Putrajaya Interparks ride series 10

My boss and I at the new age monument in Putrajaya

Mr Chan and his Dahon Speed P8

The night ride

After a day-tripper to Ipoh in Perak, I made my way to the ERL KLIA transit station in KL Sentral.
With a ticket to ride, I sat on the electric train which was only two stations away in Putrajaya.
Tired, but still fueled with enthusiasm, I met Michelle at Putrajaya Sentral's taxi stand.
She too had her day worked out as both of us had left our homes at 6am for our chores.
From the pick-up point, we made our way to Precinct 2 at the Putrajaya mosque.
There, we met TS Bok who just bought his Red Dahon Speed P8. It was his first time out riding in an event.
Bok had earlier contacted me on how to go about rustling a good deal for his new Dahon.
I suggested that he check out Mr Sam's shop in Sri Serdang. The pricing is said to be the best in the entire Klang Valley.
After setting-up our bikes, we rode down to the new age monument for registration.
Upon reaching our destination, I noticed that my rear tire was wobbling.
I realised that I was cycling with a near-flat tire and immediately went down to work.
A flat tire just moments before an event is a mood-killer.
Lucky for me, the Curve SL was easy to fix. I removed the back wheel skewers and struggled a bit with the Schwalbe Marathon Racer tire.
At first attempt, Michelle and I had failed to locate the cause of the punctre.
I even inflated the tire with my Topeak Two-timer C02-fueled pump, but our attempts to get the Curve back on the road was futile.
After popping out the inner-tube for the second time, Michelle spotted a rupture on the valve's neck.
This was the main cause and the only way to go about it is to replace the tube completely.
Since my Pedros saddlebag is armed to the teeth, a spare tube was in place. It took me less than 20-minutes to set the bike back to its running condition.
My only worry was the tire pressure, but a Marshall whom I met on the ride assured me that all is good.
By the time I was done with the repairs it was already dark.
At the fair grounds, I met riders Ronnie Soon, Mr Chan and DC Ong for the first time.
These are the guys who are active on the Google Group's Malaysian Foldies.
I've been in correspondence with Ronnie who rode a CDM Dahon Archer.
Chan, on the other hand, had a fully-pimped Dahon Speed P8 while Ong rides a Rally Art folding bike.
Michelle and I also met Wey Pang and Ming, our old-time foldie friends at the monument.
Flag-off was prompt as we rode towards the 25-km course.
I was surprised with some of the folks who had no lights on their bikes.
Lucky for me, I had my Cateye HL-EL530s and the twins had literally owned the night.
It was funny that when I rode, some fellas in front of me had taken advantage of the bright lights. As soon as I overtook them, they were riding really slow.
At one stage of the ride, I powered away with the Curve SL on its high gear and overtook a bunch of Mounties.
It was hard catching up with Michelle as she was right in front. There were a few slopes that were long stretches in this course and my Garmin's GSC10 speed and cadence sensor had picked up a peak reading of 210rpms.
At the slopes, some folks were pushing their bikes as it was too much to bear.
The night also had taken a toll on some cyclists as they fell when their narrow wheels were caught on the steel gratings.
We completed our ride at the finish-line and waited for the main event which was the lucky draw.
To sum it up, the Putrajaya interparks ride is one of the most well-organised rides in the Klang Valley and is gaining popularity. 
The total turnout was 1,700 participants.