I went to St. John’s Institution (SJI) in the 1970s. The SJI alumni, known as Johannians, maintains strong ties with each other and to the school. One of these alumni groups is the SJI Cycling Club (SJICC).
An SJICC WhatsApp group discussion about a Fellowship ride started in July. A suggestion to ride from Kota Warisan to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and back turned into a plan. About forty SJI alumni signed up for the ride.
It was gloomy and damp when I left home this morning. The drizzle started when I was on the MEX Highway. It got heavier as I drove through Cyberjaya and Dengkil. It was still drizzling at the ride start time of 7:30 am.
The wet weather put some people off. Twenty-three cyclists had turned up at Kota Warisan. As well as several friends on scooters and motorbikes. They had volunteered to be our outriders. All of us were wondering if we would ride, or just stay put and order more teh tarik, nasi lemak and roti canai.
At 8:00 am the drizzle eased up a bit. We decided to go for it. As Rashid said, it was time to apply Velominati rules #5 and #9.
Rule #5: Harden The F*** Up
Rule #9: If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Velominati: KEEPERS OF THE COG
Most wore their club jerseys. I don’t own one, so I hid at the back for this pre-start photograph. Jeff, the other rider in pink, is an old boy of Cochrane Road School. He was allowed to join us because he sells very nice bicycles 😂.
Not long after we started riding, the drizzle turned into rain. We were thoroughly soaked when we got to our first stop at the Sepang International Circuit.
The next stop was at the L32 end of KLIA runway 2. By that time, it had stopped raining.
After watching a few aircraft landings, we rode the length of runway 3.
Our last stop to regroup and buy a drink was at the PETRONAS station on Lebuhraya KLIA Extension.
9.5kkm after that we were back at the Restoran Nasi Lemak Royale.
We hadn’t ridden very far. We had long forgotten all thoughts of a second loop. What was more important after a very wet ride was some signature nasi lemak and fried chicken.
It was a fun ride. Due in no small measure to the support car and the outriders who kept us safe on the roads.
There is already some chat about doing a longer ride.
Old Roots, New Routes 