Cycle to work: The Pirate-Ninja Experience...

Taking advantage of a public holiday...

If I roll in a bike on any given day at the office, I get stares and some strange remarks.
But since it was a state holiday, it was a great opportunity to cycle to work.
Traffic was light and my Tern Eclipse X20 needed some breaking-in.
This 24-inch ride has the lowest mileage in my stable of folding bikes.
After a tune-up by Master Johnny Ng of My Bicycle Shop in Bandar Utama, the Pirate-Ninja, as it is affectionately called - was ready to hit the road.

Leaving the Samo-mobile mk 2 at home... 

On the highway's motorcycle lane..

Fast bike, slow rider.. 

Well, as they said: "A bike is as good as its cyclist..." 
And I must admit that I am rather "slow" for this bike.
I mean, on the average, I was just pulling at 25km/h. It was rather effortless to crank the bike to an average speed of 22km/h.
That's the best I could do and if I am to hit 30km/h on the straight, it will be a strict training regime and time to loose some weight..
I had to cover at least 21.5km to reach my office from USJ26, so, the strategy was not to tire myself.
Before I left home, I had a Powerbar for breakfast and plenty of water.
And like my previous cycle to work rides, I took the route from USJ 26 - USJ 4 using the back roads along USJ 20, 19 and 1.

"Creak, creak, creak..."

I did a short ride at the MBPJ event a few weeks back and noticed that there was an annoying sound coming from the lower crank.
Couldn't figure out what it was and did some reference on the internet.
It could be a bent spindle on the MKS Urban Step-in Superior quick release pedals, or a loosened crank arm. 
Since it was not life-threatening, I kept on rolling till I could get an appointment with Master Johnny Ng at his bike shop in Bandar Utama.
It took me about 1 hour 20 minutes to reach my office in Section 16 in Petaling Jaya.

My favourite photo spot on the highway's bike lane

A lay-by underneath the highway's viaduct, very common place to take shelter from the rain...

At my desk in the office.. 

Doing my eight-hour day worth of work.. 

I had my desk job all set up for the day.
My plan was to leave the office before dark.
Mid-way through work, it started to rain, which was a relief to the dry and hazy weather.
After packing up my stuff, I left the office at 6:30pm.
The plan was to cut through Section 17, head down to Jalan 223 and enter the Federal Highway's motorcycle lane.
I put my Mavic rain jacket due to the slight drizzle and half-way through, I took shelter underneath a viaduct near the Guinness Anchor brewery in Sungai Way.

Homeward bound.. The bike lane heading to Klang

Taking shelter.. 

A smooth journey..

The ride home was shorter in terms of distance.
And its also laden with a lot of hazard.
Especially with the LRT line extension, the ride from SS13 - USJ 1 is paved with danger.
The road is narrower due to construction work along the way.
And cars had the tendency to stray onto a cyclist's path.
I've cycled past this route many times and concluded that you need to be on the defensive mode to cycle along here.
Nevertheless, the Ramadan month had proven to be a blessing when it comes to cycling late in the evening.

The evening traffic

Riding along the elevated road in Subang Jaya

The home stretch

My kidz, waiting at the gate

In less that one and a-half hours, I was home.
My dogs were waiting for me at the gate.
To get past the evening, I cooked up some brown rice and ate some leftovers.
As far as the ride was concerned, it was a successful attempt at cycling to work with my 24-inch bike. I did it earlier with the Tern Eclipse S11i, and the faster and sleeker Eclipse X20 had proven that a folding bike is an efficient transport. I couldn't ask for more as my expenses was low and I get to burn 1,771 calories at the same time!