PCC Centrepoint - Batu Arang Ride

My first long ride on the new bike. I was tempted to ride from home, adding 30km to a 108km route, but decided against it just in case my set-up was uncomfortable.

Riders today (whose names I know) - Adeline, Lisa (fast runner), Rafiq, Shu Hwuey, Don, Adzim - Cervelo, Jeffrey - new Bianchi Liquigas, PK & son, Patrick & Jason, Gert-Jan Theunisse (see photo), Azam, Dennis - Cervelo Soloist.

Gert-Jan Theunisse - spotted in Batu Arang with a Merida bike and Discovery jersey

After receiving masses of praise for having a super-new-shiny-lightweight-carbon-mean machine, we set off. After an easy first 7km or so I went for a blast down the hill towards the Industrial areas before reaching the Sungai Buloh Road. I then settled into a pattern of time-trialling a bit on the front, getting used to my aero-position and weird saddle, then taking a rest, getting dropped, then catching up again. Eventually we reached Ijok Petronas and re-fuelled.

Another long straight road after that provided another aero-position front-running opportunity but once the hills started I dropped back a bit before working my way through the backmarkers and into Batu Arang for wan tan mee soup - lovely!

Out of B. Arang I didn't stay with the small lead group on the climb and ended up all alone on the road back to KL. Soon I caught Dennis and the pair of us sped along at a fair rate until we waited for the rest to guide us through a complicated route back to Centrepoint.

108km in 3h50mins-ish I think. My average was 29kph+ but the slow last sector lowered it to about 28kph. Not bad though as I did little if any drafting, and to reach my Desaru target I only need to do 90km @ 26kph.

B 2 B (Back To Bentong)

In my efforts to become a Half-Ironman Hero in a couple of months I’m upping my biking mileage this year, so I had to leave my comfy bed at the ridiculously early hour of 5.40am to make it to Genting Sempah by 8am to join the Bentong ice-cream pilgrimage.

Unfortunately Ah Fook and I arrived 5 minutes late and so had to fly down the hill towards Bentong in the hope of catching the PCC peloton.

Despite a swift descent, to my surprise there was no sign of the speeding PCC boys and girls until we spotted Ah Fatt acting suspiciously at the Hot Springs. What was he up to I asked myself? Short-cutting by starting at the hot springs? Packing up after a 20min cruise down the hill? Going for a quick dip?

Alas there was a job to be done so Fook and I continued courageously but never did manage to catch the pack. I won’t mention that Fook fell off his bike upon arrival (forgot about feet being clipped to the pedals) as I don’t want to embarrass the poor lad!

After the usual ice cream and cendol for me, and fish balls for some, back we all headed towards Sempah. Now I’m getting to know the standard post-Bentong routine:

We all amble slowly to the traffic lights, talking about how nice the ice cream was.

A pack gradually forms on the slight hill just out of town.

Bernard “Nijdam” Tan breaks away on his own, never to be seen again!

We form a nice fast paceline in which I do a good but ultimately unsustainable stint at the front (until the road starts to rise) at which point…

I change back into 3^rd gear and get massively dropped by almost the entire bunch.

I overtake Mac about halfway up the hill. (This is a repeat of a recent Frasers ride)

However on this ride a certain Ivan ‘Basso” Chan threw the rule book away by attempting a stunning solo breakaway!! I’m not sure what happened to him though! I swear I have never seen him move soooooooo fast!!!

Stats for my own benefit:

140km in 5:59:58 @ slow kph.
Weight 77kg.
Heart rate surprisingly low today. I did almost the entire climb to Sempah at <145bpm.>

Mixed Bag

Kenyir Tri results are out. I was 21st out of 39 in my category and my position in each leg was more or less the same (20-something'th) - suggesting some consistency, which is good I suppose. For the PD tri maybe I'll try a bit harder in the swim.

The KL 10km run planned for Sunday has been postponed so I'm going 144km to Bentong & back with Ah Fook and the PCC gang.

My illness came back yesterday, which rather annoyed me, but it's receded again today. An early night tonight and I should be ok for my long ride.

KRI have posted a load of photos from the Century Ride - they're not that great so I won't be buying the real ones...



At the finish...

Ulu Yam Ride

I defied the wicked flu bugs in my body, and mid-night disruptions courtesy of Lucas, to make it out of bed to head of to FRIM to 'lead' my first ever PCC ride. Much water, Vit C tablets and gargling with salt water seemed to have almost eliminated my throat problem, but I still woke tired and with a raw feeling in my windpipe. However I had been looking forward to this ride since it was planned a couple of weeks ago, and was determined to make it.

I met Ah Fook just up the hill from Carrefour and we made our way to FRIM. This was where my "leader"ship was tested, and failed, as we headed into FRIM whilst everyone else was already waiting opposite FRIM! I announced the days route and regroup points and we headed off back towards Batu Caves.

Federer 5-5 Gonzales (First Set of Aussie Open Final) - GO GONZO!! FEDERER IS BORING!!

At Batu Caves we had to negotiate our way through a huge traffic jam and masses of Hindu devotees who I think must have been pre-Thaipusam activities. Lots of shaved heads, flowers, incense, praying by the river, walking bands etc...

At the short sharp climb at the Batu Dam the P2K boys flew by, with a sprinting James Bak hot on their tails.

The group was fairly well fragmented by the time we got into the valley, and I struggled along in gears 1-3 with Ah Fook. My legs felt empty and I seriously began to think I'd get to the top of the main climb and turn back. Somehow I slowly crept to the summit and met the rest of the gang. I ate half my PowerBar and chose to continue down to Ulu Yam. The descent was fantastic as always, and I clocked up a max. speed of 76kph!

In Ulu Yam the "leader" couldn't find the stall he'd last visited 10 years ago, so we headed back a bit and found somewhere with 100 Plus, water and nasi lemak - just what the doc. ordered!

The group here was..Sean Chang, Gunther, Patsy Yap, Ah Fook, an ex-Selangor rider and some others - sorry names forgotten or not known!! I ate some rice and 1/4 of my PowerBar to fill my legs. Feeling ok by now but definitely not 100%.

As we headed back up the hill I has a nice chat with Sean Chang before he dropped me. I managed to get to the top without too much trouble and enjoyed cruising back to the dam with Patsy & Ah Fook. I had a bit of a scare as I casually tried to extract the final 1/4 of my Powerbar from it's wrapper whilst sitting-up on the bike (no hands) at 40kph. The bars started wobbling violently but luckily I managed to get my hands on them before my front wheel flipped round. I would have been flying through the air if I hadn't!!

Apart from passing a Chinese Lion and Band doing their thing (Cultural Experience#2 of the day), the ride home was uneventful. Mileage - 97km.

Century Ride

I rode 144.1km today! That's 89.5 miles!

Up at 5.40am, breakfast of Weetabix & raisins (carbs!). Left in darkness at 6.00am. Co-incidentally met Ah Fook at the start of Old Gombak Road and we cycled to HOA together. Met Arif, May Sen, Mac, Ashley Lim, Napi, Benny & others & made our way up to Genting Sempah.

We arrived at the top just after 8am and met a large group who had gathered there - Ron, James, Ivan, Annie, Seth, Wong, Bernard, PK Hong, Dr. Nabil and many more. Ate banana #1.

Then began the nice descent into the valley, the lower half of which has a lovely new surface. We stopped where someone had punctured for a minute and then regrouped at the Hot Springs.

We cruised along the gently downhill valley road (last 20km to Bentong) in the high 30's (kph). My final blast at the front came just before the road rises gently 1km before the town, at which point, as usual, my speed dropped dramatically and I was suddenly 500m behind everyone!

A quick water fill at the petrol station (where I met Nicholas, a Swedish guy working in their Embassy in KL) preceded the usual drink and Cendol (for me, Ais Kacang for others) at the Kow Po? Coffee House. Ate banana #2.

On the way back I set the pace for 1-2km then was passed by 1 or 2 riders, most memorably Bernard, who flew off into the distance. After a while the bunch settled into a steady 28-32kph pace along the slightly undulating but uphill road towards the climb back up to Genting. Arif, myself, and "Blue Rudy Project Top Man" as I call him took turns punching a hole in the air for everyone else.

At exactly the same spot where I was dropped by Bike Pro on my last visit here, where the grade increases before the main climb, I fell back again. Powergel time!

Maybe it was all in the mind but I felt stronger after the Powergel and was pleased that Arif and May Sen (who were a few hundred metres ahead) weren't getting further away. I passed Ah Fook - who I must say is a bit of a hero for riding over 100k with running shoes and no pedal clips or straps - and eventually caught Arif & May Sen. Arif & I had a bit of fun as we caught and passed Benny about 200m from McD's.

10mins rest and a fill of water later, I headed off up the short sharp climb to the summit, and free-wheeled the 15km back down. On the way I passed some policemen and passers-by looking down a very steep ravine, in the bottom of which was an overturned white car - God help the passengers.

The 18km final run to home was less pleasant as I negotiated Sunday lunchtime Jalan Genting Klang traffic. Home at 1.35pm.

Right knee was fine - so adjustment to cleat must have been correct. Today was the first time ever wearing bibshorts and I must say they are extremely comfortable. No waist strap and improved ventilation - no wonder that's what the pro's wear!

Goodbye 2006

I had 4 days off work (Sat to Tue) and wanted to get back to doing some exercise following my recent ill health.

I managed an easy 8km Petaling Hash on Sat p.m. despite still not being 100% (still tired and coughing in the mornings). Sunday a.m. I was still under the weather a bit but was determined to get to Ulu Langat for the ride to Klawang.

I finally met Azwar, and also Bacin, Adzim, and another guy whose name I can't remember. I felt fine on the flat first 14km but the climb up Peres was awful. I really wasn't feeling good and decided to u-turn at the top. The return leg was fine, but I was disappointed not to have done my first 100k+ ride for 8 years! Maybe this weekend!

Here's the ride profile...



No activity on Xmas day except eating quite a lot of chocolate!

On Boxing Day afternoon I attempted a 1-hour run around the KLCC track but still didn't feel good despite my very slow pace. After 3 laps my stomach was twisting and turning so I gave up after 4 laps. Still ran 5.2km though, in a slow 35mins.

Tuesday is PCC Night Ride day, so I drove to TTDI in the evening. More people turned up than I expected, and I had an enjoyable but tough (faster than usual) 23.8km ride in almost exactly an hour. My legs were burning on the last hill but felt fine the next day.

Tonight I'm going to keep up my plan of exercising (or training as I should now call it) every other day. My plan (subject to Will and Weather) is to do the Pacesetters famous 10km Double Hill route from Padang Merbok.

I've got another 4 day weekend coming up. I'm tempted to drive up to Ulu Yam early Saturday afternoon and cycle up towards Genting, then fly back down in time for the Petaling Hash.

This morning I was delighted to see that Pacesetters have got a well-stocked 2007 event calendar online, so I've updated mine accordingly, with all hyperlinks I know of. Look right!

I've signed up for the KL Half-Marathon on 18 March, and a couple of the training runs beforehand.

Ride Profiles

Here's the profiles for the last 2 weeks PCC Sunday rides. First up is Centrepoint Bandar Utama to Batu Arang...


Next is the return leg, Batu Arang to Centrepoint Bandar Utama. There's 445m of climbing on that ride. The main peak (on the left) is a nice long winding climb through young oil palm plantations outside Batu Arang.


This is the profile from this mornings ride out to the Guthrie Expressway. The 7 or so peaks between 20 and 40km are the Expressway, through rolling hills, up and down and up and down......

PCC Ride - Batu Arang

I joined PCC yesterday morning for another very enjoyable Sunday morning ride. I counted 28 riders leaving Centrepoint Bandar Utama at 7.30am. We covered 87km in 3hours and 18mins at an average of not far under 27km/h. If I remember rightly that's the longest ride I've done since 1998 or '99 when I was in Singapore. Soon I'll have to do a full 100k!

As I seem to have left my track pump in Ipoh or Lumut, I borrowed Ron's pump (with guage) and filled my tires up to 120 psi. This would give me some extra speed i thought! After 20km we were joined by what seemed like a rather small group of Bike Pro riders, and our pace increased. I enjoyed cruising along at 30-40km/h but didn't do any work at the front!

After a while the Bike Pro group went off the front. Before Batu Arang, Ron, myself and a few others regrouped and I set the pace from there almost all the way to Batu Arang, along nice undulating roads through Palm Oil plantations.

We stopped in the town for some 'makan', drinks and a rest. I ate some fried rice and mee-hoon noodles.

On the return leg it took my legs a good 30minutes to get warmed up again. By that time the lead group of 5 or 6 were about 1km ahead. Myself and 3 or 4 others, including Rahim, caught up another 3 or so riders (Harun, Arif and Wendy) at about the 60km mark. I took a break for a while by riding behind Harun, at which point the group broke up and some went their separate ways. 'Twas getting mighty hot out there at this time (about 11am).

I caught Azwar at 65km and stopped for a drink at the next petrol station, where I had spotted Ron and Benny. Noticing that time was running out (I had to get home and out again for the Kids Hash) we quickly got going again. At the Sugai Buloh junction Benny was strongest up the hill, never to be seen again. I noticed my rear wheel was badly buckled (possible snapped spoke - explaining the loud cracking noise I had heard earlier).

Ron and I almost caught Benny, but he caught the green light at Tropicana and we lost him again, although we picked up a guy (sorry. no name) with a nice-looking Token bike with carbon everything and ZIPP 404 wheels. Even his seat was carbon with no padding, on which he said he'd ridden 160km comfortably!

More, including route profile, to follow........

Weekend Warrior

For one reason or another (laziness, missing equipment, tiredness etc...) I didn't do any exercise at all from Monday to Friday last week, so I had to catch up at the weekend to make sure I didn't feel bad about it.

Saturday a.m. Bike Ride - 16.2km

Lucas chased me around the condo car-park on Friday evening as I cycled around slowly adjusting the cleats on my new shoes. After successful adjustment I was fit & ready to cycle to work on Saturday morning, which I duly did (16.2km in about 31 mins at just under 30km/h).

Saturday p.m Run - 10.4km

Due to successful forward-planning I had all the necessary kit in the office already to change and have a shower after my ride, and go out for a run after work. All I forgot was my wrist coin-pouch (a freeby from the recent Powerman that I use to hold my MP3 player) but that didn't matter as I had my fantastic new Brooks Pacesetters running shorts, which have a pouch at the front big enough for my player, and a zip pocket at the back for my car keys.

Gone are the days of holding my player in a sweaty hand as I run and having to tie my car keys to my waist cord - hooray!

After work I drove to KLCC and parked illegally behing a line of also-illegally-parked Mercedes S-class' and BMW 7-series cars (no doubt belonging to some rich folks visiting the watch exhibition in the convention centre next door). I had been looking forward to trying the KLCC jogging track for some time - for a change of scene and lap length compared to Titiwangsa.

Also, the KLCC track is a round 1.300km lap - at Titiwangsa it is an odd 2.692km with a gap of about 50m between the start and finish - very strange!?!?

I set off aiming at 0:8:14 per lap, confident of an enjoyable run as I'd managed to stuff my MP3 player with 800MB worth of music. 1st lap 7:59 - so far so good! 2nd lap 8:22 - uh oh! 3rd lap 8:36 - eh?? My lap times got slower and slower until they reached a plateau at about 8:36-8:40.
I think that listening to music makes it difficult to pace myself as I often change my stride pattern as the beats change.

On the final lap I pushed hard enough to reach but not exceed my self-imposed 165bpm limit and clocked 8:09, for a total of 1:07:11, about 0:1:19 behind my target time.

Sunday a.m. PCC Ride - 52km

This was a repeat of a recent ride, 52km around the Hulu Langat valley, up the 9km climb of Genting Peres and a final 2.5km steep climb (Sg. Tekali). I took the first 15km very easy and was dropped by the group on the flat. At the foot of Peres I stopped for 5-10mins and then made my way up with a handful of riders just in front.

I overook about 5 riders on the way up and enjoyed the climb - managing a good rhythm in 2nd gear at some points. I got to the top about 4 minutes faster than my previous attempt.

I had another long break at the top before the 15 minute descent and rollong terrain to the foot of the final short sharp climb. I waited for almost all of the remaining group of 8 or so to set-off before I did - to see if I could catch them up!

'Twas a tough climb but I made it in similar time to before, and managed to catch up alomost everyone.

There were a number of new (to me) PCC riders today - Alauddin, Harun, Wendy, Bo, Meng? and some others whose names I didn't get.

PCC Ride - Genting Sempah to Bentong & Back

Had another good ride with PCC this morning. There were about 12 of us to start with. Those that I can remember are James, Ivan, Annie, William, Dennis, Ronald, BK, Me and 4 others whose names I don't know. The day got off to a good start when Dennis showed me how to strap my fi'zi:k saddle bag to my saddle properly - thanks Dennis! As a reward here's a picture of his nice Wilier Triestina bike...


Here's some of the gang getting ready at Genting Sempah R&R stop car-park...


As you can see from this profile, courtesy of my wonderful Polar HRM, it was downhill all the way to Bentong, apart from a little blip at the end of the 35km outbound ride.

'Twas a chilly start to the day, but warmed as we descended. There was very little traffic (good) but the road surface was a bit dodgy in places, so it was a leisurely descent. I only made it above 45kmh once.

Once we got to the valley floor at about 17km I cruised along nicely behind 2 guys in front. Eventually they let me take over so I time-trialled a bit for a while until I'd had enough. Then I was joined by AD and Ronald. We stopped at the petrol station at 33km to regroup, at which point I got my camera out again...

From L to R - William, Ivan, Annie, James, BK, Me!, ?, ? (sorry guys), AD.

Another couple of km brought us to the famous Kedai Kopi Kow Po, for Ice Kacang, although I had Cendol. After 10 mins or so we were joined by the Bike Pro riders, some L2A riders including famous Malaysian triathlete and generally very fit girl - Kimberley Yap. I also bumped into Tony from Leighton's (big Aussie construction firm who I might want to employ me in the future!!).

Here's the famous shop, with lots of bikes outside...

On the return journey it was one big bunch of about 26 riders, led by the Bike Pro gang with Ronald and I clinging on at the back.

We got sucked along at 30-35kph for about 17km until the gradient increased a little bit, at which point you can see my HR go up, and then down as I cracked and slowed down.

It was only a matter of seconds before a few other also fell off the back of the group and before I knew it I was back in a bunch of 7 PCC riders - me + Annie, James, Ivan, William, BK, Ronald.

As I messed about taking photos whilst cycling with no hands, the other 6 pulled away from me. After a while I caught and passed Ivan and could see BK and Ronald but the other 3 had gone off the front. I passed William as he waited to sweep up Ivan at the bottom of the climb, and slowly but surely caught Ronald and then BK.

Here's the gang...

The climb was quite shallow apart from a couple of short slightly steeper inclines. I was quite comfortable in 1st gear all the way up. Was pleased to note from my alititude reading that the seemingly flat bits were actually slightly uphill - thus explaining my slow speed.

On this profile, red line is my HR, blue is speed and solid red is the terrain. The climb was about 400m (1200'). Note how speed drops dramatically after HR peaks at about km 18 - that's when I'd had enough of the Bike Pro pace!

Great Bike Ride with Profile!

I had a most enjoyable bike ride around the Hulu Langat valley this morning, my first Sunday ride with the Pedalphiles. We covered 52km, including the 10km Genting Peres climb (rising about 1000 feet) and the short sharp Tekali climb, rising about 500 feet over a distance of 2.5km.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is an image of the output from my wonderful Polar HRM that I so look forward to looking at after each exercise.

Blue is speed, red is HR, dark red is altitude (click image to load a big one). As you can see we had a roughly 15km flat-ish warm up followed by the main climb. This took 40minutes to go up, and 15 minutes to go down. The descent was fun as always but too winding to get any real speed up. The second climb went better than expected, although it was twice as steep as the first one. The descent was great and I managed to reach 69km/h!!

More to follow.