Photo-story - Where my bike’s been

[MrTrip]

SC, are your routes on Strava?


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[StreetCowboy]

10 hours ago, MrTrip said:

SC, are your routes on Strava?


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Yes; but they’re all around Kuala Lumpur, so not so convenient for most of you.

[StreetCowboy]

I'd planned a not too strenuous ride up and down the highway a few km, detouring through a couple of housing estates - maybe 30 km or so.  Unfortunately one of the riders easily goaded me into trying one of the steep little hills that KL has in abundance.  Never again!  It was like THAT /.

Then we came home through the back road, which has a bit of construction site and ditch and unbuilt path to it - maybe that will keep him quiet about the planned plantation adventure for a while...

[damascase]

Well, my bike did over 10.000km last year - with me in the saddle.........

Mainly in the far north of Thailand, where I took these pictures:

[StreetCowboy]

31 minutes ago, damascase said:

Well, my bike did over 10.000km last year - with me in the saddle.........

Mainly in the far north of Thailand, where I took these pictures:

 

...

Great pictures.  It looks like great cycling countryside.

 

That's a lot of kilometres.  My target is 5,000+ km per year, and that needs going out diligently twice every weekend.

[damascase]

Great cycling here up North. Last year I did 8500km in Thailand, 2000 in The Netherlands. 

Running behind a bit this year, as I badly hurt my knee, stepping/falling off a 50-60cm high sidewalk...... 

[StreetCowboy]

I suppose its the variety I like most, cycling in KL.

On Sunday I went out with our Project Manager and his wife; we started off with a bit of suburbs, a highway, the Sultan's palace (seen here in side view, though yesterday we passed by his rear entrance)

Then about 55 kph down a hill towards the next highway, then through empty streets to the centre of town, where it so happened the city centre streets were just re-opening after Car Free Sunday.  Through the city centre past KLCC and the Twin Towers, and into Kampung Baru, which is a traditional little village in the city centre less than two kilometres from the twin towers.  You've seen that view often enough, though.

 

Then you're  into what seems like countryside in Kenny Hills, overlooking the city - you've seen that view often enough as well.  Back into the city and then through a little back road that could be in the jungle, miles from anywhere, but is in fact a kilometre from KL Sentral Station, and another kilometre to Sentral Chappati Shop, and the best samosas this side of Tollcross, and finally back up the hill at the back of Bangsar, another fast descent past the Science Centre, through the Tunnel

.

and if you take the underpass and the back road through the village and careful on the narrow concrete bridge over the ditch, past the Islamic residential school and you'll be in Sid's pub before they've finished pouring your cider. 

Another nice excursion on my shopping bike, though this time I did not load up with takeaway samosas.  I did slightly overdo the lentil curry, but luckily no-one in the group smokes.

I should get a picture of the concrete bridge.

[StreetCowboy]

I had the opportunity to retrace some steps from last Sunday's ride and take a few of the photos I'd missed, like this one

 

600 m as the crow flies from KL Sentral station

 

And on the way home, the concrete bridge in the village 

- not suitable for motor vehicles.  The Rescue Truck driver has to find an alternate route when the Pubcycle passes this way.

 

It was nice to see the bike racks at the MRT being used as well

 

There was one steep hill I regretted "If Google Maps had contours, we'd have not come this way"

"I'm guessing I've never come this way before, because I am sure I would have remembered that..."

Anyway, a short pause for a wheeze and a gasp, and I looked back and the New Boy was on his way up with his Single Speed and I was able to clamber back on board.

The New Boy's bike.  I suppose we should call him the Old Boy since someone else has joined the group, but I don't want to offend a gentleman of his seniority.

 

[StreetCowboy]

Sorry, this photo got deleted from the post above while I was editing

 

Jungle Road, 600 m from KL Sentral Station

[n210mp]

Khao suan kwang, 50K north of KKHome of Youwin Lao forest monk

[StreetCowboy]

Like Scruffy, the Huffy Chuffy Tug Boat (very small but also very bold was he) today we went down to where the river meets the sea

Pulau Carey is as bleak as it is wide (13 km from the causeway to the Straits of Malacca, and the same again back) and we were glad to find a seafood restaurant immediately on the mainland side on the way back

where we could park up and replenish our calories.

We were spectacularly lucky with the weather, which tipped down stair rods in a tropical deluge just as we were passing a service station.   35 minutes later, and we were good to go as the last drops fell, and from there, you could scarcely say "Crivvens, how high is this fly-over" before we were back at our usual resting place

Another great ride, marred by only one navigational error which saw us on a scarey high speed highway for three junctions, some remarkably long and tedious roads, and a slightly tiresome half hour looking at the pretty girls and waiting for the rain to stop.  At least there were some pretty girls - Shell stations must sell exceedingly good cakes.

[StreetCowboy]

4 hours ago, n210mp said:

Khao suan kwang, 50K north of KKHome of Youwin Lao forest monk

That looks cery lush and green

[MrTrip]

Love the pictures and reports guys[emoji106][emoji2532]
We had some lovely sunshine in the Test Valley yesterday morning. However it was 2 degrees Celsius when I set off on my 38 mile ride. I wore every piece of my winter clothing just to keep warm. Still loved it[emoji1452]‍[emoji3603][emoji1452]‍[emoji3603][emoji1452]‍[emoji3603]





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[StreetCowboy]

1 hour ago, MrTrip said:

Love the pictures and reports guys
We had some lovely sunshine in the Test Valley yesterday morning. However it was 2 degrees Celsius when I set off on my 38 mile ride. I wore every piece of my winter clothing just to keep warm. Still loved it‍‍‍





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Test Valley looks like nice cycling country - what is the New Forest like for cycling?

[MrTrip]

Test Valley is great because it’s full of tiny back lanes with virtually no traffic if you’re on a road bike or gravel and farm tracks for the mountain bike.

 

New Forest is similar but as it’s now a national park there’s too many restrictions on where you can and can’t ride. The problem has been caused by millions of tourists arriving with their bikes so a small network of “cycle routes” was designed to keep them happy. I’ve had Forest wardens moan to me about riding all over the forest but it’s where I’ve grown up, I’ve cycled the Forest all my life.

 

I love cycling on road and off road in both places as luckily they’re very local to me.

 

I look forward to the days in the future when I can start to explore my surroundings in Sisaket when we eventually settle there. No more literally freezing cold rides but there will be a whole new world of other issues to contend with I’m sure.

 

My 20 year old Cannondale which I absolutely love riding

 

 

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[StreetCowboy]

The mountain bike now equipped with ladies’ saddle, rack and basket mount.  Parked outside Chinese Children’s Pub for Saturday lunch.

I’d had to fix a puncture caused by movement of the spoke tape this morning so while I was at Johnny’s to get a new tube, I bought two rim tapes as well. And a bell.  Everyone needs a bell

[StreetCowboy]

To celebrate Depavali I fitted the bell, and went out to set a fastest time on my local 3 km loop in my suburb.  Unfortunately, I over-did the warm-up lap, and my legs said “steady on there, you can have too much of a good thing” 200 metres into the first incline on the racing lap.  So I got a Personal 3rd Best for the warm-up, and called it a day and went home for some bell-fitting.  I didn’t take a photo, so you’ll need to imagine the bike above with a small Cateye dinger fitted

[Hank Gunn]

Loving this thread and have been anxious to post. I have a cyclocross bike (shorter top tube for a less stretched out riding position among other things) and changed out the drop bars to these "mustache" bars and added the Brooks saddle. I used it as my commuter the last year I lived in the US (Silicon Valley, about 45 mi. south of San Fran.) then moved here to Buriram, Thailand 1 1/2 yrs. ago with my Thai wife. We're just on the edge of town, about 3km to the BigC, Makro, Robinsons, and about 8km into the "downtown" (pop. is ~ 30k). I have a loop that takes a back road out to the main east/west hwy (226) that goes to Korat in one direction and Surin in the other. It's about 10km out and 10km back. I've gotten the ride down from about an hour, to 55 min., to 54 min. then the last two times 53 min. (Not real exact as I just check my phone before tucking into my underseat bag and check it when I get back.) As my conditioning has improved somewhat, I decided to lengthen my ride and head east on that 226 towards the Buriram racetrack then head south about 1km to this park, called Khao Kradong. This is my bike parked at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to a huge Buddha statue and vista point. (There's also a very steep road that goes up to the top.) Riding to the park and back has basically double my ride (40km round trip) and I'm hoping I can continue it as my thrice-weekly ride now (rather than just the 20km loop). I'm 57 1/2 and way over weight, so my goal is to drop a good 30-35 kilos.

 

 

[StreetCowboy]

9 hours ago, Hank Gunn said:

Loving this thread and have been anxious to post. I have a cyclocross bike (shorter top tube for a less stretched out riding position among other things) and changed out the drop bars to these "mustache" bars and added the Brooks saddle. I used it as my commuter the last year I lived in the US (Silicon Valley, about 45 mi. south of San Fran.) then moved here to Buriram, Thailand 1 1/2 yrs. ago with my Thai wife. We're just on the edge of town, about 3km to the BigC, Makro, Robinsons, and about 8km into the "downtown" (pop. is ~ 30k). I have a loop that takes a back road out to the main east/west hwy (226) that goes to Korat in one direction and Surin in the other. It's about 10km out and 10km back. I've gotten the ride down from about an hour, to 55 min., to 54 min. then the last two times 53 min. (Not real exact as I just check my phone before tucking into my underseat bag and check it when I get back.) As my conditioning has improved somewhat, I decided to lengthen my ride and head east on that 226 towards the Buriram racetrack then head south about 1km to this park, called Khao Kradong. This is my bike parked at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to a huge Buddha statue and vista point. (There's also a very steep road that goes up to the top.) Riding to the park and back has basically double my ride (40km round trip) and I'm hoping I can continue it as my thrice-weekly ride now (rather than just the 20km loop). I'm 57 1/2 and way over weight, so my goal is to drop a good 30-35 kilos.

 

 

 

 

That's a smart-looking bike - and sounds like a couple of good routes.

[StreetCowboy]

Yesterday we took the opportunity to remember the fallen with a Remembrance Sunday ride to the cenotaph and Tugu Negara (National Monument).  It's not every year Sunday 11th November comes round, and I didn't want to miss it.

 

We got there early, about 10 am, expecting there might be a ceremony at 11 am and we didn't want to get caught in the crowds.

 

So we paused for a bit of contemplative reflection, then back on the bikes; I had originally planned to go to Batu Arang, famous for its 22 sites of historical interest, including some old shop houses and an open field; but we concluded that would be too far, and turned back at the motorway services.

 

We managed to get back to the pub before the rain started - quite a bit before the rain started, as it happened, and the rain went on longer than anticipated, until my mate thought it prudent to phone his wife for rescue in the fading light.

 

I was glad to get home before the effects of the sun and the exercise and the cider wrapped me in deep slumber, but it was a close-run thing, and I didn't have time to write up this message before I was safely in the Land of Nod.

[n210mp]

Nice bike Hank very similar to mine ( Photo of my 29er at Bansare fish dock yesterday)

 

Talking about bikes I have just bought a Carbon addict R4 frame and need wheels if anyone has any for sale (700) 

[StreetCowboy]

6 hours ago, n210mp said:

Nice bike Hank very similar to mine ( Photo of my 29er at Bansare fish dock yesterday)

 

Talking about bikes I have just bought a Carbon addict R4 frame and need wheels if anyone has any for sale (700) 

 

That's a big upgrade - is it getting a bit competitive with Texas Bob?  He's got you in the fashion stakes, for sure.

[MrTrip]

I normally prefer the summer version of this scene but Saturday was dry and sunny for the first 90% of my 36 mile circular route around the Test Valley.

 

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[Hank Gunn]

On 11/12/2018 at 7:06 AM, n210mp said:

Nice bike Hank very similar to mine ( Photo of my 29er at Bansare fish dock yesterday)

 

Talking about bikes I have just bought a Carbon addict R4 frame and need wheels if anyone has any for sale (700) 

 

Thanks for the complements gents. A little history: I had a mountain bike before that in Calif. for about 15 yrs.; only used it off-road a couple-dozen times then put road-biased tires on it. It was a great bike but since I began to use it pretty much exclusively for short road trips to the gym or around town some negatives popped up: with a front suspension, even tightened down to its stiffest setting, I felt like a lot of my pedaling energy was dissipated in compressing the forks on each pedal stroke; with an aluminum frame, even with the front suspension it felt like a stiff/harsh ride, and; with those bigger tires, even road-biased ones, there was a lot more rolling resistance.

So enter a couple of friends who are pretty serious bikers (one of the group, who had moved out of the area about 10 yrs previous, was a former pro BMX rider) and they had added cyclocross bikes to their large collections. I was a little familiar with the genre/sport and figured they'd be a little "beefier" than a straight up road bike, which would support my rather large size (fluctuating between 265-285 lbs the last few yrs.). I figured the tires/wheels would be especially stronger. As I did my basic research, I also learned that steel frames are becoming more popular again and offer just a slight amount of flex to add some comfort to bikes where weight isn't the primary need (e.g. cyclocross or loaded up touring bikes). So one of the guys (he actually was the officiant at my Calif. wedding) bought a steel-framed bike from a company called SOMA, which stands for South of Market, a neighborhood in San Francisco demarcated by Market St., where the financial district is located. They design bikes and handlebars but manufacture in Taiwan. So seeing his nice bike, I opted for the model just down from his (his has disc brakes and mine has traditional cantilever). As I mentioned earlier, I wanted a city/commuter/road bike, so changed the drop bars to their SOMA Sparrow bars (they can be reversed to offer a couple cm rise; I currently have them in the down/lowered position) and put the Brooks saddle on. I have a tail rack/trunk-bag combo that has small, collapsable panniers built in but haven't put it on here as I'm only doing the road rides now and haven't used it to go to the outdoor markets yet. (I may get a simple, single-speed bike for the wife so we can go to the nearby (2km) night market.)

So I was able to do that 40km loop again yesterday (Wed.) and even with a 10 min. water break at the park/half-way point, I'm pretty beat when I get back. My legs aren't too bad, but yeah it's a challenge. Hoping it gets easier as I go. Also, with those cyclocross tires, they're thicker than traditional road tires and while not as slow as full mountain bike tires, I definitely feel a little extra rolling resistance. So I think I'll eventually add some thinner road tires when these wear down or wear out.

 

Cheers

[StreetCowboy]

2 hours ago, Hank Gunn said:

Thanks for the complements gents. A little history: I had a mountain bike before that in Calif. for about 15 yrs.; only used it off-road a couple-dozen times then put road-biased tires on it. It was a great bike but since I began to use it pretty much exclusively for short road trips to the gym or around town some negatives popped up: with a front suspension, even tightened down to its stiffest setting, I felt like a lot of my pedaling energy was dissipated in compressing the forks on each pedal stroke; with an aluminum frame, even with the front suspension it felt like a stiff/harsh ride, and; with those bigger tires, even road-biased ones, there was a lot more rolling resistance.

So enter a couple of friends who are pretty serious bikers (one of the group, who had moved out of the area about 10 yrs previous, was a former pro BMX rider) and they had added cyclocross bikes to their large collections. I was a little familiar with the genre/sport and figured they'd be a little "beefier" than a straight up road bike, which would support my rather large size (fluctuating between 265-285 lbs the last few yrs.). I figured the tires/wheels would be especially stronger. As I did my basic research, I also learned that steel frames are becoming more popular again and offer just a slight amount of flex to add some comfort to bikes where weight isn't the primary need (e.g. cyclocross or loaded up touring bikes). So one of the guys (he actually was the officiant at my Calif. wedding) bought a steel-framed bike from a company called SOMA, which stands for South of Market, a neighborhood in San Francisco demarcated by Market St., where the financial district is located. They design bikes and handlebars but manufacture in Taiwan. So seeing his nice bike, I opted for the model just down from his (his has disc brakes and mine has traditional cantilever). As I mentioned earlier, I wanted a city/commuter/road bike, so changed the drop bars to their SOMA Sparrow bars (they can be reversed to offer a couple cm rise; I currently have them in the down/lowered position) and put the Brooks saddle on. I have a tail rack/trunk-bag combo that has small, collapsable panniers built in but haven't put it on here as I'm only doing the road rides now and haven't used it to go to the outdoor markets yet. (I may get a simple, single-speed bike for the wife so we can go to the nearby (2km) night market.)

So I was able to do that 40km loop again yesterday (Wed.) and even with a 10 min. water break at the park/half-way point, I'm pretty beat when I get back. My legs aren't too bad, but yeah it's a challenge. Hoping it gets easier as I go. Also, with those cyclocross tires, they're thicker than traditional road tires and while not as slow as full mountain bike tires, I definitely feel a little extra rolling resistance. So I think I'll eventually add some thinner road tires when these wear down or wear out.

 

Cheers

Just keep your tyres hard - I ride 35 / 38 mm tyres at 85-90 psi, with alight tread on them.  

 

I don’t know how to quantify the difference in rolling resistance with my mate’s road bike, but I reckon his lower cross-section to weight ratio and fewer spokes make just as much difference

[Hank Gunn]

3 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

Just keep your tyres hard - I ride 35 / 38 mm tyres at 85-90 psi, with alight tread on them.  

 

I don’t know how to quantify the difference in rolling resistance with my mate’s road bike, but I reckon his lower cross-section to weight ratio and fewer spokes make just as much difference

Yeah, the max inflation on the sidewalls for these tires is 85 psi and I pump them up once or twice a week to 90 psi. ???? Definitely try to keep them as hard/pressurized as possible. Having said that, I think my next tires will be narrower; not necessarily the thinnest road tires possible but definitely thinner with a smoother tread. These current tires might be a 32 mm width and I may jump down to a 28 or something like that. (I'll have to look at the tires again.)

 

I'm also logging my mileage (in km) in an Excel spreadsheet (a bit "geeky" of me). I figure watching the kms mount up will keep me motivated. I'll especially need that as my wife and I are headed down to Ko Lanta for short 8 day beach vacation. (I'll try to make up for the missed rides by doing some swimming and beach walks.)

[StreetCowboy]

2 hours ago, Hank Gunn said:

Yeah, the max inflation on the sidewalls for these tires is 85 psi and I pump them up once or twice a week to 90 psi. ???? Definitely try to keep them as hard/pressurized as possible. Having said that, I think my next tires will be narrower; not necessarily the thinnest road tires possible but definitely thinner with a smoother tread. These current tires might be a 32 mm width and I may jump down to a 28 or something like that. (I'll have to look at the tires again.)

 

I'm also logging my mileage (in km) in an Excel spreadsheet (a bit "geeky" of me). I figure watching the kms mount up will keep me motivated. I'll especially need that as my wife and I are headed down to Ko Lanta for short 8 day beach vacation. (I'll try to make up for the missed rides by doing some swimming and beach walks.)

I use Strava, which provides all sorts of geeky information, and is also a bit social.

 

I run 35+mm tyres on my cyclocross road bike, 35 mm on the mountain bike (but its too small for me so I passed it on to a friend) and 28 mm on my 'shopping bike' - a hybrid.  I don't notice the road bike is any harder to pedal, except for lacking the low gears for steep hills, and the riding position is a bit more aggressive - the shopping bike is set with the saddle deliberately slightly low due to the number of traffic lights and pubs around where I live.  

[StreetCowboy]

For our Saturday morning ride we ended up at the roti shop but the roti man was gone.

The coppers were there, so we kept any discussion of the ride down low, in case of attracting a speeding fine.  I think the brisk pace was because the new young lad had had his bike serviced, and had brisk new tyres fitted, as well as a shiney new chain.

 

The bike shop next to where we have breakfast is an old-fashioned community bike shop, furnished like Ali Baba's Cave, and there's always people hanging around outside, servicing bikes, buying parts, chatting with the owners, whatever.  That's where the Bikes for the Boys came from, and also my shopping bike (with ex gratia can of Carlsberg in the bottle holder).

 

Anyway, it had been a brisk ride, but with the times hampered by traffic lights mid-segment.  For the burst past the little airport, I managed a personal best, slip-streaming the passing lorries shamelessly.  Also, surprisingly, the next little hill; and more amazingly, I can still walk.  I'm not sure what I'll be like tomorrow, though.

[StreetCowboy]

We went back to the Palace of the Golden Horses again - that might have made a good photo, I suppose, but I did get a couple of pictures of Gotham City; I'd taken the photo before I noticed the Indian Temple in front.

Apparently the place is called Eyesore City, but due to a pronunciation error, all the signs are mis-spelt Icon City.

 

I didn't bother taking a photo of the brewery this time either - its not quite such a striking building as the old Caledonian Brewery, but I did think that the view on this road to nowhere was quite striking, in its own way.

  

 

It only goes to nowhere in that direction; a little bit of U-turning and a traverse of the central divider, and we were back en route again.

Looking out over an old tin mine from Bukit Jalil golf course - next to the racetrack - towards the Mines development.

 

From there we came back all the way along the Kesas Highway motorcycle lane which I have to say is one of the best; its interestingly winding, with plenty of shade and greenery as it runs alongside the Klang River.  Then we turned North through Shah Alam - famous for its complete absence of pubs, and the Carlsberg brewery - and then took a short navigational error which turned out to be a boon in the long run, as we were aiming for 100+ km today, and if it had not been for that detour we'd have had to carry on up another junction when we were on the Guthrie Highway Motorcycle Lane.

 

"I'm sorry about the pace at the start", I told the other lads when we were in the pub.

"Don't worry, I enjoy a hard ride"

"No, I mean I'm sorry now about the pace at the start.  But no-one to blame but myself..."

 

At least I'm almost up to my target for Personal Records on Strava for the year - I wanted to match 2015, the first full year I was using Strava.

 

I think M & M  had let the cider get to their heads too quickly, because the next thing I knew they were discussing the practicalities of cycling to Thailand, and I think I may have agreed to go back to Kuala Selangor again.

 

[StreetCowboy]

To celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be with us all, We went down to Johnny’s for a kickstand for the mountain bike.

I can’t be bothered with the typing, so you’ll need to come up with your own joke about a longer stand.

You can see the Cateye dinger as well. The only blot on the horizon is that we’re stopped at Green Dot, which is a Carlsberg pub, and it looks like it might rain; if we wait long enough.