Saturday, February 12, 2011

Putrajaya Interpark Ride Series 7

At the starting line this morning

A folding bike rider and his Dahon Eco 3

Inspiring moment: a really large dude making his way up the PICC hill
I have always looked forward to the Putrajaya Interpark Ride Series. 
This is my first outing for the year and I had a swell time cycling some 30km in the administrative city. 
As usual, I packed my stuff and head off to the venue early. This time advantage helps a lot in setting up the bike and answering nature calls especially early in the morning.
While waiting at the starting line, an elderly man came up to me and said: "Ah, you are Samo! I follow your blog!"
We had a conversation and I was told that he was from the Putrajaya Easy Riders group.
He said folding bikes - especially Dahons are getting popular.
Later on the route, I saw one of his buddies riding a black Dahon Eco 3.
In the series-7 ride, there were two climbs - one at the PICC and the other was directly behind the Ministry of Finance.
For me, the PICC ride was a piece of cake after the weekly training stint at Hulu Langat. I tackled the gradient with ease on my low gear.
Now, the toughest of the lot, was a hill behind the MOF.
I was riding on the left-hand side of the road, changed to low gear and started climbing when a guy had suddenly stopped in front of me.
My immediate reaction was swerving away from him to avoid a collision and as a result, I lost my balance and fell on my side.
My left knee was pretty banged up and when I broke my fall, I also banged up my right elbow.
I picked up the Dahon Speed P8 which was not damaged and pushed it to the top of the slope and took a brief time to recover.
Although still hurting, I cycled to the checkpoint where the cyclists were given a bottle of water and some food.
Some bananas helped in diverting the pain.
By 11:00am, the ride was over.
At the main event area, I spoke to a man who had road rashes on both his knees. The cyclist said he had a close-call and also made mention of a rider who collided with a lamp post.
Series 7 as it seems, had claimed a number of casualties. 
I guess its mainly because there are more cyclists than the usual.
The minor accident I was involved it could have been avoided if the cyclist in front of me was fit enough to climb.
As for the busted knee and elbow, I guess this one won't hamper me from the weekly training rides on Sundays..

5 comments:

Tigerkun said...

Hi Samo. I am the one who rode that Dahon Eco3 :-)
Nice blog.

Berisman said...

The elderly gentleman who went to meet up with you is Col Azuddin.He told me about meeting with you.By the way,I will take notes about your comments about the casualities to the the main organising committee of PIPR.

samo said...

Ah.. Okay guys!

So, you are the guy with the Eco 3! Very nice ride! I noticed that you had a radio mounted onto your handlebar, very neat!

Yeah, certain sections of the ride is unsuitable for beginners. Especially downhill and climbing. They might cause a pile-up because the riders are following too close..

Sam

aofuad said...

Sam,
Since we last saw you at Putrajaya, our Dahon foldies has grown to 12 ranging from Eco3, Eco7, Vitesse D7, Vitesse P18, MuP8 and Speed P8. We anticipate more to come.

samo said...

Wow! That's a healthy number!

Sam