Photo-story - Where my bike’s been

[StreetCowboy]

I’m on line in On Line, one of the best neighbourhood pubs in the neighbourhood, if you like a live rock band. 
Anyway, regardless of whence you’ve come, where you’re going, or where you took your afternoon ciders, it’s a great pub. As I come in, they’re playing Sultans of Swing, which must rank alongside Fog Of The Tyne as a geordie classic. But you won’t get wild boar curry like that on Tyneside.

[StreetCowboy]

For those that doubt...

Aye, sure, he’s singing I Want To Break Free in the photo, but he’s the Queen of Tyneside. Takes me back, that does, to the Tyneside Tavern, back in the day, doon by the pannie; ye’re only young once, and our bairns are distressed that it’s all we remember.  The good old days, eh?

[StreetCowboy]

It was when they paused for banter with the crowd, and I shouted out “D’ye ken Tom Jones?” that I realised the risks associated with cycling home. Still, you’re only young once, and that was a good while back.

[StreetCowboy]

I held the door open for a bloke in a wheelchair. “Have you not had enough, pal? You’re legless”

”I’m going to find out where you live...”

I think maybe it was ColinNeil. Vote ColinNeil for PosterOfTheYear, and we can all sleep easy.

[StreetCowboy]

Pubcycle 2019; a bit of mis-timing saw us catching the worst of the rain, but our old friend the White Van was waiting for us at TTDI

[Vietem]

Bangkok Bank Cycle Fest 2019, Siam Country Club, Pattaya. These guys, and gals, were shifting. Was tempted to enter 62 km over 45 race. Just as well I didn't - winner averaged 36kph with plenty of hills too. First over 65 was two minutes behind that. Next year maybe... Pictures here from the team time trial. These folks were belting along too, despite the 33c heat.

[StreetCowboy]

1 hour ago, Vietem said:

Bangkok Bank Cycle Fest 2019, Siam Country Club, Pattaya. These guys, and gals, were shifting. Was tempted to enter 62 km over 45 race. Just as well I didn't - winner averaged 36kph with plenty of hills too. First over 65 was two minutes behind that. Next year maybe... Pictures here from the team time trial. These folks were belting along too, despite the 33c heat.

....

It's incredible how fast some people go on a bike.

 

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I lack the competitive urge to push myself that hard.

 

I was just glad that we completed our Pubcycle 2019 Ride without losing anyone (except for the rescue truck driver, who got lost on stages 1, 3 and 5; but at least he knew where the pubs were, so he turned up in the end).

 

SC

[StreetCowboy]

PUBCYCLE 2019 PART ONE

First off, I had to meet the rescue driver to pass over this year's "Bike for the Boys", outside Sid's, across the road

Then it was off to El Sid's, for assembly, and the start of Stage Zero; El Sid's -> Agathian's

People arrived in dribs and drabs,

but to be fair, we were off a minute ahead of schedule, and if I'd been paying attention to the route, we'd have arrived at the orphanage a few minutes early. 

 

Besides, what kind of a ride would it be without an off-road rampage?

and we were at the orphanage in good time for the fund-raising banana-leaf curry lunch.

 

I know what you're saying - "Where's Big G?" 
He'd gone straight to Agathian's, as he'd had domestic duties in the morning.

 

To be continued

[StreetCowboy]

I’d set a couple of targets today - I wanted a good time on the ten km segment through Kota Damansara, and also the 2 km segment down Jalan Sungai Buloh, which I’d not ridden for a while due to the roadworks. 
 

But Big G was with us, and I’d have felt guilty leaving him on his own out of earshot; luckily, shortly after the start of the Kota Damansara segment we came across a chap with a mechanical; so we stopped to help him out, negating any competitive thoughts.
 

 Until we got to Jalan Sungai Buloh. There’s sand on the apex of the curve, so I took it wide to maximise the radius and keep my speed, top gear, then dropping the gears and increasing the cadence to avoid losing speed on the undulations.  Normally, if I’d not seen the lights change to green, I’d slow down, assuming they would change to red before I got there, but this time, I put my head down and got through not long after the lights had gone amber. The New Boy followed me through.

 

And that was enough to knock 30 seconds off my fastest time over 2.3 km.

 

I’m trying to push myself a little bit harder, to try and improve my fitness.  I’ve got ten years to get myself as fit as the New Boy, so that’s going to call for steady improvement

[StreetCowboy]

I also had the pleasure of my monthly ride to the bank, to prop up the economy of The Old Country.  
There was another bike in the bike rack, but I thought it best to park at a polite distance.  You don’t want them getting frisky while your back’s turned.

[StreetCowboy]

My office was closed for the birthday of the Sultan Of Selangor, but as I live in KL, I was able to pop down to the local post office to post my Christmas cards. As usual, I had to queue for ages; and then, just as I was passing Silly Billy’s on the way home, it started tipping down stair-rods, with lightning.

Lucky I’d had to queue, eh?

[StreetCowboy]

Today we rode an informal criterium; 3 laps round the highway and through the tunnel; to be fair, each lap was slightly different. Frustratingly, while everyone else registered each of the lap segments, I registered none, I think because Strava does not manage its GPS tracking well on the iPhone.

 

The other guys all live the far side of the hill, so they had one or two additional tunnel transits.

 

Anyway, my times  would not have been Personal Bests. But it was a nice brisk ride, and only the slow ride home after breakfast brought the average below 25 kph

[StreetCowboy]

I was browsing Strava, and a friend’s post came up “Evening Activity”, and I thought ‘I’m not sure I would publish that’; then I read on

”Evening Activity: 1 hour 05 minutes” and I thought, ‘Maybe I would’.

[StreetCowboy]

Merry Christmas to everybody!

 

I didn't get out on my bike toda, but I did wash it, and it's still 6 days to the end of the Year

 

SC

[StreetCowboy]

I’ve been past Sungai Buloh hospital a few times, but I was slightly surprised, dismayed, even, to wake up there last Sunday, substantially the worse for wear.  I was released with a ‘no further action required’ bill of health (maybe the exact words would have been ‘further treatment would be a waste of time’).  Anyway, the hangover cleared first, followed by the facial bruising, the cracked ribs are still a bit painful if I sneeze, and I was pleasantly surprised to find my bike more or less where I expected when I went looking on Monday.

To cut a long story short, cycling to the pub does not make you indestructible, and less so as the night progresses.

 

Anyway, all’s well that ends well, and worse things happen at sea

[StreetCowboy]

There’s a new chap joined our Saturday rides, formerly a serious racer, but now quite placid; he does have some fancy kit, though, like electric gears and an oval chain ring, so we’ll call him Ovalboy, despite him being quite skinny.

 

Ovalboy is willing to lead the ride sometimes, and I’m enjoying some new roads.  Today he took us on a back-street diversion through Chinatown, and some different roads out in Segambut.  Also I struggled to recognise some of the roads I’d not ridden for a while.

i has to rest for a while at home until I felt ready for my afternoon commute to the bank, a bike shop and the optician’s. I thought it prudent to pause in Silly Billy’s on the way home

[n210mp]

Mabrachan reservoir up Soi Siam Country club road, never seen it so empty 

[Vietem]

1 hour ago, n210mp said:

Mabrachan reservoir up Soi Siam Country club road, never seen it so empty 

There was a particularly severe drought a number of years ago which was worse - although we've still got several months before the rains come (I can't remember the year - perhaps 10 years ago). At that time you could see the hummocky bed of the main reservoir. They then dredged the part that you have photographed and connected to a reservoir near Sri Racha to pipe water down from there when needed. Or so I thought. It sure is looking bleak at the moment.

[johng]

30 minutes ago, Vietem said:

 It sure is looking bleak at the moment.

 

Yes really hard to get the car or truck own to the water for a good free wash now ????

[StreetCowboy]

Last Sunday saw us meet up with the former Project Director; for a retired fellow he sets a fair old pace, and I was struggling to keep up.  We'd agreed to meet up at a coffee shop in Kota Kemuning, so M & I had 30 km in our legs by the start, but then he'd done 15 km as well.  Big G drove to the start.

 

The route was flat as last night's scrumpy, and took a bit of map-reference to get to the final destination...
a toddy shop on the Klang - Banting Road; not literally, it's a up a little side-lane, round a corner and through the back. 

Not unsurprisingly, we were the first ones there at 10:30.  There was quite a crowd by the time we left at about noon, though. The toddy was a bit pungent, but better if it was diluted with Tiger.  A Tiger ratio of 100-0 seemed to be best.

We were all flagging by the time we were heading homeward along Kesas Highway, and I scarcely had breath to squeeze out "Goodness Me, How High Is This Viaduct?".  Luckily, we got to the pub before the rain started, but M was struggling, and eventually succumbed.

"I don't think it's going to rain at all; I'm just going to go home".
More fool him.  By 5 pm it was tipping down stair-rods, and Big G and I were able to polish off another couple of sets while we sheltered.  

[StreetCowboy]

The New Boy never showed up for the first ride of Chinese New Year; Friday wasn’t a holiday anyway, so I abandoned the main road ride I’d planned, and explored a few of the back roads towards the hill near where I live.  I can vouch for them being near the hill, in a vertically challenging way, and thus prone to dramatic vistas

The path up to Desa Park City has been vandalised by hoodlums who have dug a big hole across it

but you can still alight and wheel your bike past.

 

[StreetCowboy]

Yesterday’s ride with young M was a nondescript ride round some well-known hills; maybe some familiar roads in opposite directions for M, who was suffering from lack of practice, as well as Friday night.

I wasn’t too surprised when no-one else turned up for today’s pub lunch, and I took the opportunity to scout some of the quainter parts of KL City Centre.

This is me parked up outside the Kraft Centre

mans looking the other way past our Jalan Conlay station site towards one of the Twin Towers

A quick bit of lamb balti in The Green Man 

and I was ready for home, past St Andrew’s church

with a pause for refreshments at El Sid’s

And home, near enough...

[StreetCowboy]

I’m a bit nervous I’ve not seen The White Van for a couple of days.

I am hoping it’s just Balik kampung for Chinese New Year, and it will be back after the holidays

[StreetCowboy]

We had a good turnout yesterday for a ride past the small airport; the roadworks on Jalan Sungai Buloh make it not so pleasant, and if you go clockwise round Subang Depot, DO NOT take the motorcycle lane through the underpass. Bollards force you to run straight across the drain grille. If you take the main carriageway, you can weave across at an angle.

 

When no-one else turned up for today’s Rawang ride, I began to have second thoughts. When I found myself beating into a Northerly breeze, they coalesced into an alternative plan. Rather than fighting up Templer Hill, I scrambled up the Desa Park City water Tower Hill; I ran into a former colleague and stopped for a chat, blowing any chance of a good segment time. I still persevered to the top, though.

Then I wandered, aimless as a cloud, with a vague plan of cutting over from Sri Damansara to Damansara Perdana through a little dirt track at the end of the old road

The old road was shorter than I remembered and I soon found myself looking up at the DASH highway where it plunges into the heart of Damansara Perdana

I decided to follow it into the pylon reserve, where it comes from Kota Damansara to Damansara Perdana

The path starts out firm enough, with a little flooding; then it gets overgrown, till you can’t see the path any more; then a little bit overgrown till you’re not sure where exactly the path is; and then after a while you’re pretty sure there is no path. So I climbed up the banking at the edge of the pylon reserve, and found myself in the car park of a low cost housing estate, half way between the Indian temple and the mosque.  A few moments’ wandering found me emerging onto the public street, and shortly after, I realised where I was.

 

It was only a few minutes back to Silly Billy’s (closed) and Chinese Children’s Pub (also closed), so I found myself in Sid’s once again, along with the chap with the ridiculous handlebars

You’ll be glad to know The White Van is back.

[StreetCowboy]

Sunday saw us set off up Genting Sempah to catch Le Tour de Langkawi on their third day approaching KL.

My buddy and I parked our bikes just near the King Of the Mountains flag

but the TV cameras didn't linger on them.

We arrived in good time, and there wasn't much traffic before the race arrived

I was surprised there were so few other cyclists there to watch the race, given how busy the road is with cyclists normally on a Sunday morning.  We saw lots more people going home as we arrived than waited for the race.

Looking up to the KOM flag. 

 

There were plenty of race motorbikes came through

 

 ahead of the race leader, Rylee Field

 

Followed by the peleton a couple of minutes later

 

And then it was time to head for home...towards home, anyway

You'll notice that El Sid's now has a sign saying Bar Roca...  They still sell Strongbow cider, though.

 

[ravip]

An unusual article I came across today...

 

Cyclists battle hostility in many cities worldwide, but in Gaborone, Botswana, the social stigma around cycling has made the streets “more dangerous than lions”.

Article

[StreetCowboy]

2 hours ago, ravip said:

An unusual article I came across today...

 

Cyclists battle hostility in many cities worldwide, but in Gaborone, Botswana, the social stigma around cycling has made the streets “more dangerous than lions”.

Article

But it seems there are some keen cyclists who persevere, and persuade others.

The article accidentally highlights an opinion that is widely held everywhere; that it is acceptable to abuse and maltreat the poor, and treat them as second-class citizens.

 

We should take note, and go out of our way to avoid doing that ourselves

 

[StreetCowboy]

With the smoking ban that came in last year, and started being enforced this year, they've started smoking at the bike racks at the Sultan's Roti Shop

 

 

 

 

[StreetCowboy]

I'm sure you can understand my distress when I got to the middle of the graveyard and discovered that the pub there had closed.  Fortunately, that was just the route check for today's ride; unfortunately I was on the shopping bike with cans of cider, to leave there for today, becuase I knew the pub would not have cider, and now I was going to have to take them all the way home again.

 

Or so I thought... A few hundred metres down the road, just opposite the school, there was a little toddy shop; I'm guessing it's not such a rough crowd at the weekend when the teachers from Alice Smith are in.

 

SO I gave the bloke the cider for today, and a small glass of toddy and a couple of bottles of Tiger to wash it down with, and I was ready for the journey home.

 

It really is a great route; we'll go out through PJ the same way we always go, in the heat of the blazing mid-day sun.  Then, where we turn off the highway, just after the sewage works, normally we'd be struggling up Bukit Kerinchi, but today we follow a quiet highway link to Jalan Kuchai Lama.  The traffic there is a bit heavy, but we'll be taking it slow and steady, as my buddy's sister will be with us on my old mountain bike.  We'll be left-hand lane all the way, so it should be quite safe, and then we slope off onto the feeder lanes for the Federal Highway Motor Bike Lane; there's a motorbike roundabout, then wrong-road through some construction (that will be easier if they're not working on a Sunday), and then through a tiny little motorbikes-only underpass below the highway, a bigger bridge under the railway, and we'll be into Seputeh.  We skirt round the hills (unless we want to race up to Tin Hau Temple) and then we're into the largest Chinese cemetary in KL.  And that takes us to the toddy shop shown above.

 

From there, we go round the Alice Smith international school, past the UN High COmmission for Refugees, up to the gates of a local school at the end, down a lane, onto a path that becomes shadier and rougher and shadier... Then some steps, and you're on a main road... over a footbridge over the so-called "River of Life"

 

The riverside renovations are taking so long, it's more like the Eternal River of Life.

The bridge has been designed for wheelchair accessibility with ramps as well as steps as it comes down into Brickfields

 

For most of the way

Someone, somewhere needs a good slap in the Public Works Department.

 

From there, we're quickly into the Malay University, the back streets of PJ, once round Tropicana Mall and home.  It really is a nice route, with plenty of variety, from six-lane highways to semi-paved woodland paths; there's no long, tedious stretches, and in total, it should be fractionally under 40 km, with no excessive hils.

  

[StreetCowboy]

Sadly, I never thought to stop to take a photo of the lady trying to reverse her car back along the motorcycle lane after finding it blocked by construction.  I didn’t wait to see how she coped with reversing round the motorcycle roundabout either.

 

My buddy’s sister didn’t make it as far as the cemetery, let alone the toddy shop, and her husband, who’d driven there, was glad of the opportunity not to go in, on the grounds of loud Indian music, and was happy to drive her home.

 

We soldiered on

and enjoyed some wild boar and iguana, as well as a couple of Tigers and the cider I’d brought on Saturday.  That set us up well for the ride home, at least as far as Brussels Beer Cafe, where we stopped in the hope that it might rain.