Gebang Jangan Tak Gebang Beb

Sunday (25-March07) – Woke up even earlier than the normal Sunday rides & much earlier than the working days. It was 5.00 a.m. Crazy man! Well, a promise is still a promise. Promised those PCC guys to be there to volunteer myself for their Time Trial event at Tekala. Left home at 5.45 a.m. and drove the Ulu Langat road towards Batu 14 and up climbing the Bukit Tekali hill heading towards the dam & Tekala picnic area where the venue is. It was definitely pitch black while climbing the Bukit Tekali & there’s no turning back…I meant “no turning back” or even a glimpse of the rear view mirror…hahaha! A slight thought of unnecessary imagination was brushed aside while handling the tricky winding road. Definitely I won’t do this again, dude…scary oooo…

As I arrived, I took the chance of knowing the organiser, Mr Adrian & Seth. Then I met the rest of the u-turn team. There was William, Krankster, Alvina & Harman. We drove with Krankster’s Cherokee (first time in a Cherokee & was quite amazed since it used to be in my list wanted car) to the u-turn. I was equipped with the u-turn checker stuff i.e. a clipboard & the form to fill up riders’ number as they make the u-turn.

The u-turn post was a mere 7.5km away from the starting line where Krankster & me spent a whole one hour guiding the cyclist, handling the passing traffic, taking photos & chat away. Mist was still hanging at the top of the tree canopies as the sun made it’s way lighting up the empty road and the rest of the floras. Once in a while, a few traffic passed by noticing that enthusiast anglers making way for their morning fishing trip at the dam. A convoy of mini coopers, porsche, superbikes & of course the all time favourite playground for roadies as well.

Most participants arrived at the u-turn were pooped…hehe. Maybe they pushed too hard & quite a few climbs as well. One guy was breathing so deep & loud as he aprroached us. And another fast & furious freak was cursing us for not stopping the traffic to make way for his u-turn. All was good. Everybody made it back to the finish line safely. 62 participants out of 86 registered. The longest time trial was done at 56 minutes while the fastest was 23 minutes (the freaky one).

TT was over at 10.00 a.m. We headed back to Batu 14 for breakfast.

There ain’t no shame looking at a good runner’s back. Now, if the runner sucks, that’s something else entirely…The Rage 

18-March 2007 (Sunday) – Participated in AmBank Kuala Lumpur International Marathon (KLIM). Not even the slightest dream of doing the full marathon, neither the half but only the quarter…10km. I clocked 1.02 hours running the 10km route around KL city in the early Sunday morning with Saiful, Alwin, Azahari and another 3000 more participants in the same category. Some other better breeds did the half and full i.e. Bachin, Azmar, Stupe, Asri, etc.

The day started off at 5.30 a.m. as I left the house to meet Saiful and Alwin at Padang Merbok. Parking was ample and dark. I was only able to gobble up half a powerbar. We walked towards Dataran Merdeka for signing in supposed to be at 6.30 a.m. As we waited to be flagged off, the first full marathoner crossed the finish line clocking about 2.21 hours. We started running sharp at 7.00 a.m.

Honestly speaking, I was still in doubt of my capacity to finish in time considering the unscheduled training that was underwent for the last few months. Recalculating the training pace was something that really worries me but to day, it was only between me & me…training days were gone. Stretching was only done inside the congested paddock behind the starting line, not quite a complete one after every stretch of my legs were kicked by others. Considering the time & space constraints, warming up were only done during the first 15 minutes of the run.

Route was kind of interesting. Upon leaving Dataran Merdeka, we headed towards Masjid Negara & pass by the KL nostalgic railway station before reaching Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka. Onto Jln Hang Tuah, Jln. Imbi, Jln. Bukit Bintang, Jln. Sultan Ismail & bursting the last stretch of about 1.5km of Jln. Tuanku Abdul Rahman & crossing the finish line at Dataran Merdeka again.

Loads of type of runners can be seen. Some even had me doubtful of whether he can survive the run looking at his unappropriate attire. Ada yang bawak PDA! Ada yang pakai kasut old school badminton master tapak hijau. Tapi ada jugak yang dressed for success but ended up breeze walking aje. A couple was running & pushing their baby in a stroller. One Indian guy was running with his knapsack, long track bottom, cotton t-shirt and he was running besides me along Jln. TAR…caya la. Me, was only in my Mizuno wave run 2005 dri-fit t-shirt (bought for 5 bucks during WOS warehouse sale), a nikefootball short bought the day before & my trusted new balance.

Kaki rasa ok cuma sometimes angin ada sikit  slow macam “cipan in labour” but all good. Saiful & me were pacing each other throughout except for the part he suffered from the 100 plus gassy syndrome after the Jln. Imbi water station…hehehe. At certain stretches I paced myself a bit slow, maybe lactate threshold dah dekat but the desire to push on drove me to catch up again.

As we ran up the only hill at Jln. Bukit Bintang infront of Marriot, two Mat Salleh ladies were cheering every runners but the Indons and Banglas from the nearby construction site were amazed of the passing crowd. Passing by Jln. Sultan Ismail, I was enticed by the smell of curry from a nearby mamak’s. As we ran the stretch of Jln. Sultan Ismail, Alwin caught up after his session run with a friend after the start off. It seems like he was pacing with less effort taking into account of his long steps. We saw him floating away into the front runners & dispersed.

Saiful & me have decided to squeeze our last strength upon reaching Jln. TAR towards Dataran. I started gearing up my pace as I passed Pertama Complex assuming Saiful would do the same. I just concentrated on my strength and strided away passing Sogo, Kamdar & all those shops. It was an awesome achievement. Saiful was about to catch up with me but perut sudah tangkap cramp pulak during the last few meters.

The satisfaction of running was concluded ranking myself at 317^th placing which qualifies for the first 500 finisher medals. On top of that, we also qualified for the 1 hr 20 minutes qualifying time for the 10km and was awarded with a finisher certificate.

Finally, another rewarding session was the Malaysian Sunday breakfast. Mee wantan special & the famous nasi lemak Tangling at Lake Garden was the final stop before we ended our super Sunday at 11.00 a.m.

Facts:

• Event : Ambank KL International Marathon 2007
• Venue : Dataran Merdeka
• Category : 10 km
• Timing : 1 hour 2 minutes

Sunday (11-March 2007) – It was an awesome Sunday ride where the good old days were ridden again. A whole bunch of us the mountainbikers scaled FRIM trails. The turn up was spectacular as we rolled into the hospital car park at 8.00am. A few of us from BTHO convoyed as early as 7.00am. There were my fellow neighbors, Nizam, Mutalib & Asharul (first off-road attempt) and late entry Zamri whom I informed only the evening before.  Achong, abang Zul, Tun & Azahari were already there.

Ibrahim & gang rolled in a few minutes later. I was caught by surprise when a long lost contact suddenly greeted me. It was Hafiz, who used to be my office colleague back in 1998. He now lives in the same area with Ibrahim…what a small world eh? Another surprise blew me off when Tun informed me that Zuki, my current office colleague will be joining today’s ride. A whole bunch of newbie & seasoned riders all gathered up for our first big time off-road ride. 

We pedal off somewhere before 9.00a.m. & enthusiastically entered the trail head with excitement & joy. However, the first climb was not a good scene for a few newbies. Since a whole bunch of us, we can’t keep track of how many actually are from our group. There are a few other bunch as well. Upon entering FRIM compound, we decided to have breakfast since ada yang belum sempat alas perut. As for newbies, depa belum sempat nak tune perut utk early breakfast & discharge…hehe.

Once fueled up, we headed for the Dream Trail after some detours looking for the trail head. Up Jalan Balau & we found the holy grail. It was awesome. 5 star rating. Details were so fine. The fakawi tribes & FRIM have done a very cool job. Reminds me of Kiara a few years back when all the trails were sweet. A bit unfortunate that the single track lasted for only about 1.6km but it was enough to make every holy grail hunter shout out to their lungs. The roller coaster, the technical climbs, the switchbacks, the boulders, the wooden bridges…it was definitely a great package.

The ride back to Sg. Buloh was full of dissatisfaction. I bet everyone wants to reattempt Dream Trail. We had our pit stop at a stall near the nurseries. Coconut drinks, maggi sup & maggi goreng was the meal for the day. Few others have left straight for home.

Facts :

• Trail : FRIM & Dream trail
• Distance : 25km
• Terrain : Dual track & technical single track
• Weather : Awesome
• Riders : saiful, alwin, tun, zuki, abang zul, azahari, brahim, hafiz, hamir & son, azhar, nizam, mutalib, asharul, azri & son, 2 orang member brahim, zamri & me.

I got this e-mail in 2005 and have been keeping it. Somehow, some of it resembles pretty well…hehehe. If nothing resembles or only 25%, you are not yet addicted dude. Enjoy…

5.  The funeral director tells you “NO!” you can’t ride your Cannondale in the funeral procession, even if you keep your headlight on.

6.  You experience an unreasonable envy over someone who has bar end extenders longer than yours.

7.  You’re too tired for hanky-panky on a Friday night but pump out a five-hour century on Saturday.

8.  Your wife tells you the only way she’ll let you ride across the country is over her dead body and you tell her, “If that’s the case, you’ll be my first speed bump

9.  You no longer require a hankie to blow your nose.

10.  You have stopped even trying to explain to your spouse why you need two bikes…you just go buy another one and figure it will all work out in the divorce settlement.

11.  You buy your crutches instead of renting.

12.  You convert your car’s brake and gas pedals to clipless.  

13.  You see nothing wrong with discussing the connection between hydration and urine color.

14.  You find your Shimano touring shoes to be more comfortable and stylish than your gunboat sneakers.

15.  You refuse to buy a couch because that patch of wallspace is taken up by the bike.

16.  You have more money invested in your bike clothes than in the rest of your combined wardrobe. 17.  Biker chick means black spandex, not leather, and a Marinoni, not a Harley.

18.  “Four cheeseburgers and four large French Fries” is for you.

19.  You see a fit, tanned, Lycra-clad young woman ride by, and the first thing you check out is her bicycle.

20.  You empathize with the roadkill.

21.  Despite all that winter fat you put on, you’ll skim weight by buying titanium components.

22.  You use wax on your chain, but not on your car.

23.  Your mud guards are made out of milk jugs.

24.  Your first course when you eat out is a large banana split.

25.  When driving, you yell “On Your Left!” on passing another car. 26.  You yell “Hole!” when you see a pothole while driving your car.27.  Your bike has more miles on its computer then your car’s odometer.28.  You wear your riding gloves when driving your car.29.  You wear your bike shorts swimming.30.  You wear Charles River Wheelmen T-shirts all the time, including under dress shirts.31.  Your bikes are worth more than your car.32.  You buy a mini-van and immediately remove the rear seats to allow your bike(s) to fit.33.  When you move to a new area the first thing you look for is a bike shop.

I’ve no idea of a nice title for this entry but definitely I have some to gebang about today considering what a week that was.

The weekend was more of a family ordeal. Gone back to JB for my sister’s wedding. If not for that, I might just save my expenses for other things…ekekekek. A son gotta do, what a son gotta do. Thought of leaving Friday night after wifey’s class but I was down with an introductory flu symptoms. Hit the highway first thing in the morning at 6.45am on Saturday. Maintaining cadence at 4000 rpm, managed to capture the nikah on my video at 10.30am. The afternoon was the reception and the evening was at Anfield. Live from Restoran Alif…curry house…hahaha. Very unfortunate for Liverpool whom lost 1-0 to Manu. The game was powered by kacang rebus, otak-otak, fries & milo tarik…awesome. Crowd was nice also…all pure football testosterones, no posers…not like KL. Hehehe…

The coming days were pure agony pulak. Got my nose stuffed, cough & stretchy forehead…arrgh! Weather was almost the same. Hot at mid-day, wet through the evening & freezing cold in the morning. Perfect disaster for an unstable antibody. To date, I haven’t touched my running shoes neither glimpse at my bikes, and KLIM is just around the corner. 

Minggu ni was out of ordinary. No workout at all. Totally flat out doing things other than running or cycling. After the cyclefest, I’ve decided that this week will be my rest & lazy week. To add to the commotion, I was struck with a soar throat on Tuesday…no way man, this is a ticket to a flu. Macam-macam aku buat nak prevent it from getting worse. Drank lots of water, makan honey, avoid oily food…pergh! Well, alhamdullillah it didn’t get worse but now I ended up with a running nose.

Within the same period, I was embarked with a few life time decision as well. Yes, as people said…to seek a greener pasture. Greener what…?. Well I hope I’ve made a justified decision to leave the current job. I can’t no longer stay with the flow. Aku kena swim out of it & find other options to reached downstream. The flow might be full of rapids, turbulance & maybe sharp stones & boulders. Kalau tak cukup 5 inci, tak berani aku nak layan…ekekekek.

Attended a job interview on Monday morning at a consultant firm in KL. The session was kind of a bit fruitful but yet to be confirmed, especially the pay. Afternoon pulak forwarded my CV to Khai through YM since he requested it.

Wed 28-Feb : Spent the whole afternoon beratur at Indonesion Embassy to collect bibik’s renewed passport. The experience was tormenting. No place for kids. Alhamdullillah bibik’s name called upon after almost 2 hours waiting. Got a call from the consultant requesting for a second interview….pulak! Tomorrow after 4pm.

Thur 1-March : It was raining cats and dogs as I was about to leave the office for the interview. Had to drive the site car. The interview went well, both parties kinda won the bargaining…at least for me. Took the offer letter, next to tender my resignation notice pulak dengan PECD. Surprisingly, as I reached back the office at 7.45pm, Tun informed that expected to be about 7 people will be resigning within this month…giler!