CFAL4 - Part 4

Our strategy
Spare the dead motorcyclist, traffic jam and another climb, we planned out our ride.
I brought enough fuel to see us through.
The stretch after Balik Pulau was really boring.
Despite being nearly 50-minutes late, we rode towards the Pantai Acheh - Titi Kerawang junction.
At this point of the ride, many of the cyclists have been picked-up by their support vehicles.
Only the strong would continue to climb the windy stretch to the Titi Kerawang waterfalls.

Downhill roll towards Balik Pulau

The Titi Kerawang climb

 About 50meters into the climb, we stopped for refilling our water bottles.
I took out a piece of Powerbar and shared it with Michelle. She, on the other hand, had a piece of banana. 
We've burned our breakfast and was really disappointed with the water stations as there were no more refreshments left for the last batch of cyclists.
The hill claimed many cyclists who ran out of energy. They got down from their bicycles and pushed as far as they could.
Along the way, I could see the crowd resting by the roadside.
Traffic here was also pretty heavy as buses use this route to ply towards Teluk Bahang.
Michelle and I had kept in constant communication with our Motorola FRS radios as we don't want to lose sight of each other. That's what teamwork is all about anyway...
I was surprised that with the weekly training in Hulu Langat, we were able to climb without much problems.

A spectacular view of the Titi Kerawang climb

 Pushing the limits
We made it past Titi Kerawang and began the descent towards Teluk Bahang.
Some sections along this route is pretty technical.
I had the Jetstream P8 serviced by Johnny Ng of My Bicycle Shop and it was in tip-top working condition.
The fast downhill roll was no child's play as we gained time to reach Teluk Bahang..

A section of the roll

Reaching the Teluk Bahang reservoir

Further down the road, we saw a lot of cyclists taking snapshots at Teluk Bahang.
There was a fishing competition at the Dam area and the first thing I noticed was some dude fighting with a fish on his tackle.
Michelle signaled to pull over and asked for a bottle of muscle relaxant spray.
She said her back had started to strain.
From Teluk Bahang, the ride to Batu Ferringi is about 3km.
Georgetown is another 15km.
We knew that the distance was closing in.
Right after the Hard Rock Hotel, Michelle had suffered cramps on her legs.
She told me to continue and as I slowly inched towards Tanjung Bungah, I saw some cyclists being picked up by their cars.
One folding bike rider in particular, was waiting for her ride by the roadside.
I later re-grouped with Michelle and rode back to the finish line..

Reaching the finish line

Waiting for our turn to get a picture taken

Another set of medals to our collection!

Cooling down...
I made my way to the end of the line where we picked up a bottle of water, courtesy of the organizers.
Later, I redeemed the ride medals and was told that my number was called during the lucky draw. But I was too late, so, it was forfeited.
We hung around the event area until Michelle redeemed her lucky draw prize: a Cateye cyclo computer.
After having our fill, we rode towards Georgetown for a late lunch and toured the downtown area before heading back to our hotel.
The rest of the day, we went out for dinner with our hosts Eddie and Mag and had arranged for a visit to the motor workshop the next day before the long drive back to Kuala Lumpur.

Summary
The CFAL 4 was a well-organized ride.
Despite that, accidents did occur. But its not the organizer's fault.
I personally saw one of the head honchos telling of cyclists to take the left side of the lane and do not obstruct traffic.
With a big number, its not easy to please everybody.
Things like the water stations could be done better. Other than that, I don't have much to say. My only hope is that the G-Club will continue to organize this ride as it became a very important event for cycling in Penang.
 

CFAL4 - Part 3

The moment of reckoning
I woke up at 4:30am. 
The first order of the day, was to prepare coffee and breakfast.
We had a loaf of bread, some cheese and lots of bananas.
To get things going, I ate my chow and checked my Camelbak Octane 24 for the last time.
For this ride, I packed my tools, First Aid Kit and other essentials.
We got ready and started moving out of the room.
There is only one elevator and its already busy with cyclists.
At the lobby, I saw Ehfan, one of our team members.
He had dropped off his wife at the Esplanade where the cyclists would be flagged of.
After making some adjustments on the bikes, we rode off towards Georgetown.
This is a simple 5km ride and since we had our lights on, riding in the dark was no issue.
I was surprised with a bunch of Indonesian cyclists who had nothing by a rear blinker on their tail.
They rode with us till we reached the starting line.

The early birds..

Team Captain and his assistant

Starmetro foldies: Samo and Eddie

The Star gang

Coach Jamell and the Taiping Foldies Fan

Right there at the Esplanade, we were early.
And as usual, I made my way to the rear end of the starting line.
Kevin and Ehfan came later and were interviewed by a reporter from The Star.
We told him that this was our second major ride after the Starmetro Cycling team was formed.
The organizers made their briefing, followed by a speech by the Chief Minister and the Penang Municipal Council President.
Then, came the moment everyone was waiting for: Flag off.
Slowly, the crowd inched towards downtown Penang as we began our ride towards the Jelutong expressway...

Riding downtown

The crowd, cycling towards Queensbday mall

The first casualty
Right up front, nearing Queensbay mall, a cyclist was injured after a motorcycle had knocked him down.
This was a precursor to many things that would happen ahead.
We rode towards Balik Pulau and the traffic began to slowly congest as vehicles had clogged up the two-lane road.
Up ahead, a fatal accident took place.
A female motorcyclist was killed when she was knocked down by a car.
Another motobiker was also injured in the tragic road accident.
Slowly, one-by-one were led by the traffic cops and safety marshal to move out and ride towards Bukit Gadung.
This is one of the toughest sections in the ride.

The power climb

Bukit Gadung was truly a test in the first stage of a long climb.
At this point, many cyclists had to push their bicycle.
My concentration was on the GPS heart monitor.
The trick was not to overexert myself.
We did very fine on this section and began to move towards Titi Kerawang where a major climb lurked ahead...

CFAL 4 - Part 2

An early day
I made arrangements with Eddie to pick up our numbers, jerseys and goodie bag.
Now, the norm was going to G-Hotel in Gurney Drive.
Which we did and found that nothing was going on there.
After checking further, the registration and goodie bag collection was at Straits Quay.
So, we went there to get our stuff.
I was still traumatized by the accident which happened the night before. But, I didn't let this get the better of me.
Michelle had to carry out some work in Georgetown, so, we went separate ways.

Meeting some old friends..
There was a large crowd at Straits Quay.
While picking up my stuff, I met Francis Ho, a fellow folding bike cyclist from Kuching, Sarawak.
We chatted a bit and the one thing that caught my attention was the Garmin EDGE 200 GPS.
Michelle had some issues with her Cateye Adventure cyclometer. It was not functioning, so, I decided to get her a new GPS, just to lift up her spirit.
While we were there, I met up with an editorial artist from The Star Northern hub. She had expressed interest in our team Starmetro jerseys.
I told her that we are in the midst of forming the Star Cycling Club.
After all the meet-ups and formalities, we went downtown to check out some bicycle shops before a decent lunch.
Eddie and I parted ways when he dropped me off at Island Plaza where I stocked up on bananas, a loaf of bread for breakfast early Sunday morning.

The stall selling Garmin products

Collecting the goodie bag

I walked back to the hotel and while I was at it, I saw Uncle FC Meng's group.
They shouted out at me while making through the evening traffic.
While I was at it, the Taiping Foldie Group too were just getting to Straits Quay.
As the evening slowly sets in, Michell and I had dinner at a restaurant opposite the hotel.
It rained the whole night as we prepared to hit the sack as the day begins really early on the next day..

Our shared dinner

Team Jetstream

CFAL 4 - Part 1

Setting out 
We packed out bikes in the car the day before heading out to Penang.
Our plan was really simple.
Drive towards Georgetown and check-in at the hotel.
After feeding our dogs, we headed out on the highway.
It took us nearly four hours to reach the Penang bridge and we were on our way to Jalan Ayer Molek where the serviced apartment was located.

Sir Naughty gets a treat

A hazy Georgetown

Duck egg char koay teow treat

Michelle's family chores..
We unloaded our bikes into our room.
Its a decent and clean serviced apartment with the basic amenities and free Wi-Fi.
This is what Michelle had wanted.
Later, we went out to Burma road to get some local biscuits for Michelle's mum.
I found a coffee shop nearby where we had duck egg char koay teow.
After a good meal, I rang up my buddy Eddie who had arranged for dinner near Gertak Sanggul.

A cool shot taken near Queensbay mall

Our hosts: Mag and Eddie

Garoupa in claypot

We met up at Queensbay mall where Eddie had arranged for a ride towards the makan place. Over dinner, we engaged in a conversation and after we were done, our host had dropped us off at Queensbay Mall where we parked our car.

Beware of motorcyclists!
On the way back, we drove through Bagan Jermal.
While driving through an intersection, our car was hit by a motorcycle.
The rider was flung onto the road when his bike had crashed onto our rear car door.
This was a moment that we dreaded.
Nevertheless, I got out to provide help for the rider.
After checking for vitals, he was okay, except that his right leg was fractured.
Some good samaritans had rendered First Aid for the motorcyclist.
Here's one thing that every motorists must know: There are a lot of motorcyclists in Penang and no matter how careful you are, even if you have the right of way, be wary of speeding bikers.
They don't care if you are in their path.
In my case, I was keeping a decent speed and when our car was hit, I knew that the first thing that I must do, was to assess the damage.
The entire rear fender had been knocked in, causing the tip of the damaged part to grind on the car tire.
Later, Eddie had helped to bend back the fender, but it was still grinding.
We drove to Rangoon road to lodge a police report for the purpose of claiming insurance for the damaged car.
that night, our heart sank.
We were visibly shaken by the incident.
I saw to it that the motorcyclist was sent to the hospital. At least he was allright.
But what kinda puzzled me was the fact that he had refused help.
After all the hoolabaloo, we went back to the hotel and called it a day...