Author Archives: alchemyrider

Nine R@SKLs rode to Port Dickson in June 2020. You can read about that trip here.

Talk about another ride to Port Dickson started in June this year. By 7th July, we confirmed accommodation at the same place we had stayed in 2020: The Regency Tanjung Tuan Beach Resort.

There was some trepidation about this trip amongst a few of us. Our cycling habits have changed. We don’t ride as often or as far as we used to. So a few ‘training rides’ were organised. Some were more successful than others.

One ride in July was rained out. We had breakfast instead.

Our final warm up ride the weekend before Merdeka (Independence) Day was interrupted by a lady who needed help with a flat tire. Whether we did, in fact, assist is debatable.

We celebrated our Good Samaritan deed with breakfast anyway.

TH snuck in a last-minute solo ride a few days before Merdeka Day.

In 2020, we cycled from where I live to Port Dickson. That was possible because we rode on the Maju Expressway to Cyberjaya. That expressway is now closed to cyclists.

This time, we took the KTM Komuter train to Pulau Sebang station, and rode from there to Port Dickson.

It was cool and overcast at dawn on Merdeka Day. The roads in Kuala Lumpur were wet from an overnight storm, but the rain had stopped. The KL Tower was lit in the colours of the Jalur Gemilang (Malaysian flag).

Woo was in the middle of the ride from his home to Bank Negara station.

Martin was waiting for Leonard at the Publika traffic lights. They would meet us at Bank Negara station.

Eight others were either on their way or already at my home.

On the way to the station at 7:30am.

Woo was already at the station when we got there. Leonard and Martin arrived a few minutes later.

I got told off for riding my bicycle into the ticket hall!

Waiting on Platform 2 for the 8:02am departure to Pulau Sebang.

What is in the bag?

Zaryl, Dan and Marvin boarded the train at Sentul station. Two stations before Bank Negara station.

All together in Car 6.

It takes two hours forty five minutes for the train to get from Bank Negara station to Pulau Sebang station. That explains this pose.

SSSSSHHHHH!

Thanks to Geetha, we all had Malaysian flags on our bikes when we got off the train at Pulau Sebang station in Tampin.

Everyone was hungry. This gentleman at Restoran Nasi Kandar Impian made our roti canai, naan and tosai. Do you think we could be related?

I plotted a scenic route rather than a direct route from Tampin to Port Dickson. To give us a longer ride and to keep us off trunk roads.

5km from Tampin, at the Freeport A’Famosa Outlet, is this unusual sight. A Boeing 747 has been converted into a retail concept store and café by Coach, the American luxury fashion house.

The back roads were lovely to ride on.

We arrived at the beach after two hours of cycling. We needed a rest and to refill bidons. It is just over 40km / 25mi from Tampin to Pantai Tanjung Bidara. Almost all of that distance is over rolling terrain. We had 385 metres / 1,260 feet of climbing in our legs.

The first place we stopped at didn’t have any bottled or canned drinks. D Pantai Penyu is a kilometre down the road from that dry place. I think we wiped out their stock of bottled water.

The next 12 kilometres / 7.5 miles were along the beach. The views were nice. Unfortunately, the sun was upon us. It was 33ºC / 91.5ºF. The high humidity meant that the “Feels Like” temperature was considerably higher.

We did stop again less than a kilometre from D Pantai Penyu. Most of us downed brain freezingly cold coconut shakes at D’Ribut Pengkalan Balak.

Then it was back out into the 2:30pm heat.

We split into two groups upon leaving Tampin because the six who opted for lunch at Old Town White Coffee were still eating when the rest were ready to roll. Having come together just before the beach, we were soon in three groups. I was in the middle one and secretly relieved to hear that Marvin in the group behind us had a flat tire.

We four rested in the shade while waiting for Marvin’s group to catch up to us. After 50 minutes, we heard from Marvin that he couldn’t fix his flat, that he had been sipping a coffee in a café for the past 30 minutes, and that the others were on the road.

In 150 metres from our spot in the shade, we were on Federal Route 138. This trunk road links Sungai Udang and Linggi. I had plotted some diversions to get us off Federal Route 138 and later off Federal Route 5 as we got closer to Port Dickson. It was hot, and we were tired, so we decided to skip the diversions and stay on the Federal Routes.

30 minutes and 14km later, we pulled into the 5 Petrol station in Pasir Panjang. We needed cold drinks.

The fast group were in a restaurant ahead of us. They had 14km left to ride. We thought a group was still behind us, so we waited at the petrol station for 15 minutes. With no sign of any other R@SKLs, we pushed on.

It turned out that we were the last group on the road. The others must have ridden past on the trunk road while we were waiting in the shade by the beach. Everyone arrived safely. Most with some degree of sunburn 🌞🌞🌞.

Zulfa had arrived earlier with our bags. The guys in the same apartment as her and I had it good. The A/C was on, and cold drinks were in the fridge when we arrived.

There was time for a nap before dinner at Yun Long Seafood Restaurant.

We left it to food connoisseur TH to order. Every dish was delicious.

I can’t speak for the others, but I was asleep by 9:30pm.

My alarm was set for 7:00am.

Others were up, too. Plenty of time for a cigarette or a coffee before meeting in the car park at 8:00am.

Bags loaded in the car for Zulfa to transport back to KL and ready to roll.

It didn’t take us long to find a place for breakfast. Medan Selera Sri Bayu had a good selection: nasi lemak, roti canai, lempeng, roti jala, a few curries to go with the carbohydrates, curry puffs and Malay kuih.

We rode to Sungai Gadut station. That was half the distance of the ride to Port Dickson. I think many appreciated the shorter and more relaxed ride after the exertions of the previous afternoon.

We didn’t do any back roads riding. What we did cycle on were well-surfaced. Outside the built-up areas of Port Dickson, Ayer Kuning and Rantau, there was very little traffic. The rolling terrain gave us 360 metres / 1,180 feet of elevation over the 42.5 kilometres to Sungai Gadut station. Thank goodness for the slower pace.

We got to Sungai Gadut station at 10:35am. We had lots of time before our train departed at 11:53am.

We definitely had enough time for an impromptu yoga session led by the queen of flexibility, Zaryl.

Bin Soo carried a 360º video camera with her. She put together a wonderful video clip of our rides to and from Port Dickson.

View the video here.

The train rolled out of Sungai Gadut station on time. I must say that the Komuter trains are very punctual. I must also say that this train was quite cold.

I was glad for the warm air coming into the train every time it stopped at a station.

It was drizzling while we rolled through the two or three stations before our stop. The rain stopped as we rode from Bank Negara station to Kwong Cheung Loong Kopitiam Bar on Jalan Doraisamy. The others either got off the train before or after Bank Negara station, or didn’t have time for lunch before having to be at home.

They missed a yummy lunch. They also didn’t get a piece of Maresa’s home-made banana bread.

It was pouring by the time this group got to the car park at my home to pick up their bags. I hope no one got too wet leaving the building.

It would have taken more than rain to spoil anyone’s enjoyment of our two days together. It was broiling hot on the way to Port Dickson. I wasn’t the only one with cramp. We shared enough laughs amongst good friends to compensate for those and any other inconveniences.

Thank you, everyone, for making this trip so much fun.

Several R@SKLs had not ridden recently. In some cases, not for months. So I organised a “Welcome Back to Cycling” ride.

Seventeen R@SKLs met in Damansara Heights for an 8:00am start.

The ones who had been off their bikes for the longest time chose the route. We all wanted a short ride at a relaxed pace. But we couldn’t avoid having to climb. Hills came with the territory.

The ride was short at 16km. The pace was relaxed at about 15.5kph. And there were 340 metres of climbing.

We paused for a photograph after climbing 65 metres in 1.1km.

We made two more photograph stops at the top of climbs. This one on Jalan Setiabistari.

And this one on Jalan Beringin.

Then it was back down Jalan Beringin to the Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock outlet at Plaza Zurich for some food and drink.

We chatted over coffee, teh tarik, kaya toast, soft-boiled eggs and nasi lemak.

Some of us had cycled from home to the ride start point. By 10:30am, the day was warming up. It was time to head home.

12km and 210 metres of climbing later, I reached this BLVCK coffee van, a regular weekend fixture on the corner of Jalan Tunku and Jalan Tun Ismail. It was a good time to stop for a Butterbeer.

The Butterbeer was a nice way to end a very pleasant morning. I hope it is not months before this group gets together for another ride.

In early January, V asked me if I was planning to do the 2023 Pink Ride. She had registered for the Permanent 100. Having just completed the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge, I felt I could manage a 100 km ride. So I registered for it. Some other R@SKLs registered for the BRM 200.

Both events would start at the same time. Pre-dawn at 5:00 am. I decided to spend Saturday night as close to the start location as possible, so I would have more sleep time before the very early start.

I was late looking for accommodation. All the homestays, of which there aren’t many around Kota Kemuning, had already been booked. My Biker Chick decided to make a weekend staycation out of the event. She booked a two-night stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Puchong, 10km from the ride start in Rimbayu, Kota Kemuning.

Puchong used to be tin-dredging territory. We had a nice view of one of the old mining pools from our room.

Since I was going to be in the area on Saturday afternoon, I volunteered to collect goodie bags for the R@SKLs. Pick up was at the Gamuda Land twenty-five.7 Experience Gallery.

It didn’t take long to collect about a dozen goodie bags.

In addition to discount vouchers from the event sponsors and optional additional-cost tee shirts and cycling wallets, each bag held an event-specific brevet card and bike tag.

The brevet cards get stamped at each checkpoint along the route. The bike tags identify differentiate registered participants from unregistered ones, known locally as “ghost” riders.

The giant lakeside flamingo behind the Experience Gallery was where I met the other R@SKLS at 4:30 am on Sunday morning to hand out brevet cards and bike tags.

Everyone ready to roll. Four of us doing the Permanent 100, and the rest doing the BRM 200.

The Permanent 100 and the BRM 200 shared the same route for the first 20 km. At Taman Periang, the Permanent 100 riders turned right towards Banting, and the BRM 200 riders turned left towards Kampung Sungai Manggis. Although the two routes reconverged at Asam Batu Laut, we would not see the BRM 200 riders again. The Permanent 100 riders got to Asam Batu Laut after a further 20 km from where the two routes split. The BRM 200 riders had 130 km to cover before they got to Asam Batu Laut.

The only checkpoint for the Permanent 100 was at KM 56 at Dataran Morib. We got there at a few minutes past 7:00 am.

One of the event sponsors was Boom+, which is an isotonic beverage. There was an ice chest full of all four available flavours at the checkpoint. I had a lemon one. Very nice!

It was also time for something to eat. A kilometre from Dataran Morib is Delicious Bread Coffee Shop.

Soft-boiled eggs, charcoal-toasted bread with kaya (coconut jam) and coffee hit the spot.

The R@SKLs doing the BRM 200 would have been riding towards Port Dickson from Sepang while we were enjoying our breakfast.

The finish at twenty-five.7 Experience Gallery was less than 50 km away for the four of us.

We got to the finish at 9:30 am.

There was more Boom+ available at the finish. As well as a very nice photographer in the shape of Sam Tow.

The finishing checkpoint was at one end of the row of shops behind the Experience Gallery, facing the Central Lake. One of those shops is a café.

Rewind is a very nice spot for a post-ride latte and a sandwich.

The neon sign inside is very cyclist-appropriate 😂.

All the R@SKL BRM 200 riders finished safely too.

We all got medals. The Permanent 100 was not an official Audax event, so the ones we got for riding 100 km are not the same as the Audax Club Parisien-issued medals that the successful BRM 200 riders could purchase.

Congratulations to all the R@SKLs who rode the Pink Ride 6.0 Permanent 100 or the BRM 200.

P.S. The Pink Ride 6.0 is the third Pink Ride that the R@SKLs have participated in. You can read about the others by clicking on the links below:

Pink Ride 2.0 2019

Pink Ride 3.0 2020

The Rapha Festive 500 challenge is to ride 500 kilometres between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. I completed my first Rapha Festive 500 in 2014. The reward for completing the challenge was a woven roundel that Rapha posted to you, free of charge. The 2014 roundel is the one on the upper left.

You can read my post about the 2014 Rapha Festive 500 by clicking here.

The roundels I earned in subsequent years are shown in clockwise order.

In 2020 Rapha stopped sending roundels to successful participants. The number of participants ballooned from 84 in 2010 to 240,991 in 2020. Perhaps the cost of producing and posting woven roundels became prohibitively expensive.

2020 was a year of great upheaval. The first COVID-19 lockdown started in Malaysia on 18th March. Restricted to our homes until early May, I didn’t ride at all in April. After April 2020, restrictions on outdoor exercise were relaxed and reimposed as each wave of COVID-19 infections came and went. Despite not riding much in October and November 2020, I did complete the Festive 500 challenge that year. That year’s digital roundel is the one on the bottom left.

You can read my post about the 2020 Rapha Festive 500 by clicking here.

I broke my Festive 500 streak in 2021. A variety of restrictions on cycling and surgery on a knee I injured while jogging meant I rode very little in June, July and August 2021. I wasn’t fit enough to give the 2021 Festive 500 a go.

Until mid-December this year, I had given no thought to attempting the 2022 Festive 500. As you can see from the chart above, I rode very little in 2022. Including none at all between March and July. I came out of that period very unfit and carrying more kilos than is good for me.

I covered 118 km in August, 281 km in September, 563 km in October, and 666 km in November. Not the distances that made me confident that I could ride 500 km in eight days. Especially as only five out of the forty-two rides I did in those months were longer than 62 km. The average distance I would have to ride every day to cover 500 km in eight days.

As Christmas Eve, the first day of the Festive 500 challenge, drew closer, I considered giving it a go. I had lost some weight and was feeling fitter.

The clincher was Kieren asking if I was doing the Festive 500 this year. After a few days of mulling it over, I decided to go for it.

Kieren and I rode 102 km on Christmas Eve morning, from Bukit Jail to Jenjarom and back. I hadn’t ridden more than 100 km in a single ride since January 2022.

Knowing I needed to front-load kilometres in case I couldn’t ride on one or more of the allocated eight days, I added a 27 km ride on one of my regular city routes that afternoon.

I felt shattered on Christmas morning. There was no way I could get out of bed for an early ride. I did manage a 45 km city ride in the afternoon.

I was already glad I was ahead of the minimum daily cumulative total kilometres required to get to 500 km on Day Eight.

Ride number four on Boxing Day was a very pleasant and relaxed 72 km ride to Elmina and back to TTDI with Vanessa and Kieren.

The relaxed pace in the morning meant that I was able to add a 42 km ride that afternoon to my total distance.

I roped Mark in to ride with me on Day Four. This was a 73 km ride to Kuang and back via Elmina. My legs were starting to feel the strain, and I certainly didn’t break any speed records.

With 360 km in the bag, I felt good about completing the challenge.

I rode solo on Day Five, from Batu 14, Hulu Langat to Batu 18 and on to the Semenyih Dam and back to Batu 14. With detours toward Kampung Lubok Kelubi to the north and around the kampungs on the way to Bukit Hantu. That added 86 km to my cumulative total.

Day Six was spent together with KS and TH, riding to the Hospital Orang Asli and back to the city.

Those 66 km on Day Six earned me this year’s roundel. Relatively plain, as Rapha Festive 500 roundel designs go, but I will take it.

To say that I am pleased to have ridden a total of 500 kms in six days is an understatement. I am absolutely delighted!

Ciclovía is a Spanish term meaning “cycleway”. All Car Free Days around the world take their inspiration from the Ciclovía, which started in Colombia. Bogota led the way in 1974. Medellín started its Ciclovía in 1984.

The Ciclovía in Medellín operates every Sunday, and now covers over 65km of streets across many city neighbourhoods. Notice how long most of the streets are closed.

We walked the 200 metres from our apartment to Avenue El Poblado. One of the roads that is closed for the Ciclovía.

We were greeted with walkers, joggers and cyclists. There is one thing to note from the photograph above. Almost every road in Medellin is either uphill or downhill. 

We walked 2.4 kilometres along Avenue El Poblado before retracing our steps.

This is the profile of those 2.4 kilometers.

There is perhaps 100 metres out of the 2.4 kilometers that you can describe as flat. Look in any direction and the road is either rising or falling.

This is Calle 1. It comes downhill from the east, crosses Avenue El Poblado, and continues westward downhill on the other side.

The constant uphill and downhill explains why almost all the cyclists I saw, and I saw many, were on MTBs.

Speaking of road crossings, every junction along Avenue El Poblado was manned by one or two marshals in uniform. Their job was to ensure everyone stopped when the traffic lights gave the right of way to vehicles crossing the avenue.

We passed a few bicycle shops. This was the biggest. No road bikes were on display.

There is lots of street art to see. Street art in all shapes and sizes. This is one of twelve life-size fibreglass cows which were decorated by Medellín artists for the CowParade, which came to the city in 2019.

CowParade is the largest and most successful public art event in the world. CowParade events have been staged in more than eighty cities worldwide since 1999.

Medellín is nicknamed “The City of Eternal Spring.” It was 17ºC / 63ºF while we were walking at mid-morning. The average year-round temperature is 22.5ºC / 72.5ºF. Great cycling weather – if it wasn’t so hilly 🤯.

Along with the cool temperatures comes an annual average rainfall of 1,752mm / 69 inches. Which makes Medellín a very lush and green place.

There are lots of activities along the Avenue El Poblado during the Ciclovía. People set up stalls selling food and drink.

These came from the stall pictured on the right.

The drink / snack on the left was a mixture of banana, watermelon, apple, pineapple, mango, papaya and thinly sliced lime peel. Delicious. 

That stall was also selling what looked suspiciously like kueh goyang / kueh rose. You can see them in plastic bags on the red and white cloth. We are going to buy some next Sunday.

Music is everywhere along the Avenue El Poblado.

There is also a Mercado Campesinos (Farmers Market) where vendors sell handicrafts, fresh fruit and vegetables, and hot snacks.

We plan to walk along the Ciclovía streets every Sunday. Especially as there are lots of cafés along the way that serve delicious desayunos (breakfasts).

However, you won’t be seeing me lining up for this on Sunday 24^th April.

I’ll be happy to host you in Medellín if you decide to participate 😄

The R@SKLs have ridden to Teluk Intan several times over the past few years. We will remember this trip more for the searing temperatures than the udang galah dinner.

We set ourselves up for a potentially hot ride by choosing the 9.09am departure from Kuang station rather than an earlier train. The sun was already out when we arrived at the otherwise deserted station.

The KTM Komuter train rolled in on time.

Bicycles are allowed in the first and last carriages. We got ourselves and fourteen bikes onboard the rear carriage for the hour or so long journey to Tanjung Malim.

The cyclocross portion of our ride came at the Tanjung Malim station.

Most of us had not eaten yet that morning. It was a 3km ride to Restoran Yik Mun. Famous for its pau.

Amongst the orders for pau, kaya toast, and half-boiled eggs were three Hainanese chicken chops. These were big servings of Hainanese chicken chop. Two riders later regretted eating that.

It was 11:15am when we were ready to start riding to Teluk Intan.

Look at that clear blue sky and sharp shadows. It was 34ºC / 93ºF at noon. Half an hour later it was 36ºC / 97ºF.

The 85km ride to Teluk Intan was punctuated by regular stops to get out of the sun.

A stop in the rare shade at the edge of the road near Trolak.

A stop in Restoran Shakir near Sungkai.

A stop at a roadside fruit stall at Kampung Baharu Kuala Bikam. Where it was 39 ºC / 102ºF.

Despite the enervating heat, everyone made it to the Yew Boutique Hotel. We were all (well, all but one) glad that we hadn’t had to carry our stuff with us in saddle packs. Many thanks to my Biker Chick for driving to Teluk Intan with our bags.

One of the attractions of the Yew Boutique Hotel is the bicycle parking area in the hotel loby.

Teluk Intan is famous for the Liew Kee (Ah Lek) Chee Cheong Fun shop. The chee cheong fun is so good that we had some before heading to our rooms to shower.

The next order of business after freshening up was rehydration. Which came in several forms.

After drinks and naps, it was time for the main event. A dinner of udang galah.

The restaurant is on a bank of the Sungai Perak. The view from the restaurant of the herons flying over the river is nice.

Much more attention was paid to the food though.

The evening ended with photographs at the iconic Menara Chondong, and more drinks and ais kacang at the food court nearby.

The challenges of the ride to Teluk Intan prompted us to plan for an early departure in the morning. Which would give us plenty of time to catch the 11.45am train from Tanjung Malim.

We were on our way into the rising sun at 7:15am.

The sky was clear, but the shadows cast by the trees kept the air relatively cool. The temperature was below 30ºC / 86ºF until we got to Slim River. Two-thirds of the distance to Tanjung Malim.

We took a restroom break at the Petron station at Batu 8 Changkat Jong, and a food and water break at the Petronas station in Slim River. We were at the Tanjung Malim station just after 11:00am, to find that a new train schedule had been implemented that morning. The 11:45am service that we had planned to catch was no more. The next train would leave at 12:35pm.

With time to burn, we went to McDonald’s. Ready to ride back to the station after our lunch, Nic and I were confronted with flat tires. Fortunately, we had pumps and our tires held enough air for long enough to get back to the station. The train was waiting as we repeated the cyclocross routine up and down the stairs to get to the correct platform.

We were both glad that we hadn’t flatted while on the road. Changing a tube in the cool of the carriage was infinitely preferable to doing it in the sun at the roadside.

Our plan had been to take the MRT from Sungai Buloh station to Kota Damansara, to avoid the risky ride from Sungai Buloh station onto Jalan Sungai Buloh. That plan flew out the window because the MRT service between Sungai Buloh station and Kwasa Damansara is suspended.

We tried to get our bikes onto a feeder bus to Kwasa Damansara. A “yes” from the driver quickly changed to a “no” when he saw that there were more than just a couple of us.

We negotiated the access to Jalan Sungai Buloh without incident. Unsurprisingly, it was hot at 2:00pm. 41ºC / 106ºF hot. Luckily we had only 15km to 20km to pedal, depending on where we had started cycling from the day before.

My Biker Chick got home with our bags just before I did. Not only were we all grateful once again for not having to haul our stuff with us on our bikes. One of us was also grateful that she managed to convince Liew Kee (Ah Lek) to sell her twenty packets of chee cheong fun at noon. The shop doesn’t open until 3:00pm.

The day ended with almost all of us meeting at Kwong Cheung Loong Kopitiam for drinks, food, laughter and to collect bags and chee cheong fun.

Some of us ended the evening at Joloko with coconut shakes and more food.

We are already planning our next overnight cycling tour. Hopefull with less or no sunburn.