the local 2010 Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival in Bukit Kiara will not be held in monsoon season i.e in October - December period; how about in September?

It has been a pleasure...

2009-11-29T14:21:00.006+08:00

I have been riding KHS XC904R since early 2006. It served me well, weekends after weekends.

Have a look at my XC904R here, here and here. I changed the components over the years due to wear and tear, or even personal preferences.

It is a very good bike. I quoted from Mountain Bike Action (MBA) magazine, October 2004, to show how good is the bike... " The KHS XC904R has that light and fast NORBA look. And in this case looks are not deceiving. Keeping the XC904R from earning perfect 10 is that USD3500 price tag, we expect a lighter wheelset. But the past two years have been good to the XC904R. She's all grown up and ready to be bell of the cross-country ball. How can we resist? We can't."

Last Wednesday, I stripped the XC904R naked, to make way for a new steed.

Salute to XC904R.. it has been a pleasure.

What is your IQ?

2009-11-26T22:15:00.008+08:00

IQ is the acronym for intelligent quotient, and refers to a score given for several standardized intelligence tests. The first of these tests was developed by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905. Today, the IQ test is commonly based on some model of the Stanford Binet Intelligence scale.

So, what is your IQ?

My last IQ test was about 14 years ago and scored 127. I don't care what it means, do you?

In cycling, Specialized Bicycle Company (Specialized) has developed an intelligent suspension shock that has God's know what's it IQ test score. The suspension shock is called BRAIN. Have a look at these videos to find out more...

1. BRAIN - The explanation.

2. BRAIN - The theoretical settings.

3. BRAIN - The pratical sag settings.

4. BRAIN - The pratical rebound settings.

Race Across The Sky

2009-11-14T16:11:00.007+08:00

One of the most exciting endurance mountain bike races is the 100 miles race in Leadville, USA. Hence, the name Leadville 100.

It was won 6 times by Dave Wiens before, until Lance Armstrong won it this year (2009).

This time the race was film, and it was suitably titled as "Race Across The Sky".

Sometimes I feel down, and need a bit of motivation

2009-11-07T18:58:00.014+08:00

There are times in life that you might feel down, I sometimes do have that, and of course I need a bit of motivation.

Apart from praying to God asking for strength, I like to share some motivation videos that I find touching and inspiring.

1. MTB - Road to Athens Olympics.

Sometimes due to link problem, you might not be able to see the tube, so click here to go directly to the source.

2. A limbless guy.

Again, sometimes due to link problem, you might not be able to see the tube, so click here to go directly to the source.

Trail Maintenance 18 October 2009: Carnival

2009-10-18T20:55:00.004+08:00

The Carnival trail (Lower Carnival) is one of most used trails in Bukit Kiara. The abuse comes both from all sorts of riders, cross country guys and downhillers, and also hikers.

Since this yearly Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival (KLMBH) is in 6 weeks time, it is timely to do some touch up on the Carnival trail. You can also read my previous post on this matter, click here.

These were the guys who showed up this time; Adilah, Ashley, Beatrice, Derald, Hui Peng, Jason, LeeNya, Megat, Pat, Rizal, Soon, Umar, Visan, Yew Jo. As usual, Pat is the leader.

I also got a new cangkul for this trail maintenance. My old one was ageing and gave way. Read more about cangkul here.

We were divided into several small teams. Me and Megat this time are in one team. We repaired the triple terrace drop entrance by making it wider and stronger, by adding side retainer, rocks and compacted soils. We also did some rock armouring & soil compacting in between the roots that lead towards the finish line.

I also created some waterbars to divert the water away. Others had their parts and we all contributed to make the trail more rideable and more sustainable.

No photos this time. I forgot my camera... shoot me!

However, I will take some photos after this to show the results. Stay tune...

My 2x9

2009-10-11T12:52:00.014+08:00

I posted about 2x9 before, click here for the link.

Since then, I was looking for the right setup. I considered several options, including purchasing the Rotor Agilis 2x9 or SRAM XX, or using the current crankset with various chainrings options.

The Rotor Agilis and SRAM XX are too expensive for me. So I decided to use my existing Truvativ Stylo (104/64 BCD) setup.

I also decided to go for 40/27T setup. However, these rings are hard to get by here in Malaysia. I even thinking of asking my sister-in-law who lives in United Kingdom to get the rings for me (either Middleburn or TA or Raceface), but it can get complicated with all the shipping, taxes, bla, bla...

Prior to that, I also tried my friend's, Jimmy, bike who has a KCNC 42/29T setup. I found that riding in Bukit Kiara, with lots of uphills, pointing up switchback, short & steep ascending sections of trails and never used the 44T, I revised my option to go for 40/27T setup.

I found a ratio of front chainring and rear cassette from the Rotor website, and did some re-calculation & reconsideration based on the terrain in Bukit Kiara and some of the hash routes that I did before. The best setup would be 36/24T. It might be small, but for weekend rider who love to climb the hills, I think it would be suitable for me.. at least on paper.

Here are the tables for the ratios:

I was very lucky that one of the LBS carry a set of Raceface bash/36/24T chainrings. I quickly grabbed it as it was the only one available.

I only put on the 36/24T rings & left the bash guard out, and I had to buy a shorter chainring bolts to accommodate the 36T. Another thing, the 24T is made from steel, which I like, and it should last longer than its aluminium counterpart.

I didn't weigh the rings, but with the new setup the bike now weigh at 26.3 lbs compared to 27 lbs before. However, weight is not my concern here, less front derailleur shifting and less spinning are my targets.

Here are some of the photos:

[My old Truvativ Stylo with a new set of 36/24T Raceface chainrings]

[The close up - Click on it and you can see the 36T and 24T inscription on the rings]

I tested the new setup for 3 rides at Bukit Kiara, 2 rides (6 loops) at the Carnival race trail and 2 rides at the hash trails. These trails, I my opinion, represent the variety of terrains that I ride every weekends. The Bukit Kiara trails and Carnival race trail have lots of uphill climbs, technical switchbacks (descending & ascending) and nearly all singletracks. The hash trails are mostly doubletracks and firey road, representing fast riding experience.

I'm very happy with the ratio of the rings. The 24x34 is slighly tighter than my old 22x34, but the torque feel is different (better feeling and control) and I spinned a lot less when climbing (especially on rooty trails e.g. Lightning Ridge). The 36x11 is high enough to keep the fast pace when riding the firey road or even on flat tarmac. Yeap.. the front shiftings are a lot less now, and I need to get use to it.

Yes... the SRAM XX or the Rotor Agilis may advocate the 40/26T or above ratios; but for my riding, the 36/24T hits my targets spot on. Either on paper or on the trails, the ratio serves me well.

Money wise, the Raceface set cost me RM250 + RM35 (for installation and general servicing). That is RM285, which is about USD81. A set of SRAM XX here in Malaysia is about RM4000 or USD1150, and the Rotor Agilis is about RM1800 or USD515. If you're thinking about return-of-investment (ROI), the route that I went gave a considerably high ROI.

In fact, I have ordered a new set of the Raceface bash/36/24T for my other bike as well.

River Runs Through It

2009-09-27T12:13:00.010+08:00

Right smack in the middle of busy and dusty of metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, lies one of the prestine and flowy trails for mountain biking.

It runs along a small river (more of a large stream...), hence the name of the trail is River Runs Through It. Due to the nature of the landscape, the trail is totally singletrack, with half of it is reinforced with the river's rocks and stones and certain sections can be pretty technical and rooty.

There are four stream crossings, which two of them are built using the rock structure to form bridges and the other two are made from local timber.

Look at the photos below... and notice the clear water.
[Photos taken using Nokia E71]

[Singletrack at the left of the photo]

[Singletrack from the top left (next to the tree) of the photo and towards the rock-align bridge]

[Singletrack from the top right of the photo and towards the timber bridge]

I rode the trail yesterday and it was a real pleasure, though it was not a long trail. Well.. so does most of the other trails in Bukit Kiara.

This is where I usually play...

2009-09-12T11:39:00.005+08:00

The photo below (taken by Andy Dass) is a picture of me with my buddies at the Bukit Kiara's crossroad.

The crossroad is where some of the most exciting trails in Bukit Kiara starts, such as the half-technical and fast 2K trail, technical 4K trail and the famous ~~Lung Buster~~ Twin Peak trail. It is also a 4-way junction for the tarmac road.

[Me, holding my KHS XC604, with my buddies]

This is where I usually ride and play...

Being single doesn't pay

2009-09-06T11:31:00.005+08:00

The Canberra's mountain bike course that host 2009 UCI Mountain Bike World Championship is quite a fast course, with no long climbing section and the technical downhill sections are relatively easy compared to the Beijing 2008 Olympic course. But they have several sections of technical climbs including uphill switchbacks. You can watch the full coverage here.

In the UCI Mountain Bike World Championship on 5 September 2009, multiple Olympic & World Cup winner, Julien Absalon, decidedly and presumptuously went to use single crank ring with 10-speed cassette.

The result! He lost in a pathetic way.

The photo below shows the Nino Schurter is celebrating the win, and look at Julien Absalon uncharacteristically trying to spin the large gear.

In my opinion, Julien Absalon should be also to go faster and smoother on the uphill technical if he chose dual chainrings, because sometimes he was pushing up (briefly) rather than cycling up. During this time, Nino Schurter was able to catch up easily with his smaller ring.

Even his new helmet looks odd. His previous Catlike helmet is much more handsome and functional.

Nikkor 10-24mm, I need you now...

2009-08-30T17:11:00.004+08:00

I started serious photography with Yashica SLR. The FX-3 Super 2000 model.

When I was in the university, I was intrigued with the eye-control focus by Canon, so I bought the Canon 50E in 1994. It served me very well and I was satisfied with it. My graduation photos were taken with Canon 50E by my girlfriend and she also like the way the Canon 50E handled.

The Canon 50E broke down in 2002. I immediately bought an APS automatic camera. Then in 2006, I jumped into digital technology and decided to buy the Canon 400D. The main reason that I bought another Canon SLR was because I wanted to use the lenses that I have with the 50E.

So, after a while, I started to wonder that the old 50E was easier to use and has better ergonomic. I wasn’t very happy with the 400D compared with the times I used the 50E.

Then, I was thinking to upgrade to Canon 40D. I tried it, and decided to wait for while, as it didn’t give me the click. A couple of months later, Canon introduced Canon 50D. I was quite excited, but after reading several reviews, I had a mix feeling about the 50D. So, I should stick to the 400D.

Then, came the blow. One day, I was helping my wife to take some photos of her colourful, crafty and delicious cupcakes and wedding cakes, see Chef Laily. The cakes were on a red cloth (as a background). I took the photos and reviewed them, and found that the red was not captured as red. I was slightly orangey. I tried to use other white balance settings including several manual settings but to no avail.

After that, was looking to Nikon. I borrowed my friend Nikon D80, and test the same things as above. The colour matched on auto white balance setting.

At that point of time, Nikon just launched the D80 replacement, the Nikon D90. I checked my bank balance, and decided to invest on Nikon D90 to satisfy my photography appetite.

After 6 months of playing with the Nikon D90, and after several events (such as 7 birthday parties, 3 official corporate events, 5 catwalk sessions and lots of other I interesting small occasions), I am back to the feeling like was having the Canon 50E.

The only complaint that I have about the Nikon D90 is I wish it has more cross-type sensors, but that doesn’t stop me at all.

The Canon 50E was a film camera that is equivalent to digital full-frame camera. When I was using it, I often borrow a 17-40mm lens to take landscape and in tight areas. This lens is equivalent to 11-25mm on the Nikon D90 APS-C camera.

And now, I really miss the wide angle lens due to my close proximity with my subjects i.e. my kids. Nikon recently introduced their new Nikkor 10-24mm f3.5-4.5. I need it…

Disclaimer: Most of the photos are from the Internet.

PCC Presidential Ride 2009 - Mountain Biking

2009-08-17T19:54:00.025+08:00

I bravely took part in the 65km off-road PCC Presidential Ride 2009 on Sunday, 16 August 2009, at Broga, Semenyih, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The ride started and ended at University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus.

Statistics from my Cateye:
Distance : 67.34 km.

Max speed : 43.3 km/h.

Average speed: 13.3 km/h.

Ride time : 4 hrs 52:57 minutes

Statistics from my memory:

CP1:
Arrived - 0910 hours.
Rest - ~5 mins.
Drink - 1 Revive.
Food - 1 Banana.

CP2:
Arrived - 1050 hours.
Rest - ~5 mins.
Drink - 2 Revive.
Food - 1 Banana.

Cramp - Rest ~15 mins.

CP3:
Arrived - 1205 hrs.
Rest - ~20 mins.
Drink - 1 Revive & 1 hydration salt drink.
Food - One piece of bread.

CP4:
Arrived - ~~1355~~ 1345* hrs.

All times are estimates, except arrival time at CP4.
* Correction (27 Sep 2009): Arrived at CP4 at 1345 hrs, and arrived at start/end at 1355 hrs.

Other interesting statistics:

Powerbar Gel - 4 sacks; 2 strawberry banana & 2 tangerine flavour.

Water - More than 3 liters (with refill at the checkpoints (CP)).

Fall - None.. yahoo!!

Cramps - Twice at both thigh muscles! Sh*t, sh*t...!

Stream crossings - 3.

Bridges - Too many to remember...

Best uphill - Between CP3 and CP4. Several of them here... crazy but damn fun!

Best downhill - Also between CP3 and CP4. Singletrack descent and the last section of long doubletrack downhill.

Best singletrack - Also between CP3 and CP4. Lots of them.. lovely :)

Best flat section - Between CP1 and CP2. All in big ring (44T).

Love & hate section - The uphill cement climb, singletrack though...

Worst sections - Tarmac between CP2 and CP3.. I got cramped here!

Brake problem - None.

Shifting problem - None.

Suspension problem - None.

Puncture - None.

Traction - Great.

Comfort problem - Slightly and need to consider cut-out saddle next time.

Stupid riders - Plenty..! Especially the one that knocked his pedal on my left knee during an "unrideable" ditch section.

Best booth - Cycling Asia.

Pre-ride dinner - Several slices of Domino's pizza; thin crust, separate Extravaganza & Aloha Chicken toppings. Lots of water and two glasses of hydration salt drink.

Pre-ride breakfast - Yoghurt, one slice of bread with lots of cranberry jam, water & a glass of hydration salt drink.

Post-ride lunch - None. Too tired to eat. Only two glasses of hydration salt drink.

Post-ride dinner - My wife cooking. Great Malaysian nasi lemak, with prawn sambal, fried eggs, fried chicken, Japanese cucumber. There were also lasagna, but I was only tasting it. Oh! yeah.. the dessert was chocolate fondant with ice cream... yummy!

Some of the photos from my handphone:
[Except the first one, courtesy from Phil Bee. Yeahh.. that's me.]

This is mountain biking!

Finally, I personally would like to thank to University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, for allowing the riders to utilise their campus as the base for the start/finish.

My first video blog

2009-08-06T08:10:00.009+08:00

This is my first blog with moving pictures.

All the 3 videos are from You Tube, and I thank the persons who are willing to share it for all of us.

The first one is about the first 2009 World Cup XC race in South Africa, the second one is the 2009 World Cup XC race in Houffalize and the last one in Offenburg.

Enjoy it..

Tell me how do you like them...

True yet Funny about 2009 Tour de France

2009-08-04T18:18:00.005+08:00

I was reading this true yet funny article about Tour de France 2009 from Eurosport's Blazin' Saddles:

"The Rocky Balboa Award for triumph in the face of adversity: Alberto Contador, who won his fourth Grand Tour in succession despite having as much support from his Astana team as a papier mache column in monsoon season. He even had to use his brother as a driver to get to the start of key stages after the team bus left without him!

The High-School Biggest Bully Award: Lance Armstrong, who despite his worthy intentions in the global fight against cancer, proved to be both nasty and oppressive at times. One side showed the Texan getting chummy with virtually everyone in the peloton (and Hollywood) while another saw the 37-year-old terrorize his team leader with a series of undermining interviews and posts on Twitter.

Worst Professionals: Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel for spitefully upstaging both Contador and Astana with information of their new RadioShack outfit before the race had even finished. No doubt, had the American been in yellow at the time, the focus would have been somewhat different.

Not Bad for an Old Man: Regardless of his behaviour, third place on the world's hardest bike race after more than three and a half years out is not to be baulked at. Without a broken collarbone in May, who knows what Armstrong could have achieved?

Best Sub-Plot: The fight for the green jersey was a feisty affair, with Cav the Chav unable to beat the Bull of Grimstad despite taking an imperious six stages on his way to completing the race for the first time. Thor Hushovs's solo break in the mountains to net vital intermediate sprint points showed the world why the big Norwegian probably tops Cav in the popularity stakes, but the scene is perfectly set for more fireworks in 2010.

Best Addition to the Tour: Twitter. It enabled you to see behind-the-scenes pictures of riders in their compression socks; it showed a new side to Cadel Evan's personality (the guy loves emoticons); it was used as a battle ground between LA and his many opponents, be it Garmin, AC or the race organisers; it allowed almost 600 contented souls to follow BS on twitter.com/saddleblaze.

Best Bike Handler: After becoming one of the first two Japanese riders to complete the Tour, Skil-Shimano's Fumiyuki Beppu performed an astonishing bouncy wheelie on the Champs Elysees that would make Robbie McEwen green with envy.

Best Boxer (prior to injury): Dutchman Piet Rooijakkers tried to give Cav a rib-crack during one tense sprint finish before suffering a horrible multiple fracture of the same arm days later.

Best Brothers: Despite early pressure from the frères Feillus, with their Erik Zabel-inspired black flattop hair styles, the Schleck brothers came good with a stage win and a podium place between them. With Andy touted to join RadioShack, would that be like taking the thin slice of meat from a ham and cheese sandwich?

Were You Really There?: Quick Step and Tom Boonen- did the Belgian team or their party-boy figurehead do anything of any merit during the three weeks? Poor Allan Davis.

Surely Team Leaders Next Year: Luis-Leon Sanchez, Jurgen Van den Broeck, Vicenzo Nibali.

Nonentity Come Good: Unknown, 31-year-old Italian journeyman Rinaldo Nocentini donned the yellow jersey for a whole week.

Tyler Hamilton Award for Riding When Collared: George Hincapie completed the race despite a broken collarbone sustained four days before Paris. And you thought climbing the Ventoux and delivering Cavendish for a sixth win was hard enough as it is.

So Near Yet So Far Award: Hincapie missing yellow by five seconds in Besancon. That'll teach him for sitting up towards the finish.

Most Bitter Award: Hmm, this is a toss up between Cav calling the Thor's green jersey "stained" and Garmin upping the tempo to stop Hincapie wearing yellow for one day for rival US team Columbia-HTC.

Humpty Dumpty Award: The Giro should have been proof: not that Menchov was a class rider, but that he couldn't stay on his bike if his life depended upon it.

Best Analogy: Bradley Wiggins calling stage 17 "a bit of a brothel" - presumably because it contains lots of up and down. That said, Cyril Guimard's comparing Evans's Pyrenean breakaway to "the last cigarette of a condemned man" must get a shout, if only for its ability to make BS picture Cadel with a fag propped in the dimple of his generous chin.

Biggest Schnozzle: The only thing more astonishing than Pierrick Fedrigo's stage win was the size of his almighty snout. They don't call him The Nose of Marmande for nothing, you know. Even Chris Boardman said it was the most aerodynamic piece of cycling equipment he had ever seen.

Biggest Token Rider: Everyone presumed that Astana's Dmitriy Muranyev was only brought along to the Tour because of his nationality and the Kazakh did little during the race to prove otherwise.

Biggest Disappointment: It's a toss up between 2008 champion Carlos Sastre, the current Giro giant Denis Menchov and the previous two-times runner-up Cadel Evans. All three had complete shockers.

Unluckiest Rider: Even the peloton's toughest nut couldn't get back on the bike after his ghoulish high-speed fall in the Alps. It compounded a difficult Tour for Jens Voigt, who saw an untimely puncture end a breakaway chance in a previous stage.

Biggest Surprise: Brad Wiggins, who lost a lot of weight and became a mountain goat on his way to fourth place. The only previous Tour the Briton had completed was in 2006 when he finished a lowly 124th, three and a half hours down and behind the likes of Robbie McEwen and current team-mates Davids Millar and Zabriskie. Such is his transformation, Wiggo has targeted a victory by 2012.

RadioShack 2010: Armstrong, A Schleck, Nibali, Leipheimer, Horner, Hincapie, Zubeldia, Chavanel, B Feillu"

Intesting huhh...

2x9

2009-07-31T21:22:00.001+08:00

A 3x9 is a typical setup for mountain bikes. Three chainrings in front (at the crankset) and 9 cogs of cassette at the rear tyre, hence the 3x9 or 27 gears. However, not all combinations can be used.

A 2x9 has the cassette but only 2 chainrings at the crankset. It only has 18 gears. Is sounds like having less gear is of no good. But, 2x9 setup is reportedly to have better chainline that allow all combinations. It is also lighter.

My riding buddy, Jimmy Kok, swapped his trusted Shimano XT 3x9 crankset with a KCNC 2x9 crackset last month. He said he is happy with the performance, where he is now gathering more traction rather than more wheel spinning when the trail is pointing upwards.

I tried the crankset on one of our Saturday morning rides (on Jimmy's bike, of course), and I'm liking it. It is true that the traction is well within control and the legs opening & spinning are more natural.

However, his KCNC has a 42/29T setup. Personally, this is slightly heavy for me. I would prefer a 40/27T. Since KCNC has only one setup, so I started searching for other options.

After searching from the Net, these are the options that are available:

1. KCNC - Chainring setup at 42/29T. BCD 94mm.

2. SRAM XX - Chainrings setup options at 39/26T, 42/29T and 44/32T. Each has propritery BCD bolt setup.

3. FSA - Chainring setup at 42/29T and 40/27T, with their own BCD bolt setup.

4. Rotor Agilis - Chainring setup at 40/27T. BCD 110/74mm.

For compatability purposes, I like the KCNC and Rotor BCD setup.

Personally, I want the Rotor Agilis 40/27T. As bonus, it comes with Q-ring eclipse rings.

Patawi's "2fnLong" Time Trial @ Bukit Kiara

2009-07-18T17:47:00.007+08:00

This is the second route of mountain bike time trial in Bukit Kiara. The first route was using the 2K trail.

Take a look at the map and elevation profile below, it passes several trails in Bukit Kiara and half of it is uphill i.e. lots of lung busting climb, before reaching the peak and heading down through excellent singletrack towards the Taman Tun Dr. Ismail's park.

A photo of me heading towards the end.

I suffered broken chains just after the Lung Buster trail (before the first uphill switchback). Luckily, the chains just snapped away and I also brought along with me a KMC's Missing Link. A quick reconnection and I'm off again. It does felt a little bit tight when shifting the gears.

However, by the time I finished fixing the chains, I was overtook by several riders already. My time was 39 minutes 10 seconds. First place was Ian Johnson at 25 minutes 37 seconds.

Read more at Fakawitribe.

Birthday

2009-05-12T11:34:00.005+08:00

On 7 May, it was my birthday. So, I decided to get myself a few good and replacement stuffs for my mountain biking hobby.

I got myself 2 pairs of cycling gloves, one from Nike and one from Louis Garnears (LG). I’m not sure the Nike’s gloves are good enough but they surely put some bling on my riding attire. The LG gloves are just fantastic; their gels are ergonomically located to minimize numb feeling.

Next, remember my previous blog about the top 3 best things for mountain biking. One of them is a tyre from Continental. Yes… I bought myself a pair of expensive, light and sticky Continental Mountain King 2.2” Supersonic.

2009 KLMBH's Epic Ride

2009-04-29T14:21:00.007+08:00

[Image is from KLMBH]

KLMBH organises hash (mountain biking event) every last Sunday of the month. Usually, the hash distance is between 20-30km for long rides. For scenic rides, the distance is usually half the distance and nearly suitable for everyone.

The KLMBH's epic is about 50km! Although it is not more than 100km, like typical epic ride around the world, hey... this is not a race! It is a fun ride.

This year the epic ride will be on Sunday, 10 May 2009.

It will be staged somewhere in Ulu Rening and Ulu Yam.

Make sure you join me there!
For more information, go to KLMBH website.

I do not know much the trails for the epic. However, there is a good write-up by the hares (guys & gals who recce and setup the trails for the hash) about the rides in Fakawitribe.com forum. Here are the extracts:

"1. Check Point CP 1
Comment: The first chicken loop for people on a short (scenic) ride.

Description: The first section aka CP1 is relatively easy and starts with a 1.7km road section to a oil palm plantation in Ulu Yam. The terrain in CP1 is moderately undulating and nearly fully shaded. This is the quintessential Malaysian plantation cross-country ride consisting of mature trees and well manicured trails.

There is one river crossing between Ulu Yam and Ulu Tamu. The river is beautiful and scenic and is knee high most of the time. However, after a heavy rainfall, the river can be as deep as waist high in parts and fast flowing and therefore, may not be safe for unsupervised children. This is a fantastic warm up route. Come and stretch those cold muscles here and breathe the fresh air.

Distance to check point : Approx. 16.9km.
Distance from check point to Home : Approx 1.2km.
Closing time: 11:45am(TBC).

2. Check Point CP 2(Water Point)
Comment: The second chicken loop for people on an intermediate ride.

Description: The route traverses kampung roads through Kampung Genting Malek. There is also a small shop set up in front of the owner's house in Genting Malek for riders to buy drinks. This section is characterised by narrow single lane 'kampung' roads that meanders gently around small 'kebuns' and is relatively flat and shaded.

There is a short single track section in a rubber estate just before check point CP2. Riders can replenish their water here at CP2.

Distance to check point: Approx. 26.4km.
Distance from check point to Home : Approx 3.7km.
Closing time: 11:45am(TBC).

3. Check Point CP 3
Comment: HYH's favourite route in Ulu Renning and the third chicken loop.

Description: This section has been used in both the 06 hash and 08 Epic Loop 2. 6km of beautiful and shaded cross country riding through a mature oil palm estate. At the end of the ride to CP3, riders enter the village of Ulu Renning.

There is a small shop here that sells drinks and some food. Riders can take a break here to eat and have their tea break. Riders on an intermediate ride can follow the main road back to the starting point.

Distance to check point: Approx. 32.6km.
Distance from check point to Home : Approx 6km.
Closing time: 1:30pm(TBC).

4. Check Point CP 4(Water Point)
Comment: The fun starts here!

Description: Up to this point, the ride has been civilised. The fun starts here! The first section is a shaded steep and steady climb on narrow premix road. There are some very good views of Ulu Renning here before we enter into a downhill section.

The bottom of the downhill leads to a red metal bridge and riders will face the main climb on the Epic aka Hill Nos 1. The hill is steep. However, when the planets align and conditions are perfect, our stronger hares have claimed to have ridden all the way up.

The subsequent downhill will lead the riders to our second and last refill point. Check-point 4 is located in a cool and shaded riverine picnic area, frequented by the villagers. This is a good spot to take a break and fuel-up before attempting to complete the remainder of the Epic. Riders can replenish their water here at CP4.

Distance to check point: Approx. 38.5km.

5. Check Point CP 5
Comment: Continuous climb in rubber estate.

Description: The ride from CP 4 to CP5 is a continuous 5km climb albeit, on a relatively easy gradient. The trail is shaded by rubber trees and there seems to be a constant light breeze here. This is a lovely ascent, which has been used many times by the hash.

We expect only the faster riders to make the closing time and the rest will be ushered through a chicken loop back to CP 1.

Distance to check point: Approx. 42km.
Distance from check point to Home : Approx 7.5km.
Closing time: 2:30pm(TBC).

6. Check Point CP 6
Comment: ‘First Among Equals'.

Description: You are super fit and strong. After 42km of fast riding, you are still fresh and you should be. You are the uber man/woman. You laugh at how easy our monthly hashes are. You want a challenge. And so, we will throw at you more hills, more sun, another river crossing, more single track, slippery and steep gravel roads...and you say, "Bring it on!." If this fits your bill, then our final route from CP6 to CP 1 is tailor-made for you. Welcome to Valhalla my friend.

Distance to check point: Approx. 45km.
Distance from check point to Home : Approx 6.7km."

The Season Has Just Started

2009-04-28T13:30:00.006+08:00

The World Cup mountain biking season for the year 2009 has just started. The second race was held in Offenburg, Germany on 25 & 26 April 2009.

Guest who won the elite men's race? Of course Julien Absalon. He got second during the first event of the season.

As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs.. watch out for the Chinese ladies! Yes.. Cheng Yuan Ren won in Offenburg.

Lets look back to the first race that was held in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 10-12 April 2009. This event is classic because it has all three major disciplines of mountain biking at one place i.e. cross country, downhills and four cross together.

For cross country, one of them said "The climb is much more longer than in Beijing Olympics".

Anyway, here are the winners:

Mens Elite Cross Country:
1. Jose Hermida
2. Julien Absalon
3. Burry Standers

Womens Elite Cross Country:
1. Elisabeth Osl
2. Irena Kelentieva
3. Lynn Byberg

For more results, go to www.cyclingnews.com.

"Wasteland" - The Understated Trail

2009-02-15T15:57:00.005+08:00

I always look forward to a bike hash at Bukit Kiara. This year is no different, and it was held on Sunday, 18 January 2009.

Rumours said that there will be new trails replacing the ones that were bulldozed to make way for the horse trails.

Note: Before you read on, this write-up is written such a way that you are familiarised with the trails name in Bukit Kiara.

After the briefing, done by Pat (the lead hare) and Huang (President of TRAKS), we are off to the tarmac climb. Not even half way, we were directed to the short-cut trail which lead to Lung Buster. Surprise it was… Lung Buster is now longer and slightly easier to climb… Yippee! However, it still made me gasping for air after that.

We then rode though the following trails:

Continue Carnival (Lung Buster) > 4K > 2K > Apollo > Tarmac climb > Horse trail (P10) > Tarmac climb > Plan C+ > Horse trail (P3) > Bar-a-kuda (very short section)

[Bridge at 4K Trail - This is the replacement bridge after the old bridge was damaged after the hash]

After the very short section of Bar-a-kuda, the hares led us to the new trail, which the name is yet to be finalized… but currently called “Wasteland”). It was tight yet flowy singletrack and was built along a ridge. Suddenly, there was a bridge… a log skinnies to be exact. After the skinnies, the singletrack continued thorough nicely arrange river stones which looked more like cobblestones. It then led us to a series of uphill switchbacks (six switchbacks I think..) before we ended up at the other side of Bar-a-kuda. Pure joy!

[Skinnies at "Wasteland"]

Then, the following trails:

Bar-a-kuda (the other side) > Lower Short > Upper Short (till the peak) > 5-junction horse trails > Horse trail (P5) > Pure Quill + > Twin Peak > Flinstones > Rock Garden (Carnival).

I must say after the long climb from Lower Short till Twin Peak, the flowy and rocky section of Flinstones and Rock Garden (Carnival) was fantastic and exhilarating.

Plus, the weather was breezy and the trails were dry!

More reading and viewing at the following links:

1. Bikehash - Forum discussion.

2. Blog - Biawaktasik - Excellent photos

The Pocket Rocketman

2009-01-26T07:42:00.005+08:00

[Azizul, in front, sprinting with Rizal Tisan]

Azizul Hasni Awang, a Malaysian cyclist, has won 2 gold medals at UCI World Cup Track Cycling and now has his own website.. err.. more of a blogsite.

He calls himself The Pocket Rocketman and appropriately the http address is http://thepocketrocketman.blogspot.com

Additionally, Rizal Tisan also won a gold medal at Beijing UCI World Cup Track Cycling for 1km sprint. Congratulations dude..!!

New Year, New Chain

2009-01-21T11:12:00.007+08:00

According to material science, material fatigue is defined as the structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to repeated loading.

The causes of material fatigue could be from frequent state of stress, material type, internal defects or environmental factors (high temperature, high humidity, etc).

The solutions to material fatigue can be redesign of parts, replacement of parts or use of other materials.

Real life situation:

Cause of Material Fatigue:
I have used my bicycle chain, Shimano XT, and for slightly less than 2 years it has borne my load. Just before the last Ramadhan, it broke while I was climbing a short uphill section at Snake & Ladder trail at Bukit Kiara. Two weeks ago, two of my friends’ chains also broke. Was it a hint by God?

Solution to Material Fatigue:
So, I bought a new chain to replace the ageing Shimano XT chain. I got the Shimano XTR/CN7701.

[Shimano XTR Chain]

Other Findings:
I’m also using KMC X9 Gold chain on my other bike.

[KMC X9 Gold Chain]

Putting those three chains on weighing scale, the KMC weighed at 265 grams (…also confirmed by www.sicklines.com and http://www.gramslightbikes.com/2007_10_01_archive.html )

The XT was at 285 grams.

The XTR was at 244 grams.

The XTR was also much cheaper than the KMC by RM45.00 (about 10 euros). Therefore, it is acceptable to conclude the XTR chain is quite a value buy.

However, it’s a shame that Shimano does not have “no tool requires” bra-type link for their chains, like the SRAM’s Powerlink or KMC’s Missing Link.

[KMC Missing Link]

No worries. I am using the Missing Link on my KMC X9 Gold and the outgoing Shimano XT chains. So, I believe that the KMC’s Missing Link can also be used on the XTR chain. Here we go…

Top Three

2009-01-01T16:43:00.028+08:00

While waiting for my Nasi Goreng Thai (Thai Fried Rice) at Secret Recipes, I saw a beautiful girl holding a magazine. What intrigued me was the large imprint on the magazine that said “Top 3 Men's Characters You Should Look For In 2009”... huh...!

It triggered me to write about top three of the following:

1. Best mountain bikes.

2. Best mountain bike races.

3. Best equipment.

I will not write down in detail the reasons I chose them, it was just my intelligent guess, hunch and experience. Additionally, it will be written towards cross country (XC), but I will not neglect other mountain biking riding category such as downhill (DH). You might not agree with me.. Hey! This is a free world. Read on…

THE TOP THREE OF THE BEST MOUNTAIN BIKES (2008):

1. Specialized Epic 2009 – The best XC race and XC trail bike.

2. Titus Motolite Exogrid – Combination of titanium and carbon fibre. If you have extra money to spend, the bike should last for lifetime. So does the warranty.

3. Giant Glory – Downhill frame ready for the World Cup and beautifully matched with Rockshox Boxxer Team.

[Specialized Epic 2009]

[Titus Motolite Exogrid]

[Giant Glory]

However, there are two bikes that surprised me in positive ways when I rode them, the Santa Cruz Nomad and the KHS XC604. The Santa Cruz Nomad is also a beautiful looking bike that can be used all day hucking the 4-feet drop easily. The KHS XC604 is responsive and can be built to race, yet light on your pocket.

[Curvy looking Santa Cruz Nomad]

[KHS XC604 frameset]

THE TOP THREE OF THE BEST MOUNTAIN BIKE RACES IN 2008:

1. XC World Cup at Offenburg, Germany – Won by Julien Absalon (mens) and Irina Kalentyeva (womens).

2. DH Mega Avalanche, Alpe d’Huez, France – Descends 2600 meters over 33 kilometers. Arms and legs aching race.

3. XC Olympic 2008, Beijing, China – Exciting race in the Womens category, but pure domination by Julien Absalon in the Mens category. He retained his Olympic title. Click here to read more.

Special mentions have to be said about our local races, here in Malaysia.

For XC, the Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival 2008 at Bukit Kiara was exhilarating to watch, although there were delays in publicising it. For next year, I hope they change the category level and also announce it much more earlier e.g. at least 4 months earlier. I recently posted about the race here.

For downhill, the Kiara Downhill Domination Race Series, again at Bukit Kiara, was lifting but a bit monotonous. Additionally, the trails used for the race series were also not compacted properly hence lack of sustainability. Nevertheless, it attracted many participants, local and overseas, and also brought the downhill mountain biking in Malaysia to another level.

For both races, I hope to see more participants from our local riders and also, for a start, riders from rest of Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

THE TOP THREE OF THE BEST EQUIPMENT (2008):

1. Shimano XTR M970 crankset – Tough yet light. Extremely suitable for XC, aggressive trail riding and even downhill.

2. Garmin 705 – Full fledge GPS i.e. topographic and street map capabilities, colour screen, lightweight and also comes with cadence & heart rate sensors.

3. Stan’s Olympic, Arch and Flow rims – For their applications, they are the lightest and tougher than their competitor. If you want to save your rotational weight, start here.

[Shimano XTR M970 Crankset]

[Garmin 705 GPS and Cyclocomputer]

[Olympic - One of Stan's No Tube rims]

I also would like to add two equipment that stand to their hypes. First is the Mountain King tyre from Continental, which grips the trail without adding any extra weight. Second is the Crank Brother’s Candy 4Ti pedal. This 200 grams per pair pedal is light enough for XC racing but definitely tough to handle everyday trail riding.

[Continental's Mountain King tyre]

[Crank Brothers's Candy 4Ti pedal]

UCI 2009 Calendar: Mountain Biking

2008-12-27T22:34:00.011+08:00

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

2008-12-02T02:14:00.006+08:00

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

2008-11-22T15:42:00.005+08:00

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

2008-11-17T20:45:00.008+08:00

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

2008-11-15T10:50:00.007+08:00

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

2008-11-03T11:24:00.005+08:00

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

2008-10-06T16:01:00.005+08:00

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

2008-09-07T16:19:00.009+08:00

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):

45km Epic @ Ulu Tamu

2008-07-09T16:23:00.005+08:00

Some quotes taken from various cycling forums about the recent KLMBH 45km Epic at Ulu Tamu:

Quote from em97y:
“Wow. The mud”

Quote from Rocketboy:
“A fantastic ride”

Quote from pigpen pat:
“No doubt about it, that was an epic, one that is likely to be the benchmark for some time to come”

Quote from jhiggi10:
“A top ride and huge fun - although feeling pretty stiff today! Really enjoyed the longer distance, especially with 2nd half being 100% rideable”

Quote from Basje:
“Absolutely PERFECT ride. It took me 5:57 to complete both loops, and I must say, the family jewels didn't feel very epic anymore after that. The route was really nice, completely rideable with the rare exception of some bomb craters or UFO landing area's, not sure what that was”

Quote from unkaleong:
"Bee Stings, lost cyclocomputer, mud and all..It was truly an Epic ride. Many thanks to the hares and the organisers! What really made the Hash memorable was finishing with Lee Nya, Roland and Shang. The 2nd loop just seemed to roll by (chain suck non-withstanding) with the clan"

As for me, it was a great off-road ride. The first loop was challenging, with excellent combination of singletracks and doubletracks, plus the hills were reasonably steeo. There were lots of mud that easily make your chain sucked. I finished the first loop at 12:15 p.m.

The second loop was nearly no singletrack. It was rolling up and rolling down of the palm oil and rubber plantation estates... fast and fun. I liked certain parts of the doubletracks because they were laid with rocks to reinforce them. It was still muddy though.

[On the second loop - Me in the middle]

[After the ride - Still smiling with helmet hair]

Safety Always Comes First

2008-07-09T07:54:00.005+08:00

Recent development of material manipulation and crafting, the mountain bikes are getting lighter. At the same time, there are tremendous improvements in the shock technology. These two progressions promotes longer travel full suspension, hence more aggressive riding. Consequently, the freeriding and downhill riding are becoming more popular than ever.

When more people pick up freeriding and downhill riding, there are bound to be a few newbies that eager to ride more. Riding more, for new comers, can be risky. The first recorded bicycle accident is probably a collision in 1842, allegedly between Kirkpatrick McMillan, an early rider of the velocipede, and a young girl in Glasgow. The report, however, is vague and the identification disputed.

There are a few causes of accidents, but the one that I would like to discuss here is sharing of trails.

Sharing of trail means respecting each user, irrespective of their riding style. Cross country riders have the niche to climb every hills presented to them, however downhillers love gravity to do its function. One up, one down… if they share a trail, they are bound to meet at a point. The meeting point, if adrenaline is high, is probably where they collide.

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is an excellent resource on trail system design, trail building and maintenance. They advocate that, if the trail is shared, then safety always comes first.

In Bukit Kiara, there is also a rider ethics being advocated. Again, safety always comes first.

Don't get this saddle..

2008-07-02T18:02:00.004+08:00

Just don't get this saddle. Look at the photos...

[Crocket titanium rail]

[No balance]

[Thin saddle, with crocket rails]

[Left: Dirty but usable saddle; Right: Clean but deformed rail]

Picking Up Lenses

2008-06-02T12:56:00.009+08:00

Today, I felt a bit weary after a week of planning for the kids birthday bash, driving 400km back and forth to my hometown in the same day on Saturday, and hosting the kids’ birthday party yesterday. So, I decided just to wind down by browsing the Internet and looking back into the photographs of the recent events.

Most of the photos that I shot are excellent. But, I found that some of the important photos are lack of sharpness. By the way, I like to take candid and group photos.

After doing a bit of research, I concluded that the aperture was the culprit.

The person that I focused onto has sharp images. However, the persons around him/her (slightly foreward or slightly backward) were a little bit soft/out of focus/blur. This happened because I used the large aperture (F2.8). There were similar photos that were at F4.0, and the results are much better. I also compared to my photos that I took using the Canon EF 70-200 F2.8L IS lens (which I borrowed from the shop) and I found that the same problems occurred.

So, I went into the Internet to get some write-up and read the forum on such issues. Oh! Yes… I would say the world share my thought.

The aperture F2.8 allows more light to enter, so that you can have faster shutter speed to make the focused image sharper. But, in my photography application, I probably can do without the F2.8 aperture opening.

From now on, I will try to stick to F4.0 and above aperture opening (hence faster shutter speed) for sharper image. Depending on the situations, I need good lighting or flash, and most important is the tripod/monopod to make sure the camera is still.

So, after reading some of the write-ups and forum, here are my suggestions for lenses for the photographers who like to take candid, children (party or setup), group photos and occasionally architecture and landscape. By the way, I am using Canon 400D camera, hence I will only recommend Canon lenses or compatible third party lenses.

For wide angle zoom: Tokina AT-X Pro 12-24mm, F4.

[Tokina 12-24mm, F4]

For everyday zoom:
To choose either one (or if you’re rich, get both...):
Short zoom: Canon EF 17-40mm, F4L.
Everyday zoom: Canon EF 24-105mm, F4L.

[Canon EF 17-40mm, F4L]

[Canon EF 24-105mm, F4L]

I cannot afford neither the Canon EF 17-40mm, F4L nor Canon EF 24-105mm, F4L, so I ended up with Canon 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS, which suits my applications.

Currently, I have the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 Di-II lens, but I still prefer the Canon 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS.

[Canon EF 28-135mm, F3.5-5.6 IS]

For medium length zoom: Canon EF 70-200mm, F4L or if you have money to spend, get the IS version.

[Canon EF70-200mm, F4L]

[Canon Ef 70-200mm, F4L IS]

3 Killer Climbs

2008-05-28T21:02:00.005+08:00

Sunday, 25 May 2008, its hash at Semenyih.

It was a real killer climb ! There were 3 major climbs and one moderate climb. Just look at the GPS elevation chart.

[One moderate climb and 3 killer climbs]

[The moderate climb]

[The second of the 3 climbs.. no one cycle up]

[Resting...]

[The route]

Jersey

2008-05-19T17:57:00.009+08:00

Jersey is an island measuring 118.2 square km, including reclaimed land and intertidal zone. It lies in the English Channel, approximately 22.5 km from France, and approximately 161 km south of England. It is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands.

No, no, no... not that "jersey". Now I have a vogue of collecting the World Cup/Champion (WC) cross-country mountain bike jerseys.

This is my list, as at 18 May 2008:

1. Julien Absalon, Orbea WC, 2007.
2. Gunn-Rita Dhale, Merida WC, 2005 & 2006. [Got it on 19 May 2008, picture to come soon]
3. Julien Absalon, Bianchi WC, 2006.

These are the samples, they might not be exactly the same, depending on the sponsors at that time. However, they all have the UCI World Champion stripes/mountain in the middle of the jersey or UCI World Champion stripes somewhere around the jersey. Cool...

Trail Maintenance : Bukit Kiara, 2K Trail

2008-05-17T19:19:00.005+08:00

Sunday, 11 May 2008. The 2K trail at Bukit Kiara just got longer by roughly 150 meters, and with 4 additional log drops at the existing section (not in the picture).

The log drops are placed at strategic locations of the early part of 2K (clockwise direction) to slow the riders down, yet it provides quite an interesting challenge combined with the downward nature of the trail. The first drop is a miniature drop, even for an 80mm fork. They get progressively deeper, with the last drop of slightly less than one foot, and there is a left turn immediately after it leading to the new section.

There is a switchback that goes around a boulder, and leading to a triple-terrace descent. If you still like the saddle (ravine) at 2K, turn left after the cascade. Otherwise, go straight and pass through a small, but rocky, creek crossing. Enjoy it…

Great Ride & Great Fish

2008-05-10T18:44:00.007+08:00

Sunday, 4th May 2008, I rode about 23kms this morning at the KLMBH bash in Kg. Serai, Kuang, Rawang.

The trails were mixtures of rubber plantations, palm oil plantations and some short singletracks. The trails were not as exciting as Kiara’s trails, but it brought up my riding skill to another level. As it happened, it really enjoyed the ride.

[The briefing...]

[Down to singletracks]

[DIY...]

[Stream crossing...]

[One the streams, and the water was clear!]

[Jimmy & Me]

[Jimmy & Rizal]

[Rizal showing the GPS tracks]

[Overcoming the fear for skinnies...]

This and that… after the ride, I had one of the best cooked tilapia fish ever. The tilapia was steamed and served with delicious soy sauce mix with ginger, coriander, chillies. Lovely…

Our friends from over the straits

2008-05-05T08:50:00.007+08:00

On 3rd May 2008, it was my third time riding with our friends from Singapore, Jay and Sally. They said trails at Bukit Kiara are short, but technically and lung-bustingly demanding.

[The riders. Sally is 2nd from right and Jay is 4th frm right]

[Singletracks]

[More singletracks... with obstacles]

[Sally tackling the man-made drop at 4K]

[At Janie's Addiction]

[More at Janie's Addiction]

[I'm climbing here.. with smile...]

[Me and Jimmy at Bukit Kiara Bike Wash]

[Me... and my beloved KHS XC904R/Team]

Callipygian Support

2008-05-03T21:52:00.005+08:00

The English word of Greek origin "callipygian" indicates someone who has beautiful buttocks. Therefore, I need to protect and take care of my beautiful ass/bottom/buttock or "callipygian".

So, I bought myself a spanking brand new saddle.. the Fizik Gobi XM.

Nice...

First bike see-saw in Bukit Kiara trails

2008-04-19T21:09:00.007+08:00

As I was riding up the Twin Peaks today, I noticed a newly built ramp. Quickly, I went to check out the ramp.

When I got there... wallah... it was not a ramp, it was the first bike see-saw in Bukit Kiara trails.

Pictures of Bukit Kiara's see-saw will follow suit.

However, these are some pictures of the see-saw at trails around the world:

Bukit Kiara Trail Replacement - Pure Quill, Part II

2008-04-08T14:54:00.003+08:00

Sunday, 7 April 2008.

The first Pure Quill trail works was good, but due to the amount of works that needs to be done, only half of the trail was digged.

So, we come again to continue what's left.

Teluk Batik MTB Carnival 2008

2008-03-31T08:31:00.002+08:00

Lumut, Perak
24th/25th May 2008

Race Information:

CROSS COUNTRY (1 Lap = 2.4km):
Men’s Elite Open, 12 Laps
Men’s Open (19 - 45 years), 9 Laps
Men’s Open (45 years & above), 9 Laps
Womens’s Open, 9 Laps
Men’s Junior (18 years & below), 9 Laps

DOWNHILL (0.8km)
Men’s Open

Please download the entry form from the attachment.

Do not hesitate to contact the following contact for further information:
Rahim (017 554 7896)
Shamsul (012 594 6740)
Secretariat Office
Chalet Impian
Persiaran Teluk Batik
Teluk Batik
32200 Lumut
Perak
Malaysia

Spin The Wheel

2008-03-08T15:44:00.006+08:00

My current wheelset, Bontrager rims - DT Swiss Champion spokes - Formula hubs, weight 2155 grams. It is too heavy for cross-country riding and trail riding at Bukit Kiara. Nevertheless, it is a tough wheelset that can take the abuse.

Since riding at Bukit Kiara involved a lot of climbing, including technical climbing, I think it is time to lighten the wheelset.

My choice components are:

> ZTR Olympic rims, 32 holes
> DT Swiss double-butted spokes
> WTB Laserdisc Lite hubs

At the LBS, I weight the wheelset:
> 682 grams in front
> 808 grams at the back
> Total of 1490 grams

I think that is lighter than the Mavic SLR wheelset!

Bukit Kiara Replacement Trailworks - Pure Quill

2008-03-08T15:42:00.001+08:00

Stay tune...

Bukit Kiara Replacement Trailworks - Plan C

2008-02-05T19:34:00.001+08:00

The Plan C trail which connects Sri Hartamas to Bukit Kiara trail network was destroyed by the new 3 meter (plus) wide horse trail built the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) or Kuala Lumpur City Council.

[The 3-meter + wide rotten horse trail]

There were 25 people gathered to do their parts in building the new replacement trail. After the safety briefing, the guys were divided into several groups; one to open up the path and do the finishing job, one group to clear the big stuffs like fallen trees or boulders and one group to dig and carve the trail.

Each group had their leader, but the trail master is Pat. This is also my first time being a leader for one the group. Great experience !!

Here are some the pictures taken by several of the trail crews.

According to the Pat, we managed to open up 450 meters of trail and only another 50 meters were left out.

After the hard work, me and my beloved wife Laily setup a small barbeque of Ramlee burgers, frankfurters and breads. She also pre-cooked baked chicken, simple twisted pasta and chicken & mushroom quiche. To replenish the lost water and salt from the body, the isotonic drinks and watermelons were also served.

Bukit Kiara Trail Watch by Joe Adnan

2008-02-03T15:00:00.001+08:00

I came accross Joe Adnan's blog about the destruction of Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. It comes with photographic evidents of the wrong and inhumane ways of "developing" such prestine green lung area.

Click here to read more about his trail watch at Bukit Kiara.

World Major MTB XC Race Calendar

2008-02-01T16:16:00.000+08:00

Tag these dates and if you're lucky, planned your holidays to coincide with these amazing world class cross-country race for 2008.

Don't forget the Malaysian own events as well such as the PCC Presidential Ride at Kajang and Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival at Bukit Kiara.

The world class race calendar are as follow:

2008 UCI World Cup
March 15-16: XCM #1, Manavgat/Antalya, Turkey
April 19-20: XCO #1, Houffalize, Belgium
April 26-27: XCO #2, Offenburg, Germany
May 3-4: XCO #3, Madrid, Spain
May 10-11: DHI/4X #1, Maribor, Slovenia
May 31-June 1: XCO #4 & DHI/4X #2, Vallnord, Andorra
June 7-8: XCO #5 & DHI/4X #3, Fort William, Great Britain
July 27-28: XCO #6 & DHI/4X #4, Mont Saint Anne, Canada
August 2-3: XCO #7 & DHI/4X #5, Bromont, Canada
August 30-31: XCO #8 & DHI/4X #6, Canberra, Australia
September 13-14: XCO #9 & DHI/4X #7, Schladming, Austria
October 4-5: XCM #2, Ornans, France

2008 UCI World Championships
June 17-22: World XCO/DHI/4X/Trials Championships, Val di Sole, Italy
July 6: World Marathon Championships, Villabassa, Italy

2008 Olympic Games - Beijing, China
August 22: Women's MTB
August 23: Men's MTB

Click here for my previous post on the MTB event at Beijing 2008 Olympic.

Bukit Kiara - First Hash of 2008

2008-01-28T21:40:00.000+08:00

The secondary jungle and rubber plantation estate of Bukit Kiara witnessed the KLBMH's first hash of 2008. Personally, I have mix feeling about it.

First, despite the tearing of prestine and hand-built singletracks at Kiara by the DBKL to build horse trails, the hash managed to carry about 19km of technical and endurance off-road riding. I enjoyed every bit of it. At one one time, I asked myself.. "Are we still in Kuala Lumpur?"... still wondering.

Second, I am very sad to see that more singletracks (e.g. Janie's Addiction, Pure Quill, Dirty Deeds, Plan C and Pondok-to-Pondok trails) were destroyed by the new, ridicilously wide and erosion-prone horse trails.

Third, while enjoying the tight, twisty and downhill switchbacks at Thunder Valley, I fell down (endo) and hurt my left ribs. It felt like I had been punched by Mike Tyson, and I initially thought I broke my ribs. After an x-ray session, I'm very happy that there was no broken bone. But still, it hurts.

Some photos, and more to come very soon...

[Patawi at the briefing]

[Great barbeque.. courtesy of Tan Boon Foo of BikePro]

These were the routes:
Start at Taman Rimba Kiara > Short tarmac in front of Tun Hasmah Foundation > Carnival via Lungbuster (Halfway) > Halfway of 4K and its full loop until Rubbish > 2K > Apollo > Tarmac > Lower Short > Snake & Ladder > Twin Peaks > TNT > Horse trails until halfway of Boner > Boner > Reverse of Penchala Lama > Lightning Ridge > Thunder Valley > Tarmac of Kampung Sg. Penchala > Flinstones > Carnival > Short tarmac in front of Tun Hasmah Foundation > End at Taman Rimba Kiara

Beijing Olympic Mountain Bike XC Course

2008-01-25T15:38:00.000+08:00

This year, Beijing will host the Olympic 2008. I wish I have the time to go and enjoy the cross-country mountain biking event.

If you're like me i.e. can't go to the Olympic, enjoy the following graphics and photos of the Beijing Olympic Mountain Bike trail.. The Laoshan Mountain Bike Course.

[ 3-D Course Elevation]

[Course Elevation]

[Smooth singletrack, but... ehmm.. quite wide for overtaking]

[The climb with rocky feature]

Kiara Underseige Again..!!!

2008-01-17T11:50:00.001+08:00

The pristine, flowly, hand-built and well-maintained singletrack trails at Bukit Kiara are undergoing extinction process, due to the underseige by the lust to satisfy the appetite of horse riding.

As of today (Thursday 17 January 2008), my adopted trail (Pure Quill) is gone. I'm devastated. Furthermore, I was planning to carry out general trail maintenance on Pure Quill this Saturday (19 January 2008).

Pure Quill is about 400 meters of singletrack. It connected several trails at once, such as the Janie's Addiction and Around The Mountain trails at Taman Tun Dr. Ismail side and the Upper Short, TNT, Dirty Deeds trails on the center of Bukit Kiara.

The picture below shows the destruction of Pure Quill trail from flowly singletrack to unchallenging 3 meters (plus-minus) wide horse trail. The picture was taken by one of the Fakawi Tribe members.

One of the trail users has written to the local newspaper urging the public to protect the Kuala Lumpur's only green lung. Click here to read more about it.

I also wrote a blog about this earlier. Please click here to redirect.

Some of the photos of prestine singletracks at Bukit Kiara can be viewed in my previous post on Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Carnival 2007.

SAVE THE SINGLETRACKS...

Awal Muharram Kiara Ride

2008-01-10T12:54:00.000+08:00

It's Awal Muharram, the first day of the new year for Muslim calendar. Awal means early or first, and Muharram is the first month of the year. Got it...

So, I rode Bukit Kiara today with Jimmy and Yee. The trails that we rode are:

Uphill tarmac > 2k > Apollo > Tarmac > Barrakuda.. oppsss... >Tarmac > Upper Short > Snake & Ladder > Twin Peaks uphill > Twin Peaks downhill > Shirner Convention > Rock Garden > Carnival. About 13.5 km.

Why Barrakuda.. oppsss...? We could ride through Barrakuda now. DBKL is building horse trails for the King of Malaysia (see my previous post) and they are taking over the hand-built mountain biking trails in Bukit Kiara. I'm very sad.

For information, by the attributes of mountain biking and horse riding, they could not share off-road trails. It's too dangerous.

A few of other trails were also invaded and converted to horse trails, such as Plan A, Plan C, Lower Short. Again, I'm very, very, very sad.

2008 KLMBH's Monthly Mountain Bike Hashes Announced

2008-01-05T22:05:00.000+08:00

Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Hash (KLMBH) holds monthly Mountain Bike Hashes ("bashes") in the Klang Valley area, usually on the last Sunday of each month.

[KLMBH Banner]

The following monthly schedule for 2008 was extracted from the KLMBH website:

Sun 27 Jan 2008 - Pat Brunsdon at Bukit Kiara
Sun 24 Feb 2008 - Rob Schorr & Ying How at Ulu Yam
Sun 30 Mar 2008 - BBB at Bandar Tasik Puteri, Rawang
Sun 27 Apr 2008 - Stapo, Venue TBA
Sun 25 May 2008 - TBA
Sun 29 Jun 2008 - TBA
KLMBH EPIC 2008 - Scott Roberts & amp; Ying How at Ulu Tamu
Sun 27 Jul 2008 - Phil Bee & Jane Gapang (TBC), Venue TBA
Sun 24 Aug 2008 - TBA
Sun 28 Sep 2008 - B. Emby, S. Allen, R. Larsen & Andrew Rhodes, Venue TBA
Sun 26 Oct 2008 - TBA
Sun 30 Nov 2008 - TBA
Sun 28 Dec 2008 - TBA

TBA = To be announced.

If you guys like to join the ride, go to their website by clicking the above KLMBH banner to obtain latest information about the ride and direction.

New Stopping Power

2007-12-29T21:42:00.001+08:00

Saturday, 29 December 2007, I replaced my brake set (Hayes HFX9) with the 2008 Shimano XT brake set.

The new 2008 Shimano XT brake set has the features that I really like:

1. No tool adjustment for the position of brake level for reach adjustment,

2. Simple adjustment for free stroke

I installed them myself, and it was easy. The only dissapoinment (compare to Hayes HFX9) is that the Shimano did not come with flip-flop design for mounting on either side of handlebar.

Udang Galah (Fresh Water Blue Prawn)

2007-12-24T09:13:00.000+08:00

I love udang galah, especially when you fried them. They are delicacy in Malaysia, the taste is exquisite and better than lobster.

During my wedding reception in Teluk Intan, my parents served us the udang galah... yummy.. they were delicious !!!

How to catch them? So, I bought my self a couple of fishing rod and reel sets, and a rod and reel set for my eldest daughter. Suprisingly, the reels were made from Shimano, even the name has XT series added to it.

My first set is Shakespeare Sigma Titanium rod and Shimano Aernos XT 2500. This set will be used to catch the blue udang galah and other fishes (I like the baung fish).

I will try to use this lure bait(from Strike Pro, model JL119, suspended) to get the baung fish.

My second set, especially for reeling up the blue udang galah, consists of the affordable Exori Belida rod and Shimano Slade FB 1000.

Now, catching the famous blue udang galah is another matter.

20 December 2007 : Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha (Eid Qurban)

2007-12-24T08:31:00.000+08:00

Assalammualaikum or Be peace upon you...

20 December 2007.. its Hari Raya Aidil Adha, and where the Muslims who are fortunate enough to perform the Haj ritual in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

For those Muslims whose unable to perform their Haj this year, try another year until you succeed. Additionally, a Qurban or animal sacrifice is highly recommended. The calculation is simple, either a goat or 1/7 of a cow.

The meat will be distributed to the needy Muslims (only Muslims) around the world.

Be peace upon you.

Big Lenses, Small Sensor : The Canon EOS 400D

2007-12-11T21:58:00.000+08:00

Photography has always been my other hobby, but it was superseded by various adhoc things that happened in my life. Now, its back... capturing every moments of life (well... almost!)

Lets start with some brief history of my SLR equipment:

1988
Yashica film camera.
Konica 35-70mm F4-5.6 lens.
No external flash.
My school bag was my camera bag.

1995
Canon EOS 50E film camera.
Canon EF 28-80mm F4-5.6 USM II lens.
Canon EF 70-300mm F3.5-6.3 USM II lens.
Still no external flash.
CCS shoulder bag.

2007
Canon EOS 400D digital camera.
Canon EF-S 18-55 F3.5-5.6 lens - comes with the camera, crap lens.
Tamron 17-50mm XR DiII F2.8 lens - replace the crap lens for wide area coverage.
Canon EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 Image Stabiliser USM lens - my walk around lens.
Canon 430EX flash - finally.
Tamrac 5E shoulder bag.
Lowepro Topload Zoom 1 bag.
Lowepro Lens Case 2S.
Lowepro Lens Case 2.
Lowepro small belt.

I still can use my old Canon EF 28-80mm F4-5.6 USM II and Canon EF 70-300mm F3.5-6.3 USM II lenses.

More coming... with pictures as well.

Trail Maintenance 25 November 2007: 4K

2007-12-02T01:26:00.001+08:00

We walked along Tony's new and still secret bypass trail along the 4K trail. Short but interesting...

We armoured (with lots of rocks) one of the dangerous 4K descent.

[The hardworking crew]

[The rocky downhill - before]

[The rocky downhill - after (smooth but still rocky)]

[Me.. taking the photo, Asri and Razali]

[Pat, Tony and The Rock]

Trail Maintenance 21 October 2007: Janie's Addiction

2007-10-21T14:57:00.004+08:00

We covered about 1.5km of Janie's Addiction trail today.

Quote from Patawi @ Fakawi Tribe Tribal Talk:

"Cast, in order of appearance: Patawi, Rebecca, Derold, Tee, Umar, Yish, Yian Lei, The Entire Stapo Family, Mus, Phil. Thanks so much to all of you for your help.

It wouldn't have been half as much fun without you, and it would have taken me weeks to do the same amount of work (if I ever managed to do it at all).

Total input:
50 hours of labour, 30 litres of water, 1 liter of chainsaw fuel.

Total output: 1 km of Janie's Addiction buffed to a high sheen. Trimmed, raked, deadfall cleared, roots covered, erosion control added, original route restored. You can't get a better wax job on the beach at Ipanema."

Interbike 2007

2007-09-30T18:40:00.001+08:00

I wish I'm visiting the USA now. The first destination would be riding the trails in either Maob or Sedona, Arizona.

The second destination would be attending the Interbike show. For 2007, it is between 24 September 2007 till 28 September 2007.

Bukit Kiara Clean Up Day - 16 September 2007

2007-09-16T13:10:00.001+08:00

Bukit Kiara Clean Up Day is organised by TRAKS.

More on this later...

Ramadhan 2007

2007-09-14T10:42:00.001+08:00

It fasting month (Ramadhan) again for the Muslim. You cannot consume food or drink, or do extreme sinful things from dawn to dusk.

At the end of the month, there will be a big celebration... we call it Hari Raya Aidil Fitri or in some western country it is known as Eid Mubarak.

As far as mountain biking is concern for me, there not much riding I can do during the day time. I could cycle without food, but definitely not water. It's just demanding on the hydration.

However, this is the month that I actually tried to gain some stamina and lose weight. I will do interval trainings at my local gym at night, two or three times a week. Each session will be divided into 5 periods.

Period 1: Warm up - 10 minutes.
Period 2: Cycling at 1 minutes fast pace, with 1 minute rest. Ten times.
Period 3: Brisk walking - 10 minutes.
Period 4: Cycling at 1 minutes of 9 degrees climbing medium pace, with 1 minute rest. Ten times.
Period 5: Walking - 5 minutes and stretching - 5 minutes.

I usually vary the duration and the pace accordingly to avoid boredom.

World Champion

2007-08-31T13:39:00.000+08:00

The current mountain biking cross-country (XC) world champion is Julien Absalon. He won the title 3 times i.e. in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In the current 2007 season, he is leading the championship points.

I never ride the championship XC courses, and I believe they are mix of steep climbings, technical downhills and fast singletrack sections. But, I would love the world championship (WC) comes to Bukit Kiara.

The existing Carvinal trail that host the yearly KL Mountain Bike Carvinal is about 2.2km per lap. Overlay this onto the typical WC race distance (40km), it will be about eighteen (18) laps !

Could Julien sustains the 18 laps? I would imagine that it would be a great race...

To read more about the 3 times mountain biking cross-country world champion, click here...

Back Into Riding

2007-08-23T18:47:00.000+08:00

Due to great addition into my family, I haven't rode for 4 weekends.

Now, I'm back into riding at Bukit Kiara.
The tarmac climb and the Twin Peaks climb felt so tough. Time to regain my fitness and strength.

See you guys in the trail. Happy riding

Milestone : Bike wash at Bukit Kiara

2007-08-19T17:20:00.001+08:00

A real mountain biking at Bukit Kiara milestone...!!! It is also an ackowledgement by the authority, Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL), for the mountain biking activitites in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[The construction]

[A completed bike wash facility at Bukit Kiara]

[Riders washing their bikes]

Check this page for more detail.

Not even North Shore, Canada has one yet...!

KL Mountain Bike Carnival 2007

2007-08-11T13:22:00.000+08:00

The Kuala Lumpur (KL) Mountain Bike Carnival 2007 was held on 11 and 12 August 2007.

Here are some of the pictures:

..

..

News on Bukit Kiara

2007-07-22T09:24:00.001+08:00

This article was taken from The Star:

Friday June 29, 2007

HUGE PARK AT BUKIT KIARA

By NG SI HOOI

KUALA LUMPUR: The 188.93ha public park, equivalent to the size of about 300 football fields, will be in Bukit Kiara here.

The biggest park in the country will be bounded by Taman Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, the KL Golf and Country Club, the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club and Sri Hartamas, said Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting yesterday.

“The park is our own version of London’s Hyde Park or New York’s Central Park. The park will reflect Malaysia’s identity.

“It will be a sprawling green lung recreational park for city folks to relax in and enjoy Mother Nature. The park will change the image of the city as a concrete jungle,” Ong said.

He said the theme for the park was “design with nature” and not only the natural habitat of the area would be preserved but more trees would be planted too.

“We want to make sure this park retains its identity by adding more greenery to make it more attractive and environment friendly,” he said, adding that the Government would decide on the name of the park later.

He said the park would have various facilities, including jogging and bicycle paths, and space for people to have picnics or camp and courts for various sports like basketball,” he said.

“The public can take part in various activities such as hill climbing and biking, science exploration on flora and fauna, and study tours to the arboretum and herbarium,” he said.

A portion of the park will be reserved for research and development projects.

Ong said the planning and designing of the park would be done by the National Landscape Department under his ministry together with other related agencies including Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia and the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute.

He said the Cabinet approved the proposal presented by his ministry together with the Federal Territories Ministry on Wednesday, and his ministry would build and manage the park.

“The Cabinet feels that it should turn Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas to be a place for healthy living and a better sustainable environment for the people. We should save the limited green areas now before it is too late,” he said.

He said the park was on land owned by the Government as 146.3ha was under the purview of DBKL while the remaining area belonged to the Information Ministry.

Trail Maintenance 7 July 2007: Carnival

2007-07-07T21:04:00.001+08:00

The Carnival trail is loop trail which starts at the Taman Rekreasi TTDI. It hosts the annual Mountain Bike Carvinal at Bukit Kiara every year.

Today, 07-07-07, the turnout was good. About 10 of volunteers, and as Pat put it in order of appearance... Yish, Joe, Simon, Pat, Stan, Mike, Soon, Shi Fun, Tony, Umar. I was the last to arrive, about an hour late.

Check out the trail guys cool photo below, taken by Joe.

Pat divided us into 2 teams. Me, Simon, Soon and Micheal repaired the switchback on Carnival trail leading to the Rock Garden trail.

[A section on Carnival: Before]

[A section on Carnival: After]

[Another section on Carnival: After]

[Just before the switchback on Carnival before entering the Rock Garden]

Knee Injury

2007-06-25T11:53:00.000+08:00

While riding the 2K trail in Bukit Kiara on the morning of 23 June 2007, I tried to clear a log, about a foot in height, but somehow my pedal and rear tyre stuck. I nearly endo. My right knee hit the handlebar.

I was not that painful, but I felt like the knee cap was dislocated. After a few second, I checked my right knee visually... no blood, no funny looking knee cap around. Phew.. lucky me. It didn't hurt at all, but I was jittered.

I purposely didn't go to the hash to make sure the knee was OK.

However, come Sunday night, my right knee felt a bit of pain. Time to check-up...

Serendah Uphill Bash

2007-06-03T10:34:00.000+08:00

The May 2007 was at Serendah. Most of the trails were old logging trails with not much of forest canopy.

It was hot and look at the GPS evelation... nearly 6 kms of pure climbing. That was for the scenic ride. The long ride was even worse, with 12 to 14 kms of climbings. The rewards were fast and open downhills, and prestine & cooling waterfalls. Torture but rewarding...

Trail Maintenance 13 May 2007: 4K

2007-05-13T18:02:00.001+08:00

4K trail connects the Bukit Kiara crossroad to the KLGCC water tank. If you start from the crossroad, it has a bit of log and jumps ala North Shore, lots of technical downhills, a few other wooden structures and typical Kiara style cross country riding.

The earlier part of 4K is called Rubbish (ala North Shore riding style for the steel-hearted riders), and of course it also has parallel trail.

[Someone correct me if I'm wrong...]

The works that was done is at the technical downhill adjoining of Rubbish and normal 4K.
So, here you're...

[View from the top]

[View from the bottom]

Today orchestra team:
> Pat (Conductor)
> Simon
> Me
> Cougar

Faulty Fox

2007-05-06T09:46:00.001+08:00

My rear shock (Fox Float RP3) for my beloved KHS XC904R failed me on Labour Day (1st May 2007). It doesn't hold the air anymore.

It is now at the LBS for repair. There goes my riding time on such excellent bike.

Luckily, I have another bike, the KHS XC604, to keep my adrenalin flow.

[My bike hanging at the LBS]

[Close up view]

Rolling weight

2007-04-29T18:31:00.001+08:00

I upgraded my wheelset, from 1988 grams to 1696 grams, and yeapp.. I sound like weight weenies. Mathematically, that is a weight saving of 14.7% or more than half a pound.

The new wheelset consist of:
Mavic XC717 silver rims
DT Swiss Competition double butted spokes
Brass nipples
A set of Ringle Flea hubs

It might not be as light as the XC racer wheelset, but I chose durable components like more durable nipples and spokes. I could have gone to alloy nipples and DT Swiss Revolution spokes to save another 80 gms, but I saw to many of those failed.

I had two rides with the new wheelset. Both rides were on wet and muddy trails. It performed far better than I expected. Climbing was definitely easier now. Cornering felt so much better. A downhill rolling felt like butter.
However, I think I need to test them on dry trails to see its true potential.

Even the lightness can be felt when fitting the bike onto the car rack. That must be good.

Trail Maintenance 02/2007

2007-04-26T09:52:00.001+08:00

I'm beginning to like trail maintenance. The wet weather in April just going to ruin the trail if something is not done.

On Monday, I compacted some soils (with outslope) at Carnival trails to try to force the water away from the trail surface. I also re-arrange several rocks (about 1 foot in length) to avoid water from puddling around them. After that I reinforced them with smaller rocks and pegs. That was hard work.

It started to rain when i was about to finish. I saw the water just drain away from the trail surfaces, and I was smiling.

Trail Maintenance 01/2007

2007-04-20T15:00:00.001+08:00

The Plan C, Rumpy Bumpy and Barakuda trails are in bad shape, after DBKL widen the trails to accommodate horses.

DBKL just widen the trails, but didn't carry out any soil compacting work. The result is just muddy and soft trails, and unsuitable for mountain biking. It is also probably not suitable for horse riding.

In my opinion, the Plan C and Rumpy Bumpy trails are important trails in Bukit Kiara. Both of them give access from Hartamas to Taman Tun Dr. Ismail and vice-versa. They need to be in good condition.

Friday, 20 April 2007 is also a birthday for my friend, Normy Marziah. I send her SMS for birthday wish. But, it's also the day that I committed to repair Plan C.

These are what I did:
1. Six trail-side retainers with compacted soil filling,
2. About 15 meters of soil transfer and compacting (uphill).
3. Four on trail retainers.

It was a little bit though job because it rained heavily the night before. This made the the soil muddy and heavy. It was also difficult to compact them. I just hope the weather is dry today so that the compacted soil bed in.

It took me about 3 hours, 1.5 liters of isotonic drink (Excel) and lots of layers of mosquito repellent.

Heart Rate

2007-04-10T16:40:00.001+08:00

I'm 34 years old. As I'm getting older, I must train my heart accordingly. So, lets do the Karvonen Formula on training based on heart rate:
Maximum heart rate > 220 - 34 = 186
My resting heart rate > 80

Therefore, my working heart rate > 186 - 80 = 106

The following are the start of the training zones:
Start of aerobic zone (70% effort) > 80 + (0.7*106) = 154
Start of anearobic zone (80% effort) > 80 + (0.8*106) = 165
Start of red zone (90% effort) > 80 + (0.9*106) = 175
Must stop > 80 + 106 = 186

Yesterday, I bought Sigma PC9 heart beat monitor, and these are the number that I crunched into it:

Maximum heart rate > 186
Start of health zone > 134
Start of fitness zone > 154
Start of performance zone > 165
End of performance zone > 175

If you have any positive comment about the calculation, please e-mail me.

Hot Bash

2007-04-09T23:03:00.000+08:00

On Sunday morning, when Kimi Raikonnen was getting ready to battle with Fernando Alonso (2 times F1 world champion), and here I'm torturing myself on the longest and hottest bash I have ever ridden in 2 years.

[From left: Lim@Bike Pro, me and others]

[Asri]

I also like to say that this is my 3rd bash with my new KHS XC604 bike. I must admit it is one hell of good trail bike. Just look at the GPS profile below, lots of climbs, but my XC604 didn't dissappoint me.

It downhill performance also flawless for a 4.2 inches bike. It rear suspension didn't feel stiff during downhill braking... just pure terrain tracking. Sweet.

[The profile: Lots of hill climbings]

[One of the long climbs]

Longer Cross Country

2007-02-16T12:00:00.001+08:00

My current bike is KHS XC904R Team, which has 3.5 inches of rear travel and 4" of front travel. With not-so-light component, the bike weight is about 25.6 pounds. See my first blog in November 2006. I love it because of the horst-link suspension setup and slightly relax headtube angle (70 degrees).

Call me selfish.. but I always wanted to have 2 bikes. If possible, a similar setup, for the "just in case situation"

I was saving my money for Titus Motolite. The reviews on Motolite were all excellent. I also tried a few Motolite from various riders at Bukit Kiara, Kemensah and Thailand. Every time I went to the LBS at Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, I will admire at the Motolite frame.

On 2 January 2007, I was surfing the KHS website to look for the part number for my XC904R. Suddenly, I found out all the 2007 KHS full suspension bike are now featuring horst-link suspension setup. Wow...!!! This is an option. Open your mind.

So, I started to look around at LBS in Malaysia. No LBS carried them except one simple bike shop at Sri Damansara. I asked for the XC904R Team frame, but unfortunately the local importer for KHS bicycles does not import it into Malaysia. What a shame?

But, I know the XC604 bike offer horst-link and 4.2 inches or travel, with only 1/4 pound of extra weight. I immediately put my deposit to order the frame. Five days later the frame arrive. With help from my friend, Asri, we started to assemble it.

[Complete bike - New KHS XC604: Just before the first Bukit Kiara ride]

[Horst-link setup]

[4.2 inches of travel Manitou Radium with Platform Plus pedalling platform]

After about 75km of riding, I'm impressed with the peformance of the Manitou Radium with Platform Plus pedalling platfrom. It firm when I'm pedalling, but once it hit the bum it started to react. I would say it perform as good as the Fox Float RP3 on my XC904R Team bike.

[Control center - Equipped with Ritchey WCS 90mm stem, Syntace low riser carbon handlebar, SRAM trigger shifter, foam grip and VDO wireless computer]

[Hayes 9 brake - similar setup to my XC904R Team bike]

[Fork - Rockshox Reba 100mm]

[Crankset - Truvativ Stylo, Pedal - Crank Brothers Candy SL. Notice the downtube is made from double-butted 6061 aluminium]

[Rear shock - Manitou Radium with Platform Plus in close up]

[Cassette - 2006 XTR 12-34T, Rear derailleur - SRAM 2007 X9, looks like 2006 XO and perform like 2006 XO.]

Kiara Underseige

2007-02-15T16:32:00.000+08:00

Since the installment of the new Agung (The King of Malaysia - the honourable Sultan Mizan), in late 2006, the majestic Bukit Kiara trails are underseige.

Why...??
1. He is an avid horse rider and wants to ride at Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club and its surrounding.
2. The Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) is widening the mountain biking trails for horse riding.

I fully respect the honourable Sultan Mizan's passion for horse riding, but I'm against the DBKL action of widening the EXISTING mountain bike trails for equestrian.

The possible consequences:
1. The horses will consistently damage the existing mountain biking trails on each step they take.
2. A lot less singletrack, a lot more doubletracks. This means less technical, hence less fun.
3. Most of the trails were built by the rubber tappers and mountain bikers for hiking (rubber tapping) and biking respectively. They understand the concept of trail building.
4. I wasn't amazed to witness DBKL cut down several trees that were at least 15 years old to widen the trails.

Bukit Kiara is recognized by several magazines and avid mountain bikers as one of the best trails, perhaps the best, within a large metropolitan. What can we do to preserve that?

Building trails are relatively easy. To maintain them is another challenge.

Please visit Fakawi Tribe or KLMBH website for more information.

I'M ON THE NET AGAIN

2007-02-15T16:30:00.001+08:00

After some hickups on my laptop, I managed to blog again.

Yeahhh.....

Double

2006-12-28T18:51:00.001+08:00

On the afternoon of 14 December 2006, I received the official letter about my double promotion in Tenaga Nasional Berhad. Cool...

Sri Ayutthaya

2006-12-20T20:24:00.001+08:00

The 2006 KLMBH yearly dinner was held on 17 December 2006@Sunday, at a famous Thai restaurant in Bukit Damansara - Sri Ayutthaya.

More write up & photos will come soon.

[Look at top right, photos slideshow.. entertaining]

[One of the main sponsor - BikePro bicycle shop owner, Boon Foo]

[Queing for the buffet]

[Other side of the que - Can you see Pat?]

Weight weenies – Part 2

2006-12-14T09:19:00.001+08:00

Part 2A: Pedal

I have been using clipless for more than a year now. It’s the Crank Brothers Mallet C, which uses the large pedalling platform with combination of eggbeater style clipless.The weight of the pedals (right and left) are 540gms.

My old Crank Brothers Mallet C

The Mallet large platform sometimes made me not clipping, due to my low level of confidence to unclip at the right moments. But, a few reasons generated the idea of using smaller and lighter clipless pedals.

[1] After testing and feeling the Eggbeater on my usual rider-friends bike, I must say that I felt like floating on the bike. The feeling of using Mallet that I felt Iike attached to the pedal only, not the bike.I like the “floating on the bike” feeling.

[2] If you clip longer and the pedalling at the same time, the chances to cycle forward without putting your feet down in larger. Hence, I will get superior advantages in the guys that put their feet down for extra security i.e. more riding and fun time.

On the other side, if I don’t unclip on time I will definitely fall down. I take chances of riding more and the fun of moving forward, and also the fun and laugh of falling down.

[3] The large platform of Mallet sometimes caught my knee when pushing the bike on un-ride-able trails. The end plates were made from stainless steel… hard!! About 6 months ago, it caught my right knee and it took one whole week to recover. 2 weeks ago, it it caught my right knee again, and I still feel the pain now. Now I’m really disturb about it.

[4] It is sometimes very difficult to clip in using Mallet especially when you need to clip in. Frequently on the bash or even during Bukit Kiara trail riding, this can slow me down and will make the riders at the back to brake and slow down. Imagine, if that happen during racing, you will definitely be overtaken.

The changes is not about being weight weenies. But it is time to move on. Clip longer, pedal more and ride more.

After searching in the Internet for some technical data and model availability, Crank Brothers Candy SL was my choice. At 295 gms, it is 245 gms or 45% lighter. It is made from stainless steel rather than cromoly (on Mallet C and Candy C), hence it should have better durability. The small platform on Candy is made from combination of resin and hard plastic. I chose the black coloured platform.

When I went to the LBS, the only carried the light blue colour, and I insisted on the black one (because I saw the black colour in the Crank Brothers’ website, and it suited the black Truvativ Stylo crank better). The LBS then contacted the other branches, and yes.. they have the black colour Candy SL.

[My new Crank Brothers Candy SL]

Part 2B: Handlebar

I also took this upgrade stage to change my flat handlebar to riser bar. I read from various magazine on how riser bar could positively effect the handling especially during technical descending. I also tried some of my rider-friends hardtails which have riser bars. In my humble opinion, I like the feeling.

I ride Bukit Kiara every week, and I personally considered that Bukit Kiara trails’ descends are mostly technical and some are quite steep. The flat handlebar won’t measure in during the descent, but I like the feeling of flat handlebar on climbing especially the Twin Peaks and Boulder climbs.

My old flat handlebar (...still shining)

Hence, I chose the lowest rise available for riser bar in the market. Again, after googling in the Internet, I found a 13 mm (0.47 inch) rise with 12 degrees sweep from Syntace. Made from carbon fibre with titanium reinforce clamp area. The published weight is 171 gms. These are the other carbon fibre riser bars:

Raceface Dues XC: 195 gms, 1 inch rise, 5 degrees sweep
Raceface Next XC: 184 gms, 1 inch rise, 5 degrees sweep
Syntace Versus: 171 gms, 0.47 inch rise, 12 degrees sweep
Answer Protaper: 165 gms, 1 inch rise, 8 degrees sweep
Easton EC70: 155 gms, 1 inch rise, 10 degrees sweep
Easton EC90 CNT: 135 gms, 1 inch rise, 10 degrees sweep

Compare to my existing Raceface Next XC carbon flat bar of 135 gms, that is 36 gms difference. After the 245 gms weight saving from the Crank Brothers Candy SL pedal, adding 36 gms will make the nett weight saving of 209 gms. That is nearly half a pound.

Perfect! Then, I looked at the price... 130 Euro (about RM 520) ! Wow.. that’s expensive.
No go.
The aluminium riser bars are too heavy – mostly they are at 240 gms and above.

At the LBS, when I was admiring the new Candy SL and its presentation box, then I saw the same Syntace riser bar in the cabinet. The LBS price was RM 220 nett. That price is cheaper than the one in the Internet. Bling, bling...

Since I bought the Crank Brothers Candy SL, I might ask for a discount.

LBS: "RM 200"
Me : "Some more lah.. I bough pedal now, last time I build and bought the whole bike here"
LBS: "No.. cannot lah. Cost price already."
Me : "OK lah.. next time"

LBS silent moment...

LBS : "RM 180 lah"

My pause moment...

Me: "OK"

[My new carbon riser bar]

Weight weenies - Part 1

2006-12-11T13:57:00.001+08:00

On Saturday morning ride (9 Dec 2006) at Bukit Kiara, my rider-friend Jimmy had flat tyre twice. One before we reached the Kampung after the Penchala Baru trail, and the other at the road side in between the Hartamas terrace houses just before the school before we enter Plan C trail.

The first flat, he used his tube. I was a good samaritan to offer my tube for the second flat. Then, both of us suddenly reliased that we have no more spare tube. Luckily both of us survived till the end.

On the way home, I stopped at Boon Foo's shop to get some spare. I took out a number of branded tubes to choose from. Then I saw a weighing machine. Blink, blink.....

"Why not weigh them?" I was saying to myself.

These are the results:

Cheng Shin tube : 178 gms
Kenda Standard tube : 156 gms
Continental Light tube : 152 gms
Michelin Light tube : 149 gms
Kenda Superlight tube : 136 gms
Geax Light tube : 122 gms

Kenda Standard Tube: 156 gms

Continental Light Tube: 152 gms

Geax Light Tube: 122 gms

Then, I remember something. I was using Kenda Standard tubes before; then due to price difference, I change to Cheng Shin tube. But lately I'm using Geax tube because it is not so expensive compare to the Kenda and their packaging suit my backpack.

The thing was the difference feeling of wheel when I change from Kenda to Cheng Shin, and from Cheng Shin to Geax. The Geax tube makes my steering feel a lot lighter thus easy to control, and most importantly make my bike feel lighter especially during the Twin Peaks trail climb. This is just feeling...! I didn't weigh the bike at that times.

Lets do the maths, 178 - 122 = 56 gms each tyre. That is 112 gms (or equivalent to a quarter of a pound) for both tyres. 112 gms doesn't seem too much, but at the right place it does deliver. Woww.....

The Geax tube also last for quite a while now. Let's see... 4 bashes at nearly 100km, 1 PCC ride at about 50km, about 400km of Bukit Kiara trails. That's not bad.

Weeniessss.....

Build by Riders

2006-12-04T15:07:00.002+08:00

Sunday morning, 3rd December 2006, this was my first time learning and building mountain bike trail properly. It was at Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). Previously, I just maintained and improved the existing trails, especially at Bukit Kiara.

There were 6 of us, Pat, Karen, Tony, Rebecca, Nigel & me. At the moments, the trail location is still a secret until the work finished.

Pat & Karen had the necessary tools for trail buildings. I admired the custom-made wheelbarrow. The body was made from aluminium and the handlebar was from titanium. The wheels and tyres were mountain bike standard equipment i.e. they were adopted from the front wheels and tyres and even had quick-releases on them. The tank was industrial-grade fishing composite (plastic not carbon fibre though..) box. It is one very light and tough wheelbarrow. Damn genius.

Crossing the MTB-purpose bridge. Notice the wheelbarrow

Part of the trail: Before.
[This part of the trail is about 10 meters after the bridge. Notice the soil in the wheelbarrow]

We started by searching some rocks for the cribs (retaining walls). The rocks must be big enough to hold the trail. Then, we filled the trail with soil. Moving the soil was the hardest part, manual labour to excavate the exiting soil and another physical extension labour to transport the soil to the right place. We made about 33 trips. Finally, compact the soil.

Of course, do some basic planning first before you started. For example, the flow of the trail, the run of the water and estimation of rocks, logs and soil needed.

I also learned about outsloping and insloping. They are techniques to cut the terrain to build trails, and at the same time provide water path to avoid erosion. To know exactly what they are, come and join this noble voluntary work.

Part of the trail: After

Part of the trail: The turn and the downhill
[Riding tips: Just move your body and don't skid]

I also got biten by the leech. It wasn't pain, just itchy. I was lucky that Karen had this special spray to make the leech let go its glue-biting blood sucking action.

In about 3.5 hours, we built about 25 meters of trail. Tired but utterly satisfied. Some tips:
1. Bring proper working gloves, and optional knee protection pad
2. Mosquito and leech repellent
3. Lots of water and isotonic drinks
4. Food, preferably PowerBar Gel or similar
5. "Cangkul"
6. Rake
7. "Parang"
8. Lots of sense of humour