Rock-bottom price!

Dahon Jetstream XP- circa 2007-2009

I received a phone call today from my buddy Ah Pan.
He was very excited and asked if I want to join him on making a bulk order for the Dahon Jetstream XP.
"Eh, Sam ah! I can get the XP for RM3.8K lah! We are ordering a few!"
Well, obviously, my friend was unaware that there are only two Dahon Jetstream EX that is coming into the country and shipment is expected to hit the shore sometime in mid-july.
He may have heard it wrong.
But, I am also told by my source that a batch of Dahon Jetstream P8s would be shipped in from a neighbouring country.
This might be the correct info.
The Jetstream XP was marketed in 2007 and improvised in 2009. From 2010 onwards, the Jetstream EX had replaced the XP with some minor improvements.

Putrajaya Interpark Ride series 09 - Part 02

Joining the flock

Combined group photo with the Folding Bike Specialist riders

Godzilla meets Mini Mouse: The crash in front of MOF in Putrajaya

Some leftist described the ride around Putrajaya as 'a trip to the Neo-Facists' Disneyland'.
Well, like it or not, this place is a well-organised city which is also clean and well-maintained.
We had no issues cycling all the way to the Equestrian park where a group photo was taken with the riders.
This time round, there were plenty of newbies.
Among the familiar faces were some buddies I made from Photomalaysia.com and a large rider who never misses a single ride.
I have plenty of respect for him as he made it all the way. This guy is inspiring.
On newbies, well, there were some really unpleasant situations where guys had overtaken a single file and some idiots showing off their prowess on two wheels were picked up by the event's support truck.
While I was cycling towards the last five kilometres, I noticed a young girl, probably no more than 13 years old zig-zagging.
My hunch was that she will crash and right there before my eyes, she crashed into an older dude.
It was like driving a Mini mouse bike into Godzilla on a tricycle.
And just like that, they fell to the ground.
Since I was riding behind them, I set down my Dahon Curve SL and helped them.
And while I was at it, I shot a video and some still of the action.
One of their friends, a retard wearing an orange shirt shouted: "Jangan ambil gambar.. " (no pictures).
I set down my camera and moved the lightly damaged bike to the side and asked if the older dude was okay.
He seemed disorientated and an ambulance which was parked nearby had rushed to scene.
The first responder treated them and I was on my way.
Moral of the story: Keep your eyes on the road and if you are riding on the street for the first time: Be mindful of other people as well.
Michelle was waiting at the finish line as we completed a 23.5km ride on our Dahons.
On the whole, the ride was well-organised.
But the actions of selfish idiots may yield some unpleasant experience.
The next ride is on July 16 - which is a night ride...

Putrajaya Interpark Ride series 09 - Part 01

Cyclists crossing the dam's bridge

Historic occassion: riding across the reservoir

The Samos on the move....

Its great to back at Putrajaya's Interparks ride.
In series 09, cyclists were taken to Precinct 6 where the Putrajaya International Convention Centre is located.
We made a beeline to the event's location on Saturday morning and started as early as 06:30am.
It rained cats and dogs and searching for the flag-off venue was not easy.
Earlier, the organizers had made an announcement on the change of location through facebook, which was not an issue to us.
We arrived early and ended up at the Putrajaya Equestrian park.
Michelle argued that it was the location, I told her that it was the Taman Empangan, so, to save time arguing, we went back on the road and located the actual place.
The morning rain did not damper scores of cyclists who made their way to the ride.
There, we met David Foong and his wife Jessica with their Dahon Speed P8s who also got lost trying to get to the starting line.
We set up our 16" Dahons and joined the rest of the crowd before the flag-off...

Garmin Connect trials - Putrajaya interparks ride

I get to try out my Garmin Edge800 and its awesome. Its capable of recording my ride and contents like speed, time, distance and duration of ride can be uploaded into Garmin Connect and shared over the internet..

Lizard Skinz Carbon Leather

The scratched frame

Quite the unsightly temporary remedy by my friendly technician

This ought to solve the problem!

I've hardly engaged the lowest gear on my Dahon Curve SL.
And when I did, I noticed a grinding sound and later found out that a section of the frame had been cut by my bike's chain.
This is cause for alarm.
Sent it for a tune-up at Rodalink's outlet in Bandar Botanic and it turned out futile as the mechanics there were dumbfounded with the problem.
Not pleased at all with the outcome, I sent it to my regular store in Desa Sri Hartamas.
There, the guys gave a temporary solution by wrapping the frame with a handlebar wrap.
It was unsightly, but it worked for me.
Later, I went over to Tukang Basikal Fook Sang in Sungai Way and found a permanent solution.
Lizardskinz carbon leather.
Just peel off that bulging blue wrap and stick on the leather. Job well-done!
I hardly hear the grinding sound nowadays.
Sometime back when I posted about servicing the Curve SL in Desa Sri Hartamas, some retard  commented that the issue was caused by the rider's weight. Fucking troll! 
Anyways, this issue has been resolved! Thank you lizardskinz!

Oh wow!

These are the most expensive rubber and plastic products around..

I purchased a Garmin Edge 800 performance bundle for my birthday and have yet to use this awesome GPS-enabled cycling navigational and training tool.
Lately, I found that my ageing Garmin Oregon 300 has been packing too much beating. 
Its a handheld outdoors GPS unit which I have been using for my Food Trail assignments as well as travels on my Dahon Speed P8 folding bike around the country.
The Garmin Edge800 is a worthy replacement of the Oregon as it was specifically built for bicycles. Its also an upgrade from the Edge705 GPS which is very popular.
So, having thought of swapping the units between my bikes, the only thing that would hold it together is a bicycle mount. 
I had no luck at all in getting these gadgets as they are very rare and expensive in Kuala Lumpur.
The last time I bought a bicycle mount for my Oregon 300, I found in Klang and another in Plaza Low Yat.
That said, I've asked a local dealer on the pricing for the Edge 800's mount and was quoted RM280 for it. This sells on Garmin's on-line store for USD$9.99 (you get two sets)
Fucking ridiculous! That's almost a fraction of the cost for the GPS unit itself.
The dealer floored some excuses and after hearing his justification for the price, I told him that it was simply outrageous!
So, the only choice I had, was giving Perfect Watch in Singapore a call. 
They have it for a fraction of the price, but it was out of stock.
Then, I called Hoan enterprise in Sim Lim tower and was told by Mr Yeoh, the owner that they have a piece in stock for SG$25 (RM61).
That was it. I quickly sealed the deal.
Now, I can swap the Edge800 on my Speed P8 and Dahon Curve SL

Sabak Bernam - Teluk Intan ride part 02

The iconic leaning tower of Teluk Intan

We made it!

Back to the Samo mobile!

Thirty-six kilometers is a decent distance between Sabak Bernam and Teluk Intan.
We've done pretty well despite a short setback when David's rear tire was punctured.
Before we knew it, we were already near the Lumut and Sitiawan junction.
Basically, we were riding along the lower reaches of the Perak river.
With just 7km left, the sight of Kim Craft vessel fabricator brought back a lot of pleasant memories.
This was the place where I once fished for Udang Galah.
Its all faded in the past and I rode closer towards town, David and Jessica was far ahead.
Riding full load with 10kgs of gear on both sides on the rear can really slow you down.
I also factored-in the 40km ride the previous day and sleep deprivation.
When you are bonked, cycling long distance under heat and humidity can really dampen your efforts.
I did told the couple that if they need to break, they should pull over in a shaded place and rest.
That said, I am happy to report that they were very cooperative.
With Teluk Intan in plain sight, the town was literally jam-packed with people. Traffic jam in the town square didn't help either.
We made our way to the iconic leaning tower of Teluk Intan and snapped a couple of shots for our records.
Later, I led the couple to Mastan Ghani mee rebus where we had an early lunch.
After spending nearly an hour in town, we cycled back to Sabak Bernam.
It was already past noon and as the sun was really baking the roads, we inched our way back and made a few stops along the way.
After passing Hutan Melintang, we stopped at a mamak restaurant and had some drinks.
From this point, it was a 17.5km push back to Sabak Bernam.
We rode all the way, pulling over to cool down before reaching a Malay store and stopped there for some fruit juices.
I told David and Jessica that if they train regularly, they are ready to tour.
And its up to them to formulate a feasible baggage hauling system as they would need it for some extended trips.
At 74km, they could be proud of doing a round-trip and experience what a light tour was all about.. 


RIDE SUMMARY


Total distance: 74.3km
Average speed: 17km
Top speed: 46km
Duration of ride: 4hrs 2minutes
Total number of time stopped: 12
Number of puncture: 1

Sabak Bernam - Teluk Intan ride part 01

My 2009 Dahon Speed P8 rigged with an ortlieb frontroller pannier set

Crossing the bridge over the Bernam river on the Selangor - Perak border

Downtime: Handling a puncture

For the record, Michelle and I have covered quite distance on Selangor's coastal roads.
The most interesting long-haul ride was from Kuala Selangor to Sabak Bernam.
We turned back and rode some 133.2km in a single day.
I've planned a follow-up from Klang to Teluk Intan, but the plan had fell short as the timing had really sucked.
On the morning of the ride, Michelle had to drop out due to a flu.
I proceeded with the plan with novice cyclists David Foong and his wife Jessica.
So far, I've rode with them twice and found the couple to be pleasant and at the same time - very solid.
They were able to keep up and best of all, their Dahon Speed P8s are constantly 'evolving'.
During the ride, both came with their souped-up tires which lend a really sleek and low-profile look.
David was trying out new things for his bike and rigged a touring bag rack fashioned from a child seat on his downtube.
Everything had worked out as planned as we rode out from Sabak Bernam's police station as the starting point.
We cycled for three kilometers before climbing a bridge linking Sabak Bernam towards the Perak border.
Half-way through, I heard a flapping sound and was concerned with Jessica whom I was sweeping.
David pulled over to the side of the road as his rear tire had experienced a puncture.
Upon closer inspection, a piece of snail shell resembling and arrow head was wedged on the tire wall, causing a flat.
I laid down my Dahon Speed P8 and worked on the mending the puncture with my recovery kit.
After peeling off the inner tube, I found a 2mm tear on the tube and patched it.
But after inflating the tire, air was leaking out.
It was after a second inspection that I noticed a small area with minute tear caused by the sharp snail's shell.
Without puncture protection, the tire is as good as gone.
At this point in time, I used my experience in patching up the puncture and putting the bike back on the road.
Our mission was to get to the nearest bicycle shop to change the inner tube.
In long-hauls, a million things can go wrong on the road.
And while we are at it, its best to take preventive measures.
Never to on a trip without a recovery kit.
After mending the flat tire, we proceeded towards Teluk Intan...

Tern bicycles

Entering the high-end market: Tern bicycles

After a period of hush-hush and tonnes of rumours surfacing about the rift in Dahon, Josh Hon, former VP for Dahon's international Marketing division had come out with Tern bicycles.
The brand was launched in Taiwan last week with a couple of new bikes rolling out to the consumer with a price tag of USD$400 - USD$3,000.
I guess that after riding my Dahons for nearly three years, the next folding bike in my want list would be from another brand. 
Would I give Tern a try? 
Guess we'll have to see about that.. 

Resuming Hulu Langat Training Ride

Charging up that last 800metres

With CS Wee (right) at the summit after a 10km uphill ride

Michelle had suggested that we resume our training ride in Hulu Langat Bt 18.
I agreed on this and posted an invitation on the Malaysian Foldies' Google Group.
We met veteran rider CS Wee at the launch site on Saturday.
He was just behind us when we drove to the starting line beside the balai polis in this village. 
As usual, we took off to the junction leading towards the 10km mark.
Wee sped off and vanished in the morning mist as I worked on my target to get to the Kuala Klawang junction non-stop.
The last 800metres of course, was the toughest ride.
We took our Dahon Curve D3 and SL which were loaded with a pair of ortlieb frontroller panniers.
With the load, I was amazed on how Michelle had taken her 3-speed ride all the way to the state border.
Although we were much slower than the roadies who zoomed past us, we made it. 
The downhill part was fun and for the rest of the day, we rode back to the village and had some late breakfast. 
Wee told us that the hill section in Penang is not as bad as Hulu Langat and that we could make on the 80km round island ride in September.
So, if we keep this up on a weekly basis, we are on track for the 'Campaign for a third lane series 3' ride on Sept 11.

CDM Dahons

The controversial Curl - now a 20" ride available only in China

Dahon China's Ecosmo - a cute single speed bike

The Dove is as cute as it sounds... 

Here are some Dahon China Domestic Model folding bikes that you will never see on the shelves in Malaysia.
High on the list is the controversial Dahon Curl that is likened to the Brompton folding bicycle of the UK.
Since Brompton's folding technology is patented, the engineers and designers at Dahon were looking at ways to avoid infringing Brompton's patent.
But before they put the bicycle into production, some dude in Taiwan actually came up with their version called the Flamingo.
I'm not going into the details as this is a highly debatable issue.
There are at least a dozen different models of folding bikes in Dahon China's line-up and most of them are produced with entry-level components.

2011 Dahon Mu P24

I first came to know about the existence of the 2011 Dahon MuP24 trough a Facebook posting on the MyDahon page.

It carried a list price of RM2.9K and before I knew it, the bikes, about two of them, had vanished into thin air.

Some lucky bastide are riding this baby around.

The Mu series are actually a 20" version of the popular Dahon Curve.

In Malaysia, there is a large quantity of Mu P8s going around and the much rarer Mu XL - I knew for a fact that there's at least one.

Leading the pack was the Mu EX which was discontinued to pave way for the Vector X20.

Now, speaking of components, Dahon is using the NEOS trinity drivetrain to give the Mu its 24-speed range.

This replaces the SRAM Dual-Drive II and I am pretty curious about its overall looks and handling.

I hope that LE RUN industries would bring in more of the Mu P24s for the Malaysian market cos its wide-ranging gearing is pretty suitable for touring...

The NEOS trinity hub 

Raleigh Folding i8

I was cruising around the bike area at Tukang Basikal Fook Sang in Sungai Way and found a few Raleigh i8s lying around.
These are the latest batch of folding bikes ever to hit the scene from one of the oldest known bicycle brand in Malaysia.
Before there were all those fancy-schmancy brands, there's Raleigh.
They've kind of vanished from the scene in the 90s and had recently made a comeback.
The first few Raleighs that I've noticed were some mountain bikes and roadies priced from RM400 - RM3K.
The Raleigh i8 retails for a little of RM1k, and Fook Sang sells them for about RM900 a pop.
And one of the best bargains is in Taman Sri Serdang, South of Kuala Lumpur where you can sweep up an i8 for RM760.
Everything on this bike is basic.
They give you cheap components and if you are serious about jazzing it up, the gearset and crankshaft can be easily upgraded...
On the whole, the i8 is a decent beginner's foldie with a bang for the buck!

A clarification from Josh Hon on his new venture

"Hi everybody,

Those of you who have been on this forum from the early days know me as Dahon Tech. I've made some great friends and had wonderful conversations here. It's been amazing to be part of this vibrant Dahon community which has really helped nourish my enthusiasm for the next great product.
The reports of me leaving Dahon are inaccurate - I continue to help manage a company called Dahon & Hon Industrial Labs, otherwise known as Dahon Global, which has for almost twenty years been responsible for the design, manufacture, sales and marketing of Dahon bikes worldwide.


But it is true that the Global team has something new to focus its energies on and going forward will no longer be working with our Chinese factory, otherwise known as Dahon China. Unfortunately, my father David Hon, manages this operation. So Dahon going forward will be very different from Dahon in the past. It's an unfortunate situation, as you can well imagine, but it was the right decision.


We've been working on some stuff that we're very excited about and we are pretty confident that you'll share our excitement.


We've invited Thor over to Taiwan for our global brand launch (along with the most of the media from the cycling world) so we'll have more information shortly. "

Stay tuned.


Josh

I plucked this from the Dahon Rider's Forum today. Its good to know that Josh cares about the situation and had clarified the issue. Everything I've heard was based on industry rumours.
And Thorsten Schaette is one lucky dude because he'll be travelling to Taiwan to witness the new company set up by Josh...

Upgrades for Michelle's 2009 Dahon Curve D3

I've retrofitted the Curve D3's rear luggage rack with a 20" Dahon rack

The front bracket luggage truss

These lil' mean bikes are ready to Rock 'n Roll!

After some research and careful planning, I've removed the stock-standard rear rack on Michelle's Dahon Curve D3.
Its lower in height and could not be fitted with an Ortlieb frontroller panniers.
I'm happy to report that after the retrofit, the panniers mounted securely on the rack.
It takes a little bit of muscle power to bend the rack so that it could be bolted onto the Curve's frame.
I've had success with the Curve SL earlier with the black coloured rack salvaged from my Dahon Speed P8.
Initially, I had wanted to ditch it to the lowest bidder.
But lucky for me, I kept it and retrofitted it onto my Curve SL.
Apart from the 20" rear luggage rack, I also added a luggage truss on the Curve D3.
This would come in useful when I mount a basket or a small back on the truss.
Now that the frontrollers are mounted, we can look forward to some short distance cruise on our Dahon Curves...

All the best Josh!

On his own: Josh will be leading a new set-up in Taiwan

It's official.
After helming Dahon international marketing division for two decades, Josh Hon is setting up shop by forming his own company.
With this in view, the folding bike community would see some really exciting stuff in the months to come.
This was made official after Josh had formed a company to focus on manufacturing cutting edge foldies.
Industry trade journals had reported that he will launching the new brand this month in Taiwan.
So, that said, there will be some really cool stuff from Josh's mad lab and here's wishing him all the best!

The Cockroach Banquet

I was filling up my water bottle at the pantry this morning and met a colleague who joined the company recently.
Her father is a friend of mine who I held in high regards.
Then she asked: "Are you going for the NST reunion on June 26?"
My immediate reaction was: "I don't eat with cockroaches, rats and snakes.."
I was told that some ex-Editors, staff members and people related to the media business would be attending the gathering which is sponsored by a 'secret benefactor'.
The last time I actually attended a company dinner, the former Deputy Chairman reached into his pocket and gave me 20sen and told me to fuck off.
So, there you have it, 15 years of loyalty to the company - gone to the roaches.
Thinking of meeting some of the honchos who gave me such a hard time when I was a cub reporter there gives me the creeps.
I got fucked over and over again and actually survived five Group Editors before I called it a day.
That said, no love lost.
The New Straits Times as it is today, is officially circulating at 76,000 copies daily.
They are where they are because they fucked up big time and never learned from their mistakes.
Like my buddy Billy would put it: "Mana ada tahi yang berbau wangi?..."

No kidding!

The monster-ride next Monday

It has to be done: Klang - Teluk Intan recce route for future programmes

A few scores and many moons ago, I interviewed a single-handed sailor who invited me to join him on his ocean racer from Port Klang to Langkawi.
He said: "It doesn't matter if I don't complete the voyage. What's important is the fact that I get to the starting line because by doing so, I've already succeeded..."
In the months to come, I carried a daily report about his attempt to sail East-West-East which has never been attempted before.
Everything came to a halt when his boat was knocked down while he was crossing the Southern Ocean in mid-April, 1999.
It was through his misfortune that I get to travel halfway around the world to meet him and conduct a follow-up interview.
What motivated me: was his mindset.
He was all out to complete his mission and did just that by crossing the finish line in Langkawi in August that year.
The rest was history.
So, what did I learn? The Malay phrase: "Perlahan-lahan kayuh.." which is the adage made famous by the Hare and Tortoise race.
Fast-forward to now - I have six days off and I am not going to waste it by banging balls at home.
That said, I am going ahead with my plan to tour from Klang to Teluk Intan.
Maybe I can improvise the route, what has to be done, has to be done..
The sailor dude, although no longer in plain sight, he taught me to get started and just do it..

Destination: Mongolia

I've been dreaming about cycling across Mongolia

My buddy Nick Ooi who runs a tacklestore in Subang Jaya once told me that he was very secretive about his country of origin when he was fishing for the Taimen (Giant river Salmon) in inner Mongolia some years back.
I caught up with Nick recently and he told me that he would be going again to the great plains of Mongolia in September this year.
This got me inspired to plan a tour of inner Mongolia and after reading some really good journals from some seasone tour riders there, I was truly motivated.
Since its rugged and most of its road are not paved, the choice of bicycle usage is pretty vital.
And I have plenty of time to save up, plan and excute this trip of a lifetime..

Chamang series 02 - Part 2

Team Samo at the Chamang Falls

A Zen moment: Jessica meditating at the falls...

Power-packed lunch: Farmer Wong hosted our lunch at Yik Kee restaurant in Karak, Pahang

It took us less-than an hour to reach the Chamang falls from Bentong town.
Most of us did very well, especially Jessica who told her daughter that she was all out to complete the ride.
To my amazement, she tackled the hill ride out of Chamang falls very well.
David, on the other hand, has been training almost daily. He was one of the fittest rider among the lot.
Michelle and I fared pretty okay.
With our loads in the panniers, we were just glad to have made it all the way in the 900-metre climb and rode non-stop towards Bentong.
After completing the ride, we went to a coffeeshop at the edge of town for some really good coffee and toast bread.
David treated the gang to the tea break while Farmer Wong hosted a super-duper power-packed lunch in Karak town.
On the whole, we've had a good ride and the next project would be a ride from Karak to Raub.

RIDE SUMMARY

Distance: 10km
Total distance: 20km
Average speed: 16km
Top speed: 45km
Number of punctures: 0
Number of stops: 1

Chamang Series 02 - Part 1

The team at Pusat Basikal Bentong in Pahang

Michelle making her way to the mountains

Farmer Wong's son Jr was pretty good with is Polygon Hybrid bike

This has been a fucked-up week with plenty of shit thrown at me.
So, the best way to de-stress is to take a ride in the countryside.
I made some arrangements with my buddy Ah Pan to meet up with him and Farmer Wong in Bentong.
Earlier, I posted in the Malaysian Foldies group on a ride to the Chamang waterfalls. 
I wasn't expecting a large turnout as I would have done fine with Michelle, Ah Pan, Farmer Wong and his son Jr.
This time round, we had David Foong and his wife Jessica who met us at Taipan USJ in the wee hours of the morning today.
This was my second ride with David and Jessica and I was surprised to hear that he had been riding literally everyday!
He had even souped up his Dahon Speed P8 with slick tires and boy! This guy is fast!
Michelle and I were riding out Speed P8 and TR which was loaded with a set of Ortlieb frontroller side panniers.
These are also an ideal-sized baggage for small bikes.
Our bikes are lugging at least 10kgs of excessive baggage.
This is our training to endure the long-haul planned for next month.
At Bentong, we met up with Ah Pan and Farmer Wong with his boy.
To my surprise, Ah Pan had rounded up a Dahon Dash P-18 which he had ordered from the Bentong Bike shop.
This fellah is more than happy to cruise with his fast folding bike..

Upgraded Dahon Curve D3

Upgraded: The 2009 Curve D3

Biologic ergonomical grips

Selle Royal's E-Bike seat

Cateye Reflex Auto rear light

Topeak bottle cage

Michelle's Dahon Curve D3 folding bicycle had undergone an upgrade.
First, I ditched the 'jellybean' grips on the bike's handlebar and replaced it with a Biologic grip.
This is a much better set of grips with plenty of comfort to offer for long-duration rides.
Next, I've added a Topeak bottle cage on the frame.
This eliminates the need for lugging a Camelbak hydration pack for the short duration rides.
As the Curve D3 is equipped with a rear luggage rack, I've also added a Cateye Auto Reflex light.
This is by far, one of the best safey lighting system and at RM90 a pop, good things don't come cheap.
Unseen is the Cateye Velo cyclometer (now, repackaged as the 'Urban'), which is one of the best entry-level wireless gadgets around.
And lastly, I've also transferred the Selle Royal Premium E-bike saddle from my Dahon Speed P8 to the Curve D3.
I think this would suite Michelle very well. I tested the saddle last week and found that the angle adjustment may be totally off as my balls were sore after a 20km ride.
To remedy the ball-busing issue, I've acquired the Selle Royal Ergo-Gel plug in series saddles..
Another upgrade on the Curve D3 which is yet to be implemented is the 20" rear luggage rack.
This is slightly higher than the stock-standard rack that came with the 2009 Curve D3.
I've figured out a way to rig it up and hope that this would be able to accommodate the Ortlieb frontroller panniers...

Going further...

The image loading feature on blogger.com has been down for a coupla days. 
So, here we are, back on track.
While I was having a Sunday all to myself, I felt inspired to plan for a long-distance ride.
I would put my physical strength and mental endurance to test on a route from Klang to Teluk Intan via the coastal road.
We've done Kuala Selangor - Sabak Bernam - Kuala Selangor and clocked about 132km on one day. 
That's the longest so far.
For the next long-haul, its even further.
Lugging along some panniers would me room for spareparts, tools and other essential gear.
Like veteran cyclist FC Meng would put it: "Aiya, if you cycle in Malaysia's coastal roads, don't have to worry about food la. You can stop anywhere.. "
I guess that he's right on many counts.
So, planning on where to break the journey is vital to this trip.
On whether I want to pack up in Teluk Intan and hit the road or do a loop, that's entirely up to whatever energy I have left as much is left to the unknown on the road.. 

Broga Series 02 - Part 2

Chatting over late breakfast

With Jessica (left) and David (centre) in Broga
 

I've been having some trouble loading up pictures directly from my laptop.

So, having figured out that I can link the images from my photobucket account, well, here goes..

Okay, we made it to Nottingham University which is about 4.5km away from Semenyih.

The morning air was fresh and cool and this motivated us to climb the slopes to the Bukit Lalang trail head which was packed with vehicles.

I guess on a Saturday, people just want to spend some quality time outdoors.

Broga town is only about 10-minutes ride from this point as we had covered more than 8kms.

David, Jessica and Chong did okay.

Later, when we were climbing towards the Chinese temple, I noticed that Chong have had some problems with his rear derailleur.

We took a break at the temple compound and there was a hive of activities there as the local community center had organised a charity cross-country run.

From there, we made our way to town and took a refreshment break at a coffeeshop.

There, we got to know each other better.

David is retired and his wife Jessica is on her own while Chong is in the construction business.

As the day got hotter, we made our way back to Semenyih and clocked about 18km or cycling.

We ended up having an early lunch at a Hot Soup restaurant and planned to conduct a ride in Sekinchan in the weeks to come.

RIDE SUMMARY

Distance covered: 18.8km

Average speed: 16km/h

Top speed: 51km/h

Number of stops: 3

Number of punctures: 0