Cycle to work @ 2013 Pre-World Car Free Day ride

We won the battle...

Eddie "niceguy" Chua, my colleague whom I have known for more than two decades had drafted a letter which he managed to get the top man at The Star to lay his signature.
The content stated that a few of us are cycling to work and wanted to bring our bikes to our workplace.
Our big, big, boss agreed. 
He sealed the deal and there are no more controversies about bringing a bicycle to the workplace.
Eddie did not agree to park his bike in the loading bay and since it was a folding bike, there were no issues having it at the workstation as it does not get in the way.

Far and few in between

I cycle to work whenever I need to.
On a few occasions, I had no choice but to cycle because my car was in the workshop.
To do so, I must give myself at least one hour head-start to slowly make my way from USJ 26 to the Federal Highway motorcycle lane.
This is roughly about 10km from where I live.
And for the record, I am the only guy from The Star who cycles to work regularly.
Now, with the permission granted to do so, I do plan to do more often.

Living up to a tradition...

Cycle to work was initiated by Star Two Assistant Editor Andrew Sia back in 2011.
He wanted to do an article about commuting to work with a bike.
I obliged by cycling from my home in USJ 26, Subang Jaya, covering a distance of 43km on a round trip.
Last year, I continued the tradition by roping-in Eddie Chua. Only both of us cycled on Car Free Day.
This year, the plan was the same. Meet up in Sungai Way and cycle to work.
The only difference was having three more guys joining us.
I also put up a request for a video shot by multimedia.

This year's gang.. 

We had The Star Cycling Team captain Kevin Tan on his Tern Verge X20 folding bike, Mohd Sean Shazarin who ride a GT mountain bike and StarMetro Assistant Editor Jacobus Jeyaraj who also rode his GT mountain bike.
So, we gathered at Tukang Basikal Fook Sang at 08:00am in Sungai Way and ride towards Menara Star in Section 16.

Samo leading the way.. 

Negotiating the traffic

A simple ride..

We set out from Fook Sang with ease, rolling down towards Jalan 223 and half-way through, I received a call from the multimedia videographer.
He was late, so we met up with him in Medan Selera Jalan 222.
After filling with some Nasi Lemak and teh tarik, Patrick, our video guy shot some footages.
I also liaised with Award-winning photographer Azman Ghani for the lead photos.
Throughout the ride, we coordinated and planned where the best angles are for the shots.
Azman did a superb job and so did Patrick with the editing and linking up the video on YouTube.



The video put up on YouTube

Arrival at the office.. 

It was a short ride to the office, the only tough part was the long climb from Section 13 to Section 16 at Jalan Dato Abu Bakar.
I had no problems keeping up with Kevin who seemed to be cycling with much ease.
We waited for Eddie and Jacob to climb the hill and I can see that Eddie was struggling to keep his pace.
After clearing the hill, it was a smooth roll to the office.

And there's work to be done.

The moment I got to m workplace, I began to work on the story.
Later in the day, I saw to it that it sees print with an on-line photo gallery and the video link.
My work day came to a close at 06:15pm when I clocked out from the office.
It took me another one and a-half hours to get home.

Likes and dislikes...

The YouTube video was put on-line and publicly shared. On the last count, there were four likes and nine dislikes.
I don't know whether the losers who disliked the video were simply trolls or people who hated cyclists. 
But hey! The least we did, was to cycle to work and we did just that.
I hope that the next cycle to work venture will attract more people. At least this year, we had three more guys joining in the ride. 
And for a company with more than 3.000 people, five cyclist out of the lot goes to say that something is very wrong.. 

RapidKL Car Free Day foldie ride - Part 1

Bah! Humbug!!!!
I had the misfortune to be associated with EVERYTHING when it comes to Folding Bikes.
Just the day before, I taunted The Star's star cyclist Andrew Sia about the Prasarana Negara Berhad's Folding Bike Ride on its Car Free Day campaign.
He said he will be riding with the Folding Bike Club Malaysia cyclists in an effort to feature commuting and train rides.
So, I let it be...
Then, the next day, I got hauled up by my boss and was told that his big boss wanted a short take (short news update) for Sunday's Final Edition (Dateline at 7pm).


The assignment..
Ever since leaving the New Straits Times with a fucking big grudge back in 2007, I haven't been writing deadline stories. 
At The Star, my job was very straight forward: manage the regional edition of Starmetro.
So, the plan is to cycle to Asia Jaya's LRT station, board the train and head towards the Sri Rampai station where a media conference is expected to take place.
Now, I was told to give a short piece. Writing in such a way, is my specialty.

At the Federal Highway motorcycle lane, best small vehicle lane in the world! You've got to try it to believe it!

Enter: The Rogue Rider
I am not affiliated to any clubs or groups.
So, on Saturday morning, instead of joining the herd from Damansara Perdana to Kelana Jaya LRT station, I rode solo.
The plan is simple - hit the Asia Jaya LRT station.
It took me a little more than one hour to reach my destination and I must say that the nightly beer sessions had taken a serious toll on my level of fitness.
For this task, I chose to re-activate my Dahon Curve SL.
She's the lightest and fastest folding bike of her class and for train commuting, this is the best size - 16" wheels!
Weighing at 9.5kgs, the Curve SL is a serious contender for multi-modal commutes.
And I am happy to report that the little Dahon had performed flawlessly, delivering me to the LRT station and back in one piece..

The Rogue Rider waiting to board 

The journey....
I am no stranger to the LRT.
Michelle and I had used this transport mode to access the KL city centre back in April for the Sports TOTO Charity ride.
Now, my big boss Ah Wai Kor had told me about his friend who had a beef with the KTMB people.
He was not allowed into the train.
Similarly, I heard that a Rockstar-like foldie too had an argument with the train people.
Way I see it, people with a bit of money comes with a baggage.
They have attitude problem.
These people think the world owes them a living.
If you say: "Please and Thank you" to the station master and be really nice to him, I'm sure he will allow you to board the KTM Komuter or any intercity train.
Being a foldie, a Rogue one at this time, it doesn't hurt at all to be nice and courteous to other people. You must also think of other commuters in the overcrowded trains.
Now, if you plan to commute and ride, BE SURE to bag your bike.
I boarded the train to Sri Rampai at 11:15am. 
This gave me an hour's advantage so that I can rest and scout the venue for places to work so that I can send my story via email to the newdesk who is expecting a piece from me.
Somewhere near Pasar Seni in Kuala Lumpur, I spotted two Prasarana staff, they were smiling and giggling at each other.. Wierdos.
Well, lucky for me, I brought my apple ipod. 
With Gun's N Roses blasting all the way, my journey to Sri Rampai was smooth...

The station staff with my lil Dahon

This guy couldn't resist a ride on my Dahon Curve SL

Getting ready..
I arrived with my bike bagged, walked to a convenience store to get a bottle of Gatorade.
From USJ 26 to Asia Jaya, its roughly about 19.8km, not bad for short distance ride..
I was psyched-up for one thing and one thing only: Do the job.
Being professional, it doesn't matter if the organizer was the Folding Bike Trading boss, a real piece of work!
What matters the most - is completing my task...