KL Mountain Bike Carnival 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Chong Soon Yew or SY trying to pump up]

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

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

[Towards the finishing line...]

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

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

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

Gold Medal at Track World Cup

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

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

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

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

Trail Maintenance 16 Nov 2008: Carnival

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

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

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

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

Here are a few photos that I managed to snap…

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

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

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

[Jun and Tony]

See you guys at the race...!

Between Semenyih & Bandar Bukit Mahkota

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

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

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

[Briefing]

[Towards the trails]

[Trail head]

[Kampung Rinching, Semenyih]

[Next to cows's feed lots]

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

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

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

[At one of the checks]

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

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

[Chicken out or go long?]

Casper

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

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

Hi! Casper!

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

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

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

Click here to find out more.

Aidil Fitri 2008

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

Ampun dan maaf diminta andainya…

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

Semoga dimaafkan..

Selamat menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

[Eid's cup cakes]

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

Mountain Biking Event at 2008 Beijing Olympic

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

Results:

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

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

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

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

Some photos:

Mens...

Womens...

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

45km Epic @ Ulu Tamu

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]