Monthly Archives: September 2021

V suggested a Sunday ride to KLIA. In the hope of getting a photograph like this one:

The next day weather forecast on Saturday was not promising.

By Sunday morning the outlook had improved.

Six of us met at a carpark in Putrajaya for a 7:00am start. Which was delayed a bit.

The sun was already present as we rolled across the Sri Gemilang Bridge toward the Putrajaya International Convention Centre. A sign of what was to come.

Our route took us from Putrajaya to Dengkil and onward to a loop past the Sepang International Circuit and around KLIA 1 and KLIA 2.

The “Mostly Cloudy” forecast was in reality “Partly Cloudy” at best.

It wasn’t long before that changed to “Sunny.”

I was hot by the time we got to what was the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in the days before KLIA 2 opened.

The last time I rode to the airport area was in December 2019. Since then, the LCCT has been replaced by the Cainiao Aeropolis Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) Hub.

The eWTP Hub is huge. It occupies 60 acres (2.6 million square feet) with 1.1 million square feet of warehouse space. The eWTP Hub is a 70:30 joint venture between Malaysia Airports & Cainiao HK (the logistics arm of the Alibaba Group). It is Alibaba Group’s 1st eWTP outside of China. 

The eWTP was the only thing to see. We spent about forty minutes within sight of KLIA 1 and KLIA 2. In that time we saw just two aircraft taking off: an AirAsia flight and a cargo aircraft. We didn’t get that shot of us standing underneath a departing aircraft.

Our route ran around the south end of Runway 2 and then parallel to Runway 3. The 5km ride alongside Runway 3 is invariably into the wind.

It was a strong headwind too. We were all hot and in need of some shade by the time we pushed through the wind to the right turn at the north end of Runway 3.

We rode into the shuttle bus pickup area in KLIA 2 for some respite from the sun.

The space behind us used to be a staff canteen for the air crew and other airport employees. Yet another business that has shut down because of the COVID pandemic.

Fortunately for us, the McDonald’s at the PETRONAS station 3km away was open.

Time for some air-conditioning, food, and social media checking.

Contrary to the weather forecast, there were no clouds in the sky. The temperature continued to rise all the way back to Putrajaya. It got up to 36ºC / 97ºF.

I was so fried by the time we got back to the carpark that I forgot all about the egg tarts that Marco had offered us at the start.

That was a rookie mistake. Those tarts look yummy.

It was a fun ride. Apart from the sun. I was radiating heat well into the evening.

My next few rides are likely to be at night. That will make a welcome change, temperature wise.

I wrote about my knee pain in More Ouch on 11th June. My self-diagnosis was Plica Syndrome. The prescribed treatment for Plica Syndrome is rest. After a few days of rest, the pain knee ceased. I started walking and cycling again.

The pain in my left knee came back and did not cease after a few days of rest. It was time to see a professional.

Dr Chan Kin Yuen is the surgeon who did the ACL replacement in my right knee fourteen years ago. He still practices at Gleneagles Hospital. He bent, straightened, rotated, and pressed on the knee. His initial diagnosis was a medial (inside of the knee) meniscus tear. He sent me off for MRIs and X-rays to confirm.

Three days later, I was in Dr Chan’s office again to review the results of the imaging. I did have a medial meniscus tear. The initial injury was an old one. I aggravated it by jogging.

My options were to rest the knee for six weeks and see if the pain subsided or do an arthroscopic meniscectomy right away. Given the multi-planar nature of the tear, it was unlikely that rest was the answer.

Three days later, I was in an operating theatre under a general anaesthetic. As Dr Chan had seen from the imaging, the tear was too complex to repair. So the torn portion was removed.

A further three days later, I was at home with instructions to regularly ice the knee, take the anti-inflammatory drugs Celebrex and Myonal, and report for physiotherapy three times a week.

It has been four weeks since the surgery. I have the full range of motion in the knee. I have to say that it was a painful journey to get there, not least because of the swelling in the knee.

The swelling is in the bursae, fluid-filled sacs and synovial pockets surrounding the knee joint cavity. The irritation to the soft tissues of the knee during the arthroscopic procedure caused the swelling.

Dr Chan gave me the go-ahead to start cycling a couple of weeks ago. I rode almost every day, culminating in a climb up to the Lookout Point in Ampang and a 55km ride a few days later.

On my most recent visit to Dr Chan’s clinic, he told me to skip the climbing and limit my rides to 50km a day. While the movement is good for the knee, overdoing it will irritate the bursae and prolong the swelling. My knee does ache a bit after physiotherapy and biker rides.

Today’s ride was just over 50km.

Followed by icing after I got home.

Dr Chan is pleased with my recovery so far. I don’t need physiotherapy anymore. I do need to ice my knee regularly. I am off to do that now.